Haiti - Covid-19 : The agricultural sector needs special measures
Agronomist Talot Bertrand, Specialist in Environmental Education, Secretary General of the non-profit association "Promotion for Development" (PROMODEV) in order to deal with the consequences of Covid-19 regarding availability on the local market believes that "[...] agriculture needs more resources to meet the needs of local consumption in order to ensure food security. In addition, it is the moment to revive the agricultural sector and enhance the Haitian peasantry in order to restore food sovereignty at the national level while putting Haiti on the path of the process of sustainable development [...]
Today there is the possibility of having thousands of direct jobs in the agricultural trades which is deprived of labor if the authorities in place wanted to prioritize an agricultural policy in synergy with the state of emergency sanitary.
People who are no longer active because of the Covid-19 and the State of Health Emergency measures must be called to join the agricultural sector in search of labor and resources as it is doing in France and in other countries [...]"
Agronomist Bertrand recommends that the Ministry of Agriculture "immediately recruit volunteers who will be made available to the comunal agricultural offices (BAC) for the benefit of farmers throughout the national territory. Because, "the peasants of the more or less isolated communal sections are totally forgotten in the current situation".
In addition, he asked the Government, via the Ministry of Public Health "to plan the implementation of a systematic screening policy by testing the farmers and all those who would be required to work in the fields or carry out an activity in rural areas, so that this workforce is not a vector for the spread of the coronavirus," adding that "At the same time the Ministry of Agriculture, in concert with civil society organizations, must put in place measures to safety and distance on farms."
