On Earth Day, the Feed the Future Haiti Chanje Lavi Plantè project kicked off a tree-planting campaign to protect hillsides from erosion and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods.
On April 22, USAID’s Feed the Future Haiti Chanje Lavi Plantè (CLP) project joined groups around the world to commemorate Earth Day. The project, implemented by Chemonics, worked with local communities, the private sector, children from neighboring schools, and the public sector to kick-start a tree-planting campaign at the Robin Sustainable Rural Development Center in Kenscoff, Haiti. Over the next six months, more than 30 farmer organizations will plant 3 million fruit and forest tree seedlings on the hillsides of Kenscoff, Belle Fontaine, Fond Baptiste, and Goyavier to increase the country’s tree cover; stabilize the soil from continued erosion; and protect local populations, their crops, and infrastructure downstream.
Despite heavy rains in Robin before the event, turnout was high. Farmer associations from surrounding communes participated alongside local officials and project staff to plant tree seedlings produced in project-supported nurseries. Several high-level government officials, including Haitian Minister of Agriculture Carmel André Béliard and Haitian Minister of the Environment Pierre Simon Georges, were also in attendance and gave speeches to commemorate the event.