Haiti
Providing Food for Haiti's Children
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 84 percent of the population is poor, while 56 percent lives in conditions of extreme poverty. As a direct consequence, nearly half of all Haitian households are chronically food insecure. Rural food insecurity is caused by deficits in the aggregate food supply, the inability of the majority of households to purchase or produce sufficient food, and acute events including natural disasters and prolonged sociopolitical instability. The majority of vulnerable households produce only enough food to meet their needs for two months out of the year, on average. Half of all Haitian children are undersized as a result of malnutrition. Limited access to quality health services, inadequate health and nutrition practices, and poor hygiene contribute to a mortality rate for children younger than five of 1 per 8 live births.
World Vision’s SAK PLEN Resiliency Enhancement Program (SAK PLEN REP) will reduce food insecurity and increase the resiliency of vulnerable and extremely vulnerable households through a multisector approach addressing food cultivation, storage, marketing, and health and nutrition practices. Communities will be trained in development strategies, risk assessment, and emergency response techniques to ensure long-term sustainability of the program.
World Vision's Resiliency Enhancement Program
By 2012, World Vision’s SAK PLEN REP will reduce food insecurity in more than 100,000 households in Haiti. Working with USAID-supported partners Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Management and Resources for Community Health, and Save the Children, as well as the government of Haiti, and community organizations, World Vision will promote more diverse and sustainable agricultural livelihoods, educate and train participants in nutrition and health practices, and build strategies for communities to assess risks and vulnerabilities and develop action plans. SAK PLEN REP will target food insecure communities in the Central Plateau, La Gonave, and the North, and will provide direct food rations to enrolled women and children, and people living with HIV or AIDS. The program also will furnish improved seeds and soil fertility management strategies to farmers. Marketing plans will be developed and implemented, and storage facilities and irrigation systems be constructed. Health-care solutions will focus on mothers, children, and vulnerable populations. Seven existing health clinics will be upgraded, and new clinics and a pharmaceutical warehouse will be constructed.
