haiti: a gathering storm: climate change and poverty

8/7/2019 Haiti: A Gathering Storm: Climate change and poverty

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HAITI: ‘A GATHERING STORM’Climate Change and Poverty



AcknowledgmentsThis report was researched and written by Anita Swarup. The report was commissioned by Oxfam International in Haiti.

The authors express their grateful thanks to all the people and organisations mentioned in the text and to those whose

observations unfortunately had to be omitted for reasons of space. Research was carried out in December 2008.

Oxfam International’s work in Haiti is a joint programme of Oxfam Quebec, Intermon Oxfam, Oxfam Novib, Oxfam

Solidarité and Oxfam GB,

This report is part of a series commissioned by Oxfam national country programmes to explore and highlight the links

between climate change and poverty, and between climate change adaptation and development. The series includes reports on

Russia, Uganda, Vietnam, Nepal, Malawi, and the UK, all available online at www.oxfam.org

For further information on the issues raised in this report please contact:

Oxfam Great Britain

Haiti Programme

#4 Rue MarcadieuPort-au-Prince, Haiti

Tel: 509.2.245.9077 / 2.244.9779

Email: [email protected]

First published by Oxfam International in 2009.

© Oxfam International 2009

All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but the text may be used free of charge for the purposes of advocacy,

campaigning, education, and research, provided that the source is acknowledged in full. The copyright holder requests that

all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in

other publications, or for translation or adaptation, permission must be secured and a fee may be charged. E-mail publish@

oxfam.org.uk.

The information in this report is correct at the time of going to press.

Front cover image: David Viñuales

Designed by Andrea Perdomo Alvarez.



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Table of ContentsExecutive Summary 7

11

14

18

22

24

30

34

38

41

42

Recommendations

Climate Change: Past, Present and Future

Climate Change, Environment and Poverty in Haiti

Climate change, foods and hurricanes

Climate Change and Food Security

Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction

Haiti’s NAPA – National Adaptation Programmes of Action

Conclusion

Appendix

References Included



6

Climate change is more than an environmental challenge – it is also a development challenge that callsfor urgent action. © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam



7

Executive Summary ‘‘The situation was bad before the hurricanes in 2008 – there was adrought - but after them it got worse and more complicated......people lost what little they had –houses, crops, livestock – whichcreates a catastrophe of hunger in this area. We feel ashamed, wehave to beg from the state and other international agencies’’ Lissage

Geneus, a local government ofcial(CASEC) in Baie d’Orange.

Climate change is more than anenvironmental challenge – it is alsoa development challenge that callsfor urgent action. Haiti like manydeveloping countries stands to suffer the most from climate change becauseof its geographic location, sensitivity

to extreme weather events andvulnerability of the people. In additionto creating humanitarian disasters,climate change can reduce agriculturaloutput, deplete already scarcewater resources and exacerbateenvironmental problems such asdeforestation and soil erosion.

Haiti, a vulnerable country with a

history of coups, riots and clashes,has been making progress in thelast few years with the establishmentof the UN Stabilization Force,MINUSTAH. Climate change, though,threatens to undermine any stepsforward. Last year, in 2008, four hurricanes and tropical storms,Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike, hit themountainous Caribbean island in the

space of a few weeks, tearing apart

the lives of millions of people, hittingthe poor the hardest. With little timefor recovery in between, the smallisland could barely cope.

Haiti lies on the hurricane path in the

Caribbean. Its people are resilientand vibrant and although used tofacing tropical storms and hurricanes,many farmers, shermen, localleaders and government ofcialshave observed that these hurricanesappear to be getting stronger and the rains heavier. Deforestedmountainsides have aggravated thecountry’s vulnerability to storms as

water, mud and silt rushes down theslopes ooding coastal plains andburying houses and people in mud.Rivers often burst their banks andlakes overow. With more than 98per cent of trees cut down in the lastfew decades, deforestation is a major challenge; in particular, trees are cutdown for charcoal, used by more than70 per cent of people for cooking.

In last year’s storms and hurricanes,crops, livestock and homes weredestroyed, roads and bridges leftdamaged, water pipes ruptured,school buildings ripped apart. Thedamage was nation-wide affectingnearly 900,000 people. Worst hitwas Gonaïves – Haiti’s third mostpopulous city – that was buried under

mud killing more than 450 people.

Thousands more were left homelessand without food. Already precariouslivelihoods were taken away. Suddenreductions in income due to poor cropyields led to more families becomingvulnerable. Ordinarily many families

would sell surplus crops such asbeans and maize in the market butlast year most had nothing to sell.Indeed they had nothing to eat asmost of their crops had allreadybeen destroyed, therefore there waswidespread hunger. Many are stillsurviving on food aid.

Almost US$ 229 million1 was lost

in agriculture, and damages havebeen valued at 15 per cent of GDP2 –making it difcult for future economicprogress. Currently around a third of the population are food insecure andHaiti already imports around 40 per cent of its food.3 The price of food hadsoared by 40 per cent in 20084 causingfood riots in April (and the eventual fallof the government). As the poorest

country in the western hemispherewith a large majority of the populationalready facing extreme hardship, nearly80 per cent living on US$ 2 a day, Haitiis extremely vulnerable to risks from

1 CNSA, Interview with Department of Food Secu-

rity, Dec 2008

2 UN Haiti Flash Appeal, 2008

3 CNSA, Interview with Department of Food

Security, Dec 2008

4 UN Haiti Flash Appeal, 2008



8

climate change.It is impossible to say that everyextreme weather event is caused byclimate change but many scientistsnow agree that extreme weather events such as hurricanes arelikely to become more severe, if notnecessarily more frequent. Climatechange is creating conditions for moreextreme weather events. Hurricaneformation is a highly complex processbut ultimately, all hurricanes gather their strength from the heat of theoceans—and the world’s oceansare heating up as a result of globalwarming. More intense storms withhigher peak wind speeds and heavier precipitation are likely to occur. Globalwarming may not be the only cause,but it is one of the factors.

Uncertainty does not constitute a casefor inaction. People are being forcedto adapt to climate risks all over theworld – worst affected are poor ruralfarmers, urban slum dwellers andthose living in ood and drought proneareas. Haiti has always been, and willcontinue to be battered by hurricanes,and they may become more intensein the years to come. Therefore thenecessity for poor people to adaptboth to existing hazards and to this

uncertain future has never been sourgent. What is needed is ‘‘no regrets’’adaptation – measures people cantake that will help them withstandtoday’s climate shocks and whatever the future holds in store.

Developing countries such as Haitiare the most susceptible both toexisting climatic shocks and to

climate change. Their economies rely

on sectors immediately dependenton the climate such as agricultureand shing, but they are also theleast able to cope with the impacts of extreme weather conditions. Thoseat particular risk are poor people whodo not have the resources or capacityto adapt. Within countries, it is thepoorest people who are affectedmost. Women in poor communitieswill be particularly affected becauseof their roles in providing food, water,and rewood for the household.Climate change impacts can also setback progress on women’s rights andundermine development prospects– hence the urgency of buildingboth women and men’s resilience invulnerable communities.5

It is incumbent on developed nations toprovide funds for adaptation since theyare primarily responsible for the presentglobal warming through their emissionsof carbon dioxide and other greenhousegases. Leaving the world’s poor to facethe risks and disasters with their ownmeagre resources is morally shamefuland may well prove to be legallyindefensible.

This report gives an insight into howpoor people are experiencing climate

change in Haiti, already one of thepoorest countries in the world, andwhat challenges they are currentlyfacing, and will continue to face inthe future. Research was undertakenin several parts of the country, fromBelle Anse in the southeast, Nippesin the south, to Cap Haitian and

5 Oxfam International, 2007, Oxfam brieng Note:

Financing adaptation: Why the UN’s Bali Climate

Conference must mandate the search for new funds

surrounding communities in the north.

Many people all over the countrybelieve that, compared to 20 or 30years ago, the climate is alreadychanging, with the dry spells beinglonger and the rains shorter butheavier with more intense andfrequent hurricanes. People in Nippesand Belle Anse are particularly fearfulof the intensity of the hurricanes sincethey are on the frontline and have noteven had the chance to recover fromthe last one. Many state their disbelief at a series of four erce hurricanesand storms back to back. Even thevillage elders had no recollectionof so many occurring during such ashort period, and so much destructionand misery. Many people in Haitihave now braced themselves for similar hurricanes with the sameintensity to hit again this year andnext year – but they are ill equippedfor the next round.

However, these very people are crucialactors for doing something aboutit. For example, in the municipalityof Bahon, where there are frequentoods, communities showed theycould work together with localgovernment and be active in disaster

risk reduction and seeking new waysof adapting to the changing climate.Through awareness raising activitiesand setting up a rescue team, theyshowed that many lives could besaved and the ooding from the river bursting its banks need not end indisaster. A wall was built preventingwater from ooding the road, whichis the only access for emergency

evacuations in emergencies – and



9

also protecting the local market,the centre of Bahon’s economicactivity. Participation, ownership of programmes and taking action toreduce the impact of disasters by thecommunity are keys to the success of adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

Though it has limited resources andcapacity, the government also playsan important role in disaster responsethrough The National System for Disaster Risk Management. Thisis a national network – comprisedof departmental, municipal andlocal committees made of up localgoverment ofcials and civil societyrepresentatives – in charge of preparing communities for disastersand helping with disaster response.

On the international scene, richcountries’ emissions - USA, WesternEurope, Canada, Australia, and Japan- are responsible for producing most of the world’s past carbon emissions thatare driving today’s impacts.Developed countries are responsiblefor approximately 76 per cent of theGHG emissions already released intothe atmosphere.

In 1992, these countries committed toreturn their annual emissions to 1990levels by 2000. Instead, by 2005 theyhad allowed their collective emissions torise more than ten per cent above 1990levels. Their failure to act has raisedthe risk of global warming exceedingthe critical threshold of 2 degrees C 6 Furthermore, inaction now may cost,according to the Stern Review, up to 20

6 Climate Wrongs and Human Rights, Oxfam Brie-

ng Paper, Sept 2008

per cent of global GDP.7

It is essential therefore that richcountries, which are most responsiblefor emissions and most capableof making reductions, act rst inreducing their greenhouse gasemissions – and cut the most. Butbecause of the build-up of heat inthe oceans and atmosphere, someclimate change will continue evenif emissions are cut now. Thereforeadaptation and disaster relief arealso essential. Based on studiesto date, Oxfam estimates that ata very minimum, $150bn in publicinvestment will be required eachyear to facilitate both the necessarymitigation (emissions reductions)and – crucially - adaptation action indeveloping countries8. Though thisis a large sum, it is many times lessthan the $4 trillion spent by developedcountries on the nancial crisis sofar, or the $1.3 trillion of annualglobal military spending. Proposalsto date fall well short of generatingthe nancing required in this area,and do not sufciently incorporatethe key principles of responsibility(for historic emissions) and capability(to pay) in determining who payswhat. Adaptation – which must beintegrated into national planning –can build vulnerable communities’resilience so that oods, droughts,sea-level rise, and hurricanes do notautomatically undermine their rightsto life, food, water, shelter, and health.But disaster relief will also still beessential if severe events such as

7 Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, 2006

8 Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change,

2006

tropical storms and hurricanes hit. As a Least Developed Country (LDC),Haiti has also developed its ownNational Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) through the Ministry of Environment. NAPAs provide a wayfor LDCs to identify priority activitiesthat respond to their immediateneeds to adapt to climate change.According to the NAPA, water relatedrisks (hurricanes, oods, heavyrain) coupled with erosion affectthe highest number of geographicalregions and these risks need tobe prioritised when developingadaptation strategies. However thereare serious challenges - it is alsorecognised in the NAPA that Haiti hasbeen in an unstable political situation,is suffering acute food shortagesand as an LDC does not have theresources to fund the NAPA. Nor should it have to. Rich countries thathave caused current global warminghave the responsibility and thecapability to deliver the bulk of fundsboth for NAPAs and for longer-termadaptation plans in order to redressthe international injustice at the heartof climate change – the injusticethat LDCs like Haiti whose carbonemissions are relatively insignicantare bearing the biggest burden of climate change impacts.

Disaster-prone developing countries,especially least developed countriesand small island states such as Haitirequire adaptation assistance withparticular urgency in view of their higher vulnerability and risk levels, andsignicantly lower capacity to respond

to and recover from disasters.



10

Joseph Saintuillus is a farmer and lives in a small village outside Cap Haitian in the north of Haiti. Hurricane

Ike destroyed numerous houses and crops likewise, leaving people dependent on food aid.

‘It was one evening at around 9pm when hurricane Ike hit. My wife and I were sleeping in one room and myve children were sleeping in another. We suddenly heard a crash and a tree had fallen on our roof – all weekit had been windy. Now we all have to live in one room – all my ve children and wife.‘We still have our banana plantation but I can’t put very much attention into the farm as I am worried about thehouse. I don’t have the money to rebuild it. ‘So far, I have received some rice and relief food and some supportfrom the local mayor.’

But Joseph’s future, like millions of farmers in Haiti, is far from certain. © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam



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Recommendations

1. Secure livelihoods at locallevel and promote recognition of local knowledge and awareness.Disaster risk management mustbe mainstreamed into agriculturalinterventions, guiding local farmers

towards sustainable solutions to landdegradation by building on the existingcapacities of farmers. This needs totake into account the need of farmersto secure their livelihoods in ways thatimply nancial assets and returns interms of agricultural production.

2. Identify, develop and supportreforestation initiatives. Reforestation

projects are crucial for adaptation toclimate change. Planting trees will helpslow down the path of water rushingdown the mountains during heavyrainfall and hurricanes and will alsoassist in soil conservation.

3. Diversify tree varieties inreforestation initiatives. Plantingfruit trees alongside will also mean

a source of food and help with foodsecurity. People can eat the fruit or sellthem at the market.

4. Encourage planting of appropriatecrops on mountainsides to helpprevent topsoil from looseningand running down the slopes withrainwater.

5. Explore and implement appropriate

forestry management models. As longas there is no marketable alternativeenergy source in Haiti, charcoal willremain in high demand throughoutthe country and people will still cuttrees to be able to respond to that

demand. The government shouldexplore forestry management models– including key reforestation projects –that are appropriate for and adaptableto the national context. Regulatingtree cutting and supporting initiativesthat promote environmentally friendlyways of harvesting wood must beencentral to any such model.

6. Research and promote alternativefuels to wood. Time and resourcesmust be invested into experimentingwith new crops able to produce energywhile mitigating negative effect of the deforestation of the mountains.This will also contribute to increasingfarmers’ income and to conserve theforest areas.

7. Introduce technologies to improveand control charcoal production.While working on identifying andintroducing alternative energy sources,it will be necessary to introduce newcharcoal production processes in order to decrease losses in the process andmake the use of such energy morecost effective

8. Diversify income sources. Finding

an alternative to making and sellingcharcoal as a source of income isimperative. Women would like helpwith small businesses. Fishermenin remote areas such as Belle Ansewould benet from sh breeding

projects in natural lakes and lagoonsso that they can sell sh to markets innearby towns.

9. Use climate change as anopportunity to scale-up risk reductionprogrammes and identify theprocesses by which the risk reductionagenda can be driven forward, throughNAPA for instance.

10. Frame and develop national andlocal research and policy planningon adaptation on the needs of poor people. The social and economicimpact of climate change on poor people should be at the forefront of any research and policy formulation.Any climate change planningneeds to take into consideration

livelihood resilience strategies,socially disaggregated vulnerabilityassessments and capacities for disaster risk management – all at thelocal level.

11. Promote disaster reduction atlocal levels by supporting community-based coping strategies. This ismore effective and has benets that

go beyond just tackling climate-



12

driven disasters. Good adaptationis important for development. Localefforts at adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures should bestrengthened, and where possible‘scaled up’ to the departmental andnational level. Women should be at thecentre of community-level responsesas they are already very effective insome communities at mobilizing localinvolvement and implementation.

12. Integrate climate planning acrossgovernment departments. Climatechange concerns should not beisolated under a particular sector suchas environment but integrated acrossall sectors – agriculture, shing, trade,transport, energy etc.

13. Integrate adaptation into nationaldevelopment planning. Climatechange adaptation policies need to beintegrated into long term planning for sustainable development and povertyalleviation policies. There also needsto be a stronger link between climatechange adaptation and disaster riskreduction.

14. Increase climate change-specicresearch. Greater knowledge on thedevelopment of ood-resistant or droughtresistant crops and livestockshould be developed with small-scale farmers as well as appropriateagriculture for mountainous areasaffected by soil erosion.

15. Step up awareness andcapacity development building.There is a pressing need to step uppublic awareness campaigns andcapacity development amongst key

stakeholders and key leaders atdistrict, commune and village level.

16. Promote the development of aregional Caribbean Climate Changestrategy to tackle the impacts of climate change and adaptation. Theproblem is so complex and so crucialthat expertise needs to be shared.There also needs to be a regionalCaribbean body to undertake studieson climate change.

17. Lobby the international communityfor the necessary nancial supportof adaptation. Being a LDC (LeastDeveloped Country) facing seriouspolitical problems, Haiti cannotmobilize the funds necessary toimplement climate change adaptation,as outlined in the NAPA, its rst stepNational Adaptation Programme of Action, and beyond. Nor should ithave to. Rich countries that havecaused current global warming havethe responsibility and the capabilityto deliver the bulk of funds in order to redress the international injusticeat the heart of climate change.International adaptation nance willbe needed to enable a wide rangeof measures, from community-ledinitiatives and disaster risk reductionstrategies to long-term nationalplanning and social protection in theface of unavoidable impacts. Climatechange now has to be integratedacross all development policy.

18. Advocate for the development of detailed maps and tools with whichto assess climate change impacts.There is an urgent need on thepart of the international community

to develop detailed maps of thecomplex impacts of global warming,integrating climate change-relatedrisks with other vulnerabilities. Thereis limited understanding of whichapproaches and tools will maximizeresilience at regional, national andlocal levels. For example healthwhere vector-borne, water-borneand respiratory diseases all havedemonstrated links with climaticchanges – and climate changesimpact agriculture that in turn

impacts nutrition.



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Reforestation is crucial for adaptation to climate change. © Anita Swarup



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Climate Change: Past, Present and Future

Haiti is a small mountainous country in the western half of the island of Hispaniola in the tropical CaribbeanIt is geographically located in themiddle of a hurricane corridor, andis consequently subject to severetropical storms from June throughNovember. Observations on theground from farmers, shermen,

local village leaders, towncouncillors and national governmentshow that all believe that hurricaneshave increased in intensity andfrequency, culminating in 2008 withfour hurricanes and tropicalstorms within a few weeks.

‘‘It’s a crisis, we’ve never had back to back hurricanes

before’’, says Jean RobertJean, a local corn farmer in Pichon in south eastHaiti. According to VincentJamil, coordinator of theDepartemental Disaster Risk Managment Committee(CDGRD) and RepresentativeDepartment Delege of theNippes Department, ‘‘the

violence of hurricanes this year has worsened. We are notused to seeing hurricanes backto back with such strength,it’s the rst time’’. PatriqueTelemague, Mayor of PetiteRiviere des Nippes, says ‘‘Thisyear was particularly bad becausethere were four hurricanes. It is anemergency situation, next year we

may not even be able to survive’’.

Hurricanne formation is a complexprocess and not all climatescientists agree that hurricaneswill increase in intensity due toglobal warming. Others believe,however, that current evidence

suggests it is possible that climatechange will cause more intensehurricanes. According to a recentreport by the US Climate ChangeScience Program9, Atlantic tropical

9 Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Cli-

mate, North America, Hawaii, Caribbean and US Pa-

cic Islands, US Climate Change Science Program,

Synthesis and Asessment Product 3.3, June 2008

storm and hurricane destructivepotential as measured by the Power Dissipation Index (which combinesstorm intensity, duration, andfrequency) has increased (see Table1).

It notes:‘‘It is likely that the annual numbersof tropical storms, hurricanes andmajor hurricanes in the North

Atlantic have increasedover the past 100 years,a time in which Atlanticsea surface temperaturesalso increased. It is

very likely that thehuman induced increasein greenhouse gaseshas contributed to theincrease in sea surfacetemperatures and inthe hurricane formationregions’’.

For North Atlantic and

North Pacic hurricanes,it is likely that hurricanerainfall and wind speedswill increase in responseto human-causedwarming. Analysesof model simulations

suggest that for each 1 degree Cincrease in tropical sea surfacetemperatures, core rainfall rates

will increase by 6-18 per cent and

Haiti is located on a hurricane corridor and isconsequently subject to hurricanes from Junethrough November. © Jeff Schmaltz, NASA’s MODISRapid Response Team



15

While in the dry season rivers can easily be crossed, during rainy season the oods causing rivers to bust their banks can cause major damages and isolate remote communities. © David Viñuales



16

With heavy rain, topsoil is easily removed by water running down the mountainside and is deposited in riversand lakes. © David Viñuales



17

the surface wind speeds of thestrongesthurricanes will increase by about1-8 per cent. 10

New analyses in the scientificjournal Nature,11 reports thatthe maximum wind speeds of the strongest hurricanes haveincreased and that Atlantichurricanes are getting stronger onaverage, with a 30-year trend thathas been related to an increasein ocean temperatures over the

Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere. ‘‘Our results are qualitatively consistentwith the hypothesis that as the seasget warmer, the ocean acquiresmore energy to convert to tropicalcyclone wind’’.

According to the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC)Fourth Assessment report on

Climate Change, although therehas yet to be convincing evidencein the observed record of changesin tropical hurricane behavior,a synthesis of the recent modelresults indicates that, for the futurewarmer climate, tropical hurricaneswill show increased peak windspeed and increased mean andpeak precipitation intensities.

‘‘It is likely that maximum tropical hurricane wind intensities could increase, by 5 to 10 per cent by around 2050. Under this scenario,peak precipitation rates are likely toincrease by 25 per cent as a result

10 Ibid

11 Nature, 4 Sept 2008, The increasing intensity of

the strongest tropical cyclones

of increases in maximum tropical hurricane wind intensities, which inturn cause higher storm surges’’’ 12

Paradoxically, while storms may

become more intense - and inHaiti when it does rain, it tends tobe very heavy – farmers may facemore droughts as a result of climatechange because overall there maybe a reduction in the number of rainy days. The estimations for 2030 go down from -5.9 per centto –20 per cent rainy days and for 2060 they go from -10.6 per cent

to – 35.8 per cent rainy days.13 Andpeople say rainfall patterns arealso changing and seasons are nolonger clear cut - causing problemsfor farmers who no longer knowwhen to plant.

According to the NAPA, there isalso evidence that temperaturesare getting higher and dry spells

are getting longer. Many farmers,local councillors and leadersinterviewed spoke of long dry andhot spells that previously did notexist. The data from the Ministryof Agriculture, National Resourcesand Rural Development showsthat during the period of 1973 to2003, in Damien where the Facultyof Agronomy of the Haitian State

University in the capital of Port auPrince is located the temperaturerose by more than 1degree C (seeTable 2). The data has allowedtemperature predictions for theyears 2030 and 2060 to be made– there is an expected increase in

12 IPCC, 2007, Fourth Assessment Report, Im-

pacts, Vulnerability, Adaptation and Vulnerability

13 NAPA, Ministry of Environment, 2006

temperature of 0,8 degrees C to 1,0degree C and 1.5 degrees C to 1.7degrees C respectively. And for theCaribbean region as a whole, there

was an 8 per cent increase in thenumber of very warm nights and 6per cent increase in the number of hot days for the 1958-1999 period.14

Global and regional climatepatterns have changed throughoutthe history of our planet.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution

these changes occurred due tonatural causes but since the late1800s, scientists believe thechanges have been due moreto increases in the atmosphericconcentrations of carbon dioxideand other trace greenhouse gases(GHGs) as a result of humanactivities, such as fossil-fuelcombustion and land-use change.

Most of the greenhouse gasesare from emissions from the US,Europe, Australia and Japan.Haiti is responsible for just asmall fraction of the world’s GHGemissions but as a small islandstate, it is likely to be one of thecountries in the world to be most

affected by global warming.

14 Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing

Climate, North America, Hawaii, Caribbean and

US Pacic Islands, US Climate Change Science

Program, Synthesis and Asessment Product 3.3, June

2008



18

Climate Change, Environment

and Poverty in HaitiHaiti is particularly vulnerable toclimate shocks due to poverty,weak government and lack of infrastructure15.

However, after years of conict and

political instability with coups, riotsand political clashes, Haiti is makingsteps forward. The Haitian NationalPolice, with the support of the UnitedNations Stabilization Mission in Haiti(MINUSTAH) has improved securityand kidnapping rates have fallensharply. Since the political transitionin 2004, the economy is also makinga gradual recovery. Gross domestic

product (GDP) grew 2.3 per cent in2006 and, following many years of continual decline, per capita GDProse 0.7 per cent.16 However climatechange has the potential to undermineany progress Haiti has made - lastyear, the series of hurricanes cost Haiti15 percent of its GDP17.

In Haiti, for many reasons

including lack of funding andlack of management of naturalresources, there has been excessivedeforestation – which has exacerbated

15 Britain’s Department for International Develop-

ment (DFID)’s working denition of fragile states

covers ‘those where the government cannot or will

not deliver core functions to the majority of its

people, including the poor’

16 IDB Country Strategy in Haiti 2007-2011, Inter-

Development Bank

17 UN Haiti Flash Appel, 2008

the impact of heavy rains, therebycreating more poverty (throughrepeated oods which destroy cropsand livelihoods and increase thevulnerability of poor people). Todayless than 2 per cent of forested cover

remains. Between 1990 and 2000,Haiti lost a staggering 44 per cent of its total forest cover.18‘‘A long time agoif you looked at the mountain, it would look very green. Now it looks like adesert’’, reports Patrique Telemague,Mayor of Petite Rivière des Nippesand President of CCGRD. Incontrast, its neighbour the DominicanRepublic on the same island suffers

considerably less (20 per cent forestcover) from the same hurricanes dueto better environmental managementand forest cover.

When forests disappear, the naturalshield that they form againstthe impacts of tropical storms inmountainous terrain is lost. Topsoilis then easily removed by the rain

running down the mountainside,and is deposited in rivers, lakes andbays. As a result, farmers who live inthe mountains are progressively leftwith less fertile soil to raise crops –although growing inappropriate cropsand bad cultivation methods do nothelp as they weaken the ground.

18 World Bank, 2007, Haiti: Strategy to alleviate

the presure of fuel demand on national wood fuel

resources.



19

Trees are cut for charcoal - for many, selling charcoal is the only way to earn some cash for much neededfood, school fees or healthcare. © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam



20

Much of the arable land has beenwashed into the sea.Haiti is a mountainous country whosehighest peak is at 2,684 meters.

Around 63 per cent of its land is onslopes of 20 per cent to 40 per cent.So erosion due to drought, winds,rains and manmade factors suchas deforestation and unplannedconstruction in urban areas has led todesertication of the land. 19

For many, selling charcoal is the onlyway to earn some cash for much

needed food, school fees or healthcare.Most of it is sold in the big towns or inthe capital Port-au-Prince to be used byurban consumers. Yverose Derisseau,22 years old, is a charcoal seller in amarket in Belle Anse. ‘‘I don’t have themeans to do anything. I need it to feedmy family – my three children. Thehurricane destroyed my house, plantainand corn crops. And the soil is not so

productive’’. Her story is a common onethat can be heard throughout Haiti. Andher bowl of charcoal is sold for as littleas 60 gourds – about US $1.50

Reforestation projects wereconsidered to be the top priority for everyone from village level to localgovernment to national government–but with weak governance structures,

political instability and lack of resources and capacity, reforestingHaiti to how it used to be decadesago seems a daunting task.

Climate shocks compounds cyclesof poverty. When drought, heavyrains or hurricanes destroy crops andlivelihoods, people move towards thelarger towns – rural-urban migration is

a serious problem. Often people end

19 NAPA, Ministry of Environment, Haiti, 2006

up living in houses dangerously builton hillsides – which are themselvesvulnerable to oods and landslides.

Haiti cannot afford to suffer moreeconomic losses through climatechange impacts. It is the poorestcountry in the Western hemisphereand ranks 146th out of 177 countrieson the United Nations’ DevelopmentProgramme Human DevelopmentIndex (2007/2008). Fifty four per centof Haitians live on less than US$ 1a day and 78 per cent on less than

US$ 2 a day. Literacy (of people 13years of age and older) is 43 per cent.20 Some 20 per cent of childrensuffer from malnutrition, nearly half the population, has no healthcareand more than four- fths do not haveaccess to clean drinking water 21.Real per capita income has fallen by50 per cent since the early 1980s.22

Remittances from the Diasporaconstitute the most important privaterisk management and social protectionsystem for Haitian households. Thesetransfers total about US$ 800 millionannually and account for about30 per cent of household income.Although remittances are an importantsource of income for many families,emigration also gives rise to a lackof qualied workers - a brain drain.In Haiti migration may increase aspopulations on the margin begin to

20 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTER-

NAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/HAITI

21 Comparison of the Socio-Economic Impacts of

Natural Disasters on Caribbean Societies in 2004,

UNDP and ECLAC, 2005

22 ECLAC, 2005, Haiti: Short and Long-term

Development Issues

seek less vulnerable livelihoods in newplaces or as they are potentially forcedfrom their homes by disasters. Privateinvestment is at a virtual standstill and

job opportunities are limited.23

Haiti therefore is already veryvulnerable to any climate changebecause of its poverty, environmentaldegradation. In light of the latter, thegovernment does recognise severalobstacles facing the implementationof its NAPA (National AdaptationProgrammes of Action). It states:

‘‘The country has been in an unstablepolitical situation for a few years,which generated fear and despair.This means that the population will have reservations and there may be alow level of participation” .24

However, to its credit, the governmenthas developed a structure for disaster response that can be built upon andreinforced. The National Systemfor Disaster Risk Management inHaiti is responsible for ensuringgood coordination in disaster riskmanagement in the country. Thisnational network – comprisedof departmental, municipal andlocal committees made of up localgoverment ofcials and civil societyrepresentatives – is in charge of preparing communities for imminentdisasters and providing for theimmediate needs of communitiesparticularly during times of disaster.




24 NAPA, Ministry of Environment, 2006



21

After many years of deforestation, ecological restoration is a challenge in Haiti. ©Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam



22

Climate change, foods and hurricanes

Limited size and being prone to natural hazards and external shocksadd to the vulnerability of islands to climate change.Geographic conditions make Haitiparticularly prone to recurring naturalhazards and disasters of a hydrometeorological nature. As a smallisland in the Caribbean Sea and theAtlantic Ocean, Hispaniola lies within

the hurricane. Haiti, on the mountainouswestern half of the island, has slopesexceeding 20 per cent gradient coveringnearly two-thirds of the country. Thusthe likelihood of landslide occurrence isextremely high when there are storms or hurricanes – particularly when there isserious deforestation.

Haiti was hit by four tropical storms and

hurricanes in 2008 costing around 15er cent of its GDP and is still reelingin its aftermath. Many islands in theCaribbean including, the Bahamas,Jamaica, Grenada, the Cayman Islandsand the Dominican Republic were alsoset back immensely following hurricanesand storms. Indications are that impact

in Jamaica in 2004 amounted to 8 per cent of GDP.25 In the Caribbean regiondamages were estimated to be US$ 2.2billion in four countries: the Bahamas,Grenada, Jamaica and the DominicanRepublic.26

Floods may also increase as rainfallbecomes more variable and moreintense. Indeed, in the past threedecades the number of oods has risendramatically in many parts of the world27.According to a recent report by theFeinstein Centre, ndings indicate that‘‘climate change will have a signicantimpact on humanitarian costs and the

increase could range from a 32 per




26 UNFCCC, Climate Change: Impact, Vulnera-

bilities and Adaptation, Dec 2007 in Developing

Countries

27 IPCC, 2008, Technical Paper V1 on Climate

Change and Water

cent increase, taking into account onlychanges in frequency of disasters, toupwards of a 1,600 per cent increasewhen other criteria, such as intensity, arealso taken into account’’28. And climatechange and vulnerability will combine

to cause not only simple, immediatedisasters but also more long-reaching,complex ones.

In a period of three weeks in Augustand September 2008, Haiti was affectedby tropical storms and hurricanesFay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike whichcaused extensive ooding in nine of thecountry’s 10 regions damaging houses,

roads, schools and other infrastructure.The impact was felt throughout thecountry. Gonaives, a city with anestimated 350,000 inhabitants, wasmost affected. The oods caused thegreatest damage. They completely

28 Feinstein International Centre, 2008, The Huma-

nitarian Cost of Climate Change

Source: Feinstein International Centre, 2008, The Humanitarian Cost of ClimateChange



23

were very scared and put the childrenup on the roof. We used to have ooding

in the past but this year is the rst time

we saw something like that which lasted as long as 14 days. Only God kept usalive.I can’t even describe it, peopletrying to cross the river died; we lost our crops and livestock. I lost 3 goatsand my mom lost 5 goats, chickens and pigs. Now we just manage to live eventhough we are hungry – before we had plenty to eat ’’.

All over Haiti, people are terried of rivers bursting their banks and changingcourse. In 2008, the River Gymby inBelle Anse burst its banks and nextyear the fear is that it will ood thetown. According to Bernadette Pierre,the Mayor of Belle Anse, ‘‘with the next hurricane with the river now changing its course, the city will no longer exist and the whole population will die’ ’.

Southern areas such as Belle Anseand Nippes are usually on the frontlinewhen hurricanes strike, and they were

badly hit in 2004 and 2008. Accordingto Bernadette Pierre, Mayor of BelleAnse, almost 60 percent of thepopulation are suffering from hunger nowadays. Mapou was a town thatsuffered from severe ooding fromhurricanes in 2004; more than 1000people were killed with around 1600reported missing. The hurricanes hitMapou town again in 2008. Bartelemy

Salnave, a local government ofcial(CASEC) in Belle Anse in southeasternHaiti notes that the water went up to 1.5metres and destroyed a lot of housesand livestock. But one major positivething was that people heard from theradio in Belle Anse that a hurricane wascoming and so some of them managedto get into shelters. Unlike in 2004, no-one was killed.

covered the city with water and mudthat rushed down the deforestedmountains. The water level rose to upto two meters and an average of 40 cm

of mud covered the entire area. In thecity of Gonaives itself, more than 450people died. Thousands more familieswere affected and thousands of housesdestroyed and damaged.

Throughout Haiti, many poor farmers,local leaders and governmentofcials found it difcult to cope withthe aftermath of the hurricanes. At

the end of 2008, there were foodshortages all over the country ascrops and livestock were destroyedand access to isolated communities inthe mountains was difcult.

‘‘The poor can no longer copewith hurricanes and now there isno recovery period. And there iswidespread hunger as food relief does

not reach everyone’’, comments YoletteEtienne, Oxfam’s Country Director inHaiti. The impact was certainly madeworse because there was little recoverytime in between each hurricane – notime for food or other aid to reacheveryone – particularly since the roadswere also severely damaged and riversand lakes had overowed, cuttingaccess to many villages.

Rivers bursting their banks (carryingtoo much water down from deforestedmountainsides) destroying everythingin its path with water, mud and rocks, issomething many people in Haiti haveto live with. Santa Charles lives withher four children near Peredo River inMarigot, southeast Haiti.‘‘The water came all of a sudden; we

‘‘The water came all of a sudden; we were very scared and put thechildren up on the roof”, said Santa Charles. © Anita Swarup/Oxfam



24

Climate Change and Food Security

One of the ways in which climate shocks such as hurricanes, ooding and changes inrainfall create cycles of disadvantage is through their impact on agricultural production.

In 2008, the agricultural sector sufferedlosses of around US$ 229 million. Whena drought or ood destroys a harvest,the resulting loss of income andassets can leave households unableto afford seeds, fertilizers and other

inputs needed to restore production thefollowing year. In Haiti, many farmersreported that they could not afford tobuy seeds for the next crops. Indeedmany have nothing to eat now as mostof their crops have been destroyed –there is food relief but even that is notreaching every corner of the country. Inpast years many families in Haiti wouldsell surplus crops such as beans and

corn in the market but this year mosthave nothing to sell.

‘‘Every year we have more hurricanesand more intense hurricanes and the country and population are morevulnerable’’, notes Garry Mathieu,Director of the National Food SecurityCouncil.

According the UN Haiti Flash Appeal,around 50,000 families have lostaccess to their livelihoods and reducedtheir ability to generate cash income.Standing corn, sorghum, bean,cassava and sweet potato crops, aswell as banana and plantain weredestroyed in at least 75 municipalitiesin the 10 regions of the country. About450 hectares of beans, 250 hectares

of corn, 200 hectares of potato and

sweet potato and more than 350hectares of plantains have beendestroyed by the ood waters, erosionand landslides. And it warns that theabandonment of agricultural lands andforced displacement will worsen food

insecurity in the months to come.29

InFebruary 2009, the number of foodinsecure people in Haiti was estimatedto be 2.8 million, about one the third of the population.30

Periods of drought combined withheavy rains, strong winds and thepressures on natural resources as wellas erosion in mountainous areas which

makes much of the land unsuitablefor agriculture, will have implicationsfor food production in the future. JeanFrito, Co-ordinator for the Red Crossin Belle Anse in southeast Haiti said: ‘‘There are more droughts than thereused to be and more hurricanes thanever. All the corn we had died then wewere hit by hurricanes. Then we had very heavy rain. You could see ve

days rain non-stop without seeing thesun. And of course there was ooding

in the city as a result’’.

Belle AnseBartelemy Salnave, a local government

29 UN Haiti Flash Appeal 2008

30 Fewsnet, Feb 2009, Haiti Food Security update

http://www.fews.net/pages/country.aspx?gb=ht&l=en

ofcial (CASEC) in Belle Anse says:‘‘Many people have lost their homesin Mapou and there are now several families living in one house,’’ heexplains, ‘‘the water has taken away productive soil and it is now not so

easy to grow plantains, sweet potatoand corn. Its a vicious cycle – theenvironment has deteriorated and parents can’t earn any money fromcrops so they can’t send their childrento school even though its only 125

“The water has taken away

productive soil and it is nownot so easy to grow plantains,sweet potato and corn”, saidBartelemy Salnave. © AnitaSwarup/Oxfam

gourds (US$ 3) a month’’. People havealso lost their seeds in the hurricanesbut cannot afford to buy more seedsneeded to plant crops again. Mapou,



25

according to Bartelemy, used to be afertile area and a ‘storehouse’ for food– beans, plantains, corn, sorghum.For Denis Phillip, a local baker, times

have been hard and his business isdown by 50 per cent. Many people donot have the money to buy bread. ‘‘After each hurricane it’s a real catastropheas the hunger issue becomes seriousfor the peasants around here’’ he says,‘‘it’s very hard as well as we don’t havegood soil and when it rains a lot of water comes in and destroys Mapou’’.

In the nearby town of Pichon, thesituation is also serious. There was adrought just before the hurricanes andthe four stormsthat destroyed crops,livestock and buildings. Here almost2500 goats and 500 pigs died. ‘‘It’s acrisis, we’ve never had back to back hurricanes before. Now we really arein God’s will ’’ says Jean Robert Jean, alocal farmer.

MalnutritionWorst hit, though, has beenneighbouring Baie d’Orange. After thehurricanes, roads were damaged or cutoff and crops and livestock destroyed.There was little or no food available.There is growing concern about thenutritional situation of children in the

affected areas that only started tobecome apparent several weeks after the disasters in December 2008. Aswhole communities lost their crops andlivestock, and access to health andrelief services remain difcult, pockets of acute severe malnutrition cases startedto appear in many isolated communities.

Since it was impossible to reach them

during the worst hit period, as many

as 34 children died of hunger andmalnutrition. Oxfam facilitated the localauthorities response. Several childrenwere airlifted to hospital. It is hard now

to believe that two decades or so ago,Baie d’Orange used to be known asa very fertile area where considerableamounts of coffee, beans and cornwere produced.

According to Jean Louisena, a localvolunteer nurse “there are no healthcentres here in Baie d’Orange, whenthe children were sick the parents did

not know what to do. So some just died.It’s the rst year that we are seeingchildren dying of malnutrition. And themalnutrition rates are increasing –everyday I’m seeing a new group of children”.

NippesIn Nippes region, many poor people

in rural areas are still waiting for foodrelief. According to Vincent Jamil, co-ordinator of CDGRD and DepartmentDelege of the Nippes Department,‘‘the population in Nippes are very vulnerable, especially with food ’’.

During the hurricane season manyrivers in Nippes burst their banks cuttingoff towns and villages. In last year’s

hurricanes, infrastructure throughoutthe department was severely damagedincluding 50 schools, roads, water pipes and bridges. Indeed, one sectionof the main road from Nippes to thecapital Port-au-Prince is still oodedwith the waters of the nearby LakeMiragoane – which has risen due towater coming down the deforestedmountainsides. ‘‘At an agricultural level,

at least 1 billion gourds has been lost in this region, plantations destroyed and it was harvest time, rice and beansooded and the farmers completely

decapitalised. And many shermen

have lost their materials – boats and nets etc ’’, adds Vincent Jamil, co-ordinator of CCGRD and DepartmentDelege of the Nippes Department.

Tanfan Omanie lost one of her children to malnutrition after

the hurricanes destroyed foodcrops, Baie d’Orange. © AnitaSwarup/Oxfam

Tanfan Omanie lost one of her childrenthis year. “He was very swollen, Iwent to the local school where theywere feeding children and they saidbring in the child – the next day I was

planning to bring in my child but hedied”. This year she lost everything inthe hurricanes, all her beans and allher goats – who had all been pregnant.Now she cannot afford to buy morebean seeds to plant and has to relyon selling charcoal to survive. Beforecharcoal was a supplement to her income. “So I will have to depend onfood relief”, she says.



26

“This cycle is getting worse, in the past we didn’t have hurricanes every year but now they are 3 or 4 times a year.The drought season is longer and as a

result there is a delay in the agricultural cycle as well. This is new because of climate change’ ’.

In the nearby village of Petite Rivièredes Nippes, the mayor, Patrique Teleguesays that all of the bean crops weredestroyed and up to 80 per cent of theplantain crops and over 50 per cent of the sugar cane have been destroyed. ‘‘If

it wasn’t for the hurricanes, the market would have been full of plantains.We are one of the municipalities that produced the most plantains that weused to send to the capital Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country ’’.

Sedye Desir is a rice farmer who has6 children near the town of Anse aVeau. ‘‘During the hurricane there was

ooding that covered the rice crop – 2 or 3 metres. I lost my crop – I lost a lot of money, my house is destroyed, wehad a lot of mud and my house wasdestroyed by it. Now we are living inmisery and we don’t have enough food.This year has been the worst. Therewas a drought before which destroyed the sorghum. When we were young it was better, we used to have a lot to eat.

We need some help, we have nowhereto live and no crops. The children haveto go to school and we cannot afford topay for the fees’’.

FishingClimate change can adversely affectsheries in a number of ways: throughdamage to infrastructure or shifts in sh

distributions, changes to river deltas and

Rice crops all over Haiti were ooded with water after the hurricanes © David Viñuales/Oxfam



27

the degradation of sensitive ecosystemssuch as wetlands or mangroves. InHaiti, thousands of boats, nets andother shing equipment were destroyed

during the hurricanes, making it difcultfor shermen to take up their livelihoodsafter this. ‘‘After each hurricane, we loseeverything we have – boats, nets andwe have to start all over again’’, saysSanon Camile from the Association of Fishermen in Belle Anse.Worse still, thousands of tons of soil andsediment were deposited into the seaby overowing rivers and water rushing

down deforested mountainsides takingwith it most of the fertile soil. Sincetraditionally most of the sh is caughtfrom small boats close to the shore, thesoil and sediments from the mountainshave pushed the sh further out to sea.‘‘The silt is going into the sea and isaffecting the sh, who are going further

out after the hurricanes. Now it’s harder to catch sh and sh is more expensivein the marketplace,’’ notes Jean Frito,local co-ordinator for the Red Cross

in Belle Anse. The shermen do not,unfortunately, have large enough boatsto go out further into sea.

Belle Anse was one province that wasbadly affected and many shermenhave had to stop shing for a period of time – to allow sh to breed again by theshores. This year is particularly hard asall the shermen in Belle Anse have had

to come together (with assistance fromOxfam and the local mayor’s ofce) tostop shing for a period to allow the shto breed again by the shores.

Sanon Camile, from the Association of Fishermen in Belle Anse, refers to theadverse impact of hurricanes ‘‘all this

has severe consequences on our lives,we can no longer provide for our familiesneeds. In the past we had enoughmoney for school fees but not anymore

– we haven’t just lost our activity butalso our boats and nets –so sending our children to school is very hard’.

Gethno Chery, President of theFishermen’s Association of Belle Ansewants to see projects that undertakesh farming in lagoons or enclosedarea – the sh could then be soldto local markets. There are lagoons

nearby which could make this possible.Bernadette Pierre, Mayor of BelleAnse, echoes his views. She seesthis as an opportunity for local peopleto earn an income - but which needsexternal investment.

It was harder for shermen to catch sh after the hurricanes as the silt going into the sea pushed

the sh further out.



28

Cof

fee Co

-operative

and

Food Security

Haitians are resilient people and the community spirit is strong,particularly in rural parts. Some local people have found ways of working together and helping their own food security. The CoffeeCo-operative near Cap Haitian is one example.

There are 850 members with about half a hectare of coffee each.Being part of a network is benecial to the farmers but apart

from growing coffee, many now have planted food crops such asplantains and vegetables.

This is good for food security and, as one coffee farmer, JeanFelix Celicourt says ‘‘If the coffee crop fails, we can sell the food’’.Diversication is important. Coffee production was also affected bythe hurricanes and parts of the plantations were seriously affectedby the hurricanes in 2008. In 1996 and 1997 they used to producearound 85,000 pounds of coffee but today they produce around athird less due to droughts, stronger hurricanes, pests etc. Jean Felixreports that during those years and earlier ‘‘the soil was better. Nowthe soil is not so good’’.

New methods of plantations where more space is left in betweencoffee trees seem to be better, and allow strong winds to passthrough, Jean Felix notes. Diversication and growing other foodcrops in coffee plantations is also important

Unfortunately, though, climate change and rising temperatureswill also have an impact on crops like coffee. Garry Mathieu,Director of the National Food Security Council notes, ‘‘we arealready seeing the impact of rising temperatures on coffee.Coffee is usually produced at 700-1200 metres but now farmershave to go even higher to produce’’.



29



30

Climate Change and Disaster

Risk ReductionDroughts, oods, storms and other climatic events have the potential todisrupt people’s lives, leading to lossesof income, assets and opportunities.But when hurricanes hit the US, atleast in many cases properties areinsured. When the same hurricanes hitslums in Haiti or ood coastal towns,the result is devastation with littlemoney for recovery.

Natural hazards are not by denitiondisasters. It is the adverse impactof the natural phenomenon onpeople’s lives, their vulnerability tothe hazard and their inability to copethat creates a disaster. Disastersoften result in increased vulnerabilityof the poor and disempowered or marginalized through the destructionor loss of assets, thereby placingthem in a downward spiral of deepening poverty and increasingrisk. Poverty and vulnerability arestrongly linked. Disaster risk ariseswhen hazards interact with physical,social, economic and environmentalvulnerabilities. Events of hydrometeorological origin constitute thelarge majority of disasters.31

31 World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Janua-

ry 2005, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Hyogo Framework

for Action 2005-2015: International Strategy for

Disaster Reduction. Extract from the nal report of

the World Conference on Disaster Reduction www.

unisdr.org/wcdr

There is good evidence that disaster reduction measures help alleviatehuman suffering. The DominicanRepublic has not exploited itsnatural resources in the same wayas neighboring Haiti, which nowhas only two percent of its forestremaining today. Despite beingbattered by hurricanes in 2008, theDominican Republic did not suffer thesame casualties or damages as Haiti.

Supporting community resilience tohazards and awareness of threats suchas extreme weather events and moreweather variability is the key to reducingthe impact of disasters in Haiti. Disaster preparedness and risk reduction are acrucial part of Oxfam’s work, and theeffect that climate change can have onvulnerable communities is one of therisk factors that has to be prepared for in the future.

Oxfam’s objectives in disaster riskmanagement are:

To empower at-risk communities/•populations to plan for, advocatefor and implement long-term riskreduction initiatives.

To enable at risk communities/•populations to respond rapidlyand efciently to a disaster situation.

As an example, Oxfam has beenworking in the municipality of Bahonin the north of Haiti to reduce their vulnerability to the impact of oodingand take disaster risk reductionmeasures. The town of Bahon hasaround 20,000 people. For the lastfew years, it has been regularlyooded with heavy rains and the river bursting its banks. On average thereare about three deaths a year withpeople trying to cross the swollenriver. Villagers are organising rescueteams and the plan is now for a wallto be built by the riverside to helpprevent ooding. In Bahon, Oxfamsupported the government in formingand training a municipal disaster riskmanagement committee– composedof farmers, nurses, teachers andother local representatives, 30members in total. Local disaster riskmanagement committees were alsoestablished in each of the districtsas well as a number of search andrescue brigades for the municipality.

People receive training and thenthey go back to help others andraise awareness in their immediatecommunities and villages. As partof the project, engineers are alsoworking with the community toreinforce the riverbank and protectthe only accessible road in and out of the town. These activities have beenfunded by the European Commission’s



31

Disaster preparedness and risk reduction are a crucial part of Oxfam’s work, and the effect that climate changecan have on vulnerable communities has to be prepared for in the future. © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam



32

isn’t something done to the mountain it will always be the same problem. Weneed to somehow prevent this – by planting trees or digging some canals’’.

Valery Laguerre, the Oxfam’s Disaster Risk Reduction Manager in CapHaitian asserts the need for capacitybuilding and to continue to empower people. ‘‘Climate change is a big challenge for Haiti, it’s a very poor country with little resources – there isa humanitarian crisis’’ , he adds.

I n other parts of Haiti, Oxfam has beeninvolved in working on a communitylevel (through capacity building andtraining) building walls by rivers thatregularly burst their banks such as atAnse a Veau in south Haiti. Here water,silt and mud rushes straight down themountain into the river La Cul desSavannes that in the past used to oodthe surrounding area. ‘‘Thanks to this

wall the city wasn’t completely ooded – if we didn’t have the wall, we would have all drowned. Before the wall wasbuilt, oods would destroy homes, kill

livestock and leave people in the areawith nothing. And people used to die’’,said Jean Claude Thelisme, municipaldisaster risk management committee(CCGRD) Now the aim is to extend thewall to prevent ooding further down

the river.

The National System for Disaster Risk Management in Haiti isresponsible for ensuring goodcoordination in disaster riskmanagement in the country. Thisnational network – comprisedof departmental, municipal andlocal committees made of up local

Humanitarian Aid Service.Wesley Toussaint is the communityorganiser in Bahon. ‘‘Everybody knows the climate is changing so

our mitigation project needs to beincluded. Everyone will be affected by

goverment ofcials and civil societyrepresentatives – is in charge of preparing communities for imminentdisasters and providing for the

immediate needs of communitiesparticularly during times of disaster.Oxfam has developed a series of activities aimed at reinforcing theNational System of Civil Protectionat the local and municipal levelin the department, specicallyin the northern municipalities of Cap Haitian, Limbé, Bas Limbé,Borgne and Port Margot, Bahon and

Grande Riviere du Nord, and thenortheastern communities of FortLiberté, Ferrier, Ouanaminthe andTrou du Nord. Oxfam also carriedout a similar project in Nippes. Themain objective of the initiative is tocontribute to improving disaster riskmanagement capacities of urbanand marginalized rural communitiesvulnerable to hazards.

Though State presence is limitedin Haiti, there are many successfulexamples of local government and thecommunity working together on disaster risk reduction - although capacity andresources to undertake more of those isinadequate. Many of the ‘civil protectionmembers’ have played an importantpart in reducing the number of deaths

and casualties in the last series of hurricanes through early warnings or grouping people in more secure housesand/or temporary shelters.

Oxfam is actively working with thelocal government and civil protectionmembers on disaster risk reductionprogrammes. The overarchingobjective of the programmes is to

it. Disaster risk reduction is important,we can’t avoid being hit by hurricanes,and this will allow us to reduce theimpact. Now several people havebeen trained as a rescue team’’.

‘‘Training people in the community has helped them. People weresuffering from the hurricanes – they were victims. They know this training will help them protect themselves.I would denitely like to see more

committees like these; you cansee the change in the people whoparticipate in the committees’’.

Louis Delouis, an agriculturaltechnician, is a dedicated communitymember on the committee. ‘‘Whenit is rainy, we have more disastersbecause the mountain is empty because there are no trees. If there

Wesley Toussaint is a communityorganiser in Bahon.© Anita Swarup/Oxfam



33

support the Haitian Civil Protectiondepartment to become a genuine toolfor durable development, and thusto contribute to the improvement of

knowledge, practices and attitudesof the population, institutions andauthorities in terms of risk anddisaster management.

The National System of CivilProtection is reinforced by establishingmunicipal and local committees.These are trained in risk and disaster management and able to facilitate

the implementation of local risk anddisaster management plans in their respective districts. These plans andactivities are aimed at reducing c ertainphysical, environment, and/or socio-economic factors that make the areasvulnerable to environmental disasters. In its humanitarian response andpost-emergency responses, Oxfam

is assisting community resident todig ditches which alleviate the impactof oods and ood ow – and helpwith irrigation during dry periodsor droughts. In Cash For Workprogrammes in Nippes, severalhundred people were paid cash to digout the ditches. Many of them sufferedtremendously in the recent hurricaneswith all their crops or homes

destroyed. A good number are womenwho have to nd a way to support their families if their husbands have left,migrated or are too ill to work.

In one Cash For Work program inPetites Rivière des Nippes, Casimir Anese is the team leader. She hadto get a job as her husband does notwork and she needs to pay for food

and school fees for the children – butis already 10,000 gourds (aroundUS $250) in debt. She used to sellunderwear in the local market but the

business did not work and she did notearn enough money to feed her family.But she is pleased to get this job thatpays around 200 gourds (US$ 5) a day. ‘‘It is something that has to be done inthe community so if there is a ood, it

won’t ood people’s homes and elds

as well – we would lose the product.With the canals, people’s crops won’t bewashed away’’.

Assoneze George is an elderly womanof 75 years who is also in debt. ‘‘I amnot from around here but I come towork here – the hurricane destroyed all

my crops and my home. I don’t havea husband and I had to come here tond money to feed the family. I have 6

children, 3 of which still live with me as

they are sick and 3 grandchildren alsolive with me. The canal is very useful because if you compare the amount of damage done in the past there is lessdamage now’’.

Samuel Metllus is a brave young16-year-old boy. He is trying to payfor his own school fees. He usedto have a job before the hurricane

affected things in the town. ‘‘Thingsare bad. Life is very difcult. I wake

up in the morning and I can’t evenafford a cup of coffee’’.

Cash for Work. In its post-emergency responses, Oxfam is assistingcommunity resident to dig ditches which alleviate the impact of oods– and help with irrigation during dry periods or droughts. © BernardCherelus/Oxfam



34

Haiti’s NAPA – National Adaptation

Programmes of Actionconsiderably assist vulnerable ruralcommunities to adapt to the adverseimpacts of climate change. To fund itrequires nearly US$ 24.5 million but asyet, no funds have been given.

The Ministry of Environment wasresponsible for submitting thegovernment’s NAPA. The NAPAidenties that risks from climatechange will affect many sectors of the Haitian economy, such as water the resources, agriculture, shing,coastal zones, infrastructures,trade, health, education, transport,telecommunication; in short the entireeconomy. However, sectors likeagriculture, land, coastal zones andthe water resources seem to be themost vulnerable sectors of the countrydue to their higher level of sensitivityto climatic stresses. According to theNAPA, water related risk (hurricanes,oods, heavy rain) coupled witherosion affect the highest number of geographical regions. These risksneed to be prioritised when developingadaptation strategies.

The NAPA has the following goals:

To identify the urgent needs for the•country for purposes of adaptationand to communicate these needsto international organizationsnancing environmental initiatives.

Haiti has for several years recognizedthe threats and challenges presentedby human-caused global warming.It has ratied the United NationsFramework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) and the KyotoProtocol. As a Least DevelopedCountry (LDC), Haiti has alsodeveloped its own National AdaptationProgrammes of Action (NAPA) throughthe Ministry of Environment. NAPAsprovide a way for LDCs to identifypriority activities that respond to their urgent needs to adapt to climatechange. Even if in the near futurecarbon emissions start to decreasesignicantly – as they must - impactswill continue to be felt. Thereforeadaptation is now crucial and urgent.Climate change adds urgency as newand uncertain climatic conditions arelikely to come about and there willbe a need to nd more resources.Development and adaptation need nowto be considered together.32

Actions identied in the NAPAsshould be priorities for funding, andthe channel for this funding is viathe UNFCCC’s Least DevelopedCountry Fund. The money in theLDCF is voluntarily contributed byindustrialised nations. Haiti’s NAPA is adocument that, if implemented, would

32 IIED Brieng, Taking Steps: Mainstreaming

national Adaptation, November 2008

To mobilize all national energies•in the ght for environmentalprotection.

To contribute to the reduction of •the poverty level of the vulnerablepopulations for a greater capacityof adaptation to climate change.

To contribute to national and•consequently regional and globalecological balance.

The NAPA was written after the ActionPlan for the Environment (PAE),developed in 1999 by both the Ministryof Environment and the National Planof Risk Management and Disasters(PNGRD). Clearly the government inHaiti recognises climate change and itsimpacts but it faces serious challengesin terms of funding and lack of capacityto cope with such an overwhelmingphenomenon. Lack of researchand data also presents problems intackling the impacts of climate change.Jean Arsène Constant from the CivilProtection Department (DPC) notes:“In Haiti we still do not know enoughabout hazards and vulnerabilities.There is a lack of data – we are limited in terms of data. We are missing a

strategy too and funding’’.

However there are currently nobudgets that the national government



35

Climate change adds urgency, as uncertain climatic conditions are likely to come about. Development andadaptation need now to be considered together. © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam



36

and local authorities have at their disposal for adapting to climatechange. In Haiti, the National Systemfor Disaster Risk Management

(SNGRD) that works from nationaldown to commune level is a keygovernment department in helpingreduce the impact of disasters.Planning in high-risk environmentsrequires investments that are beyondthe nancing capacities of mostgovernments acting alone. Dealingwith oods, reforestation projectsor developing new drought or ood

resistant crops is very expensive for the government in Haiti.

Adaptation projects and activitiestake a number of forms. Building or reinforcing infrastructure projects suchas water pipes and roads are onlypart of the solution. A wide range of adaptation activities like communityresilience and improving capacity in all

the relevant ministries at national andprovincial levels will have to be partof the national plan and internationalfunding priorities. The need to integrateclimate change adaptation into disaster risk reduction, as climate change islikely to aggravate natural disasters,is important to the Civil ProtectionDepartment. Jean Arsène notes: ‘‘Weneed to develop a link – risk reduction

programme and climate change. And two areas that need most adaptationare agriculture and energy ”.

Suggestions include:

Reforestation projects.•

Developing a variety of sub-•species of livestock who are

drought resistant or who can resistlarge variations in drought andrain.Conservation of water as the•

dry periods are becoming longer which creates problems for agriculture.

Producing wood from forestry•

projects to help solve the problem

of energy and deforestation.

Deforestation is by far the mostchallenging issue in Haiti that

signicantly exacerbates the disasters,deaths and damage to property. MoïseJean-Pierre, National Focal Point inthe Ministry of Environment for theNational Climate Change Convention,recognises the link between climatechange in the form of heavier rains,deforestation and disaster. However,climate change is too overwhelmingan issue for Haiti to tackle as a country

by itself and it requires supportfrom the region. ‘‘The problem is socomplex and so crucial that we haveto work and share expertise with other Caribbean countries. We need moreresearch on climate change’’. He addsthat this is not just an issue for theMinistry of Environment but ‘‘what isneeded is a cross sectoral approachto deal with climate change – energy

sector, transport, agriculture etc ’’.

In order to implement the actions, it isrecognised in the NAPA that both anaction plan for reducing poverty and awell dened government framework for environmental protection are needed.Oxfam echoes these concerns, butis also concerned that the activitiesin the NAPA have too much of an

emphasis on a project-based approachto adaptation planning, which detailonly immediate needs, and it providesa limited perspective on the scale

of nancing required for effective’’Climate-proong’’. ‘‘What Haiti needsis a comprehensive strategy, completewith short, medium, and long-termactions, measures and indicators’’,concludes Oxfam Haiti’s Director,Yolette Etienne. “In turn, this strategy must be supported nancially by the

international community, preferably withthe most polluting nations providing

more support ’’.Small-scale farmers have a wider perspective.

When asked what they would see as‘‘adaptation’’ they identify many things:

Diversication of income so•that people could earn somemoney when food crops were

destroyed or so that they don’thave to depend on an income fromcharcoal;

Small loans so they could start up•small businesses;

Investment by businesses to•provide jobs or investment in shfarms;

Assistance with buying seeds or •developing new ood or droughtresistant varieties of crops or livestock;

Cultivation of appropriate crops•on mountainsides and, mostimportantly for all concerned;



37

Reforestation projects – which•include planting fruit trees whichcan assist food security.

Deforestation was considered a major challenge in the NAPA but the needfor reforestation projects was notsufciently stressed. For many farmers,shermen and community leaders,reforestation was considered to be thepriority.

Michele Thomas, Civil Protection,Petite Rivière des Nippes reafrms:

‘‘Projects are needed for reforestationof the mountains – reforestationpossibly with fruit trees so we caneat or sell the fruit. And we also need appropriate crops. Farmers should be trained to understand how not to disturb the environment. If thesewere made we wouldn’t suffer suchproblems. There will still be hurricanesbut the impact will be less’’.

The NAPA is only meant to be a starttowards adaptation. Much needsto happen outside the NAPA - andwithout waiting for funding the NAPAto come through. For poor countriesto adapt successfully, change needsto occur at many levels. Communitiesmust be at the heart of efforts to buildresilience, whether through diversifying

livelihoods or strengthening food andwater security. Scaling up community-owned approaches like in Bahonwhere community residents cometogether with local government for training and awareness raising willbe central to successful nationalstrategies. Women must also be at thecore of adaptation strategies and for this, gender-disaggregated data and

research is necessary.

Strengthening local institutions is alsoimportant. Local institutions have

shaped how rural residents respondedto environmental challenges in thepast and in Haiti local governmentstructures such as the SNGRD playa vital role in disaster risk reduction.This network may also be a highlyappropriate mechanism to facilitateadaptation to climate change at thegrass roots, shaping adaptationstrategies and improving the capacities

of the most vulnerable social groups.

Climate change also needs to befactored into national planning andbudgeting, and must also integrateadaptation into development-planningprocesses, for example strengtheninginstitutions, and providing early-warning systems, analysing andmapping risks as well as establishing

emergency contingency plans for communities at risk . In addition,they must ensure that climate risksare integrated into national and localdisaster-risk reduction plans, sothat they can tackle the underlyingvulnerabilities that put communitiesat risk in the face of the increasingnumber of climate-related disasters.33

There are many challenges toimplementing the NAPA in Haiti. Itstates: 1. The country has been in an unstablepolitical situation for a few years which

33 Oxfam International, 2007, Oxfam brieng

Note: Financing adpatation: Why the UN’s Bali

Climate conference must mandate the search for

new funds

generated fear and despair. Thismeans that the population will havereservations and there may be a lowlevel of participation.

2. The acute food shortage meansthat for the majority of the populationenvironmental protection is not apriority. 3. The persistent feeling of political-socio-economic insecurity can disruptthe implementation of the activitiesand may make the nancial partners

hesitate, which will do nothing butaccentuate the problems involved inthe implementation of the project.

4. There may be conicts betweenpartner organizations, partners and thelocal authorities.

5. Many institutions are involved inthe environment eld without effective

coordination carried out. The role andattributions of each organisation arebadly dened.

6. Difcult access and the occurrenceof new disasters during theimplementation, in the priority actionareas, can constitute obstacles with theprocesses of NAPA.

7. Being a LDC facing seriouspolitical problems, Haiti cannotmobilize the funds necessary toimplement the NAPA.



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Conclusion

There are limits to what communities on small island states like Haiti canachieve alone. In view of its higher vulnerability and risk levels,

which signicantly go beyondits capacity to respond to andrecover from disasters, Haiti needsinternational support with particular urgency. Richer industrialisedcountries must fund the bulk of climate change adaptation in LDCs

like Haiti, given their responsibilityfor causing the problem and their overwhelming nancial capability.For Haiti accelerating climate changecould mean more oods, droughtsor hurricanes -causing millions moredollars worth of damage and millionsof hungry people.

This report is an insight into thedestructive impact of the climatechanges that are already happeningon a daily basis in Haiti. Poor womenand men are signicantly morevulnerable to the impacts of oods,droughts, storms and hurricanesand have found it difcult to cope– particularly in the last series of storms and hurricanes in 2008 whenthere was little time for recoveryin between. But many have showna great resilience and ability to‘‘weather the storm’’ in their ownways, both at a community level andat local institutional level throughthe Civil Protection system. For example, in last year’s hurricanesmany deaths were averted whenCivil Protection members alertedpeople in villages and helped

distribute food relief in the aftermath.Local government ofcials, withthe help of organizations such asOxfam, are training communityresidents on disaster risk reductionand coming together in committeessuch as in Bahon to better deal with

future oods. They see disaster riskreduction activities as key to their survival of their communities – andkey to adaptation.

Farmers, local leaders andgovernment representativesidentied several other keyadaptation priorities. Most urgentwere reforestation projects, sincetrees act as important buffers tothe impacts of heavy rains andhurricanes and help prevent seriousooding in coastal areas wheremost people live. Planting fruit treesalongside will also mean a sourceof food and help with food security.People can eat the fruit or sell it atthe market.

Income diversication, and nding analternative to selling charcoal as asource of income, is also consideredvital, by starting up small businessesfor example. Fishermen in remoteareas such as Belle Anse say theywould benet from sh breedingprojects in natural lakes and lagoonsand they could sell the sh in nearbytowns.

Government representativesnote that climate planning acrossgovernment departments isconsidered crucial. Climate changeconcerns should not be isolatedunder a particular sector such as

environment but integrated across allsectors – agriculture, shing, trade,transport, energy etc. However amajor challenge is a lack of data andresearch on climate change. Sharingexpertise, research and informationin the Caribbean region was alsoidentied as important – sinceHaiti does not have the capacity or resources to do this alone.

As mentioned earlier, it is impossibleto say that every extreme weather event is caused by climate changebut many scientists now agree thatextreme weather events such ashurricanes are likely to become morefrequent and severe. Uncertaintyshould not mean inaction. What isneeded is ‘no regrets’ adaptation– measures people can take thatwill help them withstand climateshocks now and in the future. NAPAsprovide some indication of whatsteps should now be taken but thesehave to be considerably built upon.

Participation and ownership of adaptation and taking action toreduce the impact of disasters by



40

the community is essential to thesuccess of adaptation programs.Oxfam believes that activecitizenship is essential - people

living in poverty must have a voicein deciding their own destiny, ghtingfor their rights and justice in their own society. Furthermore, effectivestates are important too becausehistory shows that no country hasprospered without a state structurethat can actively manage thedevelopment process. A combinationof solid institutions and community

participation can signicantly helpreduce vulnerability to disasters suchas oods, droughts and hurricanes –and thus prepare for climate change.Climate shocks do not always giverise to disasters if people have thecapacity to withstand them.

Increasingly, poor people in smallcountries like Haiti are compelled

to shoulder the burden of globalclimate change – to which theyhave barely contributed. Haiti isonly responsible for a tiny fractionof global emissions of greenhousegases yet its people are paying for this with millions of dollars throughlost revenue from agriculture, shingand lost livelihoods.

Developing countries do not havethe resources to nance nationaladaptation – and should not beexpected to cover the costs alone.Separate to funding for emergenciesthat will arise, Oxfam estimatesthat developing countries will needat least US$50 billion annually toadapt to climate change, as partof $150 billion a year in total for

public investment in adaptation andmitigation (reducing emissions andmoving to low carbon developmentpaths). These funds should be

provided by rich nations, in linewith their responsibility for causingclimate change and their capabilityto assist. It is not aid but a form of compensatory nance and must bein addition to donor commitmentsto provide 0.7 per cent of GNI.Innovative nancing mechanismsurgently need to be explored, thatcan deliver predictable nancial

ows on the scale required34

.Furthermore, pro-poor adaptationresponses must be considered anopportunity for economic growth anddevelopment rather than a drain oninternational nancial resources. Andthese investments must be targetedto those most vulnerable to theeffects of climate change.

34 Oxfam proposes innovative mechanisms in

Hang Together or Separately?, Oxfam Brieng

Paper 128, June 2009



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Maps2008 was one of the worsthurricane seasons in Haiti’shistory. Four consecutivestropical storms and/or hurricanes hit the countrycausing the death of hundredsof people and affecting morethan 170.000 families allaround the country.© ReliefWeb

Appendix



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The number of housesdestroyed or damagedduring 2008 hurricaneseason reached over 45.000, a big number

of them concentratedin Fonds-Verretes andGonaives areas.© MapAction



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Table 2.Annual evolution of temperatures inDamien Station, Port au Prince,Source: Ministry of Environment,Haiti, NAPA 2006

Table 1.Sea surface temperatures (blue)and the Power Dissipation Index for North Atlantic hurricanes Source:US Climate Change Program –

footnote 8.

Tables



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References includedCaribbean Community Climate Change Centre www.caricom.org

CAIT (Climate Analysis Indicators Tool), available at http://cait.wri.org.CNSA, Haiti, Bilan de la securite alimentaire 2003-05 (Department of Food Security)

DFID, 2005, Why we need to work more effectively in fragile statesDFID, 2004, Adaptation to climate change: Making development disaster-proof.DFID, 2004, Adaptation to climate change: Making development disaster-proof

EOS, June 2006, Atlantic Hurricane Trends Linked to Climate ChangeECLAC and UNDP, 2005Comparison of the Socio-Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters on Caribbean Societies in2004,

ECLAC, 2005, Haiti: Short and Long-term Development Issues

Feinstein International Centre, 2008, The Humanitarian Cost of Climate ChangeFewsnet, Feb 2009, Haiti Food Security update http://www.fews.net/pages/country.aspx?gb=ht&l=en

Global Environment Facility (GEF), 2007, Financing Adaptation ActionGeophysical Fluids Dynamic Laboratory, Oct 2008, Atlantic Hurricane Trends Linkedto Climate Change

IDB Country Strategy in Haiti 2007-2011, InterDevelopment Bank

ID21, 2008, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, Closing the Gap

IFRC, Climate Guide, 2007IFRC, 2004, Is Climate Change to Blame for Deadly Hurricane Season in the Caribbean?IFRC, World Disasters Report 2006, 2007, 2008

Insurance Instruments for Adapting to Climate Risks: Moving towards CopenhagenPresented by Koko Warner on behalf of MCII1 at the 4th AWG-LCA workshop in Poznan4 December 2008

IIED (Institute of Environment and Development) Brieng, Taking Steps: Mainstreaming national Adaptation, November 2008IMF, Haiti Poverty Reduction Strategy paper, 2008

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2007, Working Group 11, Impacts, Adaptation and VulnerabilityIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2008, Technical Paper V1 on Climate Change and Water

Journal of International Affairs. Spring/Summer 2006. Vol. 59. The changing face of normal disaster: Risk, Resilienceand Natural Security in a Changing Climate, N. Hultman, A. BozmoskiMinistry of Environment, NAPA, Haiti, 2006



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Ministry of Planning, Nov 2007, GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPER

Nature, Aug 2005, Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years, Kerry Emanuel

Nature, 3 Sept 2008, The increasing intensity of the strongest tropical cyclones, James B. Elsner, James P. Kossin &Thomas H. Jagger OCHA – various documentshttp://ochaonline.un.org

ODI Brieng Note, 2009, Climate change, water and food security

ODI Brieng note, 2009, Adapting to climate change in the water sector

Oxfam, 2008, Overview of Oxfam GB’s Program in Haiti

Oxfam, 2008, Renewable Energy Prospects in Haiti’s Nord-Est DepartmentOxfam, Reducing Risks, responding to Disasters, HaitiOxfam Brieng Paper, November 2007, From Weather Alert to Climate AlarmOxfam Brieng Paper, Sept 2008, Climate Wrongs and Human RightsOxfam International, 2007, Oxfam brieng Note: Financing adpatation: Why the UN’s Bali Climate Conference mustmandate the search for new fundsOxfam, A Just and Global Green New Deal, March 2009Oxfam, 2008, Climate Wrongs and Human rights Oxfam, National Change Strategy Haiti 2008-2013Stern Review, 2006, The Economics of Climate ChangeOxfam, June 2009, Hang Together or Separately?, Oxfam Brieng Paper 128

The third report from the Working Group on Climate Change, 2006, Up in smoke? Latin America and the Caribbean

US Climate Change Science Program, June 2008, Synthesis and Asessment Product 3.3, Weather and ClimateExtremes in a Changing Climate, North America, Hawaii, Caribbean and US Pacic Islands

UNDP, Human Development Report, 2007/8, Fighting Climate ChangeScientic American, 2005, Hurricanes Getting Stronger, Study Suggests

UNEP, 2009, From Conict to Peace building, The Role of Natural Resources and the environment

Union of Concerned Scientists, Hurricanes and Climate Change, (2009?), Exploring the potential causes of

increased storm intensity

UNDP Country programme document for Haiti (2009-2011)UN Haiti Flash Appeal, 2008UNDP Human Development Report, Climate Change, 2007/2008UNFCCC, Climate Change: Impact, Vulnerabilities and Adaptation, Dec 2007 in Developing Countrieswww.unfccc.int



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WFP, Dec 2008, Executive Brief: Haiti Comprehensive Food security and Vulnerability Analysis(CFSVA) – 2007/2008

World Conference on Disaster Reduction, January 2005, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Extract from the nal report of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction www.unisdr.org/wcdr

World Bank, 2008, Implications of Higher Global Food Prices for Poverty in Low-Income CountriesWorld Bank, 2007, Haiti: Strategy to alleviate the presure of fuel demand on national wood fuel resources.World Bank, 2006, Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti, A Country Social AnalysisWorld bank 2006, Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti Breaking the Conict-Poverty Trap

World Conference on Disaster Reduction, January 2005, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-

2015: International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Extract from the nal report of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction www.unisdr.org/wcdr



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Oxfam International is a confederation of fourteen organizations working together in more than 100 countries

to nd lasting solutions to poverty and injustice:

Oxfam America (www.oxfamamerica.org),

Oxfam Australia (www.oxfam.org.au),Oxfam-in-Belgium (www.oxfamsol.be),

Oxfam Canada (www.oxfam.ca),

Oxfam France - Agir ici (www.oxfamfrance.org),

Oxfam German (www.oxfam.de),

Oxfam GB (www.oxfam.org.uk),

Oxfam Hong Kong (www.oxfam.org.hk),

Intermon Oxfam (www.intermonoxfam.org),

Oxfam Ireland (www.oxfamireland.org),

Oxfam México (www.oxfammexico.org)Oxfam New Zealand (www.oxfam.org.nz)

Oxfam Novib (www.oxfamnovib.nl),

Oxfam Quebec (www.oxfam.qc.ca)

The following organizations are currently observer members of Oxfam International,

working towards full afliation:

Oxfam India (www.oxfamindia.org)

Oxfam Japan (www.oxfam.jp)

The following organization is linked to Oxfam International:

Oxfam International and Ucodep Campaign Ofce (Italy)


Please write to any of the agencies for further information, or visit www.oxfam.org.


haiti: a gathering storm: climate change and poverty

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