Coffee influences Haiti’s Economy

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Coffee influences Haiti’s Economy
Introduction
Haiti is a known country with different and notable attributes; some are good while others are as bad. It has a population of 9.8 million inhabitants making it the most populous state in the Caribbean. Haiti is the first republic of the African descent and it is the second oldest country in the continent America from the US. On the other hand, Haiti was known to abolish slavery without extensive blood letting as compared to other nations in the continent. Haiti in economic terms, has the lowest per capita income in the continent (Richard, 1991). Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and has been facing economic challenges as well as ecological obstacles for development. Over the years, the country’s economy has been deteriorating. Frequent ocurrence of natural calamities like floods and earthquake have made the Haiti’s economy sink deeper. According to the World Bank, in 1988, it was the only country in the Americas that had US$425. In the 1980s, the Haitian economy started to be dependent on agriculture, although, depending on agriculture alone could not sustain the country’s economy bearing that the labor cost have risen compared to the decrease in exports. Agricultural expansion in the country contributed to the deforestations which on the other hand caused soil erosions hence reduced production. There were other several avenues that contributed to the Haiti’s economy that included manufacturing, tourism and transportation. Haiti was considered to be one of the most favored manufacturing places due to low-cost labor. Due to political upheaval and poor coverage, tourism suffered a great deal because Haiti was regarded as the source of Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDs). This made a big number of potential tourists abandon Haiti and opted to visit other areas in the world (Richard, 1991).

Coffee in Haiti
Coffee has been a staple crop for Haiti since the time of colonization by France in the 17th century. Though sugar and tobacco has been playing a significant role in the Haitian economy as well, coffee has been the backbone of the country’s economy. Together with other Caribbean nations, coffee has been playing a significant role in the region’s economy and it is the nation’s most profitable crop. Coffee is grown by families and farmers regarded as pèti plantè in the Chaine de la selle and Massif de la Hotte Mountains.

Political influence on coffee farming The post –independence government had tried to revive the French colonialists coffee plantations. This was vehemently opposed by the peasantly. The state contented itself by taxing the export of the modest amounts of coffee that Haiti continued to produce and benefitting the mercantile families. Over the years, Haitian politics has lacked substance and focused on divisions of the little export income among a small set of elites. The lack of investment and planning in agriculture resulted in lack of adjudication over land titles and long-term land conservation mechanism. Haiti was producing half of the coffee supply in the world. On the other hand, the US led embargoes also contributed to the reduction of coffee exports and farming after the US government mounted pressure on the Francois and Jean-Claude Devailier governments. Jean-Claude’s government dictatorship on the other hand made it hard for the coffee farmers from the mountains get scarred to bring their coffee to the markets. This contributed loss of machineries that were being used in coffee harvesting and the skills that were needed. The failure of the Haitian coffee industry gave Brazil an opportunity to take control of the world coffee market. Political unrest and decades of government corruption has discouraged farmers in planting and bringing coffee to the market. When the coffee export tax was lifted in 1987 the Haitian government stopped supporting farmers. Even the private sector divested from the industry. Annual coffee export fell to only four million in 2002 from the previous 24 million dollars.
Moreover, Haiti is reliant on trans-border trade with the Dominican republic which sells 28 % of its produce. This is due to proximity and competitive prices. Roasters across the border weigh and collect the coffee for washing in their wash stations. The coffee is dried and further roasted. This relationship may suffers due to trade issues and political disputes reducing sales and the price of coffee in Haiti.

Geographic influence on coffee farming Haiti is located in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.The land is primarily rough and mountainous with only 20 % of it arable. Soil erosion and deforestation has plagued the country anf further compounding the coffee production. The peasant farmers have been provided with little or no incentives to develop the land. The land has become treeless, with scrub vegetation and some places bare. The previously lush green hills, rich top soil, wet tropical climate is gone. It has less than 1.5 percent tree cover on its land compared with Dominican Republic which has 28.4 %. Trees are also used for charcoal and wood burning . Only 15 percent of the coffee is grown on large estates, 65 percent is grown by small growers while the rest is growm by marginal farmers. Coffee was predominantly planted in the areas of attitudes ranging from 400 to 1300 metres especially in the Thlotte and Beaumont districts. Here they sell their coffee to traders in Dominican Republic. Other district that planted the crop were Baptist and Dondon . the coffee is grown under the ‘creole garden’ system where its grown mixed tree cropping system. The coffee planted by peasants is mixed with maize and yams to provide the household needs (World Bank 2010). Harsh climatic conditions have forced Haitian population to reduce the agricultural activities. This has been due to deforestation and soil erosion that has made it hard for coffee farming. Flooding and drought have been occurring in the country further affecting the farming in the country . The natural disasters destroy the crops of peasant farmers who have no reserves to start over again. As a result some farmers have immigrated to the cities depleting the coffee farmers, and clearing more farms for house construction.. On January 12, 2010, a devastating 7.0 magnitude earth quake struck Haiti killing 300,000 people and many more homeless. This led to wide spread displacement of people,
Advantages of coffee farming
Coffee is a major boost to the rural economy of Haiti. It generates employment for one million people who include: producers, workers, middlemen,traders and exporters. It’s a form of saving for farmers. They can store the coffee and sell it during the dry seasons. Due to high demand, it is easy to sell it. Coffee roasting is also a business derived from coffee. Evironmentally, Coffee protects the diminishing watersheds. The country has very little soil resources and coffee bushes forms the only vegetation. Coffee plots provide soil conservation, water infiltration and natural mulch from its falling leaves. Since the farming is not technified, there is little input of chemicals into the soil hence conserving the soil.
Decline of coffee in Haiti
The decline of coffee can be attributed to environmental degradation in coffee producing areas. Reliance on natural coffee instead of planting new varieties that are high yielding and pest and disease resistant. They rely on the Typica variety or a mixture of Bourbon, Salvadoreño, Mondo Novo,Catourra and Catimor varieties. Lack of incentives from the government from the government has discouraged farmers. There are no grants or credit facilities to finance the business. Most peasant farmers plant coffee together with other crops in their small plots of land further dimishing the coffee production quantity and quality. Poor infrastructure also hampers the marketing of coffee as the coffee is planted in mountainous areas with limited road access. There has been decline in national coffee production and divestment by producers , exporters and traders. Marketing of coffee has been hampared by lack of bargaining power from the farmers. Coffee exporting cooperatives have failed due to poor management and oversight. The result has been lack of competition on the international market leading to low prices for local farmers (World Bank 2010).

Conclusion Haiti has severally tried to come back to the lime light as the major coffee producer in the world, but the market has been faced with different challenges. This has made the Haitian coffee competitiveness to suffer internationally. Due to changes in the market, the Haitian farmers burned their coffee trees to make charcoal hoping to improve their economy. When Haiti was the major producer of coffee, 80 percent of the labor force in the country was involved in farming, this further dropped to 66 percent when the coffee market underwent drastic change. The remaining percentage, even though they were not involved in coffee farming, they played roles in exporting or acted as middle men. The lack of agricultural extention system, poor land tunure , illiteracy and poor infrasture has compounded the situation. The total value of its market has in the recent past been hit by the poor world market or ‘coffee crisis.

At the beginning of the 1990s fair trade was established to guarantee better price and to export markets for coffee farmers. This helped farmers organized in co-operatives to label their coffee products with fair trade labels. This guarantees them fair price in the world market (Charveriat 2011). Also the development of an elite coffee brand the Haitian Bleu which is expensive brings value to both the producers and the marketers.
The faith in potential for high quality coffee is still strong in Haiti. If Haitian natural coffee is allowed to mature and the farmers trained on picking and processing it, then it would flourish and recover the Haitian coffee’s lost glory.

References

Celine Charveriat (2011). Bitter Coffee: How the Poor are for the Slump In Coffee Prices. Oxfam
Richard, A. (1991), Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies , Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.
Sidney Mintz (1995): »Can Haiti Change?«,Foreign Affairs, Vol. 74, No. 1, p. 76. World Bank (2010). Haiti Coffee Supply Chain Risk Assessment. www.euacpcommodities.eu/.../1CAREO4_Haiti_Coffee_Suppl.Last viewed on 9 April 9, 2013