Natural Resource Management - Haiti

Providing rural communities in Haiti with the economic incentives and knowledge to improve the management of critical watersheds and natural resources 

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Economic Development for a Sustainable Environment project (DEED) provides an alternative to the previous models of natural resource management (NRM) projects. DEED, a three-year project in Haiti, envisions a market-based approach that integrates improved management of lands and other natural resource assets with expanded enterprise and job opportunities in the production of suitable high-value crops, creating livelihood options for hillside farmers currently trapped in continued poverty. Linking the management of natural resources to sound conservation while simultaneously offering livelihood options will provide the essential stimulus for promoting sustainable watershed management.  The project targets two watersheds to complete this work – Limbé in Haiti’s North Department and the river systems around Montrouis in Haiti’s West Department.  

DEED creates these linkages by introducing livelihood improvements into all aspects of watershed and natural resource management. DEED establishes a collective vision, facilitates participatory planning, and builds partnerships in its communities that deliver results through concerted action. It employs innovative approaches to mobilizing target communities and producer groups (PGs) and helps them develop land-use and business plans that not only help protect fragile natural resources but also create employment and business opportunities. DEED unlocks the potential for growth in the two target watersheds by delivering the technical services, training, and business support needed to build the local skills and capacity to sustain growth.  

DEED works across six integrated technical components, each with a set of specific activities and results that contribute to the overall program.  

These are: 

1. Strengthening Community-Based Producer Groups, Associations, and Enterprises
2. Promoting Alternatives to Hillside Farming
3. Promoting and Improving Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM)
4. Assisting the Government of Haiti to develop sound NRM Policies and Management Systems
5. Developing Watershed Restoration & Management Plans with Watershed Stakeholders
6. Promoting Alliances with the Private Sector to Leverage DEED Resources  

The key results that DEED is expected to deliver include: 

• A 20 percent increase in household income in target areas of the Montrouis and Limbé watersheds as a result of improvements in agriculture, marketing, and off-farm employment.
• At least 50,000 hectares (ha) of fragile land under environmentally sound management—a reduction in unsuitable annual cropping of about 50 percent.
• At least 2,500 ha of priority conservation areas under improved and sustainable management that improves the biophysical conditions of the ecosystems.
• At least 15,000 households deriving improved livelihoods from sound management of natural resources.
• At least $7 million leveraged from the private sector for investment in enterprise development and watershed management in the target watersheds. 

The project is planned to be implemented for five years (March 2008 to February 2013) in two separate phases of 3 and 2 years respectively.