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 of cooperatives working with Root Capital (n=151); some were not (n=52). The data offers a comprehensive picture of production levels, income from coffee, preferred tree varieties, tree planting and maintenance, inputs, and other key coffee growing practices of coop members. Responses from non-members provide a basis of comparison that is critical to establishing meaningful baseline performance indicators. These indicators were intended to allow Root Capital to evaluate changes in cultivation, harvesting, and processing practices, as well as income and other factors, in follow-up and endline surveys (which, so typical of the aid world, were never done). Note that I was not the author, but rather team leader. Harold Maass wrote the report.