From left, Paolo Silveri, IFAD Country Director for Haiti and Gilbert Houngbo, IFAD Managing Director.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti--On Tuesday, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Haiti signed a financing agreement for the execution of the Inclusive Blue Economy (I-BE) project. This project will help preserve the Three Bays Protected Area by providing economic opportunities for smallholder farmers and artisanal fishers living in the northeast of the country.
The project, which will be executed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, represents a total investment of US $26.6 million (including $14 million invested by IFAD). It will benefit 40,000 people who live in the five municipalities of the protected area (Limonade, Caracol, Fort Liberté, Ferrier and Terrier Rouge), as well as the two neighbouring watersheds of Trou-du-Nord and Terrier Rouge. Particular attention will be paid to women and young people (respectively 50 and 40 per cent of beneficiaries).
Initially, the project will strengthen the capacities of the National Agency for Protected Areas of Haiti ANAP and facilitate the adaptation of national legislation in favour of artisanal fishing and its sustainability.
Paolo Silveri, IFAD Country Director for Haiti points out that the region’s “poverty and malnutrition rates and poor fishing and agricultural practices, such as the use of fine-mesh seines, the anarchic slaughter of trees for charcoal production, slash-and-burn agriculture and the lack of soil preservation techniques, are depleting marine and terrestrial resources, threatening their sustainability and posing worrying risks to the country’s food security in the medium term.
“The project will help regulate these practices, thereby reducing pressure on natural resources, and diversify food production by encouraging good practices in small-scale animal husbandry, vegetable growing, honey and salt, and the management of mangrove forests. It will promote a more sustainable use of wood as a fuel for cooking by offering training in charcoal production techniques and the improvement of domestic ovens.
“By refining fishing and salt production techniques, the I-BE project will create synergies that will improve fish processing and marketing. Thus, it will be possible to sell properly salted, dried and smoked fish not only in the zone, but also in other regions of the country. At the same time, by improving small-scale livestock farming techniques and vegetable production, beneficiary families will improve their diets and earn additional income.
“The best way to help Haiti’s small-scale farmers and artisanal fishers progress and contribute to the country’s food security is to provide them with the means to carry out their economic activities in a sustainable way, in a way that does not force them to deplete resources. to survive,” said Silveri.
The lessons learned from the I-BE project could potentially serve as a basis for the sustainable management of the other 24 protected areas in Haiti.
Since it began its work in Haiti nearly 45 years ago, IFAD has invested in 11 projects representing a total of approximately US $290 million (of which nearly US $140 million was invested by IFAD), which have benefited more than 100,000 rural families. IFAD’s portfolio in Haiti includes strong strategic alliances with financial partners such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Green Climate Fund. Over the past year, IFAD has stepped up its engagement in Haiti through five new operations. Given the country’s great fragility, all IFAD investments in Haiti are made in the form of grants. ~ HL/HaitiLibre ~
