Haiti’s hunger crisis is now so acute that 97% of households in some areas around the capital are suffering from severe hunger, according to a new survey by the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps.
Of 2,664 households interviewed in the neighbourhoods of Croix-des-Bouquets and Delmas, 2,596 were suffering from severe hunger and usually getting no more than one meal a day.
Sixty-two households said they were experiencing moderate hunger, while only five households reported little to no hunger.
“The needs are huge and the situation is worsening day by day due to the security situation,” said Allen Joseph, Mercy Corps’ food security and resilience program manager in Haiti.
Haiti is facing the worst hunger crisis in its history due to armed gangs which have been warring for control of the Caribbean country since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.
Gang-run checkpoints on the major roads connecting the north, south and east of the country means less food is getting to urban areas from the countryside. Meanwhile, rampant kidnapping and violence on the streets is strangling the economy and driving unemployment, Allen said.
Seventy-five per cent of those who did have a source of income said they still found find it “immensely difficult” to make ends meet on a monthly income of less than 10,000 gourdes (US$74) and the situation is particularly difficult for female heads of household.
“The conditions on the streets of Port-au-Prince and other urban areas have become untenable. Gangs control a significant portion of the capital and continue expanding their presence elsewhere in the country in the midst of a complete security vacuum,” said Johan Lefebvre Chevallier, Mercy Corps country director for Haiti.
About 5.2 million people – nearly half of Haiti’s population – desperately need humanitarian assistance in order to eat, according to the UN. About 3 million of those suffering are children.
An explosion of violence in recent months from the gangs, who control about 80% of the capital, has exacerbated already severe hunger levels.
More than 600 people were killed in the violence in Port-au-Prince in April alone.
The armed groups are tightening their control over cities and expanding their territory in food-producing regions in the countryside, making it difficult for NGOs to assist those in need, Chevallier said.
“The surge in violence, kidnappings, rampant looting, persistent road blockades and the unmatched power of gangs are creating formidable obstacles to organizations trying to provide lifesaving humanitarian aid.”
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, this week reiterated calls for an urgent international solution to Haiti’s woes following a proposal earlier this month from Kenya to send in 1,000 police.
The embattled prime minister, Ariel Henry, who led the country following Moïse’s assassination, called for international support in October last year. Before Kenya’s offer no one had heeded Henry’s call due to a long history of failed foreign intervention in Haiti.
Kenya’s proposal, which has raised human rights concerns, is expected to be presented soon to the UN security council soon by the US.
The tumult and disorder in Haiti has reached the point where police forces alone will be insufficient to restore order; military forces will have to be sent in to disarm gangs and unblock roads if basic services are to be restored, Guterres said in a report presented to the UN evaluating possible solutions to Haiti’s security crisis.
“Nothing short of the robust use of force … by a capable specialized multinational police force enabled by military assets, coordinated with the national police, would be able to achieve these objectives,” Guterres said.
In parallel to the non-UN force, Guterres said there are two non-mutually-exclusive options for the UN: providing logistical support to the non-UN force and Haiti’s police, and strengthening a UN political mission already in the country.
