ECONOMIC GROWTH & AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT FACT SHEET

The economy is largely informal and heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, which has languished in the face of growing rural population pressures, recurrent natural calamities, adverse climate change, and a lack of access to modern technology in the absence of a functional agricultural extension service. Haiti can also be a difficult place for businesses to thrive, ranking 180 of 189 on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index. Despite these challenges, Haiti has had positive economic growth rates since 2011, averaging 3.9 percent through 2015. Informal business sector micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) generate up to 80 percent of new jobs, but generally have difficulties accessing financing from formal institutions and are often in need of business development services and training. High unemployment affects a large portion of Haitians, with estimates indicating that 40 percent of the Haitian population is unemployed, with 50 percent of women unemployed. Dependence on subsistence farming is also a significant challenge, with limited access to capital, environmental degradation, weak public sector capacity in agricultural extension services, and poor access to markets limiting the potential for farmers to scale up production. Within agriculture, USAID is focused on sustainably increasing farm households' incomes through measures that upgrade farm-level technology, stabilize the hillsides above productive plains, and improve domestic and international market access for staple crops, including corn, rice, bean, plantain, and vegetable value chains as well as cash crops, such as cacao and mangos. Improving incomes and livelihoods for Haitian households outside of agriculture hinges on strengthening MSMEs, both technically and organizationally, and strengthening the value chains within which those businesses operate. USAID supports the creation of full-time, formal-sector employment in key industrial sectors, including agribusiness, apparel, and construction. Improving food security is a key objective of USAID's efforts in Haiti, with the Feed the Future initiative boosting agricultural production, sound natural resource management, and modernization of post-harvest marketing to ensure that products make it to market. New rice farming techniques and cacao production and marketing methods have been introduced, and farmers' associations have been linked directly with end buyers, thereby bypassing many layers of middlemen. Creating more productive value chains for MSMEs is also a key priority, with USAID providing vocational training as well as practical skills for the workplace and business management. Mobilizing Haitian diaspora investment and know-how is another key area of focus, with USAID working with diaspora organizations in a number of programs focused on economic growth.