IPC report finds that soaring oil prices threaten to deepen hunger in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The number of people facing high levels of hunger in Haiti is expected to drop slightly, according to a new report released Thursday, but officials say the situation remains critical and that any small gains might soon be erased because of soaring oil prices linked to the war in Iran.

More than 5.83 million Haitians are expected to face acute levels of hunger from March to June, representing more than half the country’s population, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading international authority on hunger crises. It’s a slight drop from the previous estimate of 5.91 million.

Meanwhile, nearly 1.9 million people, just down from the projected 2 million people, are expected to face emergency levels of hunger, the report stated.

It credited inflation dropping from 32% to 22%, a generally favorable winter weather for crops and improved road access in some areas for the small gains.

However, concerns remain, with the authority saying that limited improvements are “insufficient” to reverse an overall trend of acute food insecurity in the troubled country.

“The outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have caused a major disruption to the global food system with direct implications for Haiti,” the report said.

It also blamed armed groups for the hunger crisis, adding that “violence continues to suffocate the Haitian economy and limit the transportation of goods and the movement of people, with many of the most vulnerable people forced to join armed actors in order to feed their families.”

Hunger also is expected to worsen because Haiti’s government in early April increased the price per gallon of kerosene by 40%, diesel by 37% and gasoline by 29% given the ongoing war.

The report noted that high prices at the pump would impact transportation in general and lead to an increase in food prices.

The bulk of people experiencing emergency levels of hunger live in Haiti’s northwest region, including Artibonite, which gangs have mercilessly attacked in recent years, razing communities and destroying farmland.

“Fighting hunger is essential to restoring stability in Haiti. We cannot build peace if families cannot feed their children,” said Wanja Kaaria, World Food Program’s country director and representative in Haiti.

Marcelin Aubourg, Haiti’s agriculture minister, said he wants to strengthen the national response, particularly through an upcoming plan supported by the World Bank to deal with food crises. He said agriculture is “a key solution to improving the situation” and that the government should support local producers.

Those facing emergency levels of hunger also live in impoverished neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital, which police say is now 72% controlled by gangs, down from an estimated 90%.

Deepening hunger is blamed on gang violence that has displaced a record 1.4 million people across Haiti. The report found that 70% of people living in displacements sites are experiencing high levels of food insecurity.

At a crowded and filthy shelter that used to be a school, 25-year-old Feguens Jean said he wouldn’t have much to eat on Thursday because of bad weather.

He sells used sneakers to feed himself and his mother and sister in the countryside “for them to survive.” But the rainy weather kept him indoors.

“If I don’t sell, I don’t eat, which means today, what I have is very little to eat,” said Jean, who was studying to be a carpenter at a technical school but was forced to become a street vendor to support himself and his family.

Antony Joassainte, 40, is among the hundreds of people who live in the cramped shelter alongside Jean. He’s a mason and plumber but said work is very hard to find nowadays.

“Nobody is building anything,” said Joassainte, the father of two children, ages 11 and 13. “I find myself having to feed a family with nothing.”

He said they rely on bread the most.

“It’s cheaper,” he said. “We have one strong meal if we can; that might be rice and beans.”

Also fretting over food was Bernadette Toussaint, a 37-year-old mother of two boys.

She sells rice, beans and chicken sauce, but with soaring oil prices, she’s had to cut back on the family’s meals.

“I cannot provide what I used to for my kids,” she said.

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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.