In Haiti chicken is king yet this mostly rural country imports over 80% of the poultry eaten. But a Prince Edward Island/Canadian development organization, International Sustainable Community Assistance (ISCA) together with its Haitian partners, is beginning to change this situation one village at a time.
ISCA personnel have recently returned from Haiti in April and confirmed that a pilot poultry project it started in 2013 in Zoranger, Haiti, is very successful. Lloyd Dalziel, chair of ISCA, says the initial agriculture development work involved building chicken coops, providing supplies, financial and animal health training to each family.
The focus of ISCA’s work is agriculture sustainability and therefore the projects, after receiving the initial support, are self-funded. After the chickens are fully grown they are sold and part of the profit is used by the farmers to buy new chicks and feed. Lloyd Dalziel says the chickens are popular at local markets and have rapidly become known for their quality meat, flavour and as a great value. “People have even begun travelling from surrounding villages to purchase chickens from Zoranger’s farmers.” added Dalziel
Families who have already participated in the pilot project no longer talk about just growing chickens for family food; their income from the production and sale of their chickens now supports their family and pays for their children’s school and medical fees. Lloyd Dalziel says that this sustainable approach to agriculture development has demonstrated that Haitian farm families can successfully foster community-driven businesses that will improve the incomes, food security, and overall quality of life for farmers in Haiti.