Let's Build Gonave, Haiti!

One way to help build up the economy on La Gonave is by farming, but not necessarily traditional crops.  Currently we are using modern beekeeping to raise organic honey.  While beekeeping isn't new, using modern hives is something that is new for La Gonave and Haiti.  Using this method will produce more honey, and allow for a safer way to extract honey. Also while on La Gonave, we started the first steps of raising Kiwano.  Kiwano is a wonderful crop as it does will in tropical climate and can do well in drought.  The plant does well in Africa, so having such a crop in Haiti can allow La Gonave to have a strong market in Kiwano.  Currently this crop is already in the small sprout stage and will fruit sometime this summer. Hurko and Let's Build Gonave Haiti loves being the first at what we do.  The first Observation Hive was awarded to an organization on La Gonave, thanks to Hurko getting involved in the process.  The first Kiwano plant is also...

By now you know where my main objective is.  The overall improvement for the people on La Gonave is to start with agriculture.  When you look at it, people have farmed for many generations on the island, however poor tools, lack of innovation, poor soil, lack of water, lack of seeds, etc.  There are many things that can be done, but La Gonave must have farmers who will become experts in the crops that they raise. Some NGO's are supplying seeds to farmers, and even go as far as providing water catchment systems, but the support ends there.  Providing seeds and water simply isn't enough.  Sure the farmer will raise the crops more successfully than they would have without adequate water, but again, this simply isn't enough. Farmers have to understand how to conserve and be strong supporters of conservation.  Conservation of trees, land, water, etc.  Then they have to be supporters of strong self sufficient farming practices.  This includes more ...

You not understand the volume of eggs that Haiti imports every year, especially from the Dominican Republic.  I just talked about exporting to the DR, now I want to talk about importing.  Many Haitians want to buy local, but the cost to do so often gets in the way.  While some will argue the imported eggs and chicken parts may be contaminated, many Haitians are on a strict budget and will purchase imported food so that their money will go father.  For the price of  150.00 Gourdes, one could get several chicken parts and a fish.  Again this is from importers.  How do you stop this and give Haitian farmers a chance? Volume.  If you flood the market, then prices go down.  When the Haitian price of eggs and chicken parts go down, you then will see the flow of imported chicken parts and eggs go down.  Currently Dominican eggs are 14.00 Gourdes or so, and Haitian eggs are 20.00 Gourdes.  That small difference in cost adds up over time ...

  If you thought the honeybee project was a large task for an island like La Gonave, what would be the thought of Talipia farms.  While it sounds crazy due to the island's lack of water, it is something that could be highly successful.  Our initial plan like all would be to start very small.  We would get a few fingerlings to start.  These fish will of course grow to be the breeders. From there we will start raising the fish to sell on the open market.  It could be a project that we keep in-house, and not a product that the entire co-op would be a part of.  Reasons for this is the cost of products.  Many times it can be very expensive to get the tanks, solar panels to run pumps, pumps, tubing, and water.  So for that, we may take up the task of raising the fish and at a later point getting other co-op members involved. Talipia could be a push into the right direction for farmers on La Gonave.  From there other types of fish, ...

La Gonave could produce a few different crops on a large production scale, which would hire many people in the process.  While farming is normally looked at as a small profit industry, it serves a few purposes.  It employs people of La Gonave, programs will help to fertilize farm soil in a natural way, the island brings in profit, and it creates a stable economy for the island. Coffee could hold promise in the near future.  There is currently a mid sized Haitian company that we are in talks with about coffee production on the island.  This offers farmers on La Gonave the chance to raise coffee beans.  This company sells coffee to big box American retailer Wal-mart.  The opportunity to put La Gonave on the map is happening in many different ways. Currently ideas are to have honey production, coffee production, Moringa, and wax production.  Other crops considered strongly are Sunn Hemp, which will provide potential biomass for the island as well as ...

In order to support not only the future honey bee program on Gonave, which to our understanding is the first, there will also be a farming program. Under the farming program the idea is to grow mainly large scale cover crops to help prevent water run off and soil erosion.  Also these cover crops are known as "green fertilizer".  They provide more nutrients in the soil than cow manure. These cover crops can also be used for future compost and bio-fuel programs.  Two of the crops will provide much needed food to the people of La Gonave.  Crops such as Buckwheat, and Daikon Radish will be grown and harvested.  Also Sunn Hemp will be grown to help with composting measures. The farming program would be open to farmers or people who are interested in farming.  This program is still being worked out. Stay tuned as we work on this plan.  Go Gonave!

I have been working on a plan, call 20-20-20.  It centers around farming on the island of Gonave using simple yet proven techniques.  Food production is low on Gonave and many cite this as a problem. With the plan, some 400 acres could be developed in 5 years. Types of farming would be from beef to fish, and from honey to pineapples.  The approach would be to start off with three different types of farming, which in Year 1 would be Apples, Honey, and beans.  There would be several farms of 1 acre in size, which allows for much less overhead, and also it would work well in areas with a small working plot of land. I'm currently in talks with a few of the current NGO's that are on the island to try and make this happen.  Given the small start up cost, I think this will be a success, and would even allow for enough food to be sold to Haiti.  We are also in talks with the Haitian government on the ability of leasing land to do this.  Stay tuned to more...