Haiti - Agriculture : USAID alongside farmers to increase agricultural productivity
The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), joined forces with the Haitian Foundation for Sustainable Agricultural Development (FONHDAD), to establish a pea seed production program to give farmers Haitians sustainable access to improved pea seeds. With the support of USAID, FONHDAD introduced and distributed two varieties of high performance peas in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac region to increase agricultural productivity and food security in Haiti.
Like many small farmers in Haiti, Elie struggles every year to buy the quality seeds he needs to plant each farming season. Often he has no choice but to use the low yielding seeds available in the market. However, it has been proven that using high quality seeds is one of the essential ways to increase agricultural yields.
Through USAID's program, local farmers can purchase these high-yielding seeds and other inputs like fertilizer on credit and use a portion of their increased income to pay for seeds after harvest. "The production of high-quality seeds is the cornerstone of any successful agricultural program," says Kenel Cadet, Executive Director of FONHDAD, who has led agricultural extension activities in the Cul-de-Sac region since 2010.
"The difference was obvious" said Elie "With the improved seeds and technical assistance that I received from FONHDAD and USAID, I doubled my yield from 600 kg per hectare to 1,200 kg per hectare," he added. Higher yields mean more income for farmers and more peas sold in the market to feed Haitian families. Thanks to these improved seeds, participating farmers now earn $1,400 per hectare during the pea season, allowing them to feed their families, send their children to school and even reinvest part of their profits to make grow their farms
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, FONHDAD continued to help a network of over 100 farmers harvest a total of 50 tonnes of peas for a total value of US $215,000. FONHDAD also produced an additional 7 tonnes of high-yielding seeds which will be made available to farmers for the next planting season.
