VIDEO:
KOMBIT: THE COOPERATIVE
Once known as the richest agricultural country in the Caribbean, Haiti has been wracked by instability and natural disasters. Decades of decline have taken their toll on Haiti’s people, and today the country is 98% deforested with little of its once prosperous agricultural industry enduring. When Timberland commits to creating a sustainable intervention in Haiti that will lead to 5 million trees in 5 years, they work to find partners that understand the harsh realities of aid work but share the vision to build something sustainable.
Over the course of 5 years, we follow Timberland’s support of a nascent partnership between a Haitian agronomist and a former NGO leader that commit to empowering communities of farmers to plant millions of trees while improving their crop yields. As the end of Timberland’s financial support approaches, SFA’s leaders race to develop new markets and opportunities for Haitian farmers that will endure and ensure a sustainable, greener future.
CNN PROFILES HAITI’S SMALLHOLDER FARMERS ALLIANCE
CNN International's "Going Green" reports on how a group of farmers in Haiti—the Smallholder Farmers Alliance—is planting one million trees a year and bringing hope back to the country. The organization is sponsored by Timberland, with additional support from the Clinton Foundation.
Photos:
Members of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance planting moringa trees in Haiti. Photo credit: A.F. CORTÉS
Watering tree seedlings in one of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance nurseries in Haiti. Photo credit: A.F. CORTÉS
Hugh Locke (left) and Timote Georges (right) with President Bill Clinton in Haiti on February 17, 2015.