Does anyone know of an organization or person who could give guidance in beginning a large terraced garden in Northern Haiti…Milot, Cap Haitian?
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I’m sure ECHO network members have some really great suggestions. Here is a collection of resources from ECHOcommunity to provide some background for the discussion…
https://www.echocommunity.org/resources/7655fbc7-d5f9-4ef2-8e29-a13e33476b29
@Mike_Martin do you have any encouragements for Barb?
Mike works with Agri-Plus Haiti and has worked alongside farmers using vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) to terrace on hillsides in Haiti.
Thankful for your help. At this point I am eager to look at anything you all send my way!
~Barb
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Bonjou Barb,
I have lots relevant material and, until the recent troubles, I made regular visits to Haiti (~3 weeks every six months or so). I do have some Haitian contacts in the area (Limbe, Cap Haitien, and Milot) who might be able to help or connect you with others who can.
True terracing is a massive undertaking little used in Haiti due to the amount of work (food energy) involved. There are a lot of partial measures including trenches and vegetation barriers that are sometimes used.
One system developed in the Philippines is called SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology). There are a lot of resources online on it.
I’ll send you my email address in a message.
Bob
Thanks, Robert. If you have any additional resources we should reference in ECHOcommunity for the good of the network, we would be glad to receive your notes.
The “contour techniques” folder in the “cover crops and erosion control” folder in the “agriculture, food, and nutrition” folder in the “Haiti” folder on my laptop contains 113 files totaling 206 MB including three subfolders. Here are a few of the documents.
Soil Conservation for Small Farmers in the Humid Tropics Sheng FAO 1989.pdf (3.3 MB) BenchTerraceDesignMadeSimple.pdf (136.9 KB) .
Caribbean Soil Conservation Manual.pdf (2.5 MB)
Bob, This information is so helpful. I would love to talk with you more, especially about getting in contact with your Haitian contacts and what you have seen work best for sustainable farming in northern Haiti. I realize you may be focusing on other things with all the devastation right now. I will wait to hear from you. Again, thanks so much.
Barb
Hello all. I am planning a terraced farming project in the north of Haiti, and am wondering who is doing terraced farming elsewhere (particularly with WFP support?), what methods are being used. I am familiar with SALT, and understand that many orgs do a scaled down version of SALT. Thanks in advance for any current information.
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@Mike_Martin Do you have advice or recommendations for Angela as you have been involved in terracing in Haiti for a long time?