(2019) Haiti - Emergency Response Plan (March-May 2019): Improving the Livelihoods of Drought-Affected People

Haiti Emergency Response Plan March–May 2019 Improving the livelihoods of drought-affected people Haiti Emergency Response Plan March–May 2019 Improving the livelihoods of drought-affected people Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2019 REQUIRED CITATION FAO. 2019. Haiti Emergency Response Plan, March–May 2019. Rome. 10 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 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Photo cover: ©FAO/Haiti Contents Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Situation analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 FAO’s strategic approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Targeted areas and beneficiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Planned interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 iii ©FAO/Haiti Overview to assist 330 000 people FAO requires USD 8.6 million period March–May 2019 (3 months) Haiti is regularly hit by extreme climatic events that have seriously increased vulnerabilities in the country, particularly in rural areas and among agriculture-based livelihood communities. Almost every year since 2014, Haiti has been affected by episodes of drought and erratic distribution of rainfall. Compounding the humanitarian situation were the devastating effects of Hurricanes Matthew (October 2016) and Irma (September 2017). Hurricane Matthew – the strongest since Felix in 2007 – had catastrophic impacts on the food security and livelihoods of communities living in the departments of Grand’Anse, Sud, Sud-Est and Nippes, destroying 100 percent of crops and affecting approximately 2.1 million people. Furthermore, although its eye was not directly on Haiti, floods and strong winds linked to Hurricane Irma damaged crops in the Nord-Est department. In 2018, severe drought resulted in a significant decline in agricultural production and households’ income. The high probability of an El Niño phenomenon in 2019 will likely increase the persistence of drought in parts of the country in the coming months. Moreover, an economic crisis triggered by a depreciation of the Haitian gourde has caused a significant reduction in households’ purchasing power, directly affecting their food security. As a result, the population has been protesting against the Government since 7 February 2019, hampering logistics, food production and the functioning of market systems. This has contributed to eroding vulnerable households’ resilience. 1 ©FAO/Haiti Situation analysis According to the last Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis (December 2018), about 2.6 million Haitians are expected to be food insecure during the lean season (March–June 2019) – twice as many people compared with the 2018 lean season. This figure represents about 38 percent of the rural population. 60% of crisis-affected people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods 55.2% of the population has adopted negative coping mechanisms According to the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan, the Food Security Sector is targeting 1.1 million people with USD 58.9 million. The emergency response is articulated around three priority objectives: 1. providing emergency food assistance to 571 000 vulnerable people; 2. restoring the livelihoods of 1.1 million vulnerable people; and 3. providing technical support on food crisis prevention and management. Projected food insecurity situation (March–June 2019) IPC acute food insecurity phase classification Nor th Atl an ti c Ocean Minimal Nord-Ouest Stressed Nord Nord-Est Crisis Emergency Famine L’Artibonite Areas with inadequate evidence Centre Gran d’Anse Ouest Nippes Sud Not analysed Ouest Carib bean Sea TH E D O M I NI CAN REPUBLIC Sud-Est 0 15 km Source: IPC, December 2018 The significant decline in food availability and agriculture-based income leads to increased staple food prices (+10 percent/year), decreasing food access for the most vulnerable households. This has been exacerbated by the continuous depreciation of local currency (+15 percent/year). The socio-political unrest experienced in the country since 7 February 2019 is in part a consequence of the loss of hope by the poorest segments of the population. 3 ©FAO/Haiti FAO’s strategic approach Without adequate and timely agricultural assistance, the food security situation will continue to deteriorate. Rationale The Ministers of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, and of Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights have requested FAO’s support to assist vulnerable rural populations, particularly female-headed households, during the 2019 spring agricultural season starting in April in order to restore their livelihoods and mitigate the impact of the crisis. Objective FAO plans to restore and strengthen the livelihoods and food security of vulnerable households through improved agricultural production, income and diet diversification, and cash-based transfers. Targeted areas and beneficiaries FAO will provide livelihood support to at least 30 percent of vulnerable households targeted under the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan, corresponding to 66 000 households (330 000 people). Priority will be given to seven departments with the highest proportion of people in IPC Phases 3 and 4 as follows: Nord, Nord-Est, Sud-Est, Centre, 4 | Haiti Emergency Response Plan 2019 Return on investment According to the evaluation of Nord‑Ouest, Grand’Anse and Ouest. Female-headed households and families with malnourished children under five, elderly people and/or people affected by chronic diseases will be prioritized. previous FAO interventions in Haiti, it is expected that investing USD 130 per household, including: • 15 kg of cereal and pulse seeds or 60 g of vegetable seeds • 800 cassava and sweet potato cuttings • technical assistance will generate: 2-3 months of food availability and USD 50–150 of income by selling part of the production Planned interventions FAO’s approach is to provide access to basic agricultural inputs (seeds, planting material and tools) to vulnerable households with access to land to quickly revive their production during the spring campaign – the main agricultural season that provides more than 60 percent of the country’s agricultural production. To enable vulnerable rural households without access to land to generate incomes, FAO will organize cash-forwork activities to rehabilitate assets and infrastructures to improve the resilience of rural communities against natural disasters. As a co-leader of the Food Security Sector Coordination, FAO will work in partnership with all other main stakeholders, to ensure synergies and complementarity to maximize the impact of interventions. The main planned activities are to: obtained 1. Provide seeds and planting material of early maturing and drought- resistant crop varieties to 30 000 vulnerable households, either through direct distribution or through subsidized vouchers and seed fairs. 2. Provide inputs and technical assistance for vegetable production and fish farming to 20 000 vulnerable households, of whom at least 60 percent are female-headed households. 3. Organize cash-for-work interventions (providing approximately USD 82/household) combined with technical support for the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices (erosion control, agroforestry, cleaning of irrigation canal, etc.), the rehabilitation of rural roads, etc., benefiting about 16 000 vulnerable households without agricultural land. 5 ©FAO/Haiti 6 | Haiti Emergency Response Plan 2019 Saving livelihoods saves lives Contact Nathanael Hishamunda FAO Representative Port-au-Prince, Haiti FAO-HT@fao.org Dominique Burgeon Director, Emergency and Resilience Division and Strategic Programme Leader – Resilience Rome, Italy TCE-Director@fao.org Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations © FAO, 2019 CA3648EN/1/03.19 www.fao.org/emergencies www.fao.org/resilience