Agriculture is a way of reducing dependency, improving economy, and build incomes.

Agriculture is a way of reducing dependency, improving economy, and build incomes.  It has been a common theme that I have mentioned here.  Agriculture is one of the oldest professions for a reason.  Food prices in Haiti are somewhat high, especially for things like cereal, even though there is a cereal maker in Haiti. 

While I don't know the cost of the Haitian cereal makers brand, buying your typical American cereals is very expensive.  Other food items are still a bit expensive.  The only way to drive down the cost is production.  We are working on ways to lower the cost of doing business on La Gonave.  While the island is a great test market due to the size and population, there are some challenges that we have to overcome.  More specifically, logistics will be a major issue.  Outside of this, La Gonave will improve it's own economy by not having to get food from markets in Port-au-Prince.  To a degree, La Gonave has to be independent of Haiti for food and supplies.  Just earthquake a few years back proved that if Port-au-Prince is greatly affected, then the entire country buckles.  When it comes to food, there is no reason why La Gonave can't be mostly independent of food from Haiti.  By being independent of food from Haiti, La Gonave is also independent of food that is shipped into the country.  Not only is local food healthier, but it costs less in many cases. 

We want to build incomes by having farmers participate in programs that build on each other.  This life cycle of food to table is a way to lower cost of things from peppers to compost.  By duplicating efforts throughout the island and using unique practices, typical farms on La Gonave will be able to grow crops they never have been able to before.  It is possible to double the amount of food that one farmer produces using the same land, but different techniques.

We are working with companies to take a much different approach to La Gonave.  The approach of non-faith based business is how we see the future of the island.  We feel that with developing a cooperative, the farmers can then decide how to best improve the local crop yields and processing.

One major project that we will focus on with farmers in the future is chicken and egg production.  We feel that we can make the island self reliant on eggs and chicken meat, which will lower the overall cost, but also provide food security since these items won't be provided by a foreign market.

We are excited to see what the future holds and this cooperative and our business partners will make a major change in the food stock on La Gonave.

Go Gonave!