Provide Seeds for Haitians to Grow 50 Tons of Food

Dear Friend of Seed Programs International,

This project is now fully funded! We've launched a second GlobalGiving project, found here: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/seeds-for-honduras/, for those interested in charitable holiday giving or just eager to help support further deserving vegetable seed projects.

Back to Haiti: the shipment of four cartons of seeds only made possible by your support left East Rochester, New York for Hollywood, Florida last week. This week they will travel by air the short hop to Cap-Haitien via our friends at http://www.shipcasco.com/shiphaiti.htm who provide excellent and affordable service.

The seed selection includes cabbage, chinese cabbage, carrot, okra, hot pepper, bell pepper, tomato, garden bean, red onion, and eggplant. This represents a variety of foods that can be readily grown by schoolchildren, households, and farmer cooperatives, fit well into the Haitian diet, and are sellable at market to bring needed extra income. Some of the crops, like the chinese cabbage, will do better in highland areas while others such as the okra will better thrive in the hotter lowlands. Our partners in Haiti have strong agricultural training and will select and distribute seeds accordingly.

These partners include three programs who together reach a broad span of north Haiti:

• Ayiti KonseVet ("Keep Haiti Green") - AKV
• Initiative pour le Developpement Durable du Haiti- IDDH
• La Pleiade

A hallmark of this collaboration is a strong training and capacity-building element. In the photo below, agronomist Brunet Robert is teaching a group of students about using a bucket-based drip irrigation system.

Animal production to complement the gardens and provide hard-to-find soil fertility is often part of the teaching. AKV lead agronomist Wedly Deceus says:

"I once again thank all donors and I reaffirm the relevance of all AKV’s activities to the lives of rural Haitians. We are a small organization but our results and effects are equal to the big guys with big money. In this spirit I hope we can continue with our efforts at renaissance of truly devastated communities like Mena, now that a start has been made – through a rabbit raising project and gardening. With these, AKV will continue in its mission of improving nutrition and income through education and agricultural restoration, of rural Haitians."

We will report again once we have news of use of these seeds, which could be 1-3 months away. Until then, please accept our deepest gratitude on behalf of the seed and training recipients at the schools, households, and farms of northern Haiti.