Food Security in Haiti and Global Environmental Change

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Food Security in Haiti and Global Environmental
Change

• Perspectives from Université Quisqueya

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GEC

• Climate change (increase of CO2 and other
  greenhouse gases lead to an increase in
  temperature, changes in rainfall pattern and
  water demand)
• Studies related to global environmental change
  stated that the tropical regions (such as Africa
  and Latin America) will suffer more from the
  negative impact of Global Environmental Change.

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Assumption,

• The more vulnerable is a country, the poorer it
  will become over years.
• The poorer is a country, the greater will be the
  impacts of GEC on its food system.

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Food Availability

• Production
• May decrease due to
• Change in rainfall pattern
• Shortening of rainy season
• Increasing rain intensity
• Flooding of low land areas
• Increasing erosion phenomena
• Severe droughts
• Tendency to soil salinization (? saltiness)
• Water scarcity

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Food Availability

• This is in harmony with the Ministry of
  Environment 2001 Report on climate change
• This first Haitian report on climate change
  (based on simulations performed on three crops
  with the MAGICC-SCENGEN software) reveals that
  by year 2030 and year 2060

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Food Availability

• Production
• White potato yield will decrease (even in
  mountainous areas).
• Rice yield will decrease due to a shortening of
  the growing season linked to a reduction of all
  the other phenological phases.
• Corn yield will decrease because of a shortening
  of some important phenological phases

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Food Availability

• Distribution
• may be interrupted during the rainy season due
  to the destruction of some vital infrastructures
  (roads, bridges)
• This will hamper food circulation between
  Port-au-Prince and the countryside.

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Food Availability

• Exchange
• Importation will increase

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Food Access

• Affordability
• ? purchasing power
• decrease in agricultural yields
• Frequent disasters (flood and drought)
• Inflation (increase of food prices)
• food unavailability

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Food Access

• Allocation
• ? of the income allocated to food
• ? income allocated to entertainment, education,
  health

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Food Access

• Preference
• no strong preference

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Food Utilization

• Nutritional value
• Will decrease.
• More glucide than protein

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Food Utilization

• Social value
• Poverty will increase

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Food Utilization

• Food safety
• Decrease as a result of
• Increase external food dependency

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• All these will vary with the adaptation capacity
• Use of new crops and/or new varieties more
  adapted to new environmental conditions
• Adjustment of planting date