Crop Damage by Tropical Storm Fay Magnifies Haiti’s Food Crisis

Aug. 25, 2008 - PRLog -- MIAMI, FL, – As if Haiti has not had enough of a struggle coping with a food crisis that sparked deadly riots in April, Tropical Storm Fay has added to the country’s woes. With maximum sustained winds of 55 mph, flooding, and the fourteen people confirmed dead, Fay also flooded and destroyed rice fields and plantain crops. With less than one percent of its forest remaining due to deforestation, any damage to its agricultural sector proves devastating for the island. Temporary fixes to the problem brings about a wave of food aid, but the permanent solution to solving Haiti’s food crisis will require investment in Haiti’s farming sector to work towards sustainable development.

Restoring Haiti’s agricultural sector is a prerequisite for building other parts of its economy. Haiti’s food crisis is in direct correlation to a farming sector that is unable to produce competitively and profitably due to rising fuel costs and diminishing investments in local food production. This issue is further exacerbated by the lack of arable land since 71 percent of the energy used in Haiti comes from charcoal and residents are left to chop down 10 to 20 million trees each year just to make and sell charcoal for food and other uses. With less than one percent of its forests remaining, Haiti’s agriculture is at risk, the food crisis persists, and natural disasters such as Tropical Storm Fay continue to leave a disastrous mark on the island. Thanks to non-profit organizations such as Lambi Fund of Haiti, local communities are implementing projects that focus on sustainable development and the reversal of the country’s woes to work towards restoring environmental integrity.  

The Lambi Fund of Haiti partners with and finances agricultural and environmental projects in Haiti to encourage national food production and address the severe problem of hunger. The non-profit partners with local groups to plant indigenous crops such as plantains, beans, and rice and seeds community micro-credit funding, animal breeding projects, irrigation pumps for quality water supply, and a reforestation movement that incorporates tree planting, tree nurseries, and agro forestry practices. To cure some of the crop damages left by Tropical Storm Fay, Lambi Fund of Haiti’s Center of Plantain Propagation will help in rapid reproduction of healthy plantain trees. This and similar sustainable development projects is the solution to addressing and combating Haiti’s food crisis and its initial steps to ensure long-term food security.

# # #

About Lambi Fund of Haiti

Lambi Fund of Haiti provides financial resources, training, and technical assistance to peasant-led community organizations that promote the social and economic empowerment of the Haitian people. Their programs focus on sustainable development, community micro-credit, animal husbandry, restoring environmental integrity, and organizational and leadership training. For more information and to become a financial donor, please visit www.LambiFund.org or email info@LambiFund.org.

Contact:

Fabiola Fleuranvil of Blueprint Creative Group
for Lambi Fund of Haiti
(404) 437-0078
Fabiola@BlueprintCreativeGroup.com