Coffee production in Haiti

Coffee production has been important to the economy of Haiti. Coffee has been a principal crop of Haiti since the early 18th century, when the French brought the plant to the colony then known as Saint Domingue.^[1] Alongside sugar, coffee long formed the backbone of early Haiti's economy. In the present day, coffee has fallen behind both mango and cocoa in terms of export value.^[2] Smallholder farmers, known as ti kiltivatè in Haitian Creole, account for virtually all the coffee grown in Haiti, which is cultivated throughout the country's mountainous regions. Several US companies import coffee from Haiti including, Domestique Coffee, Bonlife Coffee, Cafe Kreyol, La Colombe, and Singing Rooster.

History

In 1788, Haiti was responsible for half of the world's supply of coffee.^[3] Coffee production has been hurt by natural disasters, as well as U.S.-led embargoes against the governments of François and Jean-Claude Duvalier. Jean-Claude Duvalier's dictatorship made it so that the coffee farmers of Haiti were too scared to come down from the mountains to sell their crops. The machinery began to rust and the skills needed to harvest the coffee trees were lost in the generations. Following the movement away from Haitian coffee production, Brazil moved in and took control of the world coffee market.

With brief comebacks in 1850 where coffee was a major export of Haiti or in 1949 when it rose to the world's third major producer, the market has continued to go through continuous boom and bust cycles. Haitian's coffee competitiveness suffered internationally. The continuous shifts in the coffee market lead to Haitian's burning their coffee trees in order to make charcoal, hoping that would improve economic wealth.^[4] When Haiti was a main world contributor of coffee, 80 percent of the labour force was involved in agriculture. In the 1980s the percent population that was involved in agriculture dropped down to 66 percent.^[5] Those who were not involved in the agriculture aspect still took part in the production of coffee through marketing, middlemen, or exporters.^[6] With the implementation of Fair Trade policies, however, the profile of Haitian coffee has grown.

In the 21st century, the decreasing number of Haitians in the agriculture labour force was due to their harsh climate conditions. Haiti has suffered from soil erosion as well as deforestation which affects the growth of coffee crops. As well as continuous cycles of flooding and droughts, Haiti suffers many natural disasters. In 2010, Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake which killed many and left the country in devastation. These natural disasters played a large role in the decrease of Haiti's role in world coffee production.

References

1. Ukers, William H. All About Coffee.
2. "Exportations par produit" (PDF). Banque de la Republic d'Haïti.
3. Nicaise, Molly. "History of Haitian Coffee".
4. Ward Barber, Jenniffer. "Haiti's Coffee: Will it Come Back?".
5. "Haiti Agriculture". U.S. Library of Congress.
6. "Cash Crops". U.S. Library of Congress.