Haiti’s agricultural sector, already struggling with the effects of drought and climate variability, faced additional blows in 2019 as the country’s political crisis disrupted supply chains, road access, and the availability of inputs like fuel and fertilizer. Farmers in the Artibonite Valley, Haiti’s breadbasket, reported difficulties getting their produce to urban markets due to roadblocks and security concerns along major highways.
The disruption to domestic food production added to an already serious food security crisis. Haiti imports more than 80 percent of its rice consumption, but domestic production of vegetables, fruit, and small grains played an important supplementary role in feeding the population, particularly in rural areas.
Rural communities that had managed to maintain relative calm during the urban protests nonetheless felt the knock-on effects of the crisis. Falling prices for their produce, rising costs for fuel and imported goods, and reduced access to credit made the 2019 growing season one of the most difficult in recent memory.
Agricultural development organizations operating in Haiti warned that the crisis threatened to undermine years of investment in improving soil conservation, seed varieties, and smallholder farming techniques. Without a resolution to the political situation, the gains of recent years risked being lost.