NHADS SURVEY (Nutrition, Health, Agriculture and Demographic Survey, Jean Rabel, Haiti)

The survey for this report was conducted in 1997 in Commune of Jean Rabel which covers 467 km2 of territory and has an estimated population of 130,330 residents, 278 people per km2. The area is generally considered among the poorest in Haiti. Infrastructure in the form of a few roads and schools are in horrificRead More

Value Chain Study: Cacao, Cashews, Castor Oil, & Breadfruit

This document presents research on four value chains in Haiti: cacao, cashews, breadfruit and castor bean oil (ricin). The research was conducted in the context of the ILO project FOPRODER (2015-2020), that works through cooperatives and associations in Haiti to provide professional training and promote resiliency of value chains. Arguably the most important information inRead More

VALUE CHAIN REPORT, GRAND ANSE, HAITI

In this sub-report a team of HEKS EPER, UMCOR and Socio-Dig staff developed value chain models for three products of critical importance in the Grand Anse: fish, trees and goats. The creation of value-chain models for these products is intended to help people working in the region gain further understanding of the local economy andRead More

GRAND ANSE, HAITI, REPORT

This report focuses on rural household livelihoods in four Grand Anse communities. It was commissioned by HEKS EPER with support from UMCOR). The actual research was carried out by Socio-Dig. The report is divided into three main parts and an extensive annex. In Part I, we present the data from the baseline survey. In PartRead More

HAITIAN MANGOES EXPORTED TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

A big part of the irony of the rocket like growth of the Dominican mango export industry over the past 30 years (read this post) is that this had not only happened while Haiti’s exporters had failed to increase their own exports or to effectively organize the mango industry: it was arguably launched with theRead More

Haiti Coffee Report for Root Capital (2014)

This report describes baseline data collected to help assess Root Capital’s impact on coffee production in one of its target regions of Haiti. The research was conducted under the auspices of Socio-Dig, a Haiti-based research company. The survey focused on farmers in the Savannette-Baptiste area of the Departement du Centre. Most of the respondents were members ofRead More

TTFF Fake Breadfruit Flour Factories in Haiti

February 1st 2018, I visited a project of TTFF (Trees that Feed Foundation), founded and managed by Mary and Michael McLaughlin who claim to have breadfruit factories in Jeremie, Haiti (check their claims here). I found no evidence of them ever having produced anything. The “factory” –a tin shed valuing less than $1,000, had clearly beenRead More

Fruit, Lumber & Charcoal Ethnographic Value Chains in Haiti

Using the MEVMS value chain research and presentation strategy described here, this paper provides a rapid summary of the Fruit, Lumber, and Charcoal value chains in rural Haiti. The research is based on literature review, focus groups and a 405 household survey in the Grand Anse conducted in January 2018 on behalf of Heks-Eper. [Go hereRead More

Haiti Anthropological Brief: Myth of the Indiscriminate Haitian Charcoal Maker

A common myth often repeated among development experts working in Haiti is that the peasants cut their fruit trees for charcoal (see MIF 2010; USAID/WINNER 2015; TNS 2014; Davenport 2000:1). And they do. But what’s mythical is the implication that they are indiscriminately felling healthy and productive fruit trees. After seven years of researching factors thatRead More

Irony of the Exports: Superiority of the Local Market for Haitian Mangoes

A closer look at evidence and trends in the market suggests that the local market for mangos is better than that of the export market. It offers producers more money. Indeed, to get mangos from producers, the exporters, their voltije and fourniseur agents have to resort to trickery and financial advances on trees 9 monthsRead More

Trees in Haiti