In a bid to help Haitian families improve their food security,
several IOM projects are supporting backyard gardens in Cap-Haitien
and Les Cayes.

About 1,600 households are benefitting from these projects which
aim to improve nutrition through the planting of fruit and
vegetable plots in the families' gardens.  The projects are
part of IOM's Programme de Revitalisation et de Promotion de
l'Entente et de la Paix (PREPEP).

"The gardens, managed by women, not only improve people's
general health by providing fresh vegetables that complement staple
foods, but also family livelihoods. Children, women and older
people are taking a special interest in the care of these gardens
with many people now convinced that gardening can also help them to
earn a little money.  More and more residents are requesting
to be included in these projects," explains Vincent Houver, IOM
Chief of Mission in Haiti.

In Les Cayes, the home gardens programme is also working with
community-based associations to carry out training workshops on the
nutritional value of plants and production methods.  Local
agricultural technicians will follow up with the families on a
regular basis. Households with family members living with HIV or
AIDS are also benefitting thanks to USD 2 million funding from the
US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

In Cap-Haitien, working with the Ministry of Environment and the
Haitian Red Cross, IOM is providing fruit and forest tree saplings,
vegetable seeds/seedlings, tools, and training to local
agricultural groups.  The programme is also raising awareness
on environmental conservation.

Last April, violent demonstrations protesting a 50 per cent
increase in the price of rice, beans and fruit, led to several
deaths and the ousting of the Prime Minister. 

The United Nations Human Development Index (2004), ranks Haiti
153 out of 177 countries with 55 per cent  living on less than
USD 1 per day and 76 per cent of Haitians on less than USD 2 per
day. The World Food Programme reports that chronic malnutrition is
widespread among the most vulnerable, with severe or moderate
stunting affecting 42 per cent of children under five.  Food
supply covers only 55 per cent of the population and daily food
insecurity affects 40 per cent of Haitian homes.

Along with Afghanistan and Somalia, Haiti ranks as one of the
three countries in the world with the worst daily caloric deficit
per inhabitant (460 kcal/day).  About 2.4 million Haitians
cannot afford the minimum 2,240 daily calories recommended by the
World Health Organization.

Since May 2004, IOM's PREPEP and Haiti Stabilization Initiative
(HSI) programmes have been working with vulnerable communities and
the Haitian national and municipal authorities to help stabilize
volatile neighbourhoods by rehabilitating key infrastructure. This
includes the building or rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage
canals, street paving as well as carrying out social/cultural
activities.

With funding from the US Agency for International Development
(USAID), almost 1,900 PREPEP and HSI grants have been awarded
totalling more than USD 38 million.  

For more information on IOM activities in Haiti, please visit:
"http://www.iomhaiti.org/" target="_blank" title=
"">http://www.iomhaiti.org/.

For more information, please contact:

Frislain Isidor

IOM Port-au-Prince

Tel: +509.245-5153 Ext 118

E-mail: "mailto:fisidor@iom.int">fisidor@iom.int