Gang attacks in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area (ZMPP) and the Artibonite department continue to worsen, particularly in Cité Soleil and the commune of Petite-Rivière in Artibonite. The uptick in gang violence since November has restricted population movements, hindered income-earning opportunities for poor households, and displaced over 21,400 people during the first 17 days of December (IOM). Consequently, widespread Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes persist, with Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes in Cité Soleil. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in settlement sites in ZMPP (who are facing precarious conditions) and pockets of very poor households in the Ouest, Nord-Ouest, and Grand’Anse, will also face Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes.
Gang violence has been particularly deadly in December, including the massacre led by gang leader Mikanor in Wharf Jérémie in Cité Soleil, which resulted in the death of at least 207 people between December 6 and 11 (BINUH). In Petite-Rivière, following a joint operation between the National Police (HNP) and the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) against the Gran Grif gang, the gang launched attacks on December 13 and killed 70 people. This surge in violence has adversely affected poor households’ income sources, disrupted market functioning and supply, and impeded food assistance distribution. In the most insecure areas, particularly ZMPP and Petite-Rivière, household access to markets has become increasingly constrained due to financial barriers (e.g., the impossibility of withdrawing cash from banks and money transfer houses, which lack liquidity) and challenges to engaging in typical income-earning activities.
Floods in the Nord, Nord-Ouest, Sud, and Grand'Anse departments since late November and early December have damaged croplands and caused casualties, including 10 deaths and six missing persons. In Grand'Anse, 6,000 farmers and 500 livestock herders have been affected (OCHA). In the worst-affected areas of the Nord and Nord-Ouest, more than 80 percent of bean, sweet potato, and banana farms in the plains have been destroyed, according to key informants. Bean crops have been particularly impacted in the Nord-Ouest. Over 80 percent of Congo pea crops in the Grand Sud, typically harvested from late November to January, have been destroyed. Furthermore, around 20 hectares of maize and beans are also affected, according to a key informant. In the Grand’Anse department, particularly in Anse d'Hainault, Dammarie, and Chambellan, about 75 percent of farms in plains areas have been destroyed. Although the winter agricultural season generally produces much less than the spring season, the decline in production will reduce anticipated food stocks, pushing producing households to rely more on markets in the post-harvest period. Households in the Grand Sud will likely face the worst pressure on food access as their coping capacities are already constrained from hosting over 45 percent of Haiti’s IDPs.
The security crisis in the Haitian capital is disrupting supply chains (particularly for local products) and market functioning (including in Croix-des-Bossales and Croix-des-Bouquets); however, the prices of staple foods such as rice, cooking oil, and dried peas have remained relatively stable, fluctuating slightly compared to previous months. However, prices remain significantly above average, making access more difficult for very poor households.
