On Wednesday, May 6, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced it had received over US$16 million in funding from the Regional Humanitarian Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean to provide emergency food assistance to the most vulnerable households in the Artibonite, Centre, and West departments.

Faced with the urgent need to support local food production to combat hunger, this funding will support an emergency humanitarian intervention aimed at saving lives by rapidly reducing acute food insecurity. The FAO will distribute emergency food production kits, consisting of short-cycle seeds and small livestock, to restore the production and consumption capacity of 326,600 people experiencing acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and above) in the Artibonite, Centre, and West departments.

This innovative emergency approach combines fast-acting agricultural inputs with small-scale livestock farming (goats, chickens, ducks) to ensure, from the very first days, improved access for households to essential sources of protein and nutritious food. This is accompanied by technical support and follow-up visits to ensure optimal use of the inputs.

Designed to produce results in 90 days, sometimes less depending on the inputs, each kit covers the food needs of a family of five for nearly six months. These kits enable households to rapidly improve their access to food and produce edible food, thus ensuring their ability to regain food independence with dignity.

With the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, FAO will work directly with rural communities to ensure that the assistance provided quickly translates into effective access to food.

"The importance of these interventions lies in their ability to enable households to quickly meet their own food needs, regardless of the circumstances, while reducing the need for irreversible survival strategies. They thus help save lives while, in the long term, reducing dependence on external aid," emphasizes Pierre Vauthier, FAO Representative in Haiti.

HL/ HaitiLibre