Haiti – USAID PL 480 Title II Multi-Year Assistance Program
Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods
On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a major earthquake. ACDI/VOCA's efforts in the country have expanded to include relief and recovery efforts. There is more information about our work in this role here.
ACDI/VOCA and the Bureau de Nutrition et Développement (BND) are using a three-pronged, integrated approach to improve food security in Haiti’s Southeast Department, one of the country's least food-secure regions with high child stunting rates, inadequate prenatal care and high poverty levels.
The three-pronged approach promotes sustainable livelihoods, improves the health and nutrition of women and children, and develops an early warning system as part of the five-year PL 480 Title II Multi-Year Assistance Program for Haiti funded by the USAID Office of Food for Peace.
Over the life of the project (2008 to 2013), ACDI/VOCA and BND expect to reach 72,750 men, women and children living in Haiti’s southeast region. Approximately 16,740 households will receive health and nutrition training; 14,550 households will receive food aid; and 24,000 beneficiaries will receive agricultural support.
The program reduces vulnerability to food insecurity by integrating three strategies:
BND is a local organization with more than 20 years of food security program experience in Haiti.
Sustainable Agriculture, Off-farm Livelihoods
Before the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the program’s priority livelihood interventions included better agricultural production and post-harvest handling coupled with improving natural resource management, strengthening producer associations, increasing farmers’ access to financial resources and markets, and diversifying economic opportunities to include nonagricultural activities.
In response to the earthquake, ACDI/VOCA field staff identified a more immediate need for farmers in cash and seeds and developed a unique mini-grants program to fill that gap.
Cash, Seed Mini-grants
Based on a 2010 Emergency Market Mapping Analyses (EMMAs) of the bean and labor markets in Southeast Haiti (pre- and post earthquake), ACDI/VOCA found that many farmers lacked funds for soil preparation due to increased costs from the influx of relatives displaced by the earthquake.
As a result, ACDI/VOCA rolled out mini-grants for improved seeds and cash transfers to vulnerable farmers to help them pay for land preparation for the upcoming planting season. Thanks in part to donations from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and Save the Children, ACDI/VOCA was able to reach 3,940 farmers in Anse à Pitre, Bainet, Belle-Anse, Côtes de Fer, Grand Gosier, La Vallée and Thiotte.
Better Agricultural Productivity
ACDI/VOCA continues to work with farmers to enhance their agricultural productivity. With the Ministry of Agriculture, the program has introduced farmers to a number of improved seed varieties such as the Arifi Wurifi, a new high-yield black bean variety; a short-cycle sorghum variety called RCV; and a short-cycle sweet potato.
ACDI/VOCA also has partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture’s leading yam specialist to conduct training on the miniset technique, a yam-seed preparation technique that allows the production of more yams from a single tuber.
The improved seeds and techniques should facilitate the rapid multiplication of beans, sorghum, sweet potatoes and yams throughout the Southeast, increase local availability of quality seeds during planting seasons, and bolster food security and long-term sustainability.
ACDI/VOCA also introduced new planting techniques for vegetables such as eggplant, chili pepper, sweet pepper, cabbage, tomatoes and carrots, and new technologies and management practices such as tree grafting, vermin-composting and coffee berry borer traps, to improve both the diet and finances of families.
Diversified Livelihoods
As part of its livelihoods diversification strategy, ACDI/VOCA supports a fishermen’s association called Association des Pêcheurs de Brésilienne in a pilot intervention to increase the association’s fish-catching capacity by using a value chain approach. The pilot project focuses on each aspect of the fishery value chain (fish catching, cold storage, processing and marketing) to improve the association’s revenues and build its capacity.
ACDI/VOCA also supports the production of quality handicrafts in Côtes de Fer in the form of sisal angels.
The program further aims to develop mutual solidarity groups (MUSOGs) within targeted communities to establish safety nets, encourage savings among groups and eventually introduce them to more formal financial institutions to increase their access to credit. A total of 10 MUSOGs have been created and have established an overall portfolio of 283,481 HTG (US$7,087).
To date, the livelihoods intervention has reached a total of 9,356 households.
Enhanced Mother-Child Health, Nutrition
The program’s health and nutrition interventions link the most vulnerable and underserved communities to health and nutrition services and provide training on health and hygiene practices, especially for mothers and children.
ACDI/VOCA and BND carry out a food distribution program aimed at vulnerable mothers and children. The food distribution is mainly preventive and follows the preventing-malnutrition-for-children-under-two approach (PM2A), which aims to distribute food to children, ages 6-23 months, and all pregnant and lactating mothers who live in vulnerable areas.
The food distribution program also provides recuperative rations for malnourished children ages 24-59 months. Each month, the children and pregnant and lactating women receive supplemental rations of nutritional, high-calorie wheat soy blend, corn soy blend and vegetable oil. ACDI/VOCA monitors the health of beneficiaries, weighs and vaccinates children, and provides nutrition services.
To date, a total of 11,616 children and 1,847 pregnant and lactating women have benefited from the nutrition program.
In coordination with the Ministry of Health, ACDI/VOCA and BND have extended the program’s outreach throughout the Southeast, delivering health services and distributing food through health centers and rally points in Anse á Pitre, Belle Anse, Côtes de Fer, Grand Gosier and Thiotte.
To ensure sustainability after food distributions end, staff will integrate beneficiaries into the program’s agricultural activities so they can learn new farming techniques as well.
Hygiene, Water Sanitation
To promote hygiene and sanitation, ACDI/VOCA and BND have constructed 58 latrines and tippy taps (hand-washing devices) in Anse à Pitre, Belle Anse and Grand Gosier and supported the creation of local water sanitation hygiene (WASH) committees in each communal section to support key messages of hygiene and sanitation.
Program staff also provide family planning supplies and family planning-related behavior change materials and training, as well as antenatal care and postpartum care visits.
Early Warning System in Southeast
The early warning system (EWS) is a monitoring tool for slow onset emergencies (e.g., droughts) and rapid onset emergencies (e.g., hurricanes). It assists communities to successfully identify and respond to shocks.
ACDI/VOCA has become the leader in developing a sustainable EWS for the Southeast designed to create linkages between local authorities, community leaders and the Comité National de Sécurité Alimentaire (CNSA).
ACDI/VOCA has spearheaded the creation of a joint food security observatory in the Southeast, which publishes Southeast early warning bulletins periodically. The Southeast early warning bulletins provide rainfall data, prices for selected markets, and relevant agricultural information as well as information from the Ministry of Health. They are published in collaboration with the Observatoire de la Sécurité Alimentaire du Sud-est (OSASE). The bulletins are available on CNSA’s website.
The project also has worked closely with Haiti’s Département de Protection Civile (DPC) to review and prepare emergency contingency plans with local authorities, key leaders and other nongovernmental organizations from different localities and communes. As a result, 148 localities now are covered by an EWS that is linked to a response system.
2010 Earthquake in Haiti
The Southeast Department in Haiti is relatively isolated from the rest of the country and, even before the 2010 earthquake, had limited access to resources. It also is fragile due to deforestation, poor soil conservation and exposure to flooding during the hurricane season.
The 2010 earthquake hit the region hard and further deteriorated conditions there.
ACDI/VOCA was able to contribute to immediate relief and recovery efforts through its existing program because of USAID’s funding flexibility. Consequently, ACDI/VOCA increased its support to farmers in the Southeast through its agricultural interventions and expanded the number of beneficiaries under its Maternal Child Health and Nutrition (MCHN) activities in the communes of Anse à Pitre, Belle-Anse, Côtes de Fer, Grand Gosier and Thiotte.
A total of 17,189 rural households have benefited directly from the current program.
ACDI/VOCA also received additional funding from USAID, including the Single Year Assistance Program, funded by the Office of Food for Peace, and the Haitian Opportunities Post-Earthquake, funded by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.
For more information, contact Ally Gillespie at agillespie@acdivoca.org.
Updated: 12/10
French version of profile (191 KB)
