Haïti

Viability of most farms in Haiti is being steadily eroded due to expanding population and a diminishing resource base. Average farm size has been falling, conseque... Afficher plus + ntly increasing rural poverty and urban migration and transferring poverty to the capital city perimeter. The cumulative effect of a long period of virtual stagnation places Haitian agriculture in a state of crisis. Four problems have been addressed in recent studies analyzing the possibilities for change: (1) low nutrition levels; (2) soil erosion and displacement of coffee by annual crops on hillsides; (3) insecurity of land tenure; and (4) inequitable and inefficient fiscal policies. This report draws on those analyses and uses new information in proposing measures to stimulate improvements in overall sector performance. Recommended measures relate mainly to institutional reforms and revisions of fiscal pricing and trade policies. Priorities for public investment in the sector are identified, as well as improvements for agricultural research and extension. Afficher moins -

Haiti's development is limited by high population pressure, poverty, dependence on agricultural income, and low agricultural technology, resulting in over-utilizati... Afficher plus + on of land and severe erosion. Industry has been unable to provide employment opportunitites that would alleviate both the population presssure on scarce agricultural land and the urban poverty. Inadequate government resoures indicate a need for major fiscal reforms and the centralized political and administrative system has resulted in marked spatial imbalances. Policies to reduce the most crucial constraints to development identified in this report include: strengthening the government, largely through measures to improve the quality of staff; increasing agricultural production; and strengthening support services for industrial development. Policy measures must be developed to improve economic performance and avoid a balance-of-payments crisis. A major aspect is the strengthening of the country's absorptive capacity to allow for increased financial assistance. Afficher moins -

After more than a decade of stagnation Haiti's GDP has begun to grow at a satisfactory pace between 1968-91971, with recovery particulary evident in construction, m... Afficher plus + anufacturing, government, and services including tourism. the country's resource base is quite poor, and the absence of easy communications is a major obstacle to development. Nevertheless, the tourist sector affords favorable prospects, and the agricultural output of existing irrigation schemes could be doubled. Reconstruction of the two major highways is urgently required; other capital-intensive investments are needed in power, telecommunications, and irrigation. In most sectors there is a greater need for modest labor-intensive rehabilitation and maintenance efforts. Haiti's fiscal performance has suffered from excessive complication of the system; simplification, notably through a selective reduction in earmarked revenues, is needed. Haiti has maintained free convertibility without exchange rate adjustment, but adequate mobilization of domestic saving has not been assured. Haiti can experience some growth in the 1970s but it will require increased amounts of external assistance, improved producer incentives, and judicious public investment. Afficher moins -