GEO Haiti 2010

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GEO HAITI • 2010 36 The geological substratum is made up mainly of limestone, basaltic and sedimentary rock, giving rise to 5 types of sedimentary rocks. The country enjoys a tropical climate (19° latitude North), with an average annual temperature of 25 ºC. However, its hilly terrain produces a variety of micro-climates, with instances in which the temperature can drop to 15 ºC. With an average annual rainfall of nearly 1,400 mm, the country has such a contrasted spatial variation that some regions enjoy rainfall exceeding 4,000 mm while others receive only 350 mm of rainfall over the same period. Vegetation in Haiti, which was formerly dense, has suffered over several decades from overexploitation. It has now been reduced to savannahs, open forests and vestiges of closed forests, which are made up of broad-leaved trees and conifers. Although faced with a shortage of water and destructive tropical storms, the country’s agriculture must nevertheless ensure the alimentary needs of a population in the context of a demographic explosion. This has contributed to an excessive exploitation of the environment in Haiti, leading to over-use and loss of land through acceleration of the process of erosion. Agricultural production is very low because of weak means of production and inefficient marketing channels. Most farms are small-sized, family-owned and primarily geared towards self-sufficiency, planted with cereal crops and food crops such as corn, sorghum, beans, sweet potatoes, manioc, banana and plantain. Export crops such as coffee, mangoes, cocoa, sisal, tobacco, coconut, and cotton are grown on larger plantations. The industrialization process that began at the beginning of the 1960s has remained to this day in an embryonic stage, with activities focused essentially on the fabrication of electronic spare parts, textile products and beverages. This process slowed down considerably because of the commercial embargo imposed on Haiti by the United Nations Organization between 1992 and 1994 and from which the country has not fully recovered. The industrial sector, which employed 430,000 people in 1991, had only 13,000 employees in 1995 (DESHOMMES, 2005) and no more than 25,000 in 2005 (UNDP, 2005). Mining is currently reduced to the extraction of construction materials from quarries (limestone) although this extraction is not under the fiscal control of the Haitian government, as it is not usually reported. The textile sector is considered to be the flagship of the assembly industry in Haiti and has been growing rapidly. The HOPE Law (Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Encouragement Act), enacted in 2007 by the United States Congress, allows Haiti to assemble and export to the United States textile products manufactured elsewhere. This Law, initially in place for only one year, was extended in 2008 for another 10 years, allowing Haiti to pursue the transformation and exportation of products to the USA. Over the past decades, the tertiary sector has proven to be very dynamic in Haiti as a result of international investments in the country, and sectors such as commerce, finance, gastronomy, hospitality, transport and communication, have recovered considerably. Credit was also geared towards activities in the tertiary sector, For example, more than 50% of bank loans in 2006 were granted to the tertiary sector (BRH, 2007). On the other hand, commercial activities, international aid, remittances from the Haitian diaspora and government expenditures, are all factors that have contributed to the vitality of the banking, communication and transportation sectors. School attendance among children 6 years and older exceeds 68.5% in urban areas and 57.4% in rural areas. About 60% of the children in Haiti, aged 6 to 11 years old, are enrolled in school; however in rural areas, of this age group, only 50% of these attend school. High school attendance nationwide is about 22% (IHSI, 2003).
State of the Environment Report 2010 In view of the recent literacy rate of 54.1% (IHSI, 2003), compared to 44% in 1999 (MENJS, 2004), the efforts made in this area have given positive results, considering also the demographic growth of that period. The health sector in Haiti is a cause for concern. According to the Health Ministry in Haiti (MSPP, 2003), “the health situation of the Haitian people is essentially precarious”. Infectious diseases such as measles, tetanus, cholera, diphtheria and AIDS have been identified as the main causes of morbidity. It is also important to note that malnutrition is among the 10 main causes of death. The housing problem is above all an urban one. Almost 60% of houses are found in rural areas and, as a result of the rural migration to the cities, the demand there for housing there is superior to what is available. In general, dwellings are over-crowded, with a national average of 2.7 persons per room, and 3.5 persons per room in Port-au-Prince. Fuel provided by biomass is still the form of energy most used in the country (70%). Wood, charcoal and bagasse respectively represent 55%, 11% and 4% of domestic energy consumption. Traditional industries and hydro-energy account for only 2% of the energy consumption while the rest is supplied by petrol and its derivatives. This situation engenders the destruction of the environment, placing the natural resources as well as the quality of life of the population under serious pressure. Moreover, the geographical position of the country exposes it to random natural manifestations, contributing to an exacerbation of the environmental crisis. Haiti enjoys a considerable hydrological potential. From a hydro-geological point of view, the water resources in Haiti amount to 56.2 billion m 3 of water, divided into 48 billion m 3 of continuous aquifers and 8.2 billion m 3 of non-continuous aquifers. Such underground water resources are the result of extensive, permeable geological formations which create natural storage reservoirs. However, despite an abundance of rainfall, water reserves in Haiti are gradually declining in certain regions, due to deforestation and over-exploitation. As such, water is still inaccessible to 40% of the population, and the mineral and organic pollution of water resources is worsening, thus affecting the health of the population. There are 30 watersheds and hydrographic zones within the country, flowing from the mountains to the coastline. All year long, in Haiti one can find average-flow large rivers and extraordinary waterfalls in Haiti, such as Cascade Pichon at Belle- Anse, Saut-d’eau in the Central Plateau and Saut Mathurine at Camp-Perrin, as well as lakes and ponds such as Azuei Lake or Saumâtre Pond (11,300 hectares), the artificial Péligre Lake (2,750 hectares) and the ponds of Miragoane (1,130 hectares). Formed by their contact with magma, thermal hot water sources contain dissolved minerals and possess enormous medicinal and curative properties. Thermal water can also be bottled as mineral and carbonated water; however, the lack of available data until now has not allowed the exploitation of this resource in Haiti. The Artibonite River, the country’s largest, originates in the eastern end of the island of Hispaniola and spans across two Haitian provinces: the Central Province and the Artibonite Province. It is of considerable importance to Haiti, as its waters are used for irrigating many farms and serves also as the main source of power to the Péligre hydroelectrical facilities, an artificial lake located in the Central Department. The underground water emanates from the infiltration of rain water into the soil, seeping, as a result of gravity, into the rocks’ pores and slightest cracks, humidifying always more deeper layers, until it finds an impermeable layer. There it accumulates, filling even the smallest spaces, saturating the subsoil, and forming a reservoir of underground water called an aquifer. Water resources in Haiti have been under tremendous pressure over a number of decades and the combined effect of demographic growth 37
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GEO Haiti 2010

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