Constraint to Investment in Perrenial Crops in Deed Watersheds

摘要

The DEED project is based on the idea, born out from the experience of previous USAID projects including the Productive Land Use Systems (PLUS) and Hillside Agriculture Program (HAP), that improved management of natural resources in vulnerable watersheds requires as a precondition that farmers in those watershed receive increased returns to agricultural production in order to justify investments in soil conservation or changes in harmful agricultural practices that contribute to soil erosion. Rather than starting from a premise that is based on an external actors judgments about 'what the land needs,' DEEDs approach starts from the standpoint of the farmers in the two targeted watersheds by asking what do they require in order to raise their agricultural incomes in a way that will improve the management of natural resources such as soil, water, and trees. In practice, this requires the introduction of new crops, infrastructure investments, training in new technical packages and the establishment of market linkagesall of which must be planned and tested with the participation of farmers to demonstrate that they will actually lead to increased revenues. This report discusses the principal constraints facing farmers in DEEDs target watersheds in Limbe and Montrouis with regard to investment decisions involving longer term commitments of land and labor, and the role that insecurity (particularly formal land tenure) plays in shaping those decisions. Two perspectives inform the following discussion of constraints to establishing perennials: (i) constraints built into the overall Haitian peasant farm system as it presently functions, and (ii) constraints to farmer investment in specific types of perennials targeted by DEED.