Special Report: FAO/GIEWS Food Availability and Market Assessment Mission to Haiti, 23 May 2016

This FAO/GIEWS special report assesses Haiti's food availability and market conditions after the 2015-2016 El Niño-related drought. Prepared in May 2016 with information from official and partner sources, and with acknowledgements to MARNDR, CNSA, WFP and FEWS NET, it reviews the socioeconomic setting, agricultural production, food availability, market prices, the El Niño phenomenon, and the outlook for the main 2016 spring crop season. The report states that 2015 outputs of cereals, pulses and starchy roots fell by 28, 18 and 16 percent respectively from already drought-reduced 2014 levels, and that recent assessments estimated 1.5 million people as severely food insecure because of the drought. It also describes macroeconomic pressures, including gourde depreciation, inflation, weaker Petrocaribe financing and an unfinished electoral process. Remote-sensing data for the first 80 days of 2016 showed improved vegetative development compared with 2015, but rainfall remained erratic and below average. The report recommends protecting household purchasing power and supporting agricultural activities to mitigate drought effects and enable a return to normal production.