Les conditions socio-économiques de l’innovation agro-écologique pour la sécurisation alimentaire dans les jardins agroforestiers en Haïti

Abstract

Haiti’s agriculture faces two main challenges: improving its contribution to food security—notably by generating income to combat poverty—and furthering the country’s sustainable development. It is also subject to frequent cataclysmic events (earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.). This paper investigates the capacity of agro-forestry systems to intensify food production and supply urban markets. It tests two complementary hypotheses, using surveys of experts and a cross-section of producers in the Port-au-Prince supply basins of Salagnac, Jacmel and Kensckoff. The first hypothesis posits that the emergence of commercial food farming depends on complementarities between different cropping systems, including agroforestry gardens. This type of agriculture, however, is characterized by a fragmented and diversified food supply structure, which presents limitations for the supply of urban markets. The second hypothesis relates to the producers’ capacity for collective action to lift these constraints by means of organizational innovations that generate added value and attract investments along the path to agro-ecological innovation. The verification of these hypotheses produces knowledge that can be leveraged in the design of food policies and research strategies to contribute to sustainable food security in Haiti.

Keywords

• Agro-ecology
• Agroforestry
• Collective action
• Food security
• Haiti
• Innovation