Hope for Haiti restoring the soil

Posted - January 21, 2010

Hope for Haiti restoring the soil

By Adriana Michael

What happens when a country has no trees left and its soil has been depleted with intensive farming, a high density population and poor governance? Look at Haiti. Our hearts go out to the people of this Caribbean nation. The recent earthquake is the latest in a series of problems which have left the country in a very challenging position.

Haiti is part of a tropical island shared with the Dominican Republic. Its land and mountains were once covered with at least 60 percent lush rainforest. Now it is deforested with 9 million inhabitants, 80 percent of whom are unemployed or living in slums and extreme poverty.

A dramatic history, political oppression and government corruption, lack of literacy, a growing population concentrated in one small geographical area with no access to basic services and external debt, have turned Haiti into the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

Soil erosion is disastrous in this mountainous country. Haiti has no internal source of fuel except wood. For the past 200 years people have been cutting the trees of its rainforest without replanting. Currently over 98 percent of its land is deforested. With no trees, the remaining soil is washed away during the rainy season out into the Caribbean Sea.

Without its soil Haiti has also lost the means to feed itself and must import over two thirds of its food, while thousands of people in rural communities end up in Port-au-Prince with no work.

Providing water for the community is a major challenge. Only a few enjoy running water and sewerage systems.
The majority do not have access to potable water or toilets, leading to disease.

To get on its own feet, Haiti needs to be built on a new development model with a multi dimensional approach to solving its many problems. Where to start? Generating the structure to support sustainable agriculture is a solid base for long term positive social, environmental and economic change. Healthy soil retains and filters water resources, provides food and protects communities from flood and other natural disasters. Before the earthquake most funds from the continued international aid to Haiti focused on urban initiatives.

Knowing the causes of Haitian poverty is part of finding the right solutions. It helps people like us, the international organic community know where to focus our energies, resources, know