By Shannon Smith | Cap-Haitien Systems Manager
This month at our Cap-Haitien SOIL office, we welcomed a group of five new agricultural interns: Kettelyne, Marie Jocelyne, Emmanuel, Stanley, and Julien. Coming from local universities, they will be performing experiments with SOIL compost to test just how much of a difference it can make for local farmers - both in terms of yield and increased profits at market prices. This research helps them complete the requiremnts of hteir agronomy degrees while also giving them valuable hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture. And their research also helps SOIL as we use their findings to market our compost and improve the information we provide to farmers.
In the past, we have found that applying SOIL compost to peppers could increase a farmer’s profits by over $5,000 per hectare. This is spectacular news for Haiti. This beautiful country was once known as the Pearl of the Antilles for its incredibly rich and fertile soil, however more recently agricultural productivity has been in the decline due to soil erosion and lack of access to soil amendments and fertilizer. We look forward to supporting the agricultural experiments of our new interns, as together we work to ensure that farmers are able to make a decent living from their work.
SOIL is proud to be supporting these promising Haitian youth in their studies. We believe that access to education, livelihood opportunities, health, and ecological growth go hand-in-hand.
Photo credits: Vic Hinterlang
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