In March, researchers from the Earth Institute at Columbia University presented the results from the recently completed Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) to a group of students and professors in Port-au-Prince. Ongoing research as part of the Côte Sud Initiative, in addition to playing an integral role in the design of the CSI and MVP activities, is an important part of strengthening existing institutions and building technical capacity, from government ministries to universities.
Heavy rains in the watershed of Port-à-Piment early the week of April 23rd have led to flooding of the river systems. Rain gauges located in the towns of Randel and Port-à-Piment have collected data on the recent rainfall that accurately capture the weather patterns behind the flooding experienced on the ground.
The vast majority of schools in Haiti are privately operated; the exact number varies between 70-90% of all institutions. Private schools are operated by a variety of actors or organizations, including non-governmental organizations, churches, and sometimes by individuals with a basic education who view running a school as a profitable venture. Some are recognized and accredited by the government, but many, especially those in the latter category, are not.
In February of 2012, the Côte Sud Initiative’s tourism program, Déstination Sud, joined its partners, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture and Communication, and thousands of festival-goers in celebrating a successful Carnival in the southern city of Les Cayes. For Carnival, Déstination Sud activities throughout the South Department focused on awareness-raising of the Côte Sud region as a new magnet for tourism through billboards, beach cleaning, and sponsorship of welcome brigades for visitors.
Between February and March of 2012, five mothers' clubs, totaling one hundred women from five villages of the Port-à-Piment watershed, planted vegetable gardens with the material and technical support of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Planting of the vegetable gardens is part of the Agriculture and Forestry sector of the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village Project (MVP). Eighty of the total of one hundred gardens have already been planted with highly nutritious species of plants, such as tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, eggplant and peppers.
This month the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village and its partners at Catholic Relief Services and the local Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) launched a School Canteen Program for children in the town of Fiereville, a small community in the upper mountainous region of the Port-à-Piment watershed. Two schools in Fiereville (the École Mixte de Fiereville and the École Presbytérale de Fiereville) are now providing one hot and nutritious meal every school day to 350 students.
In early 2012, the CSI Marine Program hosted scientists from The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Program for an inaugural and important study on the marine habitat and environment off the southwest coast of Haiti.
Ongoing hydrology research is a critical aspect of the Côte Sud Initiative’s approach to integrated water resource management and disaster risk management and reduction. In November of 2011, Earth Institute researchers from the CSI hydrology team spent two weeks in the Côte Sud region of Haiti, where they carried out tasks and conducted research related to the multiple facets of integrated watershed management with a special focus in the Port-à-Piment watershed, the location of the Port-à-Piment Millennium Village.
Coordination and collaboration across partners to address needs
The Côte Sud Initiative is based on a platform of coordinated action across sectors and organizations in the South Department of Haiti, not only to avoid repetition and redundancy of interventions by various entities, but also to build strong relationships with the Haitian government and local communities. These relationships are integral to the long-term sustainable development of the region, lasting beyond the life of the CSI itself.
As part of the Côte Sud Initiative’s institutional stove program, the CSI site team requested fuel efficiency tests on stoves provided by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to area schools. These stoves were distributed starting 2007 as part of MYAP – the Multi-Year Assistance Program - run by CRS for schools in Haiti’s entire South Department, which includes the CSI area. MYAP’s school feeding program supports a total of 45,000 students and CRS’s goal is to have at least one cookstove per one hundred students by the end of 2012.
