Arias,Diego (Author), Brearley,Emily (Author), and Damais,Gilles (Author)
Format:
Pamphlet
Publication Date:
2006
Published:
Inter-American Development Bank
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
46 p., This paper deals with the coffee industry in Haiti. Coffee has traditionally played a unique role in rural Haiti, in economic, social and environmental terms. However, the competitiveness of the coffee sector of Haiti has been declining over recent years due to a combination of external and domestic factors. This study analyses the current situation and the opportunities and challenges presented for improving the competitiveness of the coffee sector in Haiti in a sustainable manner. It presents a public policy framework to guide the public support and interventions. It concludes that support should be provided to help the coffee sector supply chain reap the potential benefits from new market opportunities, protect key environmental services in upper watersheds, and set an example for other agriculture and rural productive activitiesin Haiti.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
13 p., When the January 12, 2010 earthquake hit Haiti, the country was in the midst of a second round of security and justice system reforms supported by the international community. The quake killed hundreds of thousands of people, including some who played a critical role in implementing these reforms. Damaged infrastructure and casualties in key justice and security positions hindered the existing security institutions' ability to respond to the problems caused by the destruction. This paper examines how the security and justice reforms were affected by the earthquake, and the new security challenges faced by the population in the post-earthquake period.
The privatized, top-down approach to aid delivery in the camps for displaced Haitians has made possible all manner of abuse and coercion. Haitian activists are responding by demanding their human rights, even as they challenge dominant conceptions of those rights.
The long-term prosperity and peace in Haiti depend on pursuing policies that have realistic prospects for implementation and are mutually coherent. Priorities include reforming the civil service and justice systems, streamlining regulations for business, reconstructing housing and infrastructure, improving schools and health care, and ensuring donor cooperation.
Discusses the imperative to establish a functioning education system and explores how the earthquake exacerbated perennial challenges to the Haitian education system, while also perhaps offering some hope. Analyzes reconstruction efforts involving the Government of Haiti and such organizations as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, arguing that an education system premised on local ownership and focused on sustainability is Haiti's best hope.
Despite efforts towards greater poverty relief and neoliberalism, countries with hundreds of millions of inhabitants are not simply falling behind in a global march toward ever-greater prosperity: they are heading in the wrong direction, spiraling down on their own paths of retrogression. The cases of Haiti and sub-Saharan Africa are highlighted.
