RESOLVING POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN 1 Akilah Jones Introduction The Caribbean Sea has a host of islands that are adjacent to the Americas; it is full of nation states more or less developed. Haiti and Jamaica are the poorest nations in the Caribbean; the wealthiest are Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, and Puerto Rico. Environmental issues and natural disasters are some of the continuous battles that these nations have faced, but some have found ways to cultivate their land and rise above these issues that plague them. Hurricanes, earthquakes and droughts are just some of the natural disasters. While Trinidad and Tobago and The Bahamas have made great strides in overcoming long-lasting economic devastation in the region, Haiti and Jamaica are overwhelmed by poverty still. Environmental factors certainly assist in the obstacles to overcome poverty, yet they alone are not the cause. Economies must develop to withstand natural disasters through preparation; one of those ways is by creating emergency funds. Mutually beneficial relationships with other countries are also necessary to ensure contributable funds in isolated disasters. These are also some beginning steps for the individual seeking financial freedom and security; savings is one of the most important, and friends with likeminded financial principles another. History also plays a major role in the development of relationships; is not only ensures swift response to help align countries, but also creates partnership in mercantilism. The lack of morale and economic integrity of a nation plays a role in the causes of poverty, resulting in a loss of respect among other nations-- affecting the desire for trade and cooperation. Haiti and Jamaica are far behind all other islands in the Caribbean economically. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. In order to overcome this disparity and resolve poverty in the Caribbean region, the focus of this thesis will investigate the causes of poverty in Haiti and Jamaica, and compare them RESOLVING POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN 2 to the wealth of The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago for introspection. Additionally, resolving the poverty will not only include ways to relieve the current situation and generate growth, but look forward to a future that will sustain this growth. Achieving this will require looking backwards at why these states are in different places now economically, what holds the Caribbean back from being a wealthy region, what individual states are presently doing differently, and what type of resourcefulness will thrust Haiti and Jamaica into prosperity out of the third world. The gross domestic product (GDP) is an acronym that will be used throughout this paper and describes the total worth of goods and services produced by a nation specifically in a fiscal year. GDP per capita describes that amount divided by its (known) population, which gives an average of how much most people make within that given year in a particular state. This makes GDP and GDP per capita a quick and easy way to measure a state’s wealth. The GDP per capita in the Caribbean ranges from less than 1000.00USD to over 20000.00USD in the last five years, and in some places, it is on the rise. This is well behind a neighboring U.S., which weighs in at 30000.00USD more per capita (Trading Economics, 2017). Although poverty lines vary between richer and poorer countries, the average Haitian lives on less than $3/day, the current poverty line. Taking into account the wealth gap that cannot be seen by taking an average, many are likely to be living on less than a $1.90 per day, which is globally recognized as extreme poverty (The World Bank Group, 2016). While the Caribbean Sea is home to the poorest country in the northern hemisphere, some countries do have resources that are contributing to their states wealth. Trinidad and Tobago has deposits of petroleum and liquid natural gas for natural resources. The Bahamas generates wealth from tourism, rich, arable land that allows them to grow their own food, and aragonite (an RESOLVING POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN 3 equitable mineral) that gives them a reliable export. While these countries are doing the best within their maritime region, the numbers still show that even those from the wealthier countries are living in conditions that most people in the first world are not subjected too. There must then be common factors that these states suffer from that slows acceleration of the economies increase. One primary factor is the geographical location of the tropical states, and environmental hazards that occur there. Environmental Factors Earthquakes are among the less frequent but far more damaging hazards. Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic (DR) all share a piece of the two fault lines that triggered the 7.0 Earthquake in Haiti in 2010. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the country’s capital, Port-Au-Prince. The Caribbean Plates and the epicenter of that earthquake are depicted in figure one, page four. Prior to that Haiti had not experienced a major earthquake in 200 years, and the DR in 800 years (Harris, 2010). In 1997, Trinidad and Tobago experienced a 6.1 magnitude earthquake, but felt a rippling 4.7 earthquake from Haiti. The Caribbean has a history of earthquakes, and these earthquakes incur deaths and damages that equate to billions of dollars in disaster relief (Lundahl, 2013). The Caribbean is also located along the hurricane belt that runs through all the islands causing severe storms during hurricane season. Hurricane Irma and Maria (the most recent hurricanes to travel through the Caribbean) impacted Cuba, Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, and The Bahamas. Each time hurricanes hit it is not only a devastation to infrastructure but an inevitable delay for the business of tourism when caught off guard (Morris, 2017). Often times tourist economies must evacuate their hotels and tourists from the country to the nearest safe haven; St. Martin evacuated about 700 guests to Puerto Rico this year (Morris, 2017). RESOLVING POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN 4 Caribbean nations are subject to flooding, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. Between 2001 and 2007, natural disasters in Haiti estimated $4.6 billion and claimed over 18,000 lives (Lundahl, 2013).While climate definitely plays a role in the success or failure of a state, it is not the only factor. Caribbean states were all once European colonies. The climate has not changed much from then, shown by hurricane belt patterns from 1842 to 2009 in figure two, as the horizontal cone shape passes directly through the Caribbean Sea (USA’s Ancient Hurricane, 2012). Relationships with other countries that can help in times of adversity are valuable in these situations. Haiti receives the highest portion of foreign aid in the region (USAID from the, 2017), yet this seems to be the extent of its relationships with outside countries; this is further explored in the section concerning the contribution of history to poverty. Figure 1. Caribbean Plate and 2010 Haiti epicenter Figure 2. Recent Hurricane Data (1842-2009) Remaining factors of poverty in the Caribbean Caribbean states receive tremendous aid from supportive countries, institutions, and humanitarian organizations because of poverty. These humanitarian efforts are a necessity for these countries that are wrought with environmental plagues. Many donors at times find themselves wanting to hold back from coming to the aid of states in need, questioning whether or not if foreign aid is a contributor of poorer nations remaining in poverty. According to Ester Duflo, a French development economist who spoke at TED Talk conference in 2010, it is RESOLVING POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN 5 common when seeing countries in poverty to wonder if donations will be used effectively to help those in need (TED2010). A controversial death toll in the Haitian 2010 earthquake caused disputes between The University of Michigan’s study published in the journal Medicine, Conflict, and Survival and The Schwartz report written for USAID, constituting a gap of over 100,000 lives lost (Lundahl, 2013). Carleene Dei, the Haitian mission director of the USAID at the time responded to the reports denying that there was any “sign the government intentionally inflated the figures,” (as cited in Lundahl, 2010, Haitian Truth, 2011. P. 203). Examples like this cause donors to question the intentions of a state and the economy of disaster relief. This seed of corruption has been evident in Haiti after the consecutive hurricane in 2008 and earthquake in 2010. Corruption in Haiti, however, has not stopped there. There has been long standing corruption built into the Republic of Haiti in its election process, judicial system, and the mishandling of wealth in the nation (Stoyan, A., Niedzwiecki, S., Morgan, J., Hartlyn, J., and Espinal, R. year). Jamaica also suffers from corruption on the governmental level and is riddled with crime according to intergovernmental organization, Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Jamaica’s reputation and implementation of human rights has been a factor in its negative relationships with some of its CARICOM partners. CARICOM member states like the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago have a better relationship with the U.S. (Anonymous, 2016; Bahamas Country, 2015). Lower crime rates there are connected to security through law enforcement and judicial oversite. Crime is still a problem in these areas as well, primarily in tourist areas in Trinidad and Tobago and in residence areas in The Bahamas (OSAC, 2017); yet the scale is still very disproportionate to Haiti and Jamaica. Because of this, corruption must be tackled in resolving poverty in the Caribbean and compared to show which countries have a better institutional model, how it was achieved and RESOLVING POVERTY IN THE CARIBBEAN 6 why it is successful.