P-to-P, June 26, 2024 [AlterPresse] — Agronomist Jean-Rusnel Étienne, specialist in agroecology and family farming, calls for urgent actions in favor of family, peasant and sustainable agriculture in Haiti.
Such actions should constitute a formidable lever to fight against food insecurity and climate change in the country, he underlines, in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Garry Conille and the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, natural resources and sustainable development (Marndr), Vernet Joseph, and transmitted to AlterPresse.
“Your role is crucial in promoting family and sustainable agriculture, which meets the needs of the 5.5 million of our compatriots experiencing food insecurity. Suffering peasantry, difficulties for our compatriots to feed themselves with healthy, quality products, depleted soils, climate change, etc.,” notes agronomist-engineer Jean-Rusnel Étienne, a committed citizen.
At the end of March 2024, the National Food Security Coordination (Cnsa) called for urgent actions to help nearly 5 million people, almost half of the Haitian population, affected by high levels of acute food insecurity in Haitifor the period from March to June 2024.
The Cnsa then warned of record levels of hunger recorded in Haiti in a context of worsening security crisis.
The Artibonite Valley – the country’s rice basket – is among the most seriously affected areas.
To “reconcile ecology and agriculture”, agronomist Jean-Rusnel Étienne advises Conille and Joseph to encourage policies and programs aimed at strengthening the capacity of farmers to produce their own food in a sustainable manner.
The emphasis must be placed on training and access to agricultural resources (land, seeds, inputs, water), to guide institutional actions in this direction, suggests engineer-agronomist Jean-Rusnel Étienne.
The agricultural engineer recommends protecting the land rights of farmers, ensuring that farmers have secure access to land by protecting them against land grabbing by multinationals.
L’organisation Papáy Peasant Movement (Papaye Peasant Movement / Mpp, Hinche, Central Plateau department) had condemned the acts of destruction as well as the monopolization of farmers’ gardens, during attacks carried out between March and April 2023by a group of armed individuals, against the Papaye agricultural farm, in the commune of Hinche.
Furthermore, Jean-Rusnel Étienne calls for encouraging agroecology and family and peasant agriculture, as measures to adapt to climate change.
In this sense, we must promote sustainable agricultural practices, such as agroecology and agroforestry, which preserve biodiversity, improve soil health and contribute to adaptation to climate change, he recommends.
The specialist in agroecology and family farming calls for investment in agricultural research, adapted to the needs of farmers, by allocating resources to research and development of agricultural technologies adapted to family farms, by promoting the dissemination of knowledge.
Jean-Rusnel Étienne also recommends strengthening peasant organizations, by accompanying them and providing them with financial, technical and institutional support, to increase their capacity to access markets. [emb rc apr 26/06/2024 10:15]
