Dire fears for poor Haitians

– When the coronavirus first appeared in Haiti authorities and humanitarian experts panicked, worried about the country’s decrepit health system – but the pandemic’s economic consequences could prove yet deadlier for the nation’s poor people.

With just eight official virus fatalities as of Saturday, the Covid-19 pandemic is still in its infancy in Haiti, where staying at home and social distancing are unattainable luxuries for many who make their living in the informal economy.

In an attempt to stem the spread of the virus the government of Haiti – the poorest country in the Americas – announced that wearing a mask would be compulsory in all public places beginning on 11 May.

Masks aside, for many Haitians the main question remains: Die of hunger today or coronavirus tomorrow?

On the hilltops east of Port-auPrince, in the Petionville suburb, merchants took a stand for the latter option, protesting in the streets against a rule limiting their commercial activities to three days a week – a town hall directive mainly issued in vain.

Consumer panic that followed the 19 March announcement that Covid-19 had arrived on Haitian shores has subsided, and customers are now making more measured purchases.

Cereals constitute two-thirds of the daily caloric intake of the average poor Haitians. However the price of one such staple – rice – has more than doubled in some markets compared with 2019.

Inflation has accelerated since March, and the sharp rise in prices linked to the coronavirus pandemic will only worsen a recession which began about oneand-a-half years ago.

“With the looming crisis, we expect a decline of almost four percent of gross domestic product,” Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said during an annual finance summit held online this year.

Half of all Haitian jobs are in agriculture, even though the sector accounts for only 21% of the country’s GDP.

Poor workers who own tiny farms watch their incomes melt away in the lean season between harvests, making preparations for the next harvest ever more difficult, especially in certain drought-threatened regions.

Long before the coronavirus pandemic crippled the global economy, the United Nations (UN) warned that 40% of Haitians would need emergency humanitarian assistance in 2020.

The estimate projected that starting in March, nearly three million Haitians would be facing “severe food insecurity”, a UN classification which is just below famine.

Haiti’s diaspora has long tried to keep the country from plunging into even deeper poverty by trying to send money home on a regular basis. –