forwarded by Jacqui Labrom voyageslumierehaiti.com
Good comments and ideas.
Jacqui Labrom
From: HUGH LOCKE / SMALLHOLDER FARMERS ALLIANCE <hlocke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Dear Jacqui,
There is a tidal wave of righteous anger pulsing through the social
fabric of Haiti. For months the population has borne the increasing
burden of corruption, rising inflation, shortages of fuel and a scarcity
of food. Now citizens from all persuasions and walks of life, in major
cities throughout the land, have responded by bringing the entire
country to a standstill. Removal of President Jovenel Moïse by any
means is their rallying call, and a fundamental change in the governance
of the country is their goal.
Public protest in Haiti has always been loud, messy and sometimes
violent. Mistrusting the political process and the ballot box, large
numbers of Haitians resort to roadblocks and mass demonstrations to make
themselves heard by the authorities. These forms of protest start out
peacefully for the most part, but all too often disruptive elements
infiltrate the crowds and incite violence that benefits their own
political, commercial or criminal agendas. And in all fairness, emotions
are running so high that some of the recent outbreaks of violence have
been spontaneous and not by nefarious design.
In the past month, the combination of roadblocks and demonstrations has
taken a heavy toll on people and property. Schools have been closed for
weeks. Just a few days ago militants began carrying out their threat of
closing government offices, literally cordoning their entrances with
chains and padlocks. Except for a few street vendors, many businesses
are closed or are continually on standby, ready to shut down as
demonstrations draw close. Other businesses have been burned or looted.
While the motivation behind weeks of protest may be to force the hand of
those in power, the net result to date is an economy on life support and
a country that is paralyzed.
COULD THIS BE THE FUTURE OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN HAITI ONCE WE GET
THROUGH THE CURRENT CRISIS? PHOTO CREDIT: A.F. CORTES/SFA.
As the co-founder of an NGO that works with around 6,000 smallholder
farmers throughout Haiti to plant trees and improve agriculture, there
are two things of which I am certain. First, that our organization is
irrevocably committed to Haiti's future and we will weather the current
round of trials and tribulations. Second, I believe there is no role for
the majority of NGOs in resolving the current situation. Yes, we have a
responsibility to ensure the safety of our staff on the ground and to
continue to serve the community as best we can under the circumstances.
But our most important contribution is to be on standby to help reboot
our respective sectors once the dust settles and a new norm takes hold,
whatever that might look like.
In the face of dwindling resources, increased needs and fewer NGOs still
standing, I would like to suggest that the best thing the NGO community
can do in preparation for resuming normal operations is to seek out new
models of working together, including closer cooperation with the
government ministries that have ultimate responsibility and oversight in
the areas in which we function.
It is time to present the concerned public outside of Haiti with
something other than business as usual once the NGOs resume work. To
this end I am suggesting an all out effort to forge new partnerships
among the NGO community that combine our respective strengths so that
together we can become more effective agents for greater and more
sustainable change.
Several outstanding NGOs have already been doing this to great effect,
so this is by no means an original idea. But let me share three examples
with which I am familiar and which have given me hope that this approach
isn't only possible, but brings tremendous benefits with it.
Some months ago the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), of which I
am co-founder with Haitian agronomist Timote Georges, began research
into the design and outfitting of a new facility to process
smallholder-grown moringa, called by some a "miracle tree" because of
its unusual nutritional properties. By chance we discovered that the
Acceso Haiti [3] group was doing exactly the same thing. Normally the
response would have been to batten down the hatches, get our design
together first, and then beat the other side to any grant money that
might be available to construct the facility. Instead, our two
organizations formed a partnership to jointly research the design of the
facility. And once we are both operational, we have agreed to function
as a consortium and jointly fulfill any contracts for the sale of
smallholder grown and processed moringa products.
The second example is a new project that is still in the planning
stages. Last month Timberland launched a program to plant 50 million
trees around the world over the next five years. This includes the SFA
planting trees in Haiti, and Las Lagunas Ecological Park planting trees
in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The SFA and Las Lagunas have
decided to combine forces through a new partnership that will shortly
include the Ministries of Environment from both countries.
The resulting Hispaniola Cross Border Forest Initiative (working title)
will engage smallholder farmers in planting a new forest of
approximately 200 hectares (500 acres) on the Haiti side of the border.
This new forest will be twinned with a smallholder-led restoration of a
corresponding area of depleted forest on the Dominican side. The goal is
to implement a new and replicable agroforestry model for large scale
reforestation and forest restoration which aims to restore biodiversity
in both areas. We also hope that a common environmental project will
help ease historic tensions between the neighboring countries.
The final example I would like to share is one with possibly the
greatest potential as a new pathway for collaboration. The SFA recently
begun a partnership with the Raising Haiti Foundation in which our
respective models--the SFA's agroforestry approach that combines tree
planting by smallholder farmers with improving agriculture, and Raising
Haiti's emphasis on grass roots organization, higher education and
economic opportunity--have been integrated to allow a more comprehensive
engagement in the rural communities in which we are both present.
Raising Haiti has now taken this partnership to a new level by adding
the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas (PTPA). This group links
Catholic parishes, institutions, and individuals in North America with
parishes and institutions in Haiti (as well as elsewhere in the
Caribbean and Latin America). The ink is only just dry on this expanded
partnership, but it has significant potential for aligning our
complementary development methodologies as well as pooling our financial
resources. We are calling ourselves the RSP Coalition (Raising Haiti,
SFA, PTPA). Stay tuned for regular updates! *
Regards,
HUGH LOCKE
President, Smallholder Farmers Alliance [7] + Impact Farming [8]
* to find out about community twinning opportunities with the RSP
Coalition, please contact Mary Sue Carlson at marysusancarlson@xxxxxxxxx
See what's happening on our social sites
Smallholder Farmers Alliance, c/o Cabinet Sales, 62, rue Geffrard,
Pétion-Ville, Haiti
--
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