R E S E A R C H T E C H N I C A L A S S I S T A N C E C E N T E R February 2021 Haiti Market Analysis: Sud and Grand’Anse Departments The Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of contract no. 7200AA18C00057. This report was produced by NORC at the University of Chicago. The contents are the sole responsibility of RTAC and NORC at the University of Chicago, and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. Month Year Acknowledgments This report was prepared by Isaac Marcelin, Ruth Aggiss, Gabriela Alcaraz, and Jack Devine. We thank Professor Jeliel Darius and Professor Jean-Baptiste Antenord at the State University of Haiti [Université d'État d'Haïti (UEH)], Mr. Alain Thermil, Mr. Robitsher Simon, Mr. Kodjo Aflagah, Ms. Martine Mathieu, Ms. Elsie Despeigne, Mr. Shanto Sadhu, and Ms. Samantha Wasala for their inputs and contributions to this activity. We thank USAID staff at the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and the USAID Mission in Haiti for their engagement throughout this process. Finally, we thank the stakeholders in Port au Prince and Grand’Anse whose insights helped inform this analysis. Research Technical Assistance Center The Research Technical Assistance Center is a network of academic researchers generating timely research for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote evidence- based policies and programs. The project is led by NORC at the University of Chicago in partnership with Arizona State University, Centro de Investigación de la Universidad del Pacifico (Lima, Peru), Davis Management Group, the DevLab@Duke University, Forum One, the Institute of International Education, the University of Notre Dame Pulte Institute for Global Development, Population Reference Bureau, the Resilient Africa Network at Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda), the United Negro College Fund, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Suggested Citation RTAC, 2021. Haiti Market Analysis: Sud and Grand’Anse Departments. Research Technical Assistance Center: Washington, DC. Executive Summary This study provides an overview of the general livelihood, market, and food assistance context in the Grand’Anse and Sud departments of Haiti, with the objective of offering insights and evidence to inform the planning of resilience food security activities in these locations. The analysis is informed by a review of previous literature on the topics of interest and an analysis of secondary data, complemented with primary data collected through surveys with diverse actors in Grand’Anse. Data were not collected in Sud. The following sections provide an overview of the current situation in the departments of interest. Table 1 presents a summary of the key findings. General context The Grand’Anse and Sud departments host 11.3 percent of the total population, or about 1.27 million persons. The 2019 Human Development Report ranked Haiti number 169 out of 189 countries, making it one of the lowest-ranked countries in human development. While progress has been made in the country in terms of improvements in life expectancy and educational achievement, other indicators of development have remained stagnant. Development efforts in Haiti were severely disrupted by the devastating 2010 earthquake and a series of environmental, economic, and political shocks. In recent years sustainable social protection has become a priority for the Government of Haiti and international stakeholders to build resilience to these frequent shocks and stressors. COVID-19 will pose additional challenges to the general development in Haiti in the years to come, particularly as a result of reductions in remittances from the Haitian diaspora. By 2019 Haiti had a total population estimated at 11.26 million, a considerable number of whom were living in poverty. The prevalence of food insecurity is high, with 78 percent of the population in Grand’Anse and 46 percent in Sud departments classified as food insecure. Agriculture is the main economic activity in both departments, with crop and animal sales being important sources of income; however, households also engage in other income-generating activities, such as fishing, petty trade, charcoal collection, and providing labor to others. Staple crops such as maize, rice, beans and peas, and a variety of roots and tubers are produced in these departments at varying degrees. Infrastructure In terms of infrastructure, roads are poorly developed and maintained. This creates significant financial challenges to engage in lucrative agriculture value-chains, especially given Haiti’s highly mountainous terrain. The connectivity of the southern departments with the rest of the country relies on few main roads of variable quality. Intra-department connectivity remains a challenge, with mainly dirt roads contributing to long travel times. Storage facilities are generally only available near the Port-au-Prince port, as the majority of imports arrive through this entry point. Storage in the area studied in this report has been available in the framework of humanitarian activities in Les Cayes (Sud) and Jérémie (Grand’Anse). Access to electricity and fuel is a generalized challenge. Less than half the total population has electricity and rolling blackouts impact all Haitians. Access to electricity is particularly limited in rural areas. Mobile phone ownership is more common in Sud (77 percent of persons between 15 and 49 years of age) than in Grand’Anse (67 percent). Internet coverage remains limited and expensive. Telecommunications services are provided by two main operators: Digicel and NATCOM. In 2017, less than 16 percent of persons aged 15 to 49 in each department had a bank account. Market context Haiti’s staple foods include rice, wheat flour, maize, sorghum, pulses, plantain, tubers, and edible oil. This diet composition is representative of the consumption of the low-income populations, but does not constitute a nutritionally balanced diet. About 90 percent of households in both departments access their food through market purchases. The prices of staples have increased in the past years, with more marked increases in 2019 and 2020. Price trends in the Jérémie (Grand’Anse) and Cayes (Sud) markets generally reflect patterns observed in other markets in the country; however, Jérémie exhibits higher prices and more variability. Prices of locally produced commodities display seasonal variations. The markets analyzed are generally integrated to other reference markets in the country. Food assistance modalities: Considerations and recommendations As part of broader social safety net programs, the Government of Haiti collaborates with donors to ensure that the poor can meet their basic food security and nutrition needs. However, Haiti still relies heavily on the support of donors and partners for the provision of food assistance. Efforts are ongoing to link response to existing social safety net programming, but there are several challenges to be addressed in order to develop a shock responsive social protection system, including vulnerability targeting, data management and lack of an efficient payment system. World Food Program (WFP) is one of the main implementers of food assistance in the country. According to the Food Security Cluster based at the World Food Program, ten organizations carrying out food security programs/operations in Grand’Anse and Sud. Additionally, a range of food security programs are underway with longer-term recovery or development objectives. Over the past 10 years, frequent climatic events affecting Haiti, in particular droughts and hurricanes, have directly impacted both departments, resulting in a number of humanitarian operations. Response to Hurricane Matthew in 2016 was a major turning point for food assistance strategy in Haiti. Since then, emergency and non­ emergency food assistance in the country has shifted heavily towards more cash-based interventions and consideration of approaches that adapt to the market context. Actors are also taking a more holistic approach to food assistance that is nutrition sensitive and linked to resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic has generated further interest in scaling-up cash. However, implementers often rely on mixed, sequenced and layered modalities to navigate the complex Haitian context. A key consideration for the feasibility of different food modalities in the South is physical accessibility in rural areas. This analysis concludes that organizations implementing food assistance activities across Haiti and in the two departments addressed in this report should consider the following considerations and recommendations. Documented lessons from recent events, such as Hurricane Matthew, are useful for emergency food assistance, but can also be applied across both emergency and development spheres. Appropriateness and feasibility: Emergency assessments indicate that markets bounce back relatively quickly following rapid onset crises in Haiti. Market-based responses that restore and support market functionality are found to be feasible. While the composition of supply may change depending on the nature and timing of climatic crises (i.e. drought, hurricane), markets are able to source staples (imported) in a relatively short time. Following large-scale emergencies, food distributions may be required for an initial few weeks