Brazil and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a trilateral cooperation, support Haiti in the revival of the cotton sector. A mission composed of FAO members, "Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária" (EMBRAPA) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) were also in Haiti at the end of July to work with the Government on the progress of this project. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25052-haiti-news-zapping.html

Currently, the project is in its final drafting stage and should be submitted to the government authorities for approval within the next two months, before official signatures committing the various institutions and partners involved in this project. The launch of the project is scheduled for the first quarter of 2019 and the first plantings in July of the same year.

If the revival of cotton production is done in good conditions, Hugh Locke co-founder of the Haitian cooperative (Gonaïves) "Smallholder Farmers Alliance" (SFA / Alyans ti Plantè) aiming to reintroduce cotton as export crop for Haitian small farmers, is convinced that the development of the cotton sector, together with marketing, could create in the next 5 years nearly 17,000 jobs in Haiti. He believes that in a few years, cotton could become Haiti's white gold and provide millions of pounds of organic cotton for shoes, shirts and other clothing sold in US stores, recalling that before the disappearance of this sector in Haiti in the late 80s https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24397-haiti-agriculture-towards-the-resumption-of-cotton-cultivation.html , cotton ranked 4th in Haitian agricultural exports.

Recall that following a joint feasibility study between Timberland "Impact Farming" and the Haitian cooperative SFA field trials, various varieties of cotton were grown according to biological principles and harvested successfully in Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16999-haiti-agriculture-study-on-the-reintroduction-of-cotton-as-an-export-crop.html

Cecilia Malaguti do Prado, General Coordinator of Trilateral South-South Cooperation with International Organizations in the CBA, said that the positive experiences of the return to cotton cultivation in some Latin American countries, such as the Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Paraguay suggest that such a move would also be successful in Haiti, stressing that cotton is very resilient and can grow in areas where growing food is difficult.

Adriana Gregolin, regional coordinator of FAO's Project + Algodón (Beyond Cotton), said that a preliminary analysis of the sector has established the existence of export potential in addition to the local market. She added that one of the main challenges to revive cotton production in Haiti is the supply of seeds and the training of specialists and producers for sustainable cotton cultivation.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24397-haiti-agriculture-towards-the-resumption-of-cotton-cultivation.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23595-haiti-agriculture-the-cotton-sector-could-create-nearly-17-000-jobs-in-5-years.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16999-haiti-agriculture-study-on-the-reintroduction-of-cotton-as-an-export-crop.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-8114-haiti-agriculture-positive-impact-for-the-sfa-cooperative-of-gonaives.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-6922-haiti-agriculture-south-south-agreement-of-$20-million-for-the-cotton-sector.html

SL/ HaitiLibre