Haiti - Environment : 5 years of actions against desertification and drought
Since 2015, the Ministry of the Environment, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Haiti and the European Union have been working jointly within the framework of the implementation of the Haiti Component of the Project "Action against Desertification in Grand'Anse" for the restoration and sustainable management of land, with an emphasis on species providing non-wood forest products.
Funded by the European Union implemented by FAO in close collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment in the municipalities of Bonbon and Apricots. Thanks to the partnership established by FAO with 6 grassroots community organizations and 3 local NGOs, more than 760,000 seedlings of fruit, forest and fodder trees were produced. In addition, 15,000 honey seedlings were transplanted on 30 hectares of land to create an environment favorable to the development of beekeeping. In total, 1,485 hectares of land, belonging to 1,368 farmers, of which about 30% are female beneficiaries, have been restored in the two aforementioned municipalities.
As part of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (June 17) around the theme "Food. Feed. Fibers." It was an opportunity for the Ministry of the Environment and the FAO to reflect on the real impact of the actions implemented within the framework of the project and the areas for improvement to help communities adopt more resilient agricultural practices based on techniques for the sustainable management of natural resources.
During the videoconference celebrating this World Day, Abner September, the Minister of the Environment insisted on the importance of reducing the pressures on wood resources by changing our production and consumption methods "[...] It is crucial to encourage concrete, concerted actions geared towards effective management of natural resources, taking into account factors linked to climate change. In this context of globalization, the food we eat and the clothes we wear have an impact on land thousands of kilometers away from us. We all have a responsibility to protect these resources by simply changing our way of life to build community resilience, maintain the sustainable provision of ecosystem services and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on global poverty and insecurity food in Haiti [...]"
