haiti rice

Replacement of native Haitian rice with cheaper US imports

Something that both the Haitian government and President Bill Clinton come to regret. In 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton encouraged Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to drop all protective tariffs and allow US to export rice to Haiti.

This so called aids to Haiti does nothing to boost local food production capacity. In addition for a government to allow this without any long term plan to increase local production is irresponsible at least. This policy created a level of dependency and caused further decline in Haitian agriculture.

Is there any one looking out for the future of Haiti or is it just that everyone in a particular situation is trying to do what is best for themselves. Unfortunately, it's every man for himself.

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Origin of Rice in Haiti

It was once incorrectly believed that Europeans who enslaved Haitians brought first rice to the island. But Professor Judith Carney believes otherwise because West Africans used to cultivate rice prior to the enslavement of Haitians by the Europeans. It is evident that some West Africans brought certain varieties of rice with them to the Americas. And since Haitians are mostly descendants of West African people, there is a possibility that Haitian rice is of West African origin. Traditionally, there are two types of rice are grown in Haiti: Mountain rice (subsistence crops) and Swamp Rice (consumption in urban areas). Presently, there are several varieties of rice are grown and available in Haiti: Sheila, Shelda, Crete, Madame Gougous, TCS-10 (with Taiwanese assistance), Prosequisa-4 (a Dominican variety) and Vietnamese rice (bagged as 10 sou 10 or 10/10, perfect score). The USAID project of "International Rice Research Institute" at Madagascar is testing and has introduced several varieties rice in Haiti.

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Haiti Rice And Bill Clinton Apology

Something that does not happen often in the United States, Former US President Bill Clinton has apologized for the invasion of US agricultural product in Haiti during his government. The policy wiped out Haitian rice farming and seriously damaged Haitis ability to be self-sufficient.

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