Hunger Crisis through the Lens of Haiti

By Joel Malebranche

As we have seen in the recent news, the world food crisis is hitting all parts of the world.  Countries are running low on staple products such as rice and corn, which is causing prices to nearly double. Although U.S. consumers' object, to the price increases in sacks of rice from $7 to $10 for 20lbs, there are few options besides paying the price or going without certain foods. Americans living on limited resources will find themselves having to choose between feeding themselves and paying the rent. Many will have to rely on food banks or soup kitchens for their next meal. Still others stretch their food stamps as far as they can go.

While the situation in the United States is far from perfect - the National Hunger Hotline receives calls every day from people desperate for food - we are fortunate to have various community-based organizations throughout the country that provide valuable resources for those in need. However, when attempting to survive with only $2 a day of purchasing power and little to no social or governmental services, a 54% increase in the price of rice, leads to families going without food. This scenario is but one part of the situation in Haiti.

The first thing that comes to the mind of people unfamiliar with Haiti is that it's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The majority of the population is illiterate and there have been three coup d'états. There was a time where Haiti had a prosperous story, and the international community has to be held accountable for its recent change in narrative. For example, no one mentions its rich history as being the first African country to claim independence from its white French colonial slave masters (January 1, 1804). No one mentions its cuisine (unless they want to talk about mud cookies), artwork, music or landscape. You definitely won't get this if you've picked up a newspaper and read up on the world food crisis and how it's affecting Third World countries. Out of all the article headlines that have recently dominated the news concerning the world food crisis, the situation in Haiti seems to have captured the awareness of the average citizen. 

During a recent presentation on the hunger crisis in Haiti for my graduate course, someone made a dim-witted comment "Hey I hear they're eating mud over there.  Are they eating grass too?" This careless comment resonated within me, and I asked myself: why am I mad? The Western dominated media ignores its governments original initiation and continual aggravation of the current Haitian food crisis. And the oppressive history that leads into it is enforced by biased and demeaning representations of Haitians eating mud. It is true many impoverished Haitians currently have no choice but to eat "dirt cookies" to subside their hunger: however, making ends meet with just $2 dollars a day (70 gouds) can drive you to desperate measures. Desperate measures to quell the growling of your stomach and worse, your children's hunger.

The fact that Haitians are left with few choices has to do with not only the Haitian government, but also to actions of the international community. The food riots themselves are also a direct result of these dealings. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) writes that "Haiti has lost its food sovereignty as a result of decades of foreign-imposed neo-liberal measures." These neo-liberal measures started with Haiti's pig crisis, also known as Haiti's "great stock market crash", which took place in 1978.   This consisted of the "USAID eradication of the Haitian pig population following an outbreak of swine fever" (IRC). Haitian peasants considered pigs as collateral and the annihilation of them set them back. Soon after this occurred the ouster of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier left the Haitian government under U.S. military supervision who collaborated with then Finance Minister Lesly Delatour and opened Haiti's agricultural markets to U.S. producers.  This has had a lasting impact as Haiti is now considered the most "open" economy in the Western Hemisphere while also being considered the poorest.  This means that Haitian farmers that produce staple goods such as rice and corn are easily priced out by cheaper imported U.S. goods.  When you have a large portion of a population living on less than $2 a day, anything that comes at cheaper price is more readily purchased. A local vender named Linda Thibault explains, "You have to buy ‘Miami Rice' (rice imported from Miami). Do the math: if a bag of Haitian rice costs 150 goud ($4.28) and a bag of U.S. rice coasts 65 goud ($1.85), I can buy two bags of U.S. rice and still have money left over for the cost of Haitian rice. I am forced to fill my body with U.S. rice. My children can eat more."

With a staggering 54% rise in price of rice, many Haitians have taken to the streets burning tires, confronting UN peace keeping soldiers and demonstrating in front of the presidential palace.  The end result of the aforementioned conflict was the UN peace keeping troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the protests. These events were covered in the international media.  However, peaceful protests were not covered by the international media. One such event took place in Caivaillon, which is south west of the capital Port-Au-Prince. Peasant groups organized demonstrations "calling upon the government and the UN to end neo-liberalism and lower prices for rice" (IRC). Unions have also demanded the increase in the Haitian minimum wage to alleviate the issue of paying such a high prices for food. These peaceful intentions illustrate that Haitians are quite capable of voicing their views in a nonviolent manner contrary to the way that the media portrays the Haitian populace.

Currently, the Haitian government has come up with temporary solutions to better the situation.  The Haitian senate dismissed former Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis in hopes to change the mind set of the population.  President Rene Preval has also cut the price of rice by 15% in attempts to calm the recent protests.  While some might consider these legitimate solutions, they still cannot assuage the ire that the situation has caused within the frustrated population.

The hunger crisis has added to the already tumultuous political situation in Haiti. Haitian Political Activist Patrick Elie stated, "When something is coming your way all the way from Burkina Faso you should see it coming. What we had was like a can of gasoline that the government left for someone to light it."

It is difficult to find prudent yet uplifting solutions to problems that are so deeply rooted. It is the opinion of many within the Haitian citizenry, that in order to thrive again, they must rely on locally grown products rather than on imports. Unfortunately, this proves to be an arduous task, as Haiti imports 82% of its goods.  At a recent Haiti Food Crisis meeting headed by NYC Councilman Mathieu Eugene, it was concluded that the short term goal is to send food to Haiti and the long term goal is assist them in gaining sustainability through the input of an agricultural initiative. Haitians would argue that the government should address the issue of deforestation and lack of infrastructure to ameliorate rising food costs in a sustainable way. The agricultural push can create jobs for Haitians so they can afford the astronomical increases on prices of staples foods and focus more in local products rather than the now highly priced foreign goods.