Haiti is one of the top countries that suffer from world hunger. Haiti is a country located in the continent of the Caribbean and it’s an independent state with a population of roughly 10 million people. Worldwide, one person in every eight experiences hunger due to lack of food and millions of people die of hunger (Rofles 663). The global environment development can lead to hunger and pollution if people aren’t sustainable. The three major reasons why Haiti is one of the top 10 world hunger country is because of poverty and overpopulation, natural disasters and political turbulence.
The environment can either feed people or damage food production. Agriculture is the primary sector of Haiti’s economy but the major problem is soil erosion from weather conditions and water scarcity. Arabica coffee is where they get most of their money, following cacao because it’s known to be less damaging during natural disasters and they get may more profit. The challenges for energy is significant and 75% of the population relies on biomass like charcoal and wood fuel as an energy source, whereas others have sufficient access for machinery use. Using less energy helps with air and water pollution, climate changing and much more, which benefits the country. The amount of fuel that takes for ships to transport food and supplies contributes to greenhouse gases and climate changes. Access to water is difficult in the country and worsens with weather conditions. Contaminated water has been a concern because of waterborne illnesses from droughts that later causes cholera, leading to death in most cases. When shipments get imported, it has been identified from the locals that many food goes to waste, which is tragic because many people are unnourished and dying. Food goes to waste because of shipment delays which contributes to food expiring and rotting. Sustainable solutions for Haiti depends on who gets involved and helping lead change. Many organizations and volunteers help with supply food, clean water, shelter, and emotional support overall. They work with areas that have been affected dramatically and teach them techniques of what to do in emergency situations. Food production depends on the environment and the people’s actions to be sustainable.
The world’s population keeps going up each year in the poorest countries, which makes it more difficult to keep up and provide more food. The population of Haiti is roughly 10 million people and more than half of the population live in poverty or below poverty line. The amount of water and food decreases because of population group which puts people in a famine. Malnutrition leads to persistent hunger and therefore, can lead to nutrient deficiencies and overall growth failure. Food insecurity affects most of the population and without being well nourished can lead to birth defects, learning disabilities, mental retardation, impaired immunity, blindness incapacity to work, and premature deaths, iron deficiency anemia, maternal deaths, preterm deaths, low birth deaths, infections, and premature deaths (Rofles 671). Chronic malnutrition keeps being the problem from children causing them to have reduced physical and mental development. (Meds & Food for Kids) The insufficient intake of vitamin B, D, E and iron lead to these deaths and many diseases. Many mothers have no food for their children and also those who are pregnant are at risk because of the insufficient nutrients and minerals needed for their body and throughout their pregnancy. Malnutrition is the major issue in childhood development following that is death. Roughly 22% of children under the age of 5 have stunting and about 10% are underweight. Most of the children in Haiti have kwashiorkor and marasmus and can easily be spotted. In many pictures I came across, most children have a swollen stomach or visible ribs. The rehabilitation process for them is a peanut butter medicine which puts children back on track with vitamins and nutrients but takes several weeks for that to occur. Ready-to-use therapeutic food helps children gain weight and be more active. According to Food for The Poor, 67 of every 1,000 children will die before age 5, men live up to age 61 and women until age 66 (Food for The Poor).
Nature disasters can affect many people, food, plants and animals. Haiti has always suffered from natural disasters like flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes and much more. The most recent natural disaster that happened was Hurricane Mathew, which hit on October 2016 as a Category 4. This hurricane was the third strongest to hit the country. Around 1,000 people were killed by the hurricane and around 700 were missing people. Most of the agriculture and housing were destroyed which leaves them unable to produce food or feed people; therefore, it leads to a continuous hunger cycle. Haiti is known for their agriculture including: cassava, plantains, bananas, corn, yams, sweet potatoes and rice. Most of these foods have fiber, iron, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium which is sufficient nutrients and minerals to survive and prevent diseases. After the hurricane hit, they were faced with food insecurity, while already having minimal food resources and of course making it even more worse. After two weeks of the hurricane, the outbreak for cholera started. Cholera is a disease in the small intestine from consuming contaminated water with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. The overflowing of rivers with dead bodies and pool of water is what creates contaminated water and higher risks for diseases. The World Health Organization helped donate around 1 million vaccines for cholera. Shelters are limited in the country, so not many people had access, so the ones who didn’t have access went to the areas where less damaged occurred. Thankfully, Haiti has organizations and volunteers, mostly from the United States that help with food assistant, provide money to build roads and homes, and even doctors travel to help with medical care. For example, Hope for Haiti is a well-known organization that donates $0.95 every day to better their lives.
Haiti is a free market economy with low labor costs and tariff-free access to the United States for many of its exports and the government reply’s mostly on organizations for their aid (CIA). The food prices this year went up 15.5% making it more difficult for people to survive (Trading Economics). Many families had to separate their children with relatives and be apart from them because they couldn’t afford to feed them due to food crisis. The government leaves food to rot under the sun when shipments come in because of the red tape that’s on the packages. This leads to more starvation and easy access for people to eat dirt or oil. About 75% of the food is imported to Haiti and food being piled up in dumpsters or expired has left more than half of the population undernourished. President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, had stated that he would raise wages up to 20% but when the day came to increase wages he only raised 15%, which started a riot. The prices that keep increasing in food product and supplies has been the reason for protesting and has led to government resignations. More than half of the people live on less than $2.00 per day and the average income a day is $5.00 for farmers (Chris Herlinger). When prices go up and there is no increase in worker’s wages, there are always riots because it makes it harder for the people in Haiti to survive and mostly those under poverty line.
Overall, as a society we need to make global and local changes to prevent the consequences for hunger. Haiti’s inability to feed their own people due to poverty and overpopulation, natural disasters and political turbulence leads to food crisis. Organization who have contributed and keep contributing to the country have helped and changed many people’s lives in many different aspects. The global environment can either provide many food for people or reduce the amount of food production; this depends on how cautious a person is with eliminating sources that are harmful for the environment or simply limiting those sources. A person’s action may influence other people over time and also inviting a group of people to join you and help Hunger-Relief Organizations can make a difference. The whole idea is to spread the word about helping those in need and making a change in the environment.
