Friday, April 24, 2026, in Les Cayes, under the patronage of the Agronomist Marcelin Aubourg, Minister of Agriculture, and the Agronomist Pierre-Richard René, Director General of the Ministry, the fourth meeting of the Steering Committee of the Support Program for the Productivity of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Improvement of Rural Infrastructure for Access to Markets (PAPAIR) was held (April 24-25) combining participants in person and by videoconference.

Launched in January 2022, PAPAIR will come to an end in the coming months. However, discussions are underway between the Ministry and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with a view to a possible extension which would make it possible to finalize the projects in progress and consolidate the achievements already recorded on the ground.

In this perspective, the members of the Steering Committee, including the Program Implementation Unit, representatives of the IDB, the Departmental Agricultural Directors of the South, Grand'Anse, North and North-East, as well as representatives of partner institutions and farmers' and fishermen's organizations have defined new directions for the continuation of activities in 2026. The decisions resulting from this meeting will be transmitted to the IDB for examination as part of an official request extension.

In his opening speech, Minister Marcelin Aubourg stressed that despite the challenges encountered, PAPAIR is showing encouraging results. For his part, Yannick Saint Paul, the representative of the IDB, said he was satisfied with the progress made by the program, believing that the results obtained were in line with the expectations of the institution. He reiterated the IDB's commitment to supporting Haiti in its efforts to combat food insecurity and strengthen agricultural production. A generally positive assessment according to the partners.

- Presenting the results of the different components, the coordinator of component 1 of the program recalled that PAPAIR operates in four departments and 21 municipalities. To date, 15,600 farmers out of 21,819 targeted have already been affected.

- In addition, 336 agricultural plots have been installed, while nearly twenty municipal agricultural offices have been equipped or rehabilitated. Tanks and glazes were also made for the benefit of producers.

- In the area of ​​training, 947 learners out of 3,300 have already joined the program's field schools, illustrating the progress of capacity building activities.

- In components 2 and 4 (fishing component) of the program, 65 fishermen associations already benefit from sustained and structuring support on organizational and technical levels in the four departments concerned.

- On the institutional level, in addition to the construction of the Aquin Communal Agricultural Office recently received, the Southern Departmental Agricultural Directorate (DDAS) benefits from the construction of a new administrative building of 252m², 92% completed. This building includes offices, a conference room, secretarial space and sanitary facilities, aimed at improving working conditions and administrative performance.

- As part of component 3, 24 km of rural roads were rehabilitated in the North and the North-East. This work aims to facilitate access to production areas, reduce transport costs, limit post-harvest losses and boost economic exchanges.

- Executives from the Ministry, Agricultural Departments (DDA) and local authorities were also trained to monitor the implementation and post-construction of rural road infrastructure.

At the end of this meeting, several resolutions were adopted. They relate in particular to :

• Capacity building of fishermen and farmers associations;

• Better involvement of DDAs and the National Seed System to supervise seed suppliers;

• The management by the Ministry of personnel trained by the project in order to ensure the continuity of activities and the consolidation of acquired knowledge;

• Increased involvement of DDAs in the planning and monitoring of interventions;

• Training of trades to improve the quality of interventions.

The meeting ended with field visits to the municipalities of Les Cayes and Torbeck. The participants were able to see the progress of the projects, in particular that of the extension of the DDAS, and to interact with the engineers responsible for the work.

HL/ HaitiLibre