This report sheds light on how livestock market systems in Haiti respond to shocks and stresses.
Banner image: Farmer Joseph Chavannes cares for his cattle in La Colline, Camp-Perrin, South region, Haiti. Photo credit: Rodny Darenard.
The Programme d’Appui à la Rentabilisation de l’Elevage (PARE) Activity contracted Vikara Institute to conduct a Livestock Market Systems Resilience Analysis (LMSRA) to inform a Livestock Market Systems Resilience Strategy (LMSRS) in collaboration with PARE Activity staff, applying the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Market Systems Resilience (MSR) Framework to understand how market systems respond to shocks and stresses by assessing the dynamics of a market system according to four structural domains (Connectivity, Diversity, Power Dynamics, & Rule of Law) and four behavioral domains (cooperation, competition, decision-making, & business strategy). The assessment covered the Northern and Southern Resilience Focus Zones (RFZ) of Haiti, including the North, Northeast, Central, and South departments of the country, and focused on three livestock categories: cattle (meat and dairy), poultry (meat and eggs) and goats/sheep.
Through the assessment, several national level trends emerge that are generally influencing resilience throughout Haiti. There are also some trends that are unique to each livestock category. Haiti has been and continues to be affected by recurring shocks and stresses – political turmoil, natural disasters, outbreaks of disease, to name a few. Interestingly, the resilience strategies that have evolved in Haiti are not overly reliant on informal community coping mechanisms or kinship ties, government social safety net services, or donor programs. Rather, coping strategies do seem to be reliant on market mechanisms, fragile as they may be. More rural farming communities seem to rely on communal coping mechanisms or civil society organizations like churches for social safety net services, but these are not the dominant patterns.