HAITI (26 May)
At the end of May, torrential rainstorms caused landslides, flooding and loss of human lives in the town of Fonds Verettes, in the south-east region on the border with the Dominican Republic. An evaluation of the damages on crops and livestock is not yet available.
The security situation is still precarious, particularly in some areas of the North where various armed groups are still present. Despite this situation, the international community has resumed the activities of delivering food assistance practically in the whole country by the end of March. The current socio-political crisis has occurred at a critical time within the season for agricultural activities. Most lowland cereal and bean crops are planted in late March and early April and, due to low access to markets, farmers had severe problems in procuring seeds, tools and fertilizer for the planting of the 2004 spring season crops. Due to these factors, it is expected that plantings of lowland cereals to be harvested from August will be reduced. An increase in household food insecurity is reported in the North West Department, due to low purchasing power, drought and harvest losses. The National Coordination of Food Security reports a significant increase in prices of rice, maize, beans, sugar and vegetable oil in the principal markets from the end of year 2003.
From 11 to 25 March, a UN Multi-Agency Mission visited the country to obtain the necessary information on the ground for maintaining peace and delivering humanitarian assistance. The rehabilitation and reorganization of the operational capacity of the local institutions, almost completely destroyed by the conflict, is considered as crucial in order to properly manage medium to long-term development programmes.