Faith leaders urge USAID to channel more life-saving aid to Haiti through local Haitian organizations and farmers

Washington, DC. Faith in Action International, which has supported grassroots organizing in Haiti since 2014, welcomed USAID’s announcement today that it is sending an additional $56.5 million to Haiti to respond to the humanitarian crisis facing the Haitian people, but urged the agency to do more to channel its support through local Haitian organizations and farmers. Cholera is surging in Haiti (24,451 cases as of 1/16), and more than half of Haitians facing acute hunger.

With Haitians dependent on high-priced food imports, Faith in Action and its Haitian partner the People’s Organizational for the Development of Northeast Haiti (OPODNE) have been urging USAID to help Haitian farmers obtain high-quality seeds, affordable tools, irrigation, and support in adapting to climate change. On December 15, 2022, more than 1,100 religious leaders and people of faith wrote USAID Administrator Samantha Power asking her to respond to OPODNE’s petition, and work through local Haitian farmers in responding to rising hunger in Haiti.

“The solution to hunger in Haiti needs to include helping restore the ability of Haitians to feed themselves,” said Francois Pierre-Louis, Faith in Action’s Haiti Director. “We welcome additional life-saving aid to Haiti, but also urge USAID to do much more to channel assistance through local Haitian organizations and Haitian farmers. Haiti needs international support that relieves suffering, while also helping Haitians rebuild their country. We urge USAID to engage, listen to and support Haitian farmers in Northeast Haiti and across the country.”

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Faith in Action International is a global movement of people of faith working to create a world in which every person has access to clean water, food, decent work, quality health care and education, and a say over the decisions that shape their lives. Faith in Action has supported grassroots organizing in Haiti through the People’s Organization for the Development of Northeast Haiti since 2014, along with grassroots faith-based organizing in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Hungary, and Slovakia, and in 250 cities and towns and 24 states in the U.S. For more information visit www.faithinactioninternational.org.  

The People’s Organization for the Development of Northeast Haiti (OPODNE) is a Haitian-led grassroots faith-based organization working to empower Haitians to lead the development of their communities and country. OPODNE supports grassroots community-based organizations in 22 towns and villages across Northeast Haiti and has created a dozen local cooperatives to generate income for local residents and make other community improvements. Before launching its campaign, LET’S PLANT NOW SO WE CAN FEED OURSELVES TOMORROW, OPODNE listened to more than 4,000 local farmers to understand their challenges and priorities. OPODNE is led by Ms. Florcie Tyrell.