Haiti’s Food Crisis

“They’re not violent, just desperate. They just want to eat,” Brazilian Army Colonel Fernando Soares said in a recent Reuters article. “The problem is, there is not enough food for everyone.”

Two weeks after a devastating earthquake, Haiti is once again facing a food crisis. During the 2008 hurricane season, 70 percent of the country’s agricultural land was flooded and most of its roads and bridges were destroyed. Not only did Haitians lose most of their corn, bean, and banana harvest, but the lack of infrastructure resulted in pockets of severe food shortages. Over 800 people were killed and 3.3 million needed emergency food support.

Before natural disaster struck the country again this month, Haiti’s food supply was already in a precarious state. The Food and Agriculture Organization had declared the country the most malnourished and poverty-stricken country in the western hemisphere. To complicate matters, Haiti relies heavily on imported food. According to the World Food Programme, 48 percent of national consumed food is imported, 47 percent is produced locally, and food assistance meets the remaining 5 percent of the country’s needs. The earthquake severely damaged ports, roads, and other infrastructure that are critical to distributing food throughout the island.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive notes three key problems with food distribution. First, the spontaneity of the aid resulted in cargo planes delivering content that needed to be identified and labeled. Next, officials struggled to unload and store aid. And finally, the shortages of available trucks and sufficient gasoline – coupled with damaged infrastructure – have further hampered distribution efforts.

If food cannot reach Port-au-Prince, will individuals then leave the city in a desperate attempt to survive? An article in Food Safety News warns, “More than one million Haitians may run away from the Port-au-Prince section for the countryside in search of food and clean water, which could further strain struggling farms.” But even in other areas of Haiti where earthquake damage was less severe, how can imported food reach inhabitants?

While these questions are asked in the aftermath of the earthquake, they allude to the fact that Haiti’s insufficient infrastructure and emphasis on imported food has left the country in a perpetually precarious state. To solve this, aid agencies and the government need to do more than repair roads or distribute seeds. They need to create a comprehensive system of drainage canals to prevent future flooding, double the allocated amount in the country’s budget for food production, and change the long-standing practice of exporting textiles in exchange for importing food.