Food security is a continuing challenge in Haiti. The demand for food far exceeds local supply. As a result, Haiti imports nearly 50% of its national food needs. Postharvest management is an often neglected link in the grain value chain that has potential to improve food availability. We interviewed 214 farmers in three departments in July–August 2017 to assess postharvest handling and storage of grains and gender roles in Haiti. Results showed that among the respondents: 64% were male; 55% were over the age of 40 years; and about half had attended secondary school.

This dissertation applies a gendered analysis to the problem of food insecurity in Haiti, in order to document the impact from, and local responses to, a gender-blind and supply-centric world food economy. This is achieved by investigating the ways in which female and male rural and peri-urban peasant farmers and female urban poor, in northern Haiti, achieve food security. In so doing, I offer an alternative to the dominant narrative of food security, in Haiti, produced by institutional actors.

Haïti ? Ce n'est pas seulement la fuite de Bébé Doc, l'élimination des tontons macoutes, la fébrilité du renouveau politique. C'est aussi des milliers de femmes dont le travail contribue à la survie alimentaire du pays. Qui connait, par exemple, les « Madam Sara »?

Tous droits réservés. Republié avec l'autorisation du·de la détenteur·rice du droit d'auteur, le Gouvernement du Québec.

© Gouvernement du Québec, Conseil du statut de la femme. Bader, Barbara (1986). Survivre en Haïti. La Gazette des femmes, vol. 8, n°3, p.15-16.