Attachments
Steckley, M., Civil, M., Osna, W., Steckley, J., and S. Sider. (2025)
Introduction In 2018, the Haitian government introduced ‘food sovereignty’ into Haiti’s policy landscapes with the publication of the National Policy for Food Sovereignty, Food Security and Nutrition (PNSSANH). The document is novel in that it provides an inter-sectoral analysis of Haiti’s food systems, and offers detailed recommendations for change by connecting domains — land, nutrition, health, gender, trade, and culture — that have previously been siloed in the policy arena. The introduction of food sovereignty is indeed emblematic of a paradigm shift in Haitian national policy and opens up an opportunity for a radical shift in service provisioning and research related to Haiti. This policy is a call to move beyond discussions about food security and assessments, which have narrowly tended to focus on caloric sufficiency, access, and diversity, to consider broader questions, including how land, gender, traditional food cultures, and pro-peasant agriculture are fundamental to creating healthy, economically and environmentally sustainable, and culturally enriching food systems in Haiti. Yet, the PNSSANH also presents a new challenge, for scholars, practitioners and the state — how do we evaluate and monitor progress towards the core goals of food sovereignty?
Here we offer a Rapid Food Sovereignty Assessment Tool in the hope of supporting the continued emergence of alternative, pro-peasant food systems in Haiti and beyond.