The European Union has allocated 500,000 euros in assistance through the service of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) for the implementation of a project executed by the United Nations food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in support to the Ministry of Agriculture, in order to provide emergency agricultural assistance to family farmers in situations of acute food insecurity, following the long period of drought in the Southern department in Haiti.

This project, funded by the European Commission, will strengthen livelihoods and the adaptive capacity to drought and other climatic hazards of over 7,000 farm families in teh communes of Aquin, Chardonnière, Les Anglais and Port-à-Piment.

"[...] In the last three years because of El Niño, the Southern Department was faced with a serious situation whose negative impact on agricultural production and living conditions of agricultural producers is no longer to demonstrate," stressed Jordi Torres, ECHO Head of Office in Haiti.

This agricultural assistance project of emergency, particular emphasis on crop diversification with emphasis on seeds and cuttings of species and early and drought tolerant varieties. Special emphasis is also placed on strengthening the capacity of rural communities affected through the implementation and dissemination of good agricultural and nutritional practices, in order to develop of adaptation mechanisms with climate change and the negative impact of drought on food security.

Recall that the long periods of drought having raged in different departments of Haiti, negatively affected the livelihoods of farmers during the last three years. The Southern Department was particularly affected by the drought. According to an evaluation of CNSA / WFP, in the South, the most affected communes are Aquin (7,870 affected families), Charbonnière (1,995) et Port-à-Piment (1,130). Some communal sections of the commune of Anglais have also suffered from drought which has affected the availability of water for human consumption and agricultural production.

HL/ HaitiLibre