Field Actions Science Reports (Dec 2013)
L’intégration des familles paysannes haïtiennes dans la lutte antiérosive à travers la cartographie participative
Abstract
In Haiti, due to the country’s rough terrain, a form of subsistence agriculture is practiced that generates widespread soil erosion. Constant demand for charcoal, meanwhile, drives the fragile rural population to cut down too many trees. The advanced state of erosion of the country’s watersheds causes considerable damage. This paper proposes participatory mapping as a possible response to the current failures of anti-erosion projects. A three-dimensional model of the zone of action is built in the community, representing the local population’s basic services as well as current land use. Discussion meetings are organized around the model, from which a consensus emerges on the implementation of anti-erosion structures. General proposals are also put forward for the area’s development and land use. The results have been promising for the management of gullies and the rehabilitation of wooded areas, although setting up anti-erosion structures on cultivated land remains difficult. New income can be generated quickly from rehabilitated gullies, and from fruit and vegetable diversification on fertile land. Peasant families become actors in the process of rethinking local land use, and anti-erosion techniques are better understood, chosen and controlled. The experience presented here is yielding initial signs of success and could be reproduced, but it points to the need for other actions to be implemented at the regional and national levels if the fight against erosion in Haiti is to succeed, such as addressing the question of land tenure and the use of energy sources other than charcoal.
