Geography IGCSE - Haiti food shortages

Haiti location

An island in the caribbean sea which shares border with the Dominican Republic

Percentage of pop. with food insecurity

Around 50% need food aid

Agriculture employment

Employs around 66%, but only 20% of land is used productively

BP1 (causes)

Natural disasters → repeated shocks from earthquakes + hurricanes → destroy crops + infrastructure → e.g. 2010 earthquake killed 220,000 people → devastated farmland + storage facilities → 2021: 7.2 magnitude quake + Tropical Storm Grace days apart → flooding, landslides + crop loss → wiped out irrigation systems, roads + livestock → long term drop in food supply

BP2 (causes)

Reliance on food imports → undercuts local agriculture + worsens insecurity → since 1990s, import tariffs slashed → cheap foreign rice flooded market → local farmers couldn’t compete → Haiti now imports 80% of its rice → discourages domestic farming → erosion of self sufficiency → increases vulnerability if trade is disrupted → e.g. war, shipping costs + global food shortages

BP3 (causes)

Political instability → weak governance limits investment in agriculture + disaster response → poor infrastructure + limited subsidies → farmers can’t recover after disasters → e.g. after 2021 earthquake, government failed to restore irrigation → farmers left unsupported
→ frequent leadership crises → e.g. president assassinated 2021 → delays aid → discourages long term solutions

BP1 (strategies)

Investment in climate resilient farming → Haiti highly vulnerable to natural disasters → e.g. 2021 earthquake + Tropical Storm Grace → crop losses are frequent + devastating → strategies → e.g. raised bed farming, drought resistant crops can minimise damage → FAO introduced resilient rice strains in Artibonite region → led to 20% higher yields despite erratic weather

BP2 (strategies)

Support local food production through subsidies + training → 50% of Haitians rely on agriculture for income → but lack tools + knowledge → NGOs → e.g. World Vision run farmer field schools → train 15,000+ smallholders in composting, pest control + water efficient methods → empowers local farmers → increases food availability + reduces reliance on expensive imports → 80% of rice is imported

BP3 (strategies)

Improve infrastructure + market access → poor roads + storage mean food rots before sale → 30 - 40% of harvests lost post - harvest in rural Haiti → investment in rural roads + cold storage → e.g. USAID funded cold chain projects in 2020 → reduces waste → ensures more food reaches markets + improves farmer incomes

BP1 (Effects)

Chronic food shortages ➝ families can’t afford balanced diets ➝ in Port-au-Prince, child malnutrition rates are severe → 1 in 5 children stunted due to lack of nutrients ➝ leads to long term health problems → weakened immune systems → greater risk of disease outbreaks ➝ e.g. cholera + diarrhoea ➝ strains healthcare system already lacking doctors + medicine

BP2 (Effects)

In rural Léogâne, farming is main income source → when crops fail, households lose both food + income ➝ farmers sell livestock or migrate to cities → reduces rural labour supply → lowers agricultural productivity further ➝ after 2021 earthquake + Tropical Storm Grace, large areas of farmland in Léogâne were destroyed → families forced to rely on aid
➝ traps families in a poverty cycle

BP3 (Effects)

Food shortages force families to prioritise survival over education → children withdrawn from school to work or search for food → attendance dropped sharply after 2021 disasters → many schools closed as children went hungry → increases tensions in urban areas → protests + unrest over high food prices → e.g. riots in Port-au-Prince, 2008 + 2019