Haiti Food Security
Sud and Grand’Anse Departments
USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) provides life-saving
humanitarian assistance—including food, water, shelter, emergency
healthcare, sanitation and hygiene, and critical nutrition services—to theworld’s most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It
has an approximate population of 11.5 million people, with about half ofthem living in poverty. Haiti ranked 111th of 117 countries includedin the 2019 Global Hunger Index, which is a composite measure ofundernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. Abouthalf of the population is under 25 years of age.

POVERTY AND MALNUTRITIONOV E RV I E W
 Grand’Anse and Sud are locatedon the southern peninsula of Haiti,
where they are particularly
vulnerable to hurricanes,droughts, and floods.
 The population size is estimated atabout 720,443 persons in Sud and421,505 persons in Grand’Anse.
 Three livelihood zones areobserved in these areas: HT07
(South beans, bananas, and pettytrade), HT08 (Southwestern coast
maize, cassava, and bushproducts), and HT01 (dry coastal
maize and charcoal).
Agriculture is the main source ofincome: 80 percent of households
in Sud have access to land foragriculture, compared to 84
percent in Grand’Anse.

 Gender disparities in access toeducation and income prevail.

Poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition
are widespread in both departments.

Indicator

Sud

Grand’Anse

Poverty rate*

5070

Food insecurity

44.6

77.9

Stunting

22

21.6

Wasting

2.1

3.6

HDHS, 2017
* Two bottom-quintiles from 2017 HDHS wealth index.

P O V E R T Y A N A LY S I S
For this analysis, poor households are those living in the two lowest quintiles of the asset distribution.

Generally, poor households in Sud …
 are more likely to be: 1) headed by men, and 2) lesseducated than non-poor households.
 tend to live in structures with walls made fromcane/palm, dirt/mud, or other materials; sand floors;and metal or leaf roofs.

Poor households in both departments …
 are less likely to own modes of communication (e.g.,radios, TVs, mobile phones, landlines/house phones,computers, and Internet); modes of transportation (e.g.,cars, motorcycles, and bicycles); and other assets, such as
fridges, watches, and bank accounts.

 are more likely to be headed by someone not married
and, in particular, widowed.

 are more likely to access drinking water through(protected or unprotected) springs and are less likely tohave access to a toilet.

 have a higher proportion of members who are younger
than 15 years of age.

 experience shocks related to natural disasters or healthemergencies.

Generally, poor households in Grand’Anse …

F O O D AVA I L A B I L I T Y
PRODUCTION AND IMPORTS
The main staple food crops across Haiti areplantains, rice, maize, wheat flour, tubers, beans,peas, and sorghum. Domestic production meets 58
percent of demand for maize and 22 percent
for rice. Wheat flour and edible oils areimported.

CHALLENGES
Communities and farmers face challenges, including
limited storage and processing capacities, climatechange, limited access to land, limited access tomarkets, poor irrigation systems, roads, limited
availability of agriculture extension services, finance,and supplies.

Households have a high dependence onpurchases to meet their basic food needs. Poorhouseholds are highly susceptible to global
and local food price fluctuations.

SOCIAL DYNAMICS
Female-headed households use fewer inputs, haveless productive farms, have lower incomes, and sufferfrom higher rates of food insecurity.

AC C E S S TO F O O D
Mode of Accessing Food byLivelihood Zone

COST OF FOOD

High inflation and a volatile exchange
rate are reflected in high prices for staples
such as rice, wheat flour, and cooking oil.

100%

Households experience multiple shocks
that influence their access to food, including
high prices, health emergencies, loss ofemployment, and political instability.

40%

Households have adjusted theirconsumption patterns oremployed some of the strategies attheir disposal to increase theiraccess to food. For example:

80%
60%
20%

Households benefit from various forms offood assistance (cash/vouchers, etc.).

F O O D U T I L I Z AT I O N /N U T R I T I O N A L S TAT U S
Diets are mainly cereal based and lackdiversity, contributing to macro and micronutrient deficiencies (iron, iodine, folate,vitamin A, and zinc).

COPING STRATEGIES Reducing meal portions

0%GA - GA - SO - SO - SO HT08 HT07 HT01 HT07 HT08

Purchased

Own production

Others Reducing number of meals

 Securing cheaper food items

S TA B I L I T Y
External risks such as political instability, violence, crime, natural
disasters, macroeconomic volatility, and medical emergencies
threaten the stable supply of food, income, and economic resources topoor Haitian households.

In both departments, children are more
likely to be stunted if their mother isilliterate. Children in both departments are
more likely to be wasted if they are girls, arechildren whose pregnancy was unwanted, orare children whose mothers are divorced,separated, or widowed.

The Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) under the terms of contract no. 7200AA18C00057. This two-page document was produced by NORC at the University of Chicago and is the sole
responsibility of RTAC and NORC at the University of Chicago and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.