INEQUALITIES

Sak Vid Pa Kanpe: The Impact of U.S. Food Aid on Human Rights in Haiti

Sak Vid Pa Kanpe traces the systemic harms of U.S. food aid policy in Haiti through a survey-based investigation in the town of Hinche, situating it in the broader framework of the human rights to food, water, and health and evaluating how requirements tied to U.S.-produced food donations and monetization practices undermine local agricultural production and long-term economic stability. This briefing paper argues that misguided food aid policy carries profound human rights significance through its compounding effects on farmer livelihoods and Haiti’s capacity for self-sufficiency, generating an urgent call for reform centered on local and regional purchase, recipient-government capacity building, local participation, and the donor obligation to do no harm, particularly as Haiti confronts the monumental task of post-earthquake rebuilding.

For the past several years, the organizations involved in preparing this briefing paper have collaborated across disciplines to promote the realization of human rights to food, water, and health in Haiti. In the summer of 2009, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Global Justice Clinic, Partners In Health, and The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights began investigating the impact of U.S. food aid to Haiti, through both desk research and a survey administered in the town of Hinche, in Haiti’s Central Plateau. The organization’s goal was to highlight—through a snapshot of one town’s experience—the impact of U.S. food aid on the Haitian people through a human rights framework. In the wake of the January 2010 earthquake, an understanding of the systemic problems with food aid that existed prior to the earthquake is critical to identifying sustainable, long-term solutions.

The findings presented help illuminate how misguided food aid policies have undermined the best interests of the Haitian people, interfering with the realization of their human rights and long-term economic stability. U.S. food aid—bound by requirements that U.S. assistance earmarked for food be based on the “donation” of U.S.-produced food delivered by U.S. shipping companies—is either given out to the poor (as direct food assistance) or sold by NGOs to support their overhead and operating costs (a process known as monetization). This type of food aid can undermine local production of food by falsely reducing the price of food that can be garnered by farmers, often leading to financial ruin and forcing people to abandon agriculture as a livelihood altogether. If done differently, food aid could be effectively tailored to address urgent needs without harming the local economy, while also encouraging local agriculture and production, for example through the use of local or regional purchase of commodities by donor countries.

As the negative impacts of foreign assistance are laid bare, positive momentum is gathering to change policies and ensure that aid is effective. This includes greater attention to investing in the recipient government’s capacity. It also requires increased local participation in decision-making processes and the recognition that donors have the obligation to “do no harm” when providing aid.

This briefing paper aims to contribute to the growing call for serious reform of U.S. food aid. It presents concrete recommendations for how U.S. food aid can be improved to support the human right to food.