“In some places, farmers have abandoned beans and other crops to cultivate cane,” agronomist Evens Joseph explains to AyiboPost.
While certain crops are unable to adapt to the effects of climate change, cane cultivation in Saint-Michel-de-l’Attalaye is gaining ground.
A study published in 2020 by a group of researchers from the Haitian Center for Innovation on Biotechnologies and Sustainable Agriculture (Chibas) at Quisqueya University, and the Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD) located in France, illustrates this situation.
Certain municipal sections of Saint-Michel have seen their areas cultivated with cane increase by more than 200% in recent years, according to the study.
Located in the district of Marmelade in the Artibonite department, Saint-Michel is one of the largest communes in Haiti with an area of 614 km2.
While certain crops are unable to adapt to the effects of climate change, cane cultivation in Saint-Michel-de-l’Attalaye is gaining ground.
Known as the main crop of this town, cane is transformed into derived products, including the famous “Clair’s Saint-Michel », enjoying a reputation that goes beyond the borders of Haiti.
“The data collected in the field from farmers suggests that this started after 2010,” explains engineer-agronomist Bénédique Paul, member of Chibas, who carried out the agro-socio-economic diagnostic part of the study.
Surrounded by the Black Mountain and the Cahos range, the town of Saint-Michel de l’Attalaye has the configuration of a “vat”.
Which makes this area an “open-air laboratory for studies on climate change in Haiti”.
In this respect, at least a project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) concerning adaptation to climate change has been underway since 2019 in this municipality.
Read also: Dominican coffee is starting to make its name. A good part of the production comes from Haiti.
The comparison between the data collected by researchers on six of the eight municipal sections of Saint-Michel in 2020 and those from the general agricultural census published by the MARNDR in 2008 illustrate these changes.
For example, in Lacedras, the sixth municipal section of Saint-Michel, the area cultivated with cane increases from 8 to 64%, an increase of 700%. That of Camathe goes from 38 to 72%. For the third municipal section of Bas de Sault, the area cultivated with cane increases from thirteen to 40%, an increase of more than 200%.
In 2021the number of guildives who transform cane increases from 2,500 to nearly 3,000 in just six months.
Although he does not have updated figures, the coordinator of the association of guildives of Saint Michel de l’Attalaye, Emmanuel Alexis, recognizes to AyiboPost a “considerable expansion” of new fields and the establishment of new guildives in Saint Michel since 2021.
“We plan to carry out a new census in 2024 to determine the exact figure. But it is clear that the data has evolved a lot,” maintains Alexis while admitting that the insecurity plaguing the Artibonite affects production and sales.
We plan to carry out a new census in 2024 to determine the exact figure. But it is clear that the data has evolved a lot.
For the agronomist-engineer Evens Joseph, co-author of the study, various factors, including the persistent craze for “clairin Saint-Michel” throughout the country and the introduction of motorized mills facilitating the transformation of the cane, explain this expansion.
“But global warming remains the key element,” continues the researcher.
In the absence of irrigation infrastructure, Saint-Michel planters practice rain-fed agriculture.
Climatic disruptions which lead to an extension of the dry season affect the agricultural calendar.
To cope with the multiple effects of environmental upheavals, Saint-Michel producers are forced to develop various adaptation strategies.
Thus, certain crops, such as beans, more vulnerable to heat and irregular rainfall, are cultivated less and less.
Others, like corn, are still there thanks to the introduction of new, more adapted varieties.
In 2021the number of guildives who transform cane increases from 2,500 to nearly 3,000 in just six months.
The Artibonite department is part of the most vulnerable areas to extreme climatic phenomena.
A report published in 2015 on the impacts of global warming in Haiti shows the impacts of the latter on the development of certain crops such as corn, coffee and beans in the Artibonite valley.
The study carried out by the group of researchers from Chibas and Cirad discusses the consequences of climate change on agriculture in the commune of Saint-Michel de l’Attalaye.
Crops deemed less suitable are cultivated less and less.
Read also: The local variety of coffee endangered in Haiti
Faced with these changes, cane presents itself as an interesting economic alternative for producers.
Because, not only is it better able to resist drought, it requires less care.
“In some places, farmers have abandoned beans and other crops to cultivate cane,” agronomist Evens Joseph explains to AyiboPost.
Faced with these changes, cane presents itself as an interesting economic alternative for producers.
Severely affected by anthrax in the early 1980s, cane cultivation in Saint-Michel-de-l’Attalaye has regained its momentum thanks to research and the introduction of new, more resistant varieties into the fields.
For researchers, however, this flourishing production hides a paradox.
More than 50% of Saint-Michel residents were food insecure, according to 2020 data.
“The removal of other crops, necessary for food, has an impact on the food security of residents,” explains Bénédique Paul.
Other elements, such as the supply problem linked to the lack of infrastructure, explain this situation.
Environmental scenarios show the possibility that climate effects will increase over the years. Particularly in the absence of adequate support.
According to data published by the United Nations Development Program in 2015, without clear and effective strategies for the agricultural sector from Haitian decision-makers, certain crops can lose more than half of their production.
Thus, despite its great capacity to adapt to extreme temperatures, cane can lose up to 25% of its production by 2100.
Which, for Bénédique Paul, reflects the need to continue to conduct research and develop more effective adaptation strategies.
Par Wethzer Piercin
Cover image: a sugar cane cultivator | lendopolis blog
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Watch this report produced by AyiboPost in 2022 on the famous “Clairein Saint-Michel”:
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