The Board of Directors of the World Bank approved a grant of $5 million to help Haiti better prepare to extreme weather conditions such as floods, droughts and hurricanes. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) to provide personalized services of hydrometeorological and climate information to farmers and emergency responders, to increase preparedness and resilience of the country to major natural hazards.

Recall that about 96% of the Haitian population lives in areas exposed to several natural hazards. This agricultural sector, that contributes over 25% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Haiti and that is the main source of income for rural households, is highly dependent on rainfall and particularly exposed to the effects of climate change, with only 1% of farmers using irrigation. During the last decade, the hydro-meteorological conditions that have affected 1.3 million Haitiansmade over 6,000 victims and caused average annual losses equivalent to nearly 2% of GDP.

"Over 70% of rural families were economically affected by weather shocks. This project will provide essential information to farmers so they are better prepared and able to cope with agricultural and climatic shocks," said Mary Barton-Dock, the Special Envoy of the World Bank in Haiti.

Project for the Strengthening of Hydro-Meteorological Services :

• Around 40 civil protection committees and

  municipal farmers nationwide will receive enhanced information services, including early warning and emergency planning information ;

• The establishment of a data platform, open and accessible online, which consolidates data collected nationally by hydrology, meteorology, marine and other stations ;

• About 80 technicians and professionals will be trained in the use of weather and climate data applications ;

• The strengthening of the capacity of the hydro-meteorological Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and of the coordination among key government agencies in the sector, including the Ministry of Environment, the National Center for Geospatial Information, the National Coordination for Food Security, the Interministerial Committee for Land Planning and Civil Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Interior.

This five-year project will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. Funding is a subsidy that comes from the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience of the Climate Investment Funds.

HL/ HaitiLibre