Help Families Grow their Own Food in Rural Haiti

We are working with a group that is growing coffee and other vegetables. Here is some background about that group. More details to come as they progress on the work.

OFAP (Women's Organization for Action), which was born on March 12, 2000  in the community of Pliche. Today it has 108 Women members.

The organization sets itself the following objectives:

. Work collaboratively to improve the economic conditions of the members;

. Helping Women Know the Rights and Duties of Society;

. Combat all forms of violence against women in society.

Organization Framework and Functioning: OFAP has a simple framework: a 9-member Steering Committee (Chairman, Vice President, Secretary, Vice Secretary, Treasurer, 2 Delegates, 2 Advisors) and 6 Commission 3 members listed at each of these locations. The organization has its members in: Piwon, Kenyan, Pliche, Are, Agan, Manso.

In the running of the Organization, members have to contribute 20.00 gds per month. Currently, the Organization has 100,000 gds in the treasury.

The Steering Committee meets monthly. The Organization's meetings, which gather the majority of members, are held every 3rd Thursday of the month. Lastly, a General Assembly is held annually to evaluate the work done in the year and plan for the coming year. Recently the Organization held elections to renew the membership of the Steering Committee. The new committee has a term of 5 years.

Members of the Organization usually carry out the following activities: Vegetable Garden - Coffee nursery and grain storage. The organization uses the money in the treasury to carry out activities that have good benefits.

OFAP works jointly with several other organizations in the area such as: ODEP (Organizational Development Agency) - OPDTM (Peasant Development Organization Three Mangoes)-

Pliche is a locality located in the South Department especially in the 4th Section of Marc Henry, Commune of the Cavalry. There are approximately 10,000 people living in the section. The distance to Pliche and Cavallon is 18 miles. In Pliche there are 5 Elementary Schools that can educate 1500 Children from different farms in the area. Children walk 50 m, 300 m, 1 km, 2 km to reach the schools. No High School is in Pliche.

The Pliche population receives health care at the Boundary, Cavalry, Lazil, Okay, Fondant, Aken, Matino, Sizean and Pleasure Hospitals. In general people walk from 30-45mn to these health centers because public transport is not always available in the area.

In the Pliche area there are 5 streams that allow the population to get water to use. These sources are called Tisous, Agan, In Mapuche, Behind the Basin, In Belize.

The economics of Pliche people are based on Breeding, Trade and Agriculture. Agriculture is the largest source of income for people living in Pliche. In this sense, the Peasants produce Beans, Corn, Coffee, Cocoa, Yams, Bananas, Fu Fu and Forest.

Pliche Area Agricultural Calendar

Crop Date Plantation Date Crop

Corn Feb-March

July-August May-June

Oct-Nov

Sweet potatoes July-August

Nov. Nov.

Feb

Millet Feb.-March

July-August profiles. Jan

Yam Feb-March

August- Sept. March- June

Dec

Manioc Fev.-March

July-August Fev- March

July-August

Coffee March, August, Oct., Nov. August, Sept, Dec, Jan

Cocoa March, August, October, Nov.

Bananas August-Feb.

Two of the priority projects that result in more food for Haitians are the Ox Plow projects that increase the amount of land tilled for planting and the Micro-Credit Funds for farmers that accompany the Ox Plow projects. The funds, at an interest rate of 2%, help farmers to pay for the service of plowing at the initial stages. This is a much better interest rate than predatory lenders who charge as much as 25 or 30%. All revenues from the Ox Plowing service increase the capacity of the organization to care for the community.  

With longer droughts and shorter rainy seasons, it is critical that plowing the land for planting is done in a timely manner. Farmers can plow the land sooner when they don’t have to worry about repayments with huge interest rates. In addition, Ox plowing is much quicker than hand tilling. Thanks to your support, Lambi Fund is starting projects with several new organizations in the South and will be reporting more on them in the upcoming months.

Links:

• Fall 2019 Newsletter