Agriculture in Haiti: Highly Vulnerable, Mostly Uninsured

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Many developing countries experience both disasters and confl ict at the same time. The interaction between the two creates and perpetuates vulnerabilities that place communities at risk, further entrenching poverty and inequality. Development trends such as climate change and unsustainable urbanization likely will make these issues worse.

On January 12, 2010, Haiti was rocked by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that caused unprecedented hu-man, social, economic, and environmental destruction across the country and the Latin American and Caribbean region. This earthquake ranks among the most deadly and devastating in the world's recent history and deals a crippling blow to Haiti's recovery process. The earthquake compounded the hy-drometeorological

1. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most disadvantaged in the world. Some 76 percent of its population of 9.6 million lives below the poverty line, with 56 percent in extreme poverty (2001 data). In recent decades, it has demonstrated a very high vulnerability to economic and social crises, as well as to numerous exogenous shocks, such as adverse natural events and commodity prices. In 2004, city of Gonaives was devastated by Hurricane Jeanne, which took more than 4,000 lives. October 2007, brought Tropical

According to the World Bank's Natural Disaster Hotspot study of 2006, Haiti is one of the countries most vulnerable to adverse natural events. Haiti's high levels of poverty, weak infrastructure, degraded environment, and history of ineffective governments with serious fiscal problems often converge to magnify the size and scope of a natural disaster. This was clearly displayed during the 2004 hurricane season when over 5,000 Haitians lost their lives following Tropical Storm Jeanne, and in 2008 when Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike inflicted

- The World Bank has approved US$260 million in grants for Haiti since 2005 through the International Development Association (IDA)

World Bank Supports Haiti's Rebuilding Efforts after Recent Hurricanes

The 2008 hurricane season ended on November 30th, but its devastating impact will remain in the memory of all Haitians for a long time. As the country faces enormous damages and losses, the

Il n'y a pas de catastrophes naturelles.
Jean-Paul Sartre

Sans préjuger de la valeur de l'interdiction légale de déboiser ou de l'effort de reboisement systématique, on ne peut vraiment agir sur le déboisement fondamental d'origine paysanne, qu'en apportant des modifications sensibles à la structure même de l'économie agraire...
Paul Moral (1959)

Chronique d'une catastrophe redoutée

La note cyclonique est particulièrement salée cette année pour la population un peu partout dans le pays. Il est vrai que Gonaïves et Cabaret semblent les plus touchés.

STAMFORD, CT, Oct. 11-2007-The United Methodist Committee on Relief continued its commitment to long-term assistance in the wake of disaster at its Oct. 9 board of directors meeting in Stanford, Conn. Virtually all of the $5 million in grants approved at the meeting will help people struggling to recover from war and natural disasters that have long been absent from news headlines.

Returning refugees in Afghanistan as well as survivors of Hurricane Jeanne in Haiti and the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia will all benefit from these funds. "Every

Intervenant à l'occasion de la Journée mondiale de la Protection civile, commémorée ce 1er mars sous le thème « La Protection civile et la sécurité sur le lieu de travail », le fonctionnaire du PNUD a tenu à préciser que « le problème n'est pas seulement dans la