About AREA

Strengthening Haitian Institutions through Agricultural Research and Extension.

Overview

Feed the Future Haiti Appui à la Recherche et au Développement Agricole project (AREA) also refered to as SARD Support to Agricultural Research and Development Program ) is a project based on a strategic framework to enhance and expand existing country-driven approaches to address food insecurity and under-nutrition by strengthening and supporting Haitian public and private institutions within the agricultural sector.

UF/IFAS Global is joined by the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and Louisiana State University to help develop and strengthen an agricultural innovation system in order to increase production, household income and food security.

Goal

Build the capacity of Haitian institutions to increase the availability of improved production technologies to farmers and the private sector through effective extension and development of an agricultural innovation system.

Five Key Principles

The AREA project is built on five principles that are core in achieving the sustainability of agricultural innovation systems for Haiti.

1. Provide opportunities for male and female Haitians of all classes to improve their lives.
2. Mentor agents of change in governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations.
3. Build and support stronger, more equitable farmer organizations and agribusinesses.
4. Foster a culture of evaluation, self-assessment and accountability.
5. Inspire educated and trained Haitians to fuel the growth of the agriculture sector through innovative research and extension.

Strategic Approach

To enhance and expand existing country-driven approaches to address food insecurity and undernutrition by strengthening and supporting Haitian public and private institutions that work in the agricultural sector. Using technological innovations to increase agricultural productivity and nutrition for the AREA program focusing on significant portions of the nation’s agricultural export production. Technologies are defined as any practice, on or off-farm that can improve the production, quality, value or utility of agricultural products produced in the target region. Women play a critical role to the Haitian agricultural system, so gender is incorporated into every component of the AREA program to achieve gender parity in all projects activities, outputs and outcomes. Technologies will also focus on the specific needs of women and identifying and developing opportunities for new avenues of participation in the food chain for women.

The AREA Project seeks to

INCREASE...
the availability of improved production technologies and systems by identifying and documenting production challenges faced by men and women in the target area and addressing these challenges through existing or potential technologies.

STRENGTHEN...
the extension of agricultural technologies and nutrition information by assisting the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Centers for Agricultural Extension and Development to develop effective extension models to increase the adoption of new technologies in the target region. Strengthening the capacity of State University of Haiti (FAMV) to address the needs of farmers and agribusinesses through modernization of the curriculum.

SUPPORT...
the work of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Rural Centers for Agricultural Extension and Development to fulfill their roles in agricultural research and extension through capacity building.

DONOR AMOUNT: $13.7 Million

The AREA project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative to reduce global hunger.