Haiti Climate Security: A Q&A with Marsha Michel
What is Climate Security?
Climate security is the impact of the climate crisis on peace and security efforts in certain places worldwide that have chronically lacked governance, justice, and safety nets, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
Click here to Read Full Interview Here
Q: Focusing on Haiti, how would you describe the state of climate security there? More specifically, what factors are contributing to the state of Haiti’s climate insecurity? Any examples of specific events to illustrate this description?
Marsha:
Haiti is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the Latin American and Caribbean regions because it is positioned on a fault line and in the path of hurricane formation in the Gulf of Mexico. Haiti is in the depth of the climate crisis and decades in the making; with massive deforestation, it is estimated that Haiti has already lost 98% of its virgin forests, which contributes to soil erosion, massive flooding, landslides, devastating effects of hurricanes and tropical storms, and drought due to climate change.
The conditions have proven to be destructive on land, water, infrastructure, and on all Haitians regardless of social class, but especially the poorest - farmers, women, children, elderly, and people with disability. According to The New Humanitarian, over 80% of Haiti’s soil is severely degraded, and most of the tree covers, mangrove forests, and coral ecosystems have been lost. In addition, Haiti is at a high risk of rising sea levels, a significant concern for those living in coastal areas.
The destruction of the dominant livelihoods of Haitian peasants (non derogatory), the lack of investment in agricultural practices and waste management systems, combined with existing political instability, internal and external migrations, food insecurity, lack of water, increased periods of drought, and more frequent tropical storms are conditions that will contribute to the rise of climate insecurity in Haiti.
In the early 80s, the African swine flu made its way from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, which prompted the United States, with the help of many international organizations, to eradicate Haiti’s Creole pigs, indigenous to the island of Hispaniola. Because the peasants relied on the Creole pig for all emergencies like illness, deaths, births, schooling, and weddings, its eradication devastated Haiti’s countryside; peasants lost their savings and their livelihoods, many faced starvation, and many moved to Port-au-Prince to seek jobs.
The peasants became the new faces of the growing slums around the capital, poverty, and homelessness. Those who remained in the countryside turned to charcoal for survival, cutting down the trees that used to feed them and their pigs. this led to increased environmental degradation in Haiti, contributing to what we see now throughout the country. Again, this led farmers to abandon arable land and move into crowded slums in Port-au-Prince, living in makeshift dwellings or shacks constructed on unstable land prone to fires and floods, and with limited access to basic services. Rain often triggers landslides and washes away makeshift homes in the capital’s slums. Port-au-Prince, for example, is a city without a central sewage system, and waste ends up in canals and ditches.
Another example is regarding imported U.S. Rice. Still, another blow to Haiti's environmental crisis came during former President Clinton's administration, which subsidized US rice. This policy led to massive importation of US rice, which had devastating consequences for rice growers and Haiti’s rural population.
Q: Let’s take a moment to understand how climate insecurity affects men, and women differently in Haiti. Do you perceive any differences?
Marsha:
Haitian women make up 55 percent of the population. Women and girls experience the climate crisis differently than men. For example, women are more likely to live in poverty than men, have less access to land or freedom of movement, face systematic violence. Women also tend to be the majority in the agriculture sector but do not own the land, have less access and control to resources, education, and information, and they tend not to be the decision-makers in the household. At the same time, they are responsible for all household chores - taking care of the kids, cooking and cleaning, fetching water, going to the market, and, in rural areas, working the land. The climate crisis is undoubtedly not gender-neutral, and to address it, it must consider a country's cultural and social norms.
In the context of Haiti, gender inequality and social norms contribute to the vulnerability of women because they have less access to formal work opportunities and education. In rural communities, women farmers are more affected by land grabs and less likely to hold legal titles; they face more financial insecurity, which makes them poorer than their male counterparts.
Q: How do you think climate finance can be more inclusive in assisting fragile contexts such as Haiti?
Marsha:
According to the UN, climate finance is money to support adaptation or mitigation projects addressing climate change. Climate finance could support countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis and conflict to prepare and respond to disasters. As discussed earlier, Haiti is already in the depths of the climate crisis and is one of the most vulnerable countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Haiti is also dealing with the worst political crisis in its contemporary history, which has impacted all segments of society.
In the past few years, we have witnessed growing attention to the climate crisis and the responsibilities of the world’s leaders to address it. Still, there is a lot of disparity between the countries that can access financing, especially those affected by conflict. The Prime Minister of Barbados has been a staunch advocate for climate reform and, during COP26 in Glasgow, called on the responsibility of world leaders to act in the face of the climate crisis to save the lives of millions already living on the front line of the climate crisis in the Caribbean, Latin America, the Pacific, and Africa.
Prime Minister Mottley has consistently lobbied for better climate finance and debt relief for vulnerable nations through the Bridgetown Initiative, recognizing that climate action requires financial resources. This initiative is a call for action to wealthy governments and global financial institutions to alter their approach to helping poor countries adapt to the impact of climate change. The Global South must be treated equitably.
Climate financing, if reformed, should be available for countries like Haiti to address centuries of inequities and burdened by debt. One example would be allowing countries like Haiti to pause debt payments, which would make available for responding to disasters. Climate finance would help Haiti appropriately respond to the climate crisis by prioritizing capacity building and local needs, including local innovative solutions, gender equality, social inclusion, and access to finance, especially for local organizations and farming communities.
Q: If not addressed, how could climate insecurity further decline Haiti’s development?
Marsha:
As discussed earlier, Haiti is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Haiti’s agricultural production capacity is reduced yearly; it is more dependent on food imports, and global prices for key staples are expected to increase by 120-180 percent by 2030. The continuous destruction of livelihoods, especially in the agricultural sector, due to imports, the lack of investment in sound farming practices, the flow of internal and external migrations, poor management of weather-related disasters, periods of drought, and increased tropical storms will further obstruct the landscape for development and contribute to climate insecurity. Climate insecurity drives conflicts that lead to food insecurity, and Haiti is in its worst food insecurity stage. As mentioned, we need a better understanding of the nexus between climate-food security-peace and climate-development-peace
About Marsha Michel
Marsha Michel, M.A. is an analytical leader and problem solver with 15+ years’ experience in leading teams, managing budgets ranging from $100- $200M, building and implementing programs and strategies that effectively respond to and prevent natural disasters, climate change, advancing health equity, food insecurity, and malnutrition amongst the most vulnerable, and gender and protection. She’s worked in West Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Asia.
Marsha is a humanitarian and works as an independent consultant building and implementing programs and strategies that effectively respond to and prevent natural disasters, climate change, advancing health equity, food insecurity, malnutrition amongst the most vulnerable, and gender and protection. She holds a B.A. from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia and an M.A. from American University in Washington, D.C. She speaks fluent French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.