Haitian-produced goods go to waste in DR

Due to road blockages and insecurity, Fond Jeannette producers are forced to sell their products in the DR at disadvantageous prices.

In Fond Jeannette, Bonite, Tête Source and Terre Froide, border towns in the Bois d’Orme section of Anse-à-Pitres, the produce produced by Haitian farmers supplies Dominican markets to the detriment of the local market. The glaring lack of infrastructure to transport produce to the communal market of Anse-à-Pitres and the insecurity of National Road number 8 linking the South-East department to Port-au-Prince are the basis of this situation. Thus, producers are forced to cross the Dominican border to sell their produce at a discounted price at the Pedernales market.

Twice a week, several dozen Haitian merchants and producers from the aforementioned localities frequent the unofficial border crossing point of Manyinn, located 40 km north of Pedernales in the Dominican Republic.

On Sunday and Thursday afternoons, the eve of market days in the Dominican city, women, accompanied by their husbands and/or children, unload mules loaded with agricultural products destined for the Pedernales market. Once there, they spend the night in the market grounds, hoping to get the best price the next morning from Dominican customers. But this wait is uncertain. Dominican buyers know that they cannot bring their products back to Haiti and that they will have to lower their prices at some point during the day.

The communal market of Anse-à-Pitres, on the Haitian side, is just across the Pedernales River. It could benefit from such a crowd, especially since Haitian customers are demanding the products sold by these women. However, the roads leading to the Haitian city do not allow, in their current state, this transport.