Ok, I'm going to try out this blogging thing again. I've been in Haiti for two weeks now, so it's about time I guess.
Perhaps I should start with why I'm here. To study rice, of course! Haiti is a mostly agricultural country that imports more than half of their food, including most of their rice. (Thank you US farm bill - more on that in a later post...) Haiti's hunger and food insecurity problem is multi-dimensional and is going to require a lot of solutions to work at the same time (probably more on that later too), one of which is improving agricultural productivity. So that's why I'm here.
Specifically, I'm studying an alternative rice production mechanism called the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). In short, it's a method that requires more careful management, and more labor, but less of everything else: seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and water. And depending on which study you read, the yields may be much higher. So the most basic question I'm trying to answer is whether people are better off if they switch to SRI once you account for the differences in both yields and expenditures on inputs and labor. Then there are more questions that I hope to get to: Who chooses to adopt SRI, and who doesn't, and why? SRI requires careful water management, so do we see (or what can one do to promote) cooperation among neighbors over shared water systems? How do adoption rates and success with the method change over time as people learn more about it? And probably more...
I'll try to post updates on what I'm doing as I go along. My blogging may be more sporadic than in the past due to the rarity of both electricity and internet, but I'll do my best!
The first thing that greeted me in the Port-au-Prince was band that had both a banjo and an accordian in it - I learned later that this style of music is called twoubadou - and of course I knew I would like Haiti. I also thought there has to be some kind of joke here, like Haiti is the place where we send all the things we have no use for any more, like the old school buses and used clothes, and even the banjos and accordians. I bet it won't be long before I see some oboes.
Since then I've been wandering in rice fields, talking to farmers, trying to learn a few words in Creole, and eating mangoes whenever I can find them.
Perhaps I should start with why I'm here. To study rice, of course! Haiti is a mostly agricultural country that imports more than half of their food, including most of their rice. (Thank you US farm bill - more on that in a later post...) Haiti's hunger and food insecurity problem is multi-dimensional and is going to require a lot of solutions to work at the same time (probably more on that later too), one of which is improving agricultural productivity. So that's why I'm here.
Specifically, I'm studying an alternative rice production mechanism called the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). In short, it's a method that requires more careful management, and more labor, but less of everything else: seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and water. And depending on which study you read, the yields may be much higher. So the most basic question I'm trying to answer is whether people are better off if they switch to SRI once you account for the differences in both yields and expenditures on inputs and labor. Then there are more questions that I hope to get to: Who chooses to adopt SRI, and who doesn't, and why? SRI requires careful water management, so do we see (or what can one do to promote) cooperation among neighbors over shared water systems? How do adoption rates and success with the method change over time as people learn more about it? And probably more...
I'll try to post updates on what I'm doing as I go along. My blogging may be more sporadic than in the past due to the rarity of both electricity and internet, but I'll do my best!
The first thing that greeted me in the Port-au-Prince was band that had both a banjo and an accordian in it - I learned later that this style of music is called twoubadou - and of course I knew I would like Haiti. I also thought there has to be some kind of joke here, like Haiti is the place where we send all the things we have no use for any more, like the old school buses and used clothes, and even the banjos and accordians. I bet it won't be long before I see some oboes.
Since then I've been wandering in rice fields, talking to farmers, trying to learn a few words in Creole, and eating mangoes whenever I can find them.
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