Preventing a Second Silent Tsunami in Haiti

In 2008, even before the quake, Haiti underwent what the UN called a "silent tsunami." The tsunami killed at least six people, including a U.N. soldier, and injured dozens more. But unlike the earthquake, that particular crisis was no natural disaster -- it was, instead, the result of the global spike in food prices.

At the time, rising prices were sparking furious food riots across the world. Given its dependence on food imports, Haiti was dealt a particularly nasty blow. With the price of staples like beans, rice and fruit rising by over 50%, some Haitians tried to stanch the hunger pangs by consuming biscuits mixed with mud. Others took the streets and headed for the presidential palace, intent on President Préval's resignation (they were rebuffed by the tear gas and rubber bullets of UN peacekeepers).

Fast forward to February 2010. Since the Jan. 12 earthquake, the cost of imported rice in Port-au-Prince has risen 35%. Accordingly, Nicole Makris writes on Change.org's food blog, among the litany of other concerns in Haiti, better food security should rank near the top of the list.

As we've previously written here, every year, an overwhelming 80% of the rice Haitians consume each year is imported, while 90% of Haiti's eggs are trucked in from the Dominican Republic. This in a country that used to be nearly wholly food sufficient -- that is, until IMF-mandated trade liberalization in the late 1980s compelled Haitian farmers to compete with a cheap influx of so-called "Miami rice," grown by American farmers and shipped down to Port-au-Prince. It's not surprising, then, that Haitian Agriculture Minister Joanas Gué insisted last week in Rome that rural areas, and farmers -- the ones whose livelihoods were so grievously destroyed by U.S. imports -- must be the "backbone" in Haiti's recovery.

All of which makes reading this Washington Post article from 10 years ago -- in which IMF officials insist that lower tariffs have helped Haitian food security -- an even more surreal exercise. In 2000, impoverished, erstwhile rice growers were perishing in their attempts to flee the island by rickety boat. Haitian rice and millet farmers were getting hammered by the competition, and yet the IMF was insisting that trade liberalization would help Haiti in the long run, "provided governments stay the course."

Even before the violence of 2008's food riots, it was already evident that "staying the course" had reaped scant dividends for Haitians. The aftermath of the latest disaster in Haiti is just another bleak reminder of the fact. At least this time around, though, there's a chance renewed goodwill can help fund reinvestment in the Haitian countryside. And not too soon, either: the planting season is almost here.

Photo Credit: land camera land camera