industries

(1) Quigley, Bill (2008). The U.S. role in Haiti’s Food Riots. http://www.counterpunch.org/quigley04212008.html

before the earthquakeindustriesThere has been a lot of talk regarding the poor shape of the agriculture industry and the fact that Haitians needs to better sustain themselves. What might not be widely known is causes of these shortages and the fact that the U.S. and other international financial bodies destroyed Haitian rice farmers to create a major market for the heavily subsidized rice from U.S. farmers. Though this might not be the only cause of hunger in Haiti and other poor countries, it how-ever is a major force. Just thirty years ago, Haiti raised nearly all the rice it needed. With the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Haitian were forced to reduce tariff protections for their rice and other agricultural products along with industries. This resulted in competition from other markets from outside countries. With the U.S. having the largest voice in the IMF it is not a surprise that within two years it became impossible for Haitian farmers to compete with ‘Miami Rice’(Paul Farmer). The whole local rice market fell apart as cheap U.S. subsidized rice, some of it in the form of ‘food aid,’ flooded the market (1).

Haiti’s national icon was the Creole Pig, a species unique to Haiti and evolved from Columbus’ swine. The Creole Pig was well-adapted to the local environment. It rarely became ill and required few external inputs. It was also the Haitian ‘bank’, as families would wait to slaughter the pig for a wedding or to build a house. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the U.S. Govern-ment pressured the Haitian Government to exterminate all Creole Pigs for fear that a regional swine flue epidemic might impact the U.S. pig industry. The Haitian rural economy has never fully recovered (2).

Rice Industry

Pork Industry

Rice farmers in Haiti (3)(3) Rice Farmers in Haiti. Image retrieved from http://mauraroconnor.com/

(2) Levin, Joshua (2010). Haitian Earthquake Food Crisis. http://www.goodeater.org/2010/02/22/why-did-the-haitian-earthquake-become-a-food-crisis/

industriesUnder the Preval administration the selling off of assets were under full swing in order to pay off debt owed by Haiti to the International Monetary Fund’s and its austere measures. One of Preval’s acts as President after the first American backed coup against Aristide in 1994 was to privatize the public cement company, Cimint d’Haiti. Today, the massive amount of cement need to rebuild the country has to be either bought from foreign companies, or from a com-pany partially owned by the Minister of Tourism, Patrick Delatour (4).

The state in Haiti used to include major public companies - rice, flour, electricity, telephones. Today after decades of privatization and pressure from the US and international financiers, control of these businesses moved offshore. There is no actual production of cement in Haiti. There is only a packaging plant for imported cement. Haiti’s cement industry is the story of failure that will weigh heavily on the process of reconstruction.

These three formerly public companies could have provided much needed employment in a hopelessly unemployed country. The cement company alone could have provided not just em-ployment, but literally the building blocks for a new city. There is no reason for a lack of a ce-ment company in Haiti, a country that is built on an island primarily of limestone. The offshor-ing of these companies is a crime against the people of Haiti. Aristide was vehemently against privatizing these companies, believing that the people were to decide how to dispose of their own shared public companies. Because he stood up for the people of Haiti,it was he that was disposed of not once, but twice, in American backed coups. The flour and rice companies could have fed a starving nation. A vibrant telecommunication company could have helped rebuild the country (5).

The Erosion of Public Services

before the earthquake

(6) Image retrieved from http://blogs.worldbank.org/conflict/node/633

(4) Dilanian, Ken (2010). Haiti reconstruction official owns share of concrete company. www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-02-23-delatour_N.htm(5) McManus, Christopher (2010)Haitian Voodoo Economics. http://dailycensored.com/2010/03/11/haitian-voodoo-economics/

industries

The U.S. and U.N. have based their plan for Haiti’s redevelopment on the expansion of the assembly industry. The U.S. Congress passed legislation last year benefiting U.S. investors yet again while Haitian workers will continue to earn $3.09 a day. Former President Bill Clinton, currently serving as the UN’s envoy to Haiti, and economist Paul Collier feel Haiti needs to leverage its “cheap labour.” In other words, they think Haiti will solve its problems by open-ing up more sweatshops. Disguised as “garment factories” or “manufacturing centers” or simply “workshops,” they are in reality nothing more than sweatshops and nothing more. For Haiti to join the ranks of developed nations, Clinton and Collier agree, Haitians must first work as many hours as possible for paltry wages so that their economy can grow (8). Worker rights groups and other sectors of Haiti’s social justice movements have a problem with this sweat-shop-based development model which they feel cannot advance the country or its workers. First, the investments are unstable, and companies can and do pull out at a moment’s notice. Second, the work does not offer a living wage, benefits, possibilities for advancement, or skills training. Third, with the primary products and the machinery imported and the finished prod-ucts exported, assembly does not stimulate Haiti’s economy (9).

After the earthquake all eyes were on Haiti. It was obvious that they needed help. Forget hun-ger, dehydration, gangrene, and spticemia, the real concern for countries like Canada and the U.S. was the “security situation.” The looting and chaos, as described by media outlets around the world was little more than mutual aid, where one such newspaper (New York Times) pro-vided a photograph accompanying an article reporting “pockets of violence and anarchy” showed men standing atop the ruins of a store, tossing supplies to the gathered crowd. Ap-parently they forgot to document Haitians taking care of one another, digging through rubble with their bare hands, caring for injured loved ones and strangers in the absence of outside help (7).

Security Jobs

Sweatshop Industry

current situation

(10) A photograph from the New York Times illustrating “violence and anarchy”(10) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/world/americas/17looting.html?_r=1

(8) Bell, Beverly (2010). We are at a crossroads. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-

friends-blog/we-are-at-a-crossroads-yannick-etienne-on-sweatshops-as-a-development-model(9) Folarin, Tope. (2010) Sweatshops wont save Haiti. http://www.truth-out.org/sweatshops-wont-save-haiti57711

(7) Erenreich, Ben (2010). Why did we focus on securing Haiti rather than helping Haitians? http://www.slate.com/id/2242078/

industriesEcotourism Ecotourism is an industry that can potentially provide Haiti with economic benefits and foreign

currency - as it has with neighbouring Dominican Republic, where tourists spend close to US$1 billion each year. No heavy investments in infrastructure would be needed. Ecotourism could help Haitians, both rich and poor, to recognize the value of the country’s unique ecosystems and biodiversity, and to appreciate the beauty of its countryside, beaches and mountains (11). By gaining pride in their national heritage, they could find the motivation to protect their envi-ronment.

Although Haiti is heading in the right direction, the future remains unclear and instability per-sists. Ecotourism must benefit those who have the greatest impact on the environment name-ly poor peasants providing them with what they most desire: increased incomes, employment, health facilities and education. Unfortunately, the primary beneficiaries of ecotourism are usu-ally foreign companies based in developed countries. To local residents it may offer only occa-sional jobs or the revenue from selling soft drinks or snacks to visitors. To be an effective force in promoting environmental rehabilitation and protection, ecotourism in Haiti would have to be carefully planned, regulated and negotiated. Safeguards would be needed to ensure that poor peasants receive adequate benefits from government or ecotourism companies. The government and private sector would have to become efficient and professional. The country would need to be rationally managed. The United Nations Development Program and other donors are helping the Haitian government develop a National Environmental Action Plan and a National Plan for the Development of Tourism. However, implementation of the plans re-quires political stability and motivation (12).

future developments

(13) Images retreived from http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/in_defense_of_development/

A veiw of the Haiti/Dominican border The Citadelle Laferrierre is a massive stone mountaintop fortress, built by up to 20,000 enslaved workers between 1805 and 1820.

(12) http://colonymagazineblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/can-ecotourism-save-haiti/

(11) http://kiskeya-alternative.org/publica/diversos/haiti-dream-ecotourism.html

industriesEducation Vocational education or vocational education and training (VET) programs can be imple-

mented to prepare Haitian peoples for jobs based on manual or practical activities (14). These programs are traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation. It is sometimes referred to as technical education as the trainee directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology.

Vocational education and training can play a key role in raising skill levels and improving a so-ciety’s productivity. Similar programs have been introduced in countries like Sri Lanka, Colum-bia, Paraguay, and India. In Columbia the program has raised earnings and employment, espe-cially for women. Women offered training earn 18% more and have a 0.05 higher probability of employment than those not offered training, mainly in formal sector jobs. Cost benefit analysis of these results suggests that the program generates much larger net gains than those found in developed countries (15).

future developments

(16) Images retreived from http://www.itpro.lk/node/7198

(16) Students in Sri Lanka receiving vocational training in auto mechanics

(14) Vocational Education. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocational_education

(15) Attansio, Orazio and Meghir, Costas (2009). Subsidizing Vocational Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Developing Countries. http://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp4251.html

industries Haiti art includes oil painters, sculptors, wood carvers, leather artists, needle-workers and more. This art is a complex tradition, reflecting African, French, Catholic, and tribal and Voudou roots. It as an important representation of Haitian culture and history. Many Haitian paintings by discovered artists even hang in New York and Paris galleries, but many other, largely unknown artists vie for exposure (17).

Local Crafts/Skills

future developments

This gaily painted lizard is a typical example of how Haitians will turn found materials into arts and crafts.

The Taina were Hispaniola’s indigenous people. This hand carved replica shows a typical Taina style craft figurine.

This artist by the name of Fritz M. paints in oils and acrylics.

Here he displays one of his pieces in the lobby area of a hotel in Cap-Haitien.

These colourful local buses called taptaps are gaily painted with intricate images, and works of art in and of themselves.

(17) Haiti Art and Craft. http://www.snapshotjourneys.com/haitiart.html (includes images)

industriesNatural resources of Haiti include bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble and hydro-power. Haiti contains relatively small amounts of gold, silver, antimony, tin, lignite, sulphur, coal, nickel, gypsum, limestone, manganese, marble, iron, tungsten, salt, clay, and various building stones. Many of these are available in reletively small quantities or require high pro-duction costs, thereby making it difficult to utilize for the common Haitian (19).

Bamboo has been widely used in East and South-East Asia for centuries now, and dispite knowing its virtues we have only recently realized the potential of this material as a result of the green movement. It takes only 3-4 years to reach its full potential which is quite significant considering oak takes from 50 to 120 years. There are a vast number of ways in which this ma-terial can be used to start small businesses in Haiti.

Minerals/Resources

Bamboo toys for children

Bamboo bikes Bamboo cookware

Bamboo furniture

future developments

(18) http://www.treehugger.com (all images) (19) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Haiti

industriesMicrocredit is a financial innovation that is generally considered to have originated with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In that country, it has successfully enabled extremely impover-ished people to engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and, in many cases, begin to build wealth and exit poverty. It should be noted however that Grameen Bank’s high repayment rate does not reflect the number of women who are repeat borrowers who have become dependent on loans for household expenditures rather than capital investments. It has been found that in some cases women often act merely as collec-tion agents for their husbands and sons, such that the men spend the money themselves while women are saddled with the credit risk. Some loan recipients have been known to sink into a cycle of debt, using a microcredit loan from one organization to meet interest obligations from another. Forbes magazine said that “microfinance has become a buzzword of the decade, rais-ing the provocative notion that even philanthropy aimed at alleviating poverty can be profit-able to institutional and individual investors.” “Billionaires, global leaders and Nobel Prize recipients are hailing these direct loans to uncollateralised would-be entrepreneurs as a way to lift them out of poverty while creating self-sustaining businesses,” it stated.

Microcredit

future developments

(23) Women in India (center). Image retrieved from http://calgarycowbell.com/Microcredit.html

(22) Microcredit at work in Africa. http://www.actsofmercyinternational.com/the-poor.html (both images on the far right and far left)

(20) Microcredit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcredit

(21) Feiner, Susan (2007). Microcredit and Womens Poverty. http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/935