Almost five years after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, the country is trying to stabilise and expand its flagging economy.
To get the country moving forward, Haiti’s Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development Thomas Jacques has been using the catch phrase “Haiti is open for business” to attract investments.
Addressing regional agriculture ministers and stakeholders at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) in Paramaribo, Suriname, at the Chamber of Commerce on October 9, Jacques said Haiti was now wooing foreign companies to invest in three areas—agriculture, tourism and trade to stimulate economic development.
The CWA was partly sponsored by the Technical Centre of Agricultural and Rural Cooperation.
While Haiti is on the road to recovery, Jacques said some of its citizens still live on less than US$ 1 a day. The country remains one of the poorest in the Americas.
In the last two years, Jacques said Haiti was able to reduce its poverty rate from 32 to 24 per cent, but more needed to be done.
He said poverty and hunger can be eradication through strategic objectives.
“A new Haiti is coming back. We are confident that Haiti will become a strong nation again. Haiti will not be a problem but a solution with economic development,” Jacques said.
“The ministry of agriculture has created a new unit to help and guide investors coming into the country. If you don’t have a clear project, there are people who can help you put together a business plan.”
He also said if the investor has insufficient funds to start a business, the government can help with finances.
In the past, Jacques said, it took investors 110 days to register a business in Haiti, now it can be fast tracked in one to five days.
“We are trying to break down the barriers that have been blocking businesses and associations from setting up business in Haiti. It’s one way of making a smooth flow.”
Jacques said his ministry was working to improve food security, reduce poverty, reinforce family farms and promote agro industries.
For this to be achieved, he said infrastructure, irrigation and proper drainage are required.
He said his government also needed to provide a safety net for farmers.
“We are thinking of putting in place credit and insurance for farmers. We had discussions with the World Bank about insurance for farmers against drought, hurricanes and climate change. All this will help re-launch the sector. Investors will not invest if this is not in place.”
Although Haiti has 1,000,000 family farms, the country imports 50 per cent of the food it consumes.
Calls for skilled haitians to return home
According to Jacques, one of their major setbacks was attracting skilled nationals back home.
Droves of Haitians migrated to the Dominican Republic, Caribbean, USA and Canada before and after the 2010 earthquake.
“Fifteen years ago, the government did their best to attract professionals to come back. However, only 100 nationals returned. After working as consultants they wanted to leave. We need the expertise of these people to make it work. They are critical for our development.”
Ambassador of the Bahamas Godfrey Eneas said there were 50,000 Haitians in the Bahamas working in the construction and agriculture sectors.
Of the few investors they have attracted, including USA, Dominican Republic and Mexico, Jacques thanked Jamaica Broiler Group of Companies (JBC) for coming on board.
Two years ago, JBC established a large chicken farm equipped with a feed mill, hatchery and processing plant, costing US $10 million.
It also created jobs for hundreds.
Project manager of JBC Richard Sadler said the biggest challenge for Haiti was “dumped products” which retards the growth of the economy.
Some investments in haiti
In collaboration with the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), the IDB is supporting the government of Haiti to increase agricultural productivity for nearly 30,000 small-scale farmers in the north and north eastern part of the country through a Technology Transfer Program.
The IDB has financed the project with US $15 million, while the GAFSP has injected US $25 million.
The programme, which was launched in 2012 by Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, has facilitated access to improved seeds and modern agricultural technologies.
On October 10, Haitian firm Agritrans SA invested US$27 million to cultivate organic plantains exclusively for exportation. The Haitian government injected US $6 million into this project and plan to invest an additional US $15 million in the coming months to increase the plantation to two million banana trees.