Grangou an Ayiti – Hunger in Haiti

Mirlande Louis, ingenye agronom, Ayiti

Mwe se yon ingenye agronom mwen fe etid klasik mwen Ayiti etid univesite mwn Sendomeng. Mwen gen kwayans nan Bon Dye  m se kretyen, map travay pou misyon fre yo nan  yon pwogram  ki rele generasyon revni yo nan developman kominote nan Ayiti. Nan kominote mwen travay yo mwen toujou komanse avek yon moman priye ankouraje patisipan yo pou yo mete konfyans yo nan Bon Dye, montre yo plizye fason yo ka chanje lavi ekonomik  ak sosyal yo. Mwen toujou anseye yo ke yo dwe pozitif nan lespri yo pou yo kapab change kondisyon lavi yo.

Ki jan sitiyasyon ak grangou an Ayiti , e poukisa gen moun ki grangou nan peyi ou? Kisa ki ap koz grangou a nan Ayiti?

Ayiti se yon peyi agrikol men pep la manke edikasyon yo pa janm konprann si riches soti nan late, yo preske pa kiltive te a anko gen anpil fakte ki la koz gen anpil grangou nan peyim.

Moun ki vle trvay late pa gen ase lajan pou kiltive anpil, sa vle di se toujou jaden lakou yo fe,anpil fwa ki pa reponn pou yon fanm,i pa gen gran plante ki pou fe gwo jaden pou reponn ak kantite manje pou popilasyon an manje.

Leta peyi a pa pran resposabilitel pou ede kiltivate yo, paske pa gen bank agrikol ni bank semans yo manke moun ki pou pote teknologi ba yo pou ti espas bay gwo pwodiksyon se tout fakte sa yo ki lakoz gwo grangou nan peyi a.

Ki jan ki fe ke gen fanmi agrikol oswa fanmi ki gen jaden men ki pa gen ase manje pou yo manje?

Anpil nan fanmi yo an Ayiti ki se fanmi agrikol oubyen ki gen jaden fe selman jaden lakou sa vle di yo plante ti jaden piti,  anpil fwa ki pa menm ka reponn ak bezwen fanmi an pafwa yo manke lajan , paske agrikilti gen anpil depans oubyen kantite te ki disponib pou yo fe jaden. Moun ki gen mwayen yo pa fe jaden sa vinn lakoz pa gen gwo jaden kifet nan peyi a se selman fanmi ki pi pov yo ki fe ti jaden ki pa ka repon ak kantite manje pou fanmi sa yo sa lakoz menm le yo plante ti jaden c vre men yo pa janm gen ase manje pou yo manje.

Kisa ou we kom kek barye ki anpeche moun soti nan povrete?

Nan tout peyi ou sosyete toujou gen moun rich gen moun ki pov tou, soti nan povrete Konn gen anpil barye pou yon moun ki pov pa ekzanp:

• Le yon moun gen lespril negatif e li pa gen konfians nan Bon Dye.
• Si li soti nan yon fanmi ki pov anpil e ki pa devlope.
• Le yon moun soti nan yon peyi pov li pa fe efo poul change lavi li sa konn sevi komm barye pou l soti nan povrete.

Ki koneksyon ki genyen ant degradasyon anviwonman ak/ oswa changman nan klima (changement climatique), ak grangou?

Degrdatyon anviwonman sa pwodui nan move fason nat itilize te a jan nap fe jaden yo, nan move ekplwatasyon resous yo, nan gwo developman endistri yo pou nou site sa yo Selman.

Chanjman nan klima se pwodui degradasyon ki fet nan anviwonman ki vinn bay nesans ak grangou paske ak chanjman klima gen anpil kilti vinn pa apotriye nan te yo anko, vinn gen plis pwoblem pou nou travay late, anpil maladi tonbe sou moun ak plant nan jaden yo, anpil varyete nan plant yo finn disparet ki vinn fe grangou vin pi plis nan mond lan. Nou ka di degradasyon nan anviwonman bay jaret ak chanjman nan klima finalman li ogmante grangou.

Eske gen kek koneksyon ant gouvenman ayisyen an oswa politik entenasyonal ak grangou nan peyi ou?

Chak solisyon toujou korespon ak yon pwoblem diferan, grangou nan Ayiti se pwodui anpil fakte ke nou dwe analize byen:

• Ayisyen nou pa itilize resous yo byen nou travay mwens nou peple plis fanmi agrikol yo pa gen gid pou ede yo sa vle di pou pote nouvo teknologi pou yo sa vle di absans agronom yo nan jaden yo
• Leta peyi a pa bay sipo ak fanmi agrikol yo, li pa dispoze mwayen pou moun kap travay te, manke teknisyen pou visite chan agrikol yo agwonom rete plis nan biwo yo olye sou teren
• Ayiti se gwo klyan anpil peyi nan mond lan paske Ayiti manke pwodui li ahte anpil pwodui agrikol sa pemet anpil peyi jwenn avantaj nan kreye mache ak Ayiti.pa ekzanp si mache bilateral ta fe yon mwa san fonksyone Sandomen predi anpil milyon dola, gran plante lot peyi yo jwi anpil avantaj nan komes avek Ayiti. Pep Ayisyen dwe pran desten yo nan men pou yo travay pou amelyore kondisyon lavi yo.

Eske te gen plis oswa mwens grangou kounye a pase 20-30 ane de sa?

Depi nan tan lotan grangou te toujou ekziste si nou pran tan Ezaou ak Jakob la, men chak ane ki pase grangou ap ogmante gen pli bouch pou manje gen mwens jaden ki fet sa vinn lakoz pri pwodui yo ogmante plis vinn gen plis grangou ke 20-30 ane avan.

Eske w gen nenpot istwa enspire oswa espwa nan moun oubyen kominote kit e soti nan povvretekounye a pwospere?

Map rakonte istwa yon jenn fre nan kominote kote mwen ap twavay sa gen plis pase 5 lane. Fre sa se yon moun ki te mache nan younn nan legliz fre yo, sitiyasyon ekonomik li te tre difisil, yn jou li te chwazi vinn pale asanm avek mwen poul te ka fe pati pwogwam mwen ap dirije ki se generasyon revni, mwen te reponn li: pa gen pwoblem. Epi li te vini nan fomasyon yo. Li pat pran tan li te komanse yon biznis avek kek transfomasyon pwodui agrikol ak chimik li te aprann prepare tankou diven mayi, manba anrichi, savon likid, fabuloso ak koman pou fe biznis poum site sa yo selman. Li te komanse ti biznis pa li avek 1750 goud li te prete nan yon kob li ta pral peye lekol li, pou li te ka prepare savon likid pou l vann, li te pe fe sa, men li te riske l, li tap panse li tap di: si mwn pa van n kotem pral jwenn lajan an poum peye lekol la. Bon Dye te beni biznis la. Apre 3 lane. Li tap temwaye nan yon lot kominote li tap di konsa mwn gen yon biznis ki evalye ak 1 milion goud mwn achte deja teren poum fe kay mwn pou plis pase 500 mil goud mwen di Bon Dye mesi mwn reyisi, kondisyon ekonomik mwen chanje.

Ki solisyon pou fini ak grangou an Ayiti?

Fome pep la montre yo ke gen gro riches nan kiltive la te.

Leta pran resposabilitel pou chanje politik agrikol nan peyi a.

Ankouraje plante yo, rebwaze peyi a, sekte prive a dwe envesti nan agrkilti fe gran plantasyon oubyen gwo jaden konsa grangou ka fini nan peyi Ayiti.

Mirlande Louis, Agronomist, Haiti

I am an agronomist. I completed my classical studies in Haiti and then received an agriculture degree in the Dominican Republic at the University of Santo Domingo. My belief in God and Christian faith led me to work for L’Eglise des Freres d’Haiti [the Church of the Brethren in Haiti] in a program called income generation as part of the community development work of the Haiti Medical Program. In my community work, I always start with a moment of prayer to encourage participants to trust in God, to show them various ways they can change their economic and social lives. I always teach them to be positive that they can change their living conditions.

How is the situation with hunger in Haiti, and why are there people hungry in your country? What is causing the famine in Haiti?

Haiti is an agricultural country, but the people lack education. They don’t understand the riches that can come from the soil. They are discouraged from planting in some cases. There are many causes of hunger in the country.

People who want to work in the field do not have enough money to cultivate a field, which means that they are limited to small backyard gardens, often not providing enough sustenance for a family. There are no large farms to provide food for the population.

The state does not take responsibility to help farmers, as there are no agricultural banks or seed banks. People lack technology to increase from small-scale agriculture to large-scale production. Lack of credit and quality seed sources causes great hunger in the country.

How is it that there are agricultural families or families who have farms but do not have enough food to eat?

Many of the families in Haiti who are agricultural families have only backyard gardens, meaning they plant small gardens that can’t meet the needs of the family. At planting time they lack money, because agriculture has many input costs including land rental fees for farming. Haitians who have more money don’t often invest in farming. The poorest families have small farms that cannot respond to the amount of food needed for these families. They never have enough food to eat.

What do you see as barriers to poverty?

In all countries or societies there are always rich people. There are also poor people, because of poverty. There are many barriers for a poor person, for example:

• Spiritual—when a person has a negative spirit and does not trust in God.
• Education—coming from a very poor and underdeveloped family, lacking education.
• Psychological—when a person comes from a poor country, he may not make much effort to change his life.

What is the connection between environmental degradation and/or climate change and hunger?

The degradation of the environment is produced by the misuse of land as we farm, by the misuse of resources, by industrial development to name a few.

Climate change is the product of environmental degradation that gives birth to hunger and starvation because with climate change many farmers will not plant crops as they are not guaranteed enough rain for successful harvests. Other problems from environmental degradation include susceptibility to plant and people diseases, fewer varieties of endangered species and more hunger in the world. We can say environmental degradation gives rise to climate change and finally it increases hunger.

Are there any connections between the Haitian government or international politics and hunger in your country?

Each solution always corresponds to a different problem. Hunger in Haiti is the product of many facts that we must analyze properly.

Haitians do not use resources well. Our population is growing. Agricultural families do not have a guide to help them with new technology. There are no agronomists to visit their fields, as they stay mainly in their offices.

Haiti is a major customer for many countries in the world because Haiti lacks its own products. The importation of agricultural products allows many countries to gain the advantage of creating markets with Haiti. For example, if the Haitian market were closed to the Dominican Republic for one month, it would hurt Dominican producers. Other countries enjoy many advantages in trade with Haiti. The Haitian people must take their destiny into their own hands to work to improve their living conditions.

Was there more or less hunger now than 20-30 years ago?

From time immemorial, famine has always existed—if we take the time of Esau and Jacob—but each year the famine increases. There are more mouths but fewer fields being planted. Prices have increased in the last 30 years.

Do you have any inspiring stories of hope in people or communities, whether out of poverty or now thriving?

I will tell the story of a young man in the community where I have been working for over five years. This brother is a person who walked into one of the Brethren churches when his economic situation was very difficult. One day he asked to participate in my program, which is income generation. I gladly accepted him, and he came to the trainings. It didn’t take long for him to start a business with some value-added transformations of agricultural and chemical products. He learned to prepare corn wine, enriched peanut butter, liquid soap, and household cleaner, and how to do business, to name just a few skills. He started his own small business with 1,750 gourdes (approximately $200 US dollars) that he borrowed from his school money to prepare liquid soap for sale. He was afraid to do so, but he risked it saying, “If I don’t sell it, where will I get the money to pay for school?” God blessed the business. After three years, he was testifying in another community, and he said that he had a business valued at 1 million gourdes (over $10,000 US dollars). “I have already bought land to build my house for more than 500,000 gourdes ($5,000 dollars). I say thank God I succeeded; my economic condition changed.”

What is the solution to end hunger in Haiti?

Training the people to show them that there are great riches in cultivating the land.

The government has to take responsibility for changing the country’s agricultural policy.

Encourage farming and reforestation.

The private sector must invest in agriculture or large farms so hunger can end in Haiti.