Konbit Pou Ayiti

Over the years, KONPAY's programs have evolved based on community needs and suggestions.   Local farmers, for example, have been tremendous partners in our work; they are the community members who have helped - and continue to help - KONPAY achieve the important goals of reforestation and increased food security.  The farmers, after all, are at the heart of our relationship with the land and environment.  

KONPAY has listened to the farmers' needs and made every effort to respond. When local farmers expressed their concern about deforestation and food insecurity, for example, KONPAY responded by providing seedlings and trees from its nursery - at no cost - to farmers and others in the local community. KONPAY also has assisted local farmers secure needed seeds for their planting seasons.

Over the past two years, really since KONPAY initiated the Rebuild Better project following the deadly storms of 2008, KONPAY has worked to establish a more formalized partnership with a group of local farmers, one of them being Mr. Jonas Barthelemy.

Mr. Barthelemy knew that he and other farmers needed to unite in order to recover from the destruction of the 2008 storms.  He also knew that other farmers desired the same collaboration after the storms destroyed so many of their crops.  

With this knowledge and the already evolving relationship with KONPAY, Mr. Barthelemy was key to bringing the farmers and KONPAY together in a united effort to "Rebuild Better."  He was a main partner and beneficiary of KONPAY's efforts to help reconstruct gardens that were destroyed in the 2008 storms.

Here is what Mr. Barthelemy told us after working together for the first time: 

"I felt it was necessary to have this program in Cyvadier. I had an excellent experience participating in the program because everything we planted came up. If we had started earlier, we may have had better results with the corn and beans, but the plantains are very healthy. 

Rebuilding my garden with the help of KONPAY was a beautiful thing because with this harvest I was able to make enough money and have enough food to share with my family.  That is a real advantage after all that we had lost during the storms of 2008.

The only change I would make is that I would like to see all of the participants put their heads together better to collaborate more closely when the time arrives for us to work together.  And when we are done harvesting the plantains, I would like to plan tomatoes, cauliflower and spinach.

Due to the usefulness of the program for my family, I also would be ready to help out and participate in another KONPAY program in Cyvadier. I also have some neighbors near my land that would like to be integrated into the program."

Mr. Jonas Barthelemy, 80 years old, lives with his wife in Cyvadier. 

Since 2008, KONPAY's relationship with local farmers has continued to evolve. Currently, we are working with them on a tool-share project that will enable the farmers to have access to tools, the ones that they identified as essential for planting and harvesting their crops.  Our tool-share bank is almost complete with nearly 75% of the needed tools already stocked!

Along with the tool-share project, we are looking ahead to our next collaborative project with the local farmers, a seed silo.  We are in the beginning stages of this project that will help to ensure access to needed seeds for the farmers.