Haiti: Grassroots leaders press for changes in agriculture investments at General Assembly
On Saturday, August 29, more than 400 grassroots leaders from 74 communities, along with local mayors, public officials, and religious leaders, gathered for OPODHA’s Seventh General Assembly in Trou-du-Nord, Haiti.
The main focus was OPODHA’s We Plant Today So We Can Feed Ourselves Tomorrow campaign to fight hunger by helping smallholder farmers increase their productivity. The campaign is a template for changing how development is carried out in Haiti. And it is gaining momentum.
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At the General Assembly, OPODHA members pledged to keep organizing to bring needed agricultural investment to their communities and asked public officials to join their effort.
The good news is that the Departmental Directors of Agriculture from the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture for the two regions where OPODHA works participated in the General Assembly and expressed strong support for the Smallholder Farmer Platform that OPODHA and other Haitian organizations created in April. The Directors agreed to incorporate 9 of 13 elements of the platform – including water management and seed banks – into their plans.
The challenging news is that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has not agreed to incorporate their recommendations into the design of the bank’s $44.2 million agricultural project for the region.
OPODHA and its allies want to improve the project, not kill it. They’re committed to pressing their case to the IDB Board so that its investments reach smallholder farmers and address their need for irrigation, quality seeds, tools, and affordable credit. They know that Haiti cannot move forward unless local communities are included in development decisions.
