Overcoming fate in Haiti to rebuild the environment and regain hope in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
In heavenly Haiti, even the forests weren’t spared. Over the past few years, the country’s agroforestry resources had been under growing pressure from all angles such as charcoal production. Hurricane Matthew saw them vanish. The infrastructure and residents of the Grand’Anse department were the main victims of this disaster.
In 2018, the Yves Rocher Foundation pledged to restore 2,759 hectares of depleted soil.
The project
Breaking the vicious cycle of environmental degradation in order to eradicate poverty is paramount. Working with the Grand’Anse cocoa growers’ association (ODEFCAGA), the Yves Rocher Foundation has helped to set up agroforestry fields. These fields, filled with organic cocoa crops and fruit trees, will nourish the farmers’ land and provide an additional source of food for the local communities.
The goal here was to plant two million trees. The ODEFCAGA planters set about planting a total of 23 tree species, including 19 fruit species and four forest species. The 23 species of fruit trees include mango trees, apricot trees, coffea and the well-known cacao trees.
In the long term, this will create local jobs and improve socio-economic factors for 20,000 households in Grand’Anse.
If you want to find out more about our tree planting programme in France and around the world,
