Revitalization of Agriculture: The Lever for Eradicating the Food Crisis in Haiti

Socioeconomic Context of Agricultural Development in Haiti

To address the issue of the food crisis in Haiti, it is essential to review the economic and social development throughout the history of this country. This analysis could fill several chapters, but I will focus on the main points in order to better understand the subject at hand, namely: “the revitalization of agriculture and the food crisis in Haiti.” Indeed, it is important to take this retrospective look at the situations Haiti has experienced, as we cannot envision a better future without a deep analysis of the historical events that are the root of the extreme poverty that currently prevails there. And as many have rightly said: "It is essential to recognize one's past in order to better project one's future."

Haiti is the result of the most deadly holocaust in human history. From the conquest of the island of “Hispaniola,” its first inhabitants were exterminated by Spanish colonists in order to seize its wealth of natural resources: precious metals, bauxite, and the great fertility of the land for sugarcane production. Haiti was thus immediately dubbed “the Pearl of the Antilles.” The extermination of Haiti’s first inhabitants gave rise to the transatlantic triangular trade, through which millions of African slaves were chained and deported to Hispaniola to replace them. Between 1502 and 1794, more than one hundred thousand African slaves were exploited by just ten thousand white colonists. That being said, the Western world, now known as the international community, was the first to lay the foundation for the atrocity of inhumane conditions and the precarious economic and social situation that Haiti has faced throughout its entire history.

Furthermore, the wealth of the island attracted French pirates to settle there around the 1630s. Haiti was thus occupied by the French in 1665. The Spanish and the French reached an agreement through the Treaty of Rijswijk in 1697 to divide the island into two parts: the eastern part became the "Dominican Republic" (then called "Saint-Domingue"), the property of Spain, and the western part became Haiti, the property of France. Both parties enjoyed the wealth of the country until the War of Independence.

It wasn't until 1791 that the most significant slave uprising occurred, following the current of the French Revolution of 1789. This revolution led to the abolition of slavery in 1794. Haiti then became the first independent Black Republic on January 1, 1804. But to everyone's great surprise, the main leader of the War of Independence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, was assassinated in 1806 by his own colleagues, after distributing parcels of land to certain citizens for agricultural exploitation. This barbaric act brings us to the conclusion that the agrarian question has always been at the heart of the food crisis that has ravaged the country since its independence. The assassination of Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the last straw: Haiti was plunged into violence and political instability. Unprecedented armed struggles, civil wars between blacks and mulattos, and a plethora of 7 ephemeral presidents within a 5-year span (1910-1915) promoted this disastrous political culture that ruined the country’s human capital and value system as a whole, thus placing Haiti on the margins of economic and social progress.

From 1915 to 1934, Haiti became the prey of American occupation, and its economy continued to depend on external forces. In fact, since the 19th century, the country has been controversial in terms of foreign investment. It was exploited by the French who, instead of investing in the development of industry, trade, and agriculture to consolidate a sustainable economic system, developed a usurious economy in the form of state loans and interest-bearing bonds.

Despite the thirteen years of liberation struggle (1791-1804) that devastated the country's economic foundations (agriculture), its economy faced the worst destruction in the 20th century. Two fundamental crises plunged it into chaos from the end of the War of Independence, causing the harmful consequences Haiti faces today.

First, an internal crisis characterized by the lack of will and manifest sensitivity of political decision-makers, the brain drain leading to a shortage of human capital, and the weakness of the ephemeral governments that succeeded one another without any societal project, any plan, or agricultural development program, or even a well-defined economic and development policy model.

Secondly, a structural crisis that hinders any progress in political life and economic and social development. This crisis is marked by the weakness and lack of an institutional framework focused on a democratic system. From the beginning of its history, Haiti was off to a bad start, and since the early 20th century, the agricultural, economic, and social development plans put in place have only resulted in a survival-type, para-feudal economic structure, the outcomes of which cannot meet the real needs of the population. To all this, we must add other forms of internal struggles, including rivalries between different groups funded by wealthy countries for the sharing of feudal rents and the control of state institutions; the struggle between Europe and the United States for control of the country (Doura, F. 1995).

The First World War marked a decisive turning point in the economic and social progress of Haiti. This war, which became the main concern of Europe, left Haiti on the margins of development strategies. The United States took advantage of this situation to make Latin America and the Caribbean their strategic and internal security zone. However, instead of laying the foundations for a solid democratic structure in the country, they relied on its structural weakness to defend their political and economic interests by installing military forces there. In fact, as many recall: "The American occupation placed Haiti in a position of increasing subordination and colonial economic dependence." It also placed the country in a position of neo-colonial economic dependence on the American market, American capital, and the geopolitical strategy of the United States in the Caribbean (Doura, 1995).

After the withdrawal of the Americans, a plethora of ephemeral governments passed through, eventually leading to 29 years of Duvalier dictatorship (1957–1986). The Duvaliers consolidated their power by gathering around them feared militias, "the Tontons Macoutes," who acted as a counterbalance to the Haitian armed forces (which had been structured up until then). This dictatorship, which lasted 29 years, fostered a clientelist political culture among the majority middle class, in contrast to the enormous privileges granted to the minority and mediocre political elite.

Since the fall of the Duvalierist regime in 1986, no government has been able to lay the foundations for rural development, democracy, or economic and social development in Haiti. The partisan political elite, accustomed to political demagoguery, chose to multiply political parties that claim to have solutions to the country’s problems, each heading toward its own solution instead of coming together in a consensus and national dialogue to establish new democratic governance for the country.

These politicians prefer to fight for power without any social projects, without any agricultural development programs, even though agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy. The presidential elections disrupted by the "Tontons Macoutes" and partisan gangs on November 29, 1987, the military coup that overthrew former President Lesly François Manigat in June 1988, and the endless cycle of military coups, highlight the inability of Haiti’s political elite to agree on structural and democratic foundations capable of ensuring good governance in Haiti and fostering the rational exploitation of the country’s natural resources for its economic and social development.

As we can see, Haiti, though currently besieged by crises of all kinds—political, economic, social, and food crises, etc.—symbolizes the liberation of humanity. It contributed to the free world; despite its leaders, carried away by the crisis of power, failing to take charge and govern the country on the basis of solid democratic, political, and economic governance that would ensure the development of the primary sector, the foundation of its wealth and economy. These leaders have been unable to capitalize on the interventions of the international community. In short, just like the colonists and their allies who feared freedom, Haitian politicians have been afraid to lay the foundations for agricultural development, democracy, and the rule of law.

Haiti indeed has a history of instability, political repression, bad governance, corruption, low spending on health and education, weak investment, and low productivity, all of which are at the root of its extreme poverty. There has never been a serious government attempt to provide basic services to the population or to create an environment in which poverty could be reduced. In particular, investments to increase agricultural productivity in Haiti are almost nonexistent.

[1] Fred Doura. Haiti, Central Plateau: Economy and Peasantry, CIDHICA, Quebec, 1995.

Dieufert Bellot, B.A.; B.Ed; M.P.A; Doctoral Candidate - Public Policy and Administration