Haiti just passed the 4-year anniversary of its devastating earthquake in January 2010. To mark the event, Global Post published this article, “In Haiti, All Eyes on US to Reform ‘Unjustifiable’ Food Aid Program.”
The article highlights that:
- In Haiti, 6.7 million people – 2/3rds of the population – struggle daily to meet their food needs.
- The U.S. has spent $200 million giving food aid to Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Since 1954, the U.S. has spent $1.5 billion on aid to Haiti.
- The U.S. is one of the world’s only “Food Dumpers,” continually sending food instead of buying locally produced food in the regions it is helping.
- The current U.S. food aid policy is hurting Haitian farmers and the potential for Haiti to return to its former capabilities of producing enough food for its own population.
- Venezuela’s “Down with Hunger” program gave $30 million to 60,000 mothers to both buy food for their families and distribute seeds to farmers.
To this last point, it is interesting to compare that on one country, Venezuela spent $30 million in cash for buying locally produced food. In the new 2014 budget, Congress passed $35 million for the U.S. to use on the same purposes – but that $35 million must stretch worldwide. We are spending only $5 million more for every country than what Venezuela is spending on Haiti alone. For this reason, the article calls the U.S.’s new allocation a “watered-down version” of the full reforms that need to happen.
Haiti is the perfect example of how our aid policies are not reaching as many people as they could while simultaneously reducing a country’s capacity to grow so that in the future it won’t need U.S. aid. As one Haitian farmer’s organization put it, “Cash permits people to continue to buy food themselves, on their own and from their own people. We have many people who are hungry. We have people who can only eat once a day. It’s unjustifiable in a country with the capacity to feed itself."
It is unjustifiable. Let’s make sure our practices and tax dollars strengthen our partnership with Haiti instead of hurt their ability to help themselves. Send a letter to your representative to push for greater Food Aid reforms here.