I wrote this for MCC about a month ago, but since it's still making its way through the MCC publication process (i.e., it looks like it won't be released after all) I've decided to post it here instead.
Perspective: Global aid threatens Haiti’s economy
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Dozens of Haitians, usually young women, crowd together in Port-au-Prince, awaiting food distributions. As they wait for free food, they buy plantain chips, bananas, peanuts and other snacks from vendors selling to those in line.
This tension between free food aid from international aid organizations and Haitian producers and vendors is not new to Haiti, but it has become more blatant since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Many countries and organizations, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) included, have shipped food and supplies into the country.
While emergency food relief sustained affected families in and around Port-au-Prince, where millions were homeless following the earthquake, ongoing free food from outside the country undermines the local economy and makes it harder for Haitian farmers to support themselves and their families.
Local markets shut down in the wake of the earthquake, and food and water were difficult to find and expensive when they were available. In response to this need, MCC immediately sent 33 tons of canned turkey and beef and 1,000 water filters to Port-au-Prince.
“Canned meat is a good way to provide nutrition to people when local markets aren’t functional,” said Margot de Greef, one of MCC Haiti’s Material Resources coordinators. “It’s especially appreciated in Haiti because meat is an important part of preparing rice and bean sauce in the traditional way.”
In addition to providing canned meat, MCC also actively procured food from local producers to give to earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince. While international food aid shipments were delayed at Haiti’s only international airport, MCC was able to purchase rice, beans and corn in the countryside and distribute it to disaster victims in the capital within days of the earthquake.
Haitian farmers took pride in being able to help earthquake victims, and recipients took pride in knowing that other Haitians were contributing to relief efforts. Buying food locally also supported Haiti’s ability to feed itself in the long term.
However, local food aid is only a small percentage of the overall relief effort. Because of the influx of international emergency food aid, the prices of Haitian-produced rice and black beans have already dropped to below pre-earthquake prices. PAPDA (Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif), the Haitian Platform for Advocating Alternative Development, predicts that prices will continue to plummet to the continued detriment of Haitian farmers.
In an interview with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) at the end of January, Haitian president René Préval said, “We cannot continue to rely on giving food to the population that comes from abroad, because we’re competing against our own national agriculture.”
Although food aid shipments have increased dramatically since Jan. 12, the presence of U.S. agricultural products in Haitian markets is not a new phenomenon. In 2009, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sent 83,020 tons of food for “long-term development and emergency needs.” USAID pledged an additional 14,550 tons of food as emergency response.
The U.S. has acknowledged the practice of “dumping” subsidized rice on the Haitian market. In the 1980s, and again in the 1990s, the U.S. successfully lobbied to reduce Haiti’s import tariffs on rice to a remarkably low 3 percent (compared to the average of 35 percent for other countries in the region). Haiti has since become the third-largest importer of American rice despite having a population of only 9 million people.
The effects of these measures have been far-reaching, undermining domestic agriculture production and diminishing Haitian capacity for sustainable livelihoods. In a remarkable public acknowledgement of the negative impact of U.S. policy in Haiti, former President Bill Clinton apologized last month for promoting the agricultural policies that have devastated Haiti’s agricultural production.
Clinton is quoted by The New York Times: “It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake. I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else.”
Nixon Boumba, an MCC Haiti advocacy worker, says, “Earthquakes are natural phenomena. But the destruction of Jan.12 was not natural.” The high levels of devastation and astronomical death toll reflect structural policies in Haiti that have fostered destructive and dangerous living conditions.
MCC Haiti is working to address underlying issues through advocacy—especially advocacy geared toward influencing North American governmental policies that affect Haiti—and by incorporating livelihood generation measures as part of its overall disaster response. As a result, MCC will stop distributing food aid at the end of April and will move to the next phase of helping Haitians rebuild.
Those in temporary camps currently receiving food aid from MCC will continue to receive nonfood items such as relief buckets, tarps, sheets, tents and first-aid supplies. In response to the needs identified by these communities, MCC will also begin income-generating activities like cash-for-work programs so that people can begin to rebuild their lives.
In the long term, MCC will focus its advocacy efforts on the question of food security, partnering with local organizations to both ensure that international trade agreements protect Haitian farmers and to encourage Haitians to build economic independence by buying locally-produced food. MCC Haiti will also continue providing support to build Haiti’s educational system and its agricultural infrastructure.
