ReliefWeb

to assist
384 500 people

FAO requires
USD 24 million

period
January – December 2019

If timely livelihood assistance is not provided, the food security situation of vulnerable families will further worsen.

In a context of economic fragility and socio-political tensions, the successive shocks that have recently affected Haiti – natural disasters, epidemics and population displacements – combined with structural weaknesses limiting access to basic services, have significantly aggravated the population’s chronic vulnerability, reducing their resilience while increasing the level of poverty.

Objectives

FAO is working with partners of the Food Security Cluster to:

• Strengthen and restore the livelihoods of vulnerable people.

• Enhance the capacities of government institutions in disaster and risk prevention and management, as well as response and coordination mechanisms

Activities

Support agricultural and livestock production seeds, tools and fertilizers | irrigation systems | vaccinations | incomegenerating activities | training

Strengthen national capacities
monitoring and early warning system | disaster and risk management | response coordination mechanism

Impact on food security

In 2018, Haiti suffered a period of severe drought, floods and an earthquake, while still facing cholera, diphtheria and malaria, a migration crisis and recurrent protection issues. The successive shocks and frequency of natural disasters, combined with structural weaknesses that limit access to basic services, have significantly increased the vulnerability of populations in a highly fragile socio-economic and political context. This has contributed to the degradation of livelihoods and living conditions of the most vulnerable populations in Haiti who are often affected by one or more crises at once. The 2018 spring agricultural season was affected by drought linked to the El Niño phenomenon in several areas of the country, including the departments of Grand’Anse, Nord, Nord-Est, Ouest and Sud, and potentially the departments of Artibonite, Centre, Nippes, Nord-Ouest and Sud-Est. This has resulted in a reduced production of the main crops – haricot beans, maize and sorghum – severely affecting the food security and income of Haitians whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. Households’ purchasing power has also been affected by the increase of staple food prices, the depreciation of the Haitian gourde and the high inflation throughout 2018, undermining vulnerable families’ ability to access food and leading to the adoption of negative mechanisms.

The probability of an El Niño event during the first three months of 2019 along with the factors described above will likely contribute to the deterioration of the situation, particularly in Sud and Nord-Ouest, characterized by the prevalence of acute food insecurity and high levels of global acute malnutrition if adequate livelihood assistance is not provided.