Home

Haiti

UN alarmed at lack of global support for Haiti’s immediate agricultural needs

in

12 February 2010 – United Nations agencies voiced alarm today at the lack of global support for Haiti's immediate agricultural needs, such as seed and fertilizers to ensure food from the next planting season, while stressing that disaster mitigation techniques must figure fully in the country’s reconstruction from last month’s devastating earthquake.

“At a time when Haiti is facing a major food crisis we are alarmed at the lack of support to the agricultural component of the Flash Appeal,” UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf told a high-level meeting in Rome to coordinate UN efforts for the medium- and long-term recovery of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Haiti: UN agricultural agency kick starts irrigation clearing programme

in

8 February 2010 – The United Nations agricultural agency has launched a scheme for some 600 Haitians affected by the Caribbean country’s devastating earthquake to quickly clear irrigation canals in a bid to save this season’s bean and maize crops, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) announced today.

FAO is providing a small payment for each worker and 600 hand tools for the task that will remain the property of farmer’s organizations in the rural areas near Léogâne, the coastal city at the epicentre of the quake which struck Haiti on 12 January.

“For the farmers around Léogâne the earthquake could not have come at a worse time,” said FAO Emergency Coordinator in Haiti Alex Jones.

UN seeking support from donors to scale up cash-for-work initiative in Haiti

in

4 February 2010 – The United Nations is seeking to scale up its cash-for-work programme that is enabling Haitians to earn an income as they help their country recover from last month’s devastating earthquake, and the world body is calling on donors to help fund the vital initiative.

“The goal of the next few days is to ramp up the coverage, depending on the generosity of donors,” Jordan Ryan, Assistant Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), told a news conference.

UNDP coordinates the cash-for-work programme, which was identified as one of the priority activities in the early recovery agenda following the 12 January quake, which is estimated to have affected one third of the 9 million citizens of Haiti, already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

In Haiti, UN feeds thousands more with new food scheme aimed at women

in

1 February 2010 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is “cautiously optimistic” about a newly launched scheme that could provide rice to some 2 million Haitians over the next two weeks, and promises to cut down on the recent chaotic scrambles around food trucks as men, women and children pushed to obtain supplies.

“We have been very encouraged by how things have gone yesterday and today. There are a couple of small glitches like fraudulent coupons which are easy to identify. Nothing that cannot be improved,” Natasha Scripture, public information officer with WFP in Port-au-Prince, told the UN News Centre. “We are cautiously optimistic.”

Haiti’s $700 million agriculture blueprint

in

29 January 2010, Port-au-Prince –FAO is calling for international donors to support a $700 million investment plan in the agricultural sector drawn up by the Haitian government to repair earthquake damaged infrastructure, boost national food production and create employment for people fleeing Port-au-Prince.

The special programme, drawn up by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development gives specific guidelines for international aid in the sector for the next eighteen months. It is one of the cornerstones of the government’s strategy to rebuild the country following the January 12 earthquake.

FAO and the Inter-American Institute for Agriculture Cooperation signed an agreement with the Ministry to support the government’s plan.

UN officials urge health focus in post-emergency Haiti

in

27 January 2010 – While United Nations agencies and their partners are providing immediate assistance to the survivors of Haiti’s earthquake, they are also stressing the need to ensure that those dealing with physical and emotional scars from the disaster receive the long-term support they need.

There are still no official figures on exactly how many people perished in the wake of the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck the impoverished Caribbean nation on 12 January or those left injured. But estimates indicate that at least 150,000 people may have died.

UN agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), have been working around the clock with their partners on the ground to ensure that survivors receive the health care services they need.

Agriculture drives developing countries’ economies, says top UN official

in

26 January 2010 – Agriculture spurs economic growth, a senior United Nations official said today, ahead of this week’s gathering of the world’s business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland, where he hopes to give voice to smallholder farmers from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The theme of this year’s World Economic Forum, which kicks off tomorrow, is “Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild.”

The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), headed by Kanayo F. Nwanze, has been invited to the five-day gathering for the first time.

Mr. Nwanze pointed out that there is a growing recognition that smallholder farmers and rural communities are a crucial element of the solution to the challenges posed by food insecurity and poverty.

Top UN envoy stresses need for global coordination in post-quake Haiti

in

25 January 2010 – The top United Nations envoy to Haiti, which was devastated by a massive earthquake nearly two weeks ago, today proposed a new way to coordinate relief efforts in the Caribbean nation to ensure that aid reaches those who need it.

Edmond Mulet, the Secretary-General’s acting Special Representative, unveiled that plan at a “Friends of Haiti” meeting in Montreal today which drew senior UN officials and foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries to discuss Haiti’s future in the wake of the 7.0-magnitude quake, which struck the country on 12 January.

UN emergency food agency delivers 2 million meals to Haitians

in

23 January 2010 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is now delivering 2 million meals to Haitians as it continues to ramp up operations in the cities and towns hardest hit by the recent catastrophic earthquake in the Caribbean country.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran, currently visiting Haiti, issued a statement on Saturday in which she said the agency would keep expanding its existing relief efforts through five established humanitarian corridors.

An estimated 2 million meals were distributed yesterday courtesy of WFP, up from 1.2 million the day before.

WFP has been coordinating its relief effort with the UN peacekeeping mission (known as MINUSTAH), the Haitian Government and other aid partners, including the United States and the European Union.

Post-quake recovery in Haiti begins with farmers, UN agency says

in

21 January 2010 – As rescue operations continue after last week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, simultaneous efforts are needed to support agriculture in the poor Caribbean country as the spring planting season approaches, the head of the United Nations agriculture agency said today.

The priority must be to provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers, livestock feed, animal vaccines and agricultural tools ahead of the cereal planting season, which kicks off in March and accounts for 60 per cent of Haiti’s agricultural production, said Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

Haiti consumes around 1 million tons of cereals annually, of which two-thirds are imported.

Syndicate content

Back to top

© 2009 United Nations | About this portal