Dear Haiti Friends,

Dan Tootle passes along the following information about St. Barnabas Agricultural College in Terrier Rouge, located in the north of Haiti not too far from Cap Haitien. It is exciting to hear this hopeful report about cooperation among several local organizations to create and bring about a larger vision.

Yours,

Serena

Many of you are already aware of the Haiti Episcopal Diocese’s existence of an agriculture technology college, the ” Centre d’Agriculture Saint Barnabas (CASB)”, that has been educating and training young Haitian men and women to become agriculture technicians in service to those engaged in farming throughout the country of Haiti since its founding in 1984. Throughout its years of operations, the college has placed fully qualified agriculture technology advisors and farming operators across a wide range of careers from governmental to large and small farming operations engaged in assisting the Haitian people in mitigating the chronic food shortages that continue to plague that country.
In carrying out its academic and field operations curricula, the CASB has always been intimately engaged with the small holder farmers and peasant organizations within the Northeast Region of the country, joining in partnership with the People’s Organization for the Development of Haiti (OPODHA) through the establishment of a Seed Bank at the CASB that furnishes quality seeds for planting to farmers and communes. This in addition to the establishment of an agriculture technology advisor office, the “Rural Center for Community Development (CRDD)” located at the college with resident AgTechs who work with farmers in the region.
The CASB, along with the OPODHA have been working together with guidance from the Faith in Action organization to influence a pending Inter-American Development Bank funding initiative for food production increase in the North and Northeast regions to ensure that local concerns with the project adequately address access to irrigation, high-quality seeds, and micro-credit. That effort has been successful in reshaping this multi-million-dollar project. The appended information provides additional information about the project.

Sincerely, Your brother in Christ,

Dan C. Tootle
Member, CASB Stakeholder Support Group

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Haitian Farmer Organizations Welcome $38.7 million Investment to Fight Hunger in North and Northeast Haiti
OPODHA pledges to hold the project to its commitments on irrigation, seed banks and farmer oversight

Terrier-Rouge, Haiti – With more than half of Haitians facing hunger, Haitian organizations welcomed the Inter-American Development Bank Board’s decision on September 28 to move forward with desperately needed investment to increase food production in North and Northeast Haiti.

Under the banner We Plant Today So We Can Feed Ourselves Tomorrow, 85 Haitian organizations campaigned for nine months to ensure that the project works through local farmer associations and meets their need for access to water, seeds and credit.

The People’s Organization for the Development of Haiti (OPODHA) thanked the Bank’s Board of Directors and the Ministry of Agriculture for responding to local concerns about the original project design and including some of their requested priorities in the project design and project manual.

“The only sustainable answer to hunger in Haiti is boosting local food production,” said Rev. Florcie Tyrell, OPODHA Director. “Smallholder farmers are ready to plant and harvest to feed their families and neighbors.”

“Farmers organized, and this project is better as a result,” said Dr. Francois Pierre-Louis, Faith in Action International Haiti Director. “The Bank did not adopt everything they proposed, and commitments on irrigation, seed banks, and farmer participation only matter if they are kept. Now we begin the hard work of making sure water, seeds and support reach farmers.”

In fall 2025, the Bank announced plans for a large agricultural investment in North and Northeast Haiti, in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. In response, local organizations in North and Northeast Haiti developed a Smallholder Farmer Platform to shape the project design. The Platform was based on consultation with 1,100 local farmers in 74 communities, who identified access to irrigation, high-quality seeds, and credit as their greatest challenges to increasing production.

With support from Faith in Action International, the Bank Information Center, and other international organizations, the Haitian groups pressed the Bank to include local priorities in the project and work through local farmer associations. They argued that past bank-financed agricultural projects had failed to consult with local organizations, over-relied on large outside contractors, and did not achieve sustainable results.

OPODHA and its partners highlighted three improvements that were made to the project design and manual:

A transparent process with community input to assess the feasibility of additional irrigation investments

Seed Banks named as part of the project, given the shortage of high-quality food-crop seeds

A seat for producer organizations on the project Steering Committee, quarterly information sessions with farmer organizations and civil society, and a process for local organizations to give documented feedback on implementation
OPODHA and its partners will measure the project against these three commitments and report publicly on progress. Farmer associations are ready to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and its departmental directorates as full partners to carry out the project.

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The People’s Organization for the Development of Haiti (OPODHA) is a grassroots Haitian-led movement with 5,500 members and 76 community-based teams across North and Northeast Haiti. Founded in 2014, OPODHA operates more than 60 Mutual Solidarity Loan funds and supports farmers working together to plant and harvest in 22 communities. OPODHA’s We Plant Today So We Can Feed Ourselves Tomorrow campaign is a multi-year effort to increase local food production and reduce hunger in Haiti.

Faith in Action International is a grassroots faith-based movement supporting community organizing in 15 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Faith in Action and its partners advocate for development policies that follow the priorities of local organizations and increase domestic investment in improving living conditions and economic opportunities in marginalized communities and regions.