Saint Michel de l'Attalaye - Haiti
Agroforestry
Reforest'Action is partnering with Agrinotech to run an agroforestry project that is both socially meaningful and impact-generating.
2022 - 2023
Financé
Discovered in the 15th century by Christopher Columbus, the island of Hispaniola, comprising Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east, was originally 80% covered by a wide variety of trees. Today, Haiti is one of the most deforested countries in the world, with only 2% of the country's total surface area covered by woodland. In 2022 alone, deforestation in the country emitted 894,000 tons of CO2 equivalent. Today, facing extreme poverty, the rural population is forced to chop down trees to produce charcoal, the only fuel available in the absence of any national energy policy. Farming families are bearing the brunt of negative impacts resulting from forest ecosystem destruction: soil degradation and lower crop productivity, prolonged drought, water pollution and more.
Launched in May 2022, the project's final season ended in August 2023. The planting of a dozen different species, including tree species such as lemon and bitter orange, and native species including corossol, rabbi and mahogany, helped enrich the vegetable and cereal crops of volunteer farmers. Thanks to the mobilization of our project implementer and the active participation of local farmers, more than 535,000 seedlings were produced in the nursery and distributed to the beneficiaries, against an initial target of 515,000 seedlings. A monitoring work also made it possible to replace all the trees that had not survived during previous seasons. Since wood logging by the population is one of the main drivers of deforestation in Haiti, there is an urgent need to raise public awareness on climate change and on the devastating effects of forest cover loss. That is why eighteen "model plots" were set up during this season, enabling the organization of nearly 60 agroforestry awareness and training workshops.
Agrinotech stands for "new agricultural technologies". Agrinotech is a Haitian association specializing in the deployment of agricultural techniques conducive to the sustainable management of natural resources and the socio-economic development of local populations. Founded by a group of Haitian and American agronomists, Agrinotech focuses in particular on soil conservation and environmental preservation, as well as on training local producers in the latest sustainable farming methods.
