Vegetable Gardens for Improved Nutrition in Haiti

Partners would first like to thank all our generous donors who have made this project possible! Your donations have provided supplies and trainings to families in Lory and we hope to keep bringing you good project updates that show the impact of your assistance.

Through collaboration with the Farmer to Farmer program, a team of organic agriculture specialists from Vermont recently traveled to provide training in integrated, sustainable farming. In Lory, they looked at improving practices in vegetable seedling production and transplanting, compost, and other areas.

An excerpt from their trip report is below: 

"The Lory community members that we worked with ... were very enthusiastic and had prepared raised beds with compost before we came. They were constrained by land availability, sun exposure, seed availability, and heavy soils with poor drainage. They valued the use of bagasse [the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice] based compost that Makouti has been producing and were extremely supportive of each other and eager to exchange ideas with us. Saintano [the village field technician] had good technical knowledge and seemed to gain confidence and comfort working with us over the course of the week." 

Based on their work and the trainings provided, some recommendations to further improve the gardens in Lory are:

• Clay soils with limited drainage are a problem so raised beds and as much compost as possible will help improve soil tilth and drainage. 
• Row cover should be used to cover beds until seedlings are able to withstand chicken damage.
• Continue compost workshops and additional pest management training is needed.
• Acquiring access to more and better land for the women’s group to work collectively as skill sets develop in vegetable production.

Training on these and other topics will help strenghten the impact of our work in Lory. Thank you again for your collaboration!

The Lory Project is moving along, thanks in part to your generous donations!  While still focused primarily on vegetable gardens for nutrition, through collaboration with other groups such as the Farmer to Farmer Program, the project now also has a small animal component to add meat.

Below are some accomplishments to date, along with next steps and future plans.

• Last year, we produced over that 4,000 tomato plants. This year, our potential is 10,000 seedlings and we have more pots so we can produce more seedlings.
• 10 families have a watering can to water their plants.  More families need watering cans. The good quality ones cost $15 each.
• 50 families are producing vegetables. Farmer to Farmer volunteers are helping find good quality seed but this continues to be a challenge.
• 4 back-pack sprayers are available to help families control the insect damage. For now, 4 are sufficient. But as people produce more, they will need more and each is $50.
• 20 woman are raising rabbits. There is a high demand for rabbits. 20 more cages need to be distributed to double the number of beneficiaries and increase the production.
• 10 families are raising chickens. More supplies are needed to increase chicken production.
• This year, by producing their own vegetable and meat, each family saves HTG 20 000. (USD $500). More varieties of vegetable are needed. Nutrition is a need and training will be provided on cooking techniques and suggestions for incorporating different vegetables into meals.
• This year, by selling vegetables and rabbit and chicken meat, each family earn HTG 15 000 (USD 375). More varieties are needed to sell more. New market linkages are needed as production increases.

As the project progresses, your support will be critical so we thank you for your continued interest in the Lory Vegetable Gardens for Improved Nutrition project!