Hurricane Matthew halts economic progress for Haiti

World Today

After Hurricane Matthew, Haiti’s economy has a gloomy future. Foreign aid is urgently in need and agricultural campaign is also required.

Haiti is known as the poorest economy in the Western Hemisphere. Despite the devastation from 2010 earthquake, it started eking out some economic growth. But its progress is now in doubt after Hurricane Matthew.

CCTV’s Owen Fairclough reports the story.

Geffrard Duplessis made his living from cash crops and livestock. Then Hurricane Matthew struck. 

“We lost cows, and all of our crops. Nothing is left. And our homes are destroyed,” Duplessis said.

The storm hit Haiti’s most productive farmland in the south, where coffee and cocoa provide valuable exports for an economy that hadn’t recovered from the 2010 earthquake. Officials now fear another famine is on its way.

Food supplies are being distributed as part of an international aid effort. But reaching remote communities is difficult. And now there is a medical emergency.

The World Bank said it needs more time to estimate the full economic impact of this latest disaster. But Haiti has been here many times before. In 2008, the combined effect of four hurricanes wiped 14 percent from its economic output.


Firmin Backer discusses poverty in Haiti

For more on how to eradicate poverty in Haiti follwoing disasters like Hurricane Matthew and the 2010 earthquake, CCTV America’s Jessica Stone interviewed Firmin Backer, president of Haiti Renewal Alliance.