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Fishing and Farming for Food and Greater Income

A basic tenet of Growing Hope is to support food security programs that align with community needs and realities. This “Fishing and Farming” project (the first of its kind for us) focuses on APKF, an association of 58 fishers in Haiti’s Northwest who rely on fishing for their livelihood. APKF and local partner GRADAID have laid out plans to expand their fishing operations through training and infrastructure support. Other components of the program will include helping families access clean water, establish vegetable gardens and improve coffee production and management.

Deep poverty in many parts of the country means local families can only afford canoes or small paddle boats, so they’re limited to fishing close to shore. Because Haiti doesn’t regulate fishing in its coastal waters, local fishers find themselves competing with others from nearby Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba who have bigger boats. With everyone fishing in the same stretch of ocean, coastal waters are overfished.

During the first year of the program GRADAID and APKF members will modernize fishing practices and form committees to cover the community’s plans for development. Members will receive training on the administration of storage facilities, inventory and equipment. Subsequent years will include acquiring bigger boats and equipment for open-ocean fishing and processing. GRADAID will also launch advocacy efforts to encourage government officials to consider regulations that will protect the Haitian people and their environment.

Thanks to your generosity and support:
• Fishing association members will be able to strengthen and modernize their fishing practices
• Once infrastructure is in place, adequate equipment will allow them to fish farther out to sea
• Clean water, vegetable gardens, and coffee production will further improve health and livelihoods

Haiti Mole St. Nicolas Program
Led by Church World Service and Local Partner GRADAID

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