We are a nonprofit, humanitarian development and disaster relief organization working in rural Haiti. We establish agricultural cooperatives farmers own and control. Cooperatives empower them to produce more and live better.
Haitian smallholder farmers contribute 20 % of the country’s GDP. They produce food no matter what obstacles get in their way, or challenges they must face. They are hardworking and tenacious.
Yet, due to a lack of support and in many cases utter neglect, they have been living in poverty for the past two hundred years, in villages without water, sewage, or power.
This is why we support them, invest in them, and partner with them so they can improve their living conditions and grow enough food to end hunger in Haiti.
EcoWorks began operating in Haiti in 2009, taking root in the Lake Azueï region. Located directly east of the capital, at the border with the Dominican Republic, this region comprises the plain of Cul-de-Sac, the country’s largest lake, Azueï, and Haiti’s highest mountain range of La Selle, whose main peak is over 8,000 feet.
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Haiti is experiencing an unprecedented period of violence and disarray.
The latest developments include a constitutional crisis: a non-functional senate, an unelected government that many consider illegitimate, a lack of governance, the assassination of a sitting president, and gangs that have taken over the capital, the supply chains, and all roads leading out of the city. They use kidnapping for ransom, rape, and murder, and attack other gangs for territorial control; hundreds have died.
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Based on farmers’ input, we launched the Talia Farms Program, an integrated development initiative – based on EWI-farmers partnerships – for the Lake Azueï region. The purpose is to boost the local economy and reinforce it through environmental, social, and disaster relief programs to make it inclusive, integrated, and sustainable.
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The aim is to effectively address the deeply entrenched rural poverty by transferring knowledge, know-how, and resources to smallholder farming families who can drive the change towards regional economic growth.
Upon bringing up the cooperative as a possible solution to Marre-Roseau farmers’ expressed needs and aspirations, they stated that they had never heard of a cooperative. Just eighteen months later, they owned one.
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THE EARTHQUAKE IN 2021
On August14th, 2021, Haiti was struck by a powerful 7.2 earthquake, devastating the southwestern peninsula. The latest information indicates: that 2,200 were dead,12,000 were injured, and more than 300 were missing; close to 130,000 homes were destroyed or seriously damaged, and an estimated 700,000 people are homeless.
Ecoworks International helps rural farmers build sustainable businesses. Learn more and Donate Today!
Michèle Pierre-Louis, former Prime Minister of Haiti (2008-2009); and the force behind transforming a huge swath of land into a magnificent public park, next to one of Haiti’s worst urban shantytowns, Martissant. Part of her intent was to also help revitalize this area. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her exceptional work to improve lives in Haiti.
EWI organized a guided visit for the Prime Minister to visit the region and some of our initiatives. She was impressed with the work done and expressed her concern about the inadequate local road system hampering farmers’ ability to deliver crops to markets. This is one of the reasons EWI is initiating a flood mitigation project to better protect local life, livelihoods and the main road leading to Marre-Roseau.
"Nou te travay ak EWI pou twa dènye ane yo. Yo te ede nou etabli koperativ agrikòl, CAMA, nou posede epi aprann kijan pou jere. Ansanm nou retabli wout nou ki te domaje anpil. Nou bezwen wout sa pou nou rive nan mache a pou nou vann rekòt nou an. Nou te konstwi kèk sistèm kolekte dlo lapli, epi nou espere bati yon sistèm pou bese inondasyon ki detwi wout nou chak sezon lapli. Nou bezwen tou yon klinik sante".
“ We have been working with EWI for the last three years. They helped us establish our agricultural cooperative, CAMA, we own and learn how to manage. Together we restored our seriously damaged road. We need that road to get to the market to sell our harvest. We built some rainwater collecting systems, and we hope to build a system to mitigate floods that destroy our road each rainy season. We also need a health clinic”
