CNSA/MARNDR HAITI Food Security Update No 42/ Period covered: August/September 2009 School expenses for children in poor households are a source of food insecurity. Food insecure households, especially the poorest, are generally among the households with low levels of education, and therefore low incomes (see the results of the WFP/CNSA 2007 Comprehensive Analysis of Food Security and Vulnerability). Furthermore, according to the recent study on food security and livelihoods in the Port au Prince metropolitan area (FEWS NET/CNSA, June 2009), very poor households consume only 1995 kilocalories per person per day, or 95 percent of the minimum requirement (2100 kcal). Also, for these households, education is the second largest expenditure after food. September 2009 Figure 1. Assessment of Current Food Security Conditions (September 2009) Consequently, when very poor households in the urban areas of Port au Prince decide to send children to school, they must pay seven percent of their income, an amount that otherwise could have improved their daily food rations. Furthermore, if a family wishes to ensure that children receive the same quality of education as better off households from these same areas, the family must reduce food consumption by more than 60 percent. For more information on FEWS NET s food insecurity scale, visit: www.fews.net/foodinsecurityscale Source: FEWS NET This is the dilemma faced by very poor households: should they educate the children or supplement/improve their food supply? General food security conditions have remained relatively stable as schools opened in September. Three factors contributed to the stability: i) the good spring harvest thanks to improved rainfall, ii) the stability of prices in general, and especially food prices (according to the Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d Informatique, inflation was only 0.6 percent in August 2009), iii) the continuation of income generating activities (dredging, building and repairing roads and agricultural infrastructure). However, in some regions of the country food insecurity has increased (Figure 1). This is the case in the Far West, which has suffered ongoing drought (Bombardopolis, Baie de Henne, Môle Saint Nicolas), Artibonite, and the Southeast (Jacmel valley), which is grappling with Teschen disease, a malady of swine. To improve the food security of the poor in the urban slums of Port au Prince, and that of households in other vulnerable regions, the following have been identified as possible actions for the government and its partners: Provide assistance to very poor households that reside in Port au Prince shantytowns and cannot afford the cost of schooling; Strengthen and expand school lunch programs in poor areas of Port au Prince; Build up the child nutritional monitoring system in the areas of the Northwest department stricken by drought, while awaiting an in depth assessment of food security conditions in this department in mid October; Subsidize community restaurants in Port au Prince slums. This report was made possible by support from the following organizations: FEWS NET Haiti: haiti@fews.net; www.fews.net/haiti European Union CNSA 7, Delmas 99, PAP Haiti Tel. -Fax: (509) 237-3055 www.cnsahaiti.org FEWS NET Washington 1717 H St NW Washington DC 20006 The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations that support the CNSA (European Union, FAO, WFP) and FEWS NET (USAID).
HAITI Food Security Update No. 41 September 2009 Seasonal Calendar and Critical Events Source: FEWS NET Food Insecurity and Access to Education in Poor Areas of Port au Prince The study on food security and livelihoods in the Port au Prince urban environment, conducted by FEWS NET in cooperation with the CNSA, defined four wealth classes: very poor, poor, middle income, Figure 2. Frequency of Different Income Sources by Wealth Group in Portau-Prince and better off. While the last three classes manage to meet the average minimum requirement of 2100 kilocalories per person per day, the very poor do not and must make do with 1995 kilocalories, or 95 percent of the international standard. Despite this chronic food insecurity, feeding the family and educating the children are the two biggest concerns of very poor households in the slums of Port au Prince. Even more importantly, there is a severe conflict between sending the children to school and feeding the household, because the opportunity cost of education, in terms of food consumption in very poor households, is high. This is a difficult reality that households in this category must face daily. Source: FEWS NET Haiti/USAID Food Insecurity Among the Very Poor There is very little crop or stock farming in poor urban areas. In order to eat, households must obtain food from the market. The amount and quality of food consumed by each household depends on household income. Figure 2 shows the main income sources and frequency by wealth class. The poor earn income from small business and temporary jobs. They have barely enough to survive. Food purchases claim about 70 percent of monthly household income, even though the amount of food covers only 95 percent of the minimum daily calorie requirement for maintenance. Bread, oil, and sugar are a large part of the diet and so must be considered staple foods for all four wealth classes (Fig. 3). While the amount eaten does not meet needs, for the very poor the quality is far from satisfactory in terms of the amount of protein and other nutrients. Average income and better off households can allow themselves the luxury of purchasing more expensive food products, such as butter, milk, and meat, and they eat more of these than very poor and poor households. Famine Early Warning Systems Network 2
HAITI Food Security Update No. 41 Figure 4 shows the cost of kilocalories from various food products. Kilocalories from oil and sugar are seen to be the least expensive. This explains why the different wealth classes consume large amounts of these products. Product prices seem to determine the dietary habits of the different wealth classes to a large degree. Calories from wheat flour and maize flour are equally inexpensive, so it is not surprising that the very poor eat more of these products than those who are better off. In contrast, spaghetti and beans are among the most expensive staple products and are eaten in larger quantities by middle income and better off households. Animal proteins, such as chicken and milk, are among the most expensive products in caloric terms. Onions are also very costly in this respect, but they can almost be considered a universal condiment, being used in most dishes but in limited quantities. The very poor do not include milk in their diet due to the high cost of the calories. One striking fact is the amount of food bought by poor and very poor households that is prepared in the street. Nine to eleven percent of the calories consumed come from this source, which is three to four times more expensive than rice, maize, or wheat flour in terms of calories/cost. There are several reasons for such a choice. First, it is part of the culture of city residents frequently to eat food prepared on the street. Second, the members of many households spend their days working outside the home, which makes eating on the street more practical, at least at noon. Finally, with prepared food bought on the street, there is no need to prepare food at home, and therefore to buy fuel, for example. September 2009 Figure 3. Source of Kilocalories Figure 4. Variable Cost of 100 kilocalories Source: FEWS NET Haiti/USAID The very poor have barely enough to survive. With nearly 70 percent of their income going to purchase food, they have very little access either to health services or to resources for running their household. They are highly vulnerable to shocks related to, for example, increased prices for basic necessities. In order to educate their children and ensure them a better future, they must accept that they will eat a little less than the minimum required amount of food. Opportunity Cost of Education Among the Very Poor By sending their children to school, the very poor make a very hard choice, which is all the more difficult because education is the second largest household expense after food. The cost of education is high because more than 85 percent of the schools in Port au Prince are private. Educational expenses in urban poor areas can be divided into five categories, namely: school fees, textbooks and exercise books, uniforms, pocket money, and transportation. Pocket money is given to the children throughout the year to buy lunch from the vendors outside the schools. This money represents the largest educational expense for all wealth classes. It is not surprising that middle income and better off households can allow themselves to spend much more for school fees and books for their children. In fact, it is only these two categories that commonly spend money for transportation to school. This may reflect the ability of better off households to send their children to the better schools located outside the immediate neighborhood, especially at the secondary level. Famine Early Warning Systems Network 3
HAITI Food Security Update No. 41 September 2009 It must be stressed that inasmuch as sending children to school is an optional expense, the proportion of income that very poor households allocate for this purpose is significant on the order of seven percent. Moreover, these very poor households cover only about 95 percent of the minimum food requirements as defined by the international minimum standard of 2100 kcal per person per day. But the reality is that they cannot meet their minimum dietary needs if they choose to educate their children. And this is the choice they make, because they feel that this sacrifice is the only hope of a better future. That is also the reason that many Haitians living abroad allocate the money they transfer to their families within the country specifically to school fees. If very poor households were to reduce their food expenditures in order to spend the same amount of money on education as the better off in urban poor areas, they would be able to consume only 36 percent of their daily food needs. Conversely, if they were to do the opposite and eliminate their educational expenses, the very poor could supply 100 percent of their minimum food needs. The right to a basic education is very unevenly distributed in the urban slums. Current food security conditions Availability. The good rainfall during the first growing season (April June) and the steps taken by the various contributors to the sector favored good agricultural production. Maize sown in the spring continues to be harvested in some parts of the country, such as the central plateau, North, Southeast, South, and Grand Anse. Bean harvests in the humid mountain agriculture zone have already begun in Nippes. They should continue throughout the country until the end of October, based on the planting date. Farmers have begun to harvest other products such as rice in Artibonite and yams in the humid mountain zone. Repair work continues on the Gonaïves plain, which was heavily damaged by hurricanes in August and September 2008. In addition, thanks to the operation of the City of Gonaïves thermal power station, twenty power driven pumps are supplying water to irrigate the fields, and ten others are expected along with tractors for plowing. The planting and harvesting underway in the departments have created jobs that especially benefit the rural poor. The harvesting of coffee, an export crop, in the mountains is also creating opportunities for both the producers and agricultural workers. Access. For the moment, income generating activities and stable prices for most staple food products are providing relatively good access to food in the country. On the income side, dredging and road construction have created jobs and helped parents in regions such as Gonaïves, Ennery, and Thomonde to better prepare for the start of the new school year. Inflation continues to be low. According to data from the Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d Informatique (IHSI), the inflation rate was 0.6 percent in August, or 2.8 percent annually. Inflation for food, drinks, and tobacco was especially low at 0.7 percent (see also the attached staple food prices graphs). Price changes for some staple foods were not uniform across all regional markets. For example, while some staple food prices were generally stable as with rice on most markets others, such as prices for black bean at Jérémie and Hinche, were showing an upward trend. In short, while the situation is favorable in most of the country s departments, making more food available than in 2008, some regions are experiencing difficulty. This is especially true of the western peninsula of the Northwest department (the Far West), which is suffering from a water shortage and may see reduced agricultural production. The situation looks very difficult for residents of Bombardopolis, Baie de Henne, and other neighboring towns. Other regions, namely the Southeast and Artibonite, may experience a worsening of food insecurity with the impact of Teschen disease, which affects swine. The situation looks serious, especially because for the time being, there is no treatment to control the disease s spread and eradicate it. This will not fail to affect the economic situation of stock farmers, for whom swine represent their savings. Indeed, stock farming especially the sale of hogs constitutes a significant income source. If the number of Teschen caused deaths among swine continues to climb, the economic situation of farmers will suffer, especially that of livestock farmers. The estimated number of food insecure persons remains unchanged from the previous two months at around 1.9 million. However, given the vulnerability of a large majority of Haitians to the risks of flooding and hurricanes (and even minor occurrences of inclement weather), the deterioration of weather conditions in the Far West, and the severe outbreak of Teschen disease among swine, an increase in the number of food insecure persons throughout the country is expected over the coming months. Famine Early Warning Systems Network 4
HAITI Food Security Update No. 41 September 2009 Monitoring the Scenarios from the Outlook The assumptions on which the most likely scenarios for the period from July to December were based predicted a certain amount of stability, which to date has indeed come about. Prices are fairly stable. The rainfall shortages associated with the El Niño phenomenon are occurring as predicted in the semi arid areas of Northwest and Southeast. We note, however, that updated forecasts for the next three months are more optimistic as far as the number and severity of hurricanes and rainfall amounts are concerned. 1 In general, prices have remained stable, but petroleum product prices have risen at the pump during the past three months. Table 2. Monitoring the Scenarios from the Outlook (July-December 2009) Scenarios Prices of main food products remain stable. Price of gas remains low Jobs/income stable Outlay associated with the start of the new school year Transfers stable National production and importation Average hurricane activity Water shortages will be caused by El Niño Recommendations Occurrence August- September 2009 Yes No Stable Yes Stable Yes No Yes Comments Prices for some products are rising slightly in some places. Prices change more quickly on the national market than on the international market due to price changes on the international market and especially to tax measures adopted by Haiti s government. National production is good except in the Northwest region, which experienced drought To date, no hurricane has struck Haiti; on the other hand, drought did strike the semi-arid regions. To improve the food security of the poor in the urban slums of Port au Prince, and that of households in other vulnerable regions, the following have been identified as possible actions for the government and its partners: Provide assistance to very poor households that reside in Port au Prince shantytowns and cannot afford the cost of schooling; Strengthen and expand school lunch programs in poor areas of Port au Prince; Strengthen the child nutritional monitoring system in the areas of the Northwest department stricken by drought, while awaiting an in depth assessment of food security conditions in this department; Subsidize community restaurants in Port au Prince slums. 1 These points will be covered in more depth in the next outlook, which will be issued in October. Famine Early Warning Systems Network 5
ANNEX: Haiti Monthly Price Bulletin September 2009 Monthly prices are supplied by the CNSA/FEWS NET market information system. Rice, black beans, maize, and cooking oil are among the most important food items for poor and middle income households in Haiti. Roots and tubers are also important, but not currently monitored. All cooking oil is imported and rice imports account for about 80 percent of national needs. Large quantities of beans and maize are also imported, but over half of the national needs are domestically produced. Rice is consumed by even the poorest households, and imported rice is generally cheaper than locally produced rice. Croix de Bossales is the largest market in the country and is located in Port au Prince, where one third of the country s population lives. Hinche, in the center of the country, is located in one of the most vulnerable areas. Jeremie is the farthest market from Port au Prince and Jacmel is located in the Southeast department, a department particularly exposed to cyclones and known for having the highest rates of malnutrition in the country. Famine Early Warning Systems Network i
ANNEX: Haiti Monthly Price Bulletin September 2009 Famine Early Warning Systems Network ii
ANNEX: Haiti Monthly Price Bulletin September 2009 Famine Early Warning Systems Network iii