Poverty Profile of Haiti

1. Poverty in Haiti:
Challenges and Opportunities
o Ankita Bhat
o Doaa Althalathini
o Dong Joo Kim
o Sam Nickell
1
Source: Global Images

2. (Source: Operation World: http://www.operationworld.org/haiti)

3. Background of Haiti
 The major problems of Haiti include – High population, food
insecurity, natural disasters, low wages, high youth
unemployment, and political instability.
 Population :10.57 million
 Distribution:
• Port-au-Prince - 22%
• Rural areas- 52%
• Other urban areas – 26%
 2014- GDP: 8.713 Billion USD (Current US$)
o GDP/Capita: 824.2 USD (Current US$)

4. Historical Context
 Revolution and independence – 1805
o Led to the destruction of the plantation economy
o Loss of capital, labor, and knowledge.
 Emergence of new elite
 Continued extraction of resources from Haitian citizens.
o Predatory state.
 Land reform and inheritance laws- 1809
 Farm size per citizen significantly reduced. This has led to over-farming and
soil degradation.
 Duvalier Dynasty: 1956-1986
o Francois Duvalier and Jean-Claude Duvalier
o Continuation of predatory state. Consolidated military and
government sectors under the rule of the president.
o By some estimates, family pocketed $1.6 billion of government
funds.

5. Poverty in Haiti
 The first official national poverty line for Haiti was developed
between October 2013 and February 2014.
 It defined values of HTG 81.7 ($2.41 PPP of 2005) for poverty line
and HTG 41.6 ($1.23 PPP of 2005) for extreme poverty line.
 Haiti remains the poorest country in the Americas and one of the
poorest in the world.
o Almost 70% of the population is either poor or vulnerable to
falling into poverty.
o One million people live slightly above the poverty line and
could be pushed below the line by a shock.

6. 6
Source: World Bank
Poverty in Haiti
 In 2012, around 6.3 million (58.5%) Haitians living in poverty, and
2.5 million (23.8%) living in extreme poverty.
 Poverty is mainly rural, at 74.9%, vs. 50.3% in urban areas

7. Extreme Poverty
 Declined between 2000 and 2012:
o Total from 31% to 24%
o Urban areas from 21% to 12%
o Rural areas, remained the same at 38%
 The poorest groups of rural people in Haiti are:
o Female-headed households.
o Landless farmers.
o Fishers who don’t own boats.
Source: World Bank

8. Geographic Distribution of the Poor
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Source: UNDP

9. Multidimensional Poverty Index
 49.4% of population are multidimensional poor (25.2% urban, 65.9% rural).
 22.6% of the population are vulnerable to multiple deprivations.
Source: OPHI

10. Geographic Distribution of Multidimensional Poor
10
Source: OPHI

11. Education
 Service provision is highly privatized: 85% of schools and hospitals are
private.
 Though progress has been made in area of education, more than 23% of
children do not attend primary education and; 75% do not attend
secondary school.
 Reasons for low education rate:
o High education fees: costs amount to 10% of total household budget.
o Accessibility: Long distance to schools, bad roads (especially North
and South West of the country).
o Quality of education remains a challenge, 85% of the teachers are not
qualified to teach at primary school level.

12. Health
By 2011, 5,899 had died of cholera outbreak, and
216,000 were infected.
One-third of Haitian women and children are anemic
Fewer than 1 woman in 10 in the lowest quintile benefits
from assisted delivery, versus 7 in 10 among the better off.
- In 2012, 7 in 10 women aged 15-49 years do not seek
medical support for lack of money, while 43% for lack of
transport.
- Household health expenditures are relatively limited (less
than 3% of total household budgets).

13. Food Insecurity & Hunger
2013
 2.6 million Haitians were
continuously affected by food
insecurity
 Early end of rainy season and El Niño
worsens it.
 100,000 children under 5 suffer
from Malnutrition.
 20,000 of them suffer from severe
malnutrition leading to death.
 Mud Cookies: to keep from
starving.
Source: Global Images

14. Unemployment
 Unemployment affects 40% of the urban workforce, and almost 50%
of the female workforce.
 Youth unemployment – 60%, triggering economic and social
concerns leading to high levels of discouragement
 Low wage rate: 60% earn below minimum wage
- Women earn 32% less than men
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15. Causes of Poverty
Source: UNOCHA

16. Income Inequality Trap
 Gini coefficient static at 0.61 since 2001,
 The richest 20% hold over 60% of the total income in the country.
 80% of rural households engage in farming. The returns to agriculture
are low and unreliable in Haiti due to environment degradation and
farming technique.
 Lack access to markets to sell goods.
 Trade liberalization
 Poor households have more children (labor) due to lack of pension,
social security and savings.
 Many poor households lack access to savings institutions.
 Poverty and vulnerability due to risky environment and natural disasters.
 Lack income to deal with welfare cost, coping cost, and catastrophic
cost to deal with shocks.

17. Environmental Trap and Impact

18. Environmental Trap and Impact
 Change in climate over the past four decades
o Annual mean temperature rise
o Rainfall variability (extreme droughts and flood)
o Sea level rise (influx of salt water restricts agriculture)
o Increase in tropical storms and hurricanes
o Threaten over 500,000 Haitians every year
 In 2008 climatic disasters caused losses worth USD 200 million to agricultural sector
and resulted in food insecurity to 3 million people.
 In January 2010, an earthquake killed 220,000 and destroyed more than 130,000
houses. Estimated costs of damage and losses was $7.8 billion.
 Deforestation and Floods (Vicious Cycle)
o Most deforested country (forest cover 1.5%) causing soil degradation,
erosion, flooding, desertification, and water scarcity.
o Flood cause fertile soil wash away, intensify next flood, destroy crops and
farmland
o Climate change exacerbates all of the above

19.  Poor disaster risk-management plans
o Lack of management system of government
o Few accessible and adequate shelters
 Haiti’s current forestry policies does not incorporate strategies for climate
change
 Reforestation often fails due to soil erosion and poor people cannot wait for
the trees to grow
 Renewable energy technologies as alternative to charcoal has not been fully
developed
Lack of Capacity to Adapt

20. Weak Political Institutions
 History of predatory state:
o Winner take all/ zero-sum game.
 Corruption Perception Index
o 2005 CPI- 1.8
o 2014 CPI- 19
o Has translated into a deficiency in rule of law, inhibiting economic
growth and poverty reduction.
 Limited capacity to provide basic goods- health services, education,
infrastructure.
o Social spending only 5 percent of GPD.
o Heavily dominated by non-state sector. Implementation is sporadic,
and quality is low.
 Aid volatility:

21. Bad Governance Trap
 Political Instability, weak political institutions and corruption
 Poor governance exacerbate negative demographic and socioeconomic
outcomes
Widespread poverty and inequality
Rapid urbanization and high youth unemployment
Unable to manage the negative social outcomes of crime and violence,
especially in urban areas.
 Inability to provide public goods- security, infrastructure, basic
services.
 Underinvestment in human capital and poor expenditure
Lack of investment social services, education,

22. Aid
 Controlled by the Haitian
Reconstruction Fund (HRF)
o Multi-donor fund.
o IFAD
o CARE
 Haitian government heads
HRF committee, but funds are
ensnared in a complex
bureaucracy of donor agencies.
o NGOs, UN, World Bank
 Consequences:
o Heavily dependent aid state
o Capacity building of the
Haitian state to assume
development
responsibilities takes a
back seat to aid
accountability and the
auditing process.
o International development
goals take precedence over
plans of the Haitian state.

23.  $13 billion in Earthquake Aid but that doesn't mean all that money is spent on
the ground.
 After two years of the quake, only 40% of $5.6 billion pledged by foreign
governments had actually been released.
 U.S. government has allocated $4 billion; $3 billion has already been spent, and
the rest is dedicated to longer-term projects.
 Much of the money went on travels, salaries, accommodation, security and
transport for the NGO workers themselves.
 The spending structure: vast majority of money being funneled through foreign
contractors instead of Haitian government or local organizations. This has
built-in inefficiencies, compounded by a lack of accountability and
transparency.
 Only 2.3% of reconstruction aid went to Haitian firms. Haitians have simply
been excluded from the rebuilding of their own country.
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Where did the money go?

24.  Social Services
o Improve access to primary education.
o Greater access to safe water and sanitation.
 Income: Economic reform through
o Modernization and revitalizing agriculture.
o Animal husbandry
 Environment:
 By integrating the different actors working in Haiti
 Haiti Regeneration Initiative (HRI), 2010-2040
How it will work:
o Support and work with the Government of Haiti
o Identify, develop, implement wide range of sustainable
development solutions.
Governance:
Instill a sense of political will and hold politicians accountable.
o Push through participatory and realistic strategic policies
o Update antiquated or deteriorating infrastructure.
Conclusion

25. References
 Carrillo, S. (2007). Assessing Governance and Strengthening Capacity in Haiti. World Bank Institute.
 Echevin, D. (2011). Vulnerability and livelihoods before and after the Haiti earthquake. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank,
pp.1-4.
 Haiti: The Challenges of Poverty Reduction. (1998). Document of World Bank, 1, pp.2-30.
 International Monetary Fund (2014), Haiti: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, IMF Country Report No. 14/154.
 International Monetary Fund, (2008). Haiti: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. IMF Staff Country Reports, 08(115), pp.8-13.
 Jensen, D. and Lonergan, S. (2012). Assessing and restoring natural resources in post-conflict peacebuilding. Milton Park,
Abingdon, Oxon: Earthscan, pp.241-264.
 Kraay, A. and McKenzie, D. (2014). Do poverty traps exist?. [Washington, D.C.]: World Bank, pp.2-5.
 Lundahl, M. (2011). Poverty in Haiti: Essays on Underdevelopment and Post Disaster Prospects. Palgrave Macmillan.
 Margesson, R. and Taft-Morales, M. (2010), Haiti Earthquake: Crisis and Response, Congressional Research Service, 7-5700.
 O'Connor, D., Brisson-Boivin, K., & Ilcan, S. (2014). Governing failure: development, aid and audit in Haiti. Conflict, Security &
Development, 14(3), 309-330.
 OPHI (2015), Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) At a Glance, Country Briefing, University of Oxford.
 Singh, B. and Cohen, M. (2014). Climate Change Resilience: The case of Haiti. Oxfam Research Reports, pp.10-27.

26. References
 UNDP (2014), Report Millennium Development Goals 2013: Haiti a New Look, Executive Summery.
 UNOCHA (2013), HAITI Humanitarian Action Plan 2014.
 Verner, D., & Egset, W. (2007). Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
 Verner, D., & Heinemann, A. (2006). Enbreve: Vol. 94. Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti: Breaking the Conflict-
Poverty Trap. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
 WFP (2013), Haiti 2010-2013: Working Toward Sustainable solutions,
 Williams, V. (2011). A Case Study of the Desertification of Haiti. JSD, 4(3).
 World Bank (2014), Investing in People to Fight Poverty in Haiti: Reflections for evidence-based policy making.
 Zanotti, L. (2010). Cacophonies of Aid, Failed State Building and NGOs in Haiti: setting the stage for disaster, envisioning the
future. Third World Quarterly, 31(4), 755-771.