Food Sovereignty in Haiti: The importance of a well-organized movement
By Cindy Corell, Companionship Facilitator, Haiti
Marchers holding banners in the town square at Hinche. Photo: Cindy Corell
During a week-long commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP - the Farmers' Movement of Papaye) in the Central Plateau of Haiti from March 17-22, experts and invited guests from around the world joined with Haitian farmers, calling for land reform, environmentally-friendly agricultural practices and respect for the peasant farmer.
“The future of humanity today depends on what peasants will do to save planet,” said Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, MPP's leader. That means keeping genetically-modified seeds out of Haiti's soil, fighting off companies that want to convince farmers that bio-fuel plants are a good idea and teaching farmers best practices like organic farming rather than using chemical fertilizers.
MPP’s 40th anniversary Kongres (Congress) included forums, small group discussions and a prioritizing of goals. An estimated 1,800 delegates — a third of them women and another third youth — participated. Being there was a tremendous learning experience for me.
I was appointed in January as a Joining Hands companionship facilitator to work with FONDAMA (Fondasyon Men Lan Men Ayiti/ Hand in Hand Haiti Foundation), a network which includes MPP in its membership. When I move to live and work in Haiti in late spring, I will meet with each of the 11 member organizations of FONDAMA and work with them to realize goals that will benefit farmers and the Haitian people.
Created in 2009, FONDAMA quickly changed its focus after the January 2010 earthquake to respond to critical needs facing Haiti. Its leaders organized to acquire and store seeds for the upcoming planting season, work on soil conservation projects and social activities to help restore the shaken earthquake survivors.
Three years later, FONDAMA is preparing to move toward more long-range goals to reach its anti-hunger mission. Many of the issues facing farmers in Haiti were presented in MPP's Kongres, and at the heart of all lies a strong desire for the peasant farmers of Haiti to have a voice in what is decided by its government. In a land where people desperately need food for their own tables, farmers are facing a new threat — industrial agriculture from overseas markets.
Three years after the earthquake, Haiti's government is marketing the country as “open for business.” Indeed, international investment would greatly benefit Haiti, bringing with it jobs and much needed tax revenue. But while peasant farmers are struggling to feed their families on land to which they don't even hold a deed, the threat is very real that huge food corporations from overseas could swoop in — with the Haitian government's help — and take over vast tracts of land for corporate farming. And these giant farms would produce food and fuel for markets overseas, not to feed the desperately poor Haitians.
“Agriculture has changed in purpose,” Jean-Baptiste said. “It has become a way to produce wealth. Now making money has become the way. The land becomes centralized by corporations, and the purpose of industrial agriculture is to make a commercial product.”
On the morning of Friday, March 22, 2013, almost 50,000 people marched from MPP's offices in Papaye to Hinche to advocate for land reform. They marched into a park across from the mayor's office in Hinche chanting, holding banners and calling for “true land reform” and environmentally-friendly agriculture.
The groups' work is evident throughout the Central Plateau. Technicians have been trained to teach other farmers ways to grow food throughout the year, even in the dry seasons. “Yard gardens” consist of discarded automobile tires turned inside out. The farmer covers the bottom of the tire with punctured metal for draining and then fills the tire with soil. Tires are placed on tall tables out of the reach of goats and even in late winter, onions, spinach, leeks, tomatoes and peppers thrive.
Yard gardens at an Eco-Village in Central Plateau, Haiti. Photo: Cindy Correll
And new farmers are coming on board, like Manel Laurore, who moved to an Eco-Village built by MPP and international partners like the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Laurore was a government employee who was fortunate to survive the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince. When his family and many others fled the city for the countryside, they found refuge in Papaye.
Residents of the Eco-Villages had never farmed before, but behind their modest homes, they each have yard gardens from which to eat and with more to sell at market.
Andral Estin said the satisfaction of feeding themselves is great, but that's not the only advantage.
“We are healthier because we are growing out own food,” Estin said.
“The insecurity is gone,” said Laurore.
And truly, Laurore's children both work and play in this pleasant community where families are able to grow their own crops and live in safety.
“This should be the model for the future of Haiti,” Laurore said.
In a land where more than 50 percent of its food is imported, the desire among Haitian farmers to be able to produce crops for food requires a well-organized fight. And that's why the work of various Haitian agricultural organizations is so important.
The problems facing Haitians are best solved when Haitians are driving the solutions.
I look forward to learning more about each of FONDAMA's partner groups, working within the networks and sharing their successes and challenges with supporters in the U.S.
