Bazelais Jean-Baptiste: Seeds for Haiti
posted by brooklynfoodconference, on June 4, 2009Bazelais Jean-Baptiste, an agricultural engineer and economic community organizer, has worked for over 20 years in rural communities in Haiti and is the president of Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund. Here is his speech from the Food Rebellions workshop.
You could say that 2008 was a “great year” for Haiti, because Haiti had two opportunities to be on the front page of the big media. The first was the food riots all over Haiti. I agree with Raj that when people go out on the street it isn’t just for one thing. They go for a lot of reasons. That is very true. But it doesn’t change the fact that people are starving, that they are very hungry. The food riots started in the south, moved to Port au Prince, then Gonaïves and then to cities all over Haiti. There was no way the Prime Minister was going to last after that. The riots put an end to the government of Jacques Edouard Alexis.
- Bazelais Jean-Baptiste. Photo courtesy of Bazelais Jean-Baptiste
What caused the food riots in Haiti? Riots don’t happen often, but last year the price of gas and food went up. When you feel something in the US, the people in Haiti feel it more. When you are talking about the flu here, we have fever in Haiti. If people in the US are sick, we are sicker. In New York last year, people were talking and worrying about how the price of rice had gone up so much. When I saw the price of gas and rice in New York, I wondered how people in Haiti were managing to survive. The price of rice doubled or tripled in some parts of Haiti. It was a very, very difficult situation.
When I was a kid, a boy in the countryside, people used to be able to live on what they grew. It didn’t mean that people weren’t hungry but it was not like today. The situation became worse in the last thirty years. After the fall of Duvalier ["Baby Doc" fled from Haiti in 1986 taking the national treasury with him], the government opened Haiti to receive free rice and cheap food. Haiti used to be self-sufficient for rice, but when they opened the market, the US rice, which was subsidized, was half the price of rice produced in Haiti, Haitian farmers could not compete with the cheap rice imported from the US, and they stopped growing rice. It was the same thing with other foods. This was because of the policies of the IMF [International Monetary Fund], the World Bank policy and the US that were imposed on Haiti. Food can be produced more cheaply in other countries, Haitians have to produce things to export to other countries and import food. Now everything that people consume comes from the outside.
We also have the problem of the environment. It’s true that there were many causes for that situation. [Bazelais Jean-Baptiste talks about Haiti's deforestation in Sneak Peek: Food Rebellions Workshop ]
The second big event last year was the four hurricanes. This was the first time in the country’s history that it was hit by four hurricanes. Many people were killed, and farmers lost their crops. This made it even more difficult for people to survive.
Haitians need to grow their own food. Haiti needs food sovereignty. We must support the peasants and farmers in Haiti who want to grow their own food. Like Mother Theresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” This is why a group of us in the US—Haitians and some friends of Haiti—sat down and put together a Seeds for Haiti campaign. We’re trying to raise funds from the grassroots. We’re not working to write proposals to get funds from foundations. We’re trying to get people like you—world hunger activists, environmentalists, union members, school children, churchgoers, and other concerned people to help us send money to Haiti so that people can grow food.
We will not send seeds to Haiti. We have had experience with foreign seeds—they need expensive fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation. We will not even move seeds from one area of Haiti to another. We will find a seed that was produced in the area where it will be grown.
Last Monday we sent our first $5,000, for Haitian farmers in two areas: Gonaïves and the Central Plateau region. We’ll get reports on how many people received the seeds, along with their names and neighborhoods. We want to build this effort. You can support the farmers by going online to seedsforhaiti.org, where you can read about our seed bank, the farmers, our progress and how you can support us. There are many ways to get involved.
Workshop Description: Food Rebellions. Over the last year there have been over 30 food rebellions or “riots,” primarily in third world nations. This workshop examines the causes of steeply rising food prices and shortages in poor nations, the history of food riots in the US, and how farmers and consumers are struggling to push back.
Other Speakers: Raj Patel (Stuffed and Starved | forum | food rebellions), Jennifer Steverson (Weeksville Heritage Center | food rebellions ). Moderator: Ashley Dawson (CUNY Graduate Center)
Related Reading
- Sneak Peek: Food Rebellions Workshop
Bazelais Jean-Baptiste talks about the importance of native seeds and the wisdom of Haiti’s own farmers. more - 30 Years Ago Haiti Grew All the Rice It Needed. What Happened?
from Raj Patel’s blog. April 6, 2009. more - Peasant Movement of Papaye
Web site of the Haitian peasant farmers. Bazelais has been involved for years. His brother is a leader. more - Haitians Plant Seeds in New York for Haiti’s Recovery
A story on Seeds for Haiti from Janera Magazine, December 2008. more - Haiti’s Hurricane History
Why Haiti is hit so hard by hurricanes. From Weather Underground. more - Seeds for Haiti
How you can support the Haitian farmers in their efforts to grow their own food. more
Other BFC Speeches
Keynotes: Redmond | Patel | Prof. Louie | Lappé |
Food Sovereignty: D. Jackson | da Silva |
Food Rebellions: Patel | Steverson
Young Farmers: Rooftop Farmers | Franklin | Fleming |
—Transcribed and compiled by Paige Churchman
Mr.Bazelais is right on the target by saying: “Haïti used to be self-sufficient for rice.” I will add that self sufficiency was not limited to rice.
We were self-sufficient for the other basic staples such as beans,corns,fruits,vegetables etc..
The importation of what appears to be cheap staples such as rice was a subterfuge to destabilize the fragile Haïtian economy by putting the farmers and the peasants out of business.
Its also intensify the tribulation and the economic plight of the the farmers and the peasants by compelling them to move to unfamiliar places to survive.
Some of them seek employment at a starvation wage in Port-Au-Prince or in other big cities in Haïti. Other,went to the Dominican Republic to be treated like pariah. Yet,the more adventurous and desperate risked their lives in the Caribbean sea in quest of an illusive “better life” on some hostile foreign shores.
Meanwhile,the traditional enemies of Haïti-the “economic hit men”, the warfare specialists,the traditional “Haïtian” elite continue to plot and orchestrate political unrest to protect their selfish interests and to undermines the credibility of Haïti as an independent and sovereign nation.
That is why most of them keep asking Haïtians during casual gathering: “Do you think Haïti has a future?”
Yes,Haïti has a a bright future.It has also a glorious past.
Our current setback will fade away as an increasing number of Haïtians in Haïti and in the “diaspora” are identifying the root causes of our current setback and are seeking the appropriate remedy.
Haiti would move forward most faster if the following condition are met:
1-We must have a government elected by the masses not the ones selected,financed and imposed by outside forces.
2-An equitable agrarian reform.
3-Adequate electricity in the rural areas and refrigeration.
4-Construction of adequate road network so the farmers and peasants could sell their products.
5-Dissemination of schools and health care workers in the rural areas.