UN Puts Together US$10 Million Agriculture Relief Package for Haiti

The United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are putting together US$ 10 million to rescue Haiti’s battered agricultural sector. High prices and food shortages in the wake of this year’s storms threaten to worsen malnutrition in the country. The government of Haiti estimates that recent hurricanes have caused at least US$500 million in losses.

In a press release, FAO said that about 240,000 smallholder farmers from the Caribbean nation will receive agricultural inputs including vegetable and cereal seeds, manioc, sweet potato and banana plants. In Haiti, smallholder farmers make up 80 percent of the agricultural workforce and many of them are facing severe under-nourishment. The aim of the agricultural rescue package is to have a quick impact on local production, increase the availability of basic food products in the markets, and strengthen food security in the population at large, FAO said.

IFAD’s US$10.2 million is being implemented through FAO’s recently-established initiative to combat the impact of high food prices by providing assistance to poor smallholder farmers in around 80 countries.

For more information, visit http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000944/index.html