Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Case study 1. Food insecurity in the border zoneSocio-economic surveys of the Haitian side of the two watersheds, Pedernales and Massacre, were undertaken by theEarth Institute of Columbia University and the Haitian State University. They found that food insecurity was the mainconcern of most households. The lack of sufficient food to cover the daily needs of the population drives much of thecross-border movement, and the expansion of detrimental practices, such as charcoal production, seen in these areas.In respect to household concerns, food insecurity was followed by lack of money, bad health and poor education.Figure 1 shows the level of food insecurity in the Massacre and Pedernales watersheds. It clearly shows that a largemajority of the population are experiencing a lack of sufficient food. ‘Severely food insecure’ is here defined as ahousehold that has experienced running out of food or going to bed hungry at some point over the past 30 days.‘Moderately food insecure’ is defined as a household that has cut back on quantity by reducing the size of meals ornumber of meals, rarely or sometimes, but not running out of food, or going to bed hungry.Figure 1. Food insecurity in the Massacre and Pedernales watersheds.Massacre (n=159)Pedernales(n=70)Food SecureSeverely Food InsecureModerately Food InsecureFood SecureSeverely Food InsecureModerately Food InsecureIn terms of demographics, having a higher number of children relates positively to higher food insecurity scores in theMassacre watershed, while gender seems to be independent from food insecurity levels. Interestingly there appear tobe significant differences in food security across eco-zones. There is a higher prevalence of people who are severelyfood insecure in the middle altitude and mountainous areas (Figure 2), which suggests important differences in thelivelihood possibilities and levels of vulnerability between areas and communities in the watershed.Figure 2. Differences in food insecurity within the Pedernales watershedFood security levels across eco-zones -Pedernales (n=70)Food SecureModerately Food SecureSeverely Food InsecureCostal area Middle altitude area Montainous areaLevels of food security also vary throughout the year, with two peaks of food insecurity for each watershed. The firstone occurs at the end of the dry season in March – April in the Massacre area and slightly later, in May – June, inthe Pedernales watershed. The second food insecurity peak is common to the two watersheds and takes place inOctober and November. It has a more powerful impact on the Massacre watershed (Figure 3).40 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone