More UN Help for Haiti
Caribbean NGOs call for unconditional debt write-off

By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – THE United Nations (UN) will provide a US$10.2 rescue package for Haitian farmers, as high food prices and food shortages in the wake of storms threaten to worsen malnutrition.

According to BBC Caribbean, the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) would provide this financing, which would support more than 240 000 small farmers in Haiti. They will receive agricultural inputs including vegetable and cereal seeds, manioc, sweet potato and banana plants.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that the agricultural rescue package is intended to boost local production this year and also next year, increase the availability of basic food products in the markets and strengthen food security in the wider population of that country.

The passage of tropical storm Fay and hurricanes Ike, Hanna and Gustav between mid-August and September devastated Haiti, leaving 800 people dead and causing flooding and deforestation, most notably in the city of Gonaives, which was almost completely submerged. Sixty percent of the country’s agricultural crops were destroyed as a result.

~~Adz:Right~~According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), an estimated 2.3 million Haitians are in need of food aid and that number could increase if the government were not given help to rebuild the agricultural sector. OCHA estimates that the country has only received $43M of the $106M that it needs for relief and recovery efforts.

The World Food Programme has reportedly distributed rations to more than a half million people, but many flood survivors complained that they have not received enough food.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean’s leading non-government organisations have called for an unconditional write-off of Haiti’s foreign debt, which currently stands at US$1.7B. Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, is required to spend approximately US$60-80M annually to service its debt payments.