USAID to Haiti

Ilham Awaad Claudia Toscano

Historical Timeline
1659: First official settlement on Tortuga (off the coast of Haiti) by French 1664: French West India Co. takes control of western third of the island and names it SaintDomingue. 1670: First French settlement on the main island, settlers grow cacao, coffee, tobacco and indigo and begin importing slaves as labor. 1749: Port-au-Prince is founded. 1780: Saint-Domingue is France's richest colony, producing 40 percent of all sugar and 60 percent of all coffee consumed in Europe. 1791: Aug. 22, slave revolt begins. Tradition says it starts with a voodoo ceremony led by Dutty Boukman. He is captured and executed, but revolt spreads and plantations are torched.

1801: Toussaint L'Ouverture defeats British and Spanish troops that invaded Santo Domingo and controls the entire island. 1802: Napoleon sends 40,000 troops to re-establish slavery in the colonies. 1804: Jan. 1, after defeating the French forces, Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares Haiti an independent nation, taking an Arawak name meaning country of mountains. 1806: Dessalines is assassinated and Haiti splits into two states, a northern state led by an emperor, Henri Christophe, and a southern republic led by president Alexandre Ption.

1820: Jean-Pierre Boyer unifies Haiti into one nation 1825: France's King Charles X recognizes Haiti's independence but demands 150 million francs in indemnity, backing his conditions with a fleet of warships. 1844: Dominican Republic declares its independence from Haiti. 1904: Haiti celebrates 100 years of independence. 1915: U.S. forces occupy Haiti; stay until 1934. 1957: Francois Duvalier elected president. "Papa Doc" establishes one of the most brutal dictatorships in Haitian history. His rule is enforced by a militia commonly known as Tonton Macoutes.

1971: Duvalier dies; his son takes power and is proclaimed president for life, like father. 1986: Unrest leads the military to oust "Baby Doc" and his kleptocratic clan. 1990: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is elected with 67 percent of the vote. 1991: Aristide is ousted in a coup that many Haitians believe was financed by the business elite. 1994: Backed by a U.N. resolution, the Clinton administration restores Aristide to power. 1996: Ren Prval is elected president; he is seen as a stand-in for Aristide. 2000: Aristide elected president again after much-disputed parliamentary elections. 2004: Aristide leaves under pressure of an armed rebellion; he claims that the U.S. kidnapped him and shipped him out. 2006: Prval is elected again. A U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti since 2003 grows to 9,000 troops 2010: Jan. 12, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 devastates Port-auPrince and damages much of Haiti. 2010: March 25, President Obama asks Congress for a $2.8 billion special appropriation to pay for rescue costs and to help rebuild Haiti.

 US Programs in Haiti are obstructing equitable development and decreasing food security USAID's plan for Haiti (and many other poor countries) is to push farmers out of subsistence agriculture as soon as possible USAID policies seek to make optimum use of Haiti's 'comparative advantage' i.e., its abundance of cheap labor World Bank: the Haitian rural majority has only two possibilities: work in the industrial sector, or emigrate

USAID Policies in Haiti

US Government Policies
Drastically reduced tariffs on imported food which the US has insisted upon as a condition for aid are flooding Haiti with cheap food, undercutting prices for locally grown products.

The U.S.-based NGOs that carry out most USAID programs do not adequately consult or coordinate with local, regional and national Haitian government authorities. USAID programs do not respond to Haiti's stated priority of revitalizing national agricultural production; only 4.3 percent of the USAID's four-year US$ 443 million aid package is destined for agricultural development.

US-funded Food Aid & Jobs-creation Programs

US food aid depresses local prices for basic grains, reducing incentives for Haitian farmers to grow them.

Private aid agencies consistently operated jobscreation programs in rural areas at key planting and harvesting times, pulling people out of their fields with the lure of relatively high short-term wages.

Food aid shifts consumption patterns away from locally produced goods in favor of imported goods.

Dependency and Disconnection

USAID-funded programs stifle local initiative with short-term offers of free food and employment, creating cycles of dependency among Haitian farmers USAID agencies frequently fail to consult or work with local community organizations; instead they either directly implement projects themselves or work closely with discredited local elites. 1995 USAID report: An export-driven trade and investment policy has the potential to relentlessly squeeze the domestic rice farmer. This farmer will be forced to adapt or (s)he will disappear

Haiti has world's highest density of NGOs per capita. estimated 10,000 humanitarian groups Republic of NGOs nickname even before the earthquake Haitian officials have long criticized foreign groups for offering higher salaries that lure talented people away from government jobs Foreign non-governmental organizations, which piled into Haiti after the devastating January 2010 quake, are often duplicating services provided by the government or competing with it for international aid money, Prime Minister Jean-Max-Bellerive said.
ex. Red

Major Players: NGOs

Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders

Major Players: Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission

26 member body that decides where to spend money donated to Haitis reconstruction, a partnership between the International community and the Haitian government Works with organizations like the World Bank, who In May 2010 announced that it had canceled Haitis debt of $36 million. Haiti is heavily reliant on foreign aid Co chairman is Bill Clinton. There are 12 members of the board, but most decisions are made by the executive committee that includes Clinton and Haitian PM Jean-Max Bellerive. There are 12 Haitians members in the commission who complain: executives are not adequately doing job: have had meetings where co-chair Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive was absent Only function of the executives committee is to place stamps they dont read, analyze, understand, or follow up on the projects Haitians are now being excluded from the reconstruction of their nation.

Major Players: Haitian Government

Works closely with the United States and is heavily influenced by them In the recent elections, presidential candidate Jude Celestin withdrew from the elections. This was a course of action that the United States supported, and said if their preference wasnt heeded, US support for Hiati could be at risk We don't know who has given money to NGO's (nongovernmental organizations) and how much money have they given. ... At the moment, we can't do any coordination or have any coherent policies for giving to the population. - Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive

 Continually gets involved in Haitian issues Americans donated generously to earthquake relief Received $1.2 billion in aid by 53 NGOs US Government donated $1.5 billion The U.S. currently supports the idea of having dual nationality for Haitians living outside their country, many of whom are currently living in the United States This would allow these Haitians to vote and potentially run for office The US put a lot of support and had a large amount of influence in getting Haiti's new president, former pop star Michel Martelly

Major Players: United States

"The people of Haiti may have a long road ahead of them, but as they walk it, the United States will be with you all the way," Hillary Clinton

Analysis of USAID Policy in Haiti

We must analyze USAID in such areas as: governmental, NGO structure, and coordination, USAID and NGO actions, the results, and overall earthquake disaster relief.

Governmental: The bulk of USAID funding goes towards governance, primarily into police training. Food policies have focused on importing food to Haiti, versus assisting agriculture production. The US government also puts low tariffs on food imports into Haiti. Many USAID as well as multi national corporations offer short-term, higher waged jobs, i.e. textiles. During the earthquake much of the relief came through the Department of Defense.
NGOs: The majority of the organizations assisting in development and re-construction in Haiti, receive the bulk of their funding through USAID, i.e. CARE, and PADF. Many NGOs like these have more specific agendas, but must comply with USAID objectives. Although many NGOs are under the budgetary umbrella of USAID, they are not coordinated under USAID.

Effects of USAID
USAIDs policy focus on importing food, has depressed the local markets ability to compete with local agriculture since they cannot beat the price the US offers. This leaves more of a demand on import goods, with less incentive for domestic agriculture. Short-term job creation programs have the ability to employ many, but cannot sustain their continual employment. These programs give incentive away from their communities, perpetuating the dependency on aid for those left behind. Offering these jobs also adds to the idea that in order to succeed Haiti must participate in the world market. This is unrealistic when domestic issues are so severe. After the earthquake there wasnt a lack of assistance, but a lack of framework, and coordination. Relief was centered in cities causing overcrowding. Many reconstruction projects have been started that were poorly organized and implemented, causing more chaos.

Evaluation of USAID in Haiti

The policy of importing food to Haiti is detrimental to its development. Environmental, and agricultural issues are ignored. There is little incentive for farmers when their main competition (USAID) provides cheaper food. The combination of these factors creates a dependency on food from USAID. Short-term employment opportunities take away from local incentives for jobs in the community i.e. farming. Once again the abandonment of local issues for these shorter jobs creates a dependency on USAID. Disaster reliefs still focuses more of its budget on rubble clearing and clean up than issues such as health and reconstruction. The DoDs presence also contributed to a stronger military presence after the earthquake, causing Haiti to seem more like a police state. The failure of most NGOs to work with local communities while an elite few within the NGOs initiate their own projects, ignoring the needs of Haitian communities. Not allowing Haitians to fully participate in reconstruction and growth is debilitating to Haitis development. The lack of consolidation or coordination among NGOs under USAID cause issues such as: competition for funding/ support, under or over action in key areas, a lack of structured leadership, and an absence of Haitian participation in the process.

Recommendations
USAID needs to put the power back in the hands of Haitian farmers in order to create a stabilized agricultural industry. Assisting more in this process while slowly decreasing the amount of imports as food production increases, and local food costs decrease. US policies should decrease the emphasis on short-term job creation, while focusing more on long-term local projects. In focusing on local job creation and stability there needs to be less focus on personal gain, and more on community strengthening, so that Haitians have something to build more equity off of in the future. USAID needs plan more around the voiced needs of the Haitians versus implementing their own projects. In doing so more work can be done by those in need. NGOs need a more standard framework in information sharing, operations and cohesive leadership. In terms of disaster relief US policy should focus less on the military presence, and organize a more cohesive relief strategy.

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