On September 28, 2016, Tropical Storm Matthew developed from a tropical wave moving through the southern Lesser Antilles. It made landfall on the Tiburon Peninsula of southwestern Haiti as Category 4 hurricane. The hurricane scored deaths of almost a thousand people and damage to agriculture (gardens), livestock (cows, pigs, goats, chicken, mules), and properties (houses and chapel) which accounted for 95% of property damage.
The location of this project is in the community of Ranja in Jeremie, the capital of Grand'Anse, one of the ten departments of Haiti which were hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. Grande' Anse is remote and has no adequate road infrastructure. Insecurity along the main roads has been a severe problem. Before Hurricane Matthew, Grand'Anse suffers from food insecurity. An estimate of 46% of the Grand'Anse department was moderately food insecure and 35% marginally food insecure. Technically, Ranja was isolated since its location is on the other side of the river. Access to the main highway leading to the city center is seriously challenged due to the rise of river water, making it impassable.
CADIS International aimed to build and strengthen the resilience of the Ranja community by enhancing people's ability to adapt to natural events, rehabilitating their forest, and training people to climate-resilient agriculture. These activities have helped mitigate the adverse impact of natural disasters and return quickly to normal conditions. Seventy-three families (346 individuals) are affected directly by this project, and more than a thousand of the population as the indirect beneficiaries.
The project had three expected outcomes, namely, (1) capacitated partner families have enhanced knowledge and skills in sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture; (2) increased production and income of partner families; and (3) reduced risks to disasters.
To achieve the above-expected outcomes, five (5) outputs or deliverables were accomplished at the end of the project:
Output 1: Partner families are trained in sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture
A series of training on Sustainable Climate Resilient Agriculture (SCRA) was given to 69 farmers on the following themes: agroforestry, ecology, forestry, soil erosion management, and food processing. The participants also received various farm inputs such as seeds (black beans, corn, peas, variety of vegetables) and farm tools (hoe, machete, pike, tong, rake, etc). A total of 125 farm tools were distributed. The training has greatly helped the farmers to cultivate the land more scientifically. It produced a good harvest and quality production. Thus, it augments the family income. Moreover, it enhances the community spirit of service and community solidarity. Therefore, a better transformation of the community life is revitalized after the event (Hurricane Matthew)
Output 2: Women leaders of community cooperative are trained in community cooperative management
A total of 127 members of the Cooperative underwent four (4) training sessions on cooperative management. The total capital fund of the Cooperative is HTG 125.000. The Cooperative has invested some of the funds to set up a community store.
Output 3: Partner farming families are linked to the market for value chain management
The agricultural activities have brought a considerable change in the economic life of the people in the community, so much that a local market was initiated in Ranja with their agricultural produce. Apart from bringing their products to the main market of Jeremie, they started organizing their local market within their community. This allows other members from different communities to access fresh and affordable products such as fruits, vegetables, processed foods, and local wine. Sometimes they organized community sports festivals to encourage more people to visit their communities and see the transformation happening among the populace, which gradually recovered from their losses due to the hurricane.
However, since the pandemic, all group activities are temporarily canceled due to the containment measures, but they continue their endeavors at home. Some of the people who have taken the training courses have set up their processing activities for agricultural products and occasional fruits. Nonetheless, the families in Ranja are having access to food (food secure), and they can start making savings for unexpected needs such as health needs.
Output 4: Climate-resilient multi-purpose community center is constructed for training/ capacity building and as a community evacuation center in times of disaster
A multi-purpose center (MPC) was constructed to serve as a center for training, worship, socialization, and evacuation in case of natural calamities. The construction of the MPC has cost 60% of the total budget of the project. The center is a very crucial infrastructure in building the resilience of the community. To sustain and maintain this infrastructure, they open the building for rental to other organizations that would like to conduct weekend training. On weekdays, the building is used for a daycare school, allowing the children to access an affordable and safer place for education. Furthermore, in the event of another natural disaster, the building is offered for evacuees who lived along the river and whose houses are not strong enough to survive with a strong wind. As far as the project is concerned, the following activities are conducted at the MPC: regular group processing and evaluation, training on agriculture, assembly of the Cooperative, a school for agricultural entrepreneurship, weekly community meetings, and the community Eucharistic celebration.
Output 5: Endemic trees are planted and growing around the watershed areas.
Parcels of land were identified for planting. As part of the planning and implementation of the endemic tree planting activity, eight parcels of land were selected with a total land area of 156.000 sq. meters. The total number of trees planted in an area of about 59.840 square meters is 9.750. Fruit trees (papaya, palm, cherry, orange, soursop, almond, tamarind, coconut, quenepier, mango) were planted in the area close to their settlement of a total land area of 4.000 sq. meters. It also became a source of family income. To protect the newly planted endemic trees, based on their technical evaluation, a total of about 80.000 cuttings of hedgerows such as guatemalas. An activity rehabilitated and protected their source of potable water and prevented water-borne diseases such as diarrhea and cholera. Before, they were getting their water for all purposes directly from the river. With the rehabilitation of the original spring from the mountain, they could bring water right in front of their village. Thus travel time to get access to water is tremendously reduced.
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