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iciHaiti - Social : Food security has deteriorated across the country 05/08/2025 09:18:31
Haiti country continues to face acute food insecurity in a context of institutional collapse and escalating gang violence. Despite the spring harvests from June to July, which allowed rural households to access own production and slightly improve food consumption, worsening food security is expected across the country between July and December 2025, mainly due to the intensifying gang violence and its impact on income-generating activities, access to farmland, and the supply and function of markets. Food insecurity is expected to be most severe for internally displaced persons living in sites, very poor households in areas affected by gang attacks — particularly the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, Lower Artibonite, and the Centre department — as well as very poor households in Ouest, Nord-Ouest, and Grand’Anse, making them populations of highest concern. iolence has expanded into the Centre department since March. Armed gangs have carried out attacks in the communes of Mirebalais, Saut-d’Eau, and more recently Lascahobas. This expansion has triggered new population displacement toward areas like Hinche, Belladère, and the North. As of June 2025, the total number of IDPs reached nearly 1.3 million : an increase of 24% compared to December 2024. Additionally, following attacks by the gang “Kokorat sans ras” in Artibonite — specifically in the Dessalines and Verrettes communes — on July 16, nearly 15,000 people were displaced, most seeking refuge with host families. These displacements add enormous pressure to host families, especially in rural areas, and to improvised urban shelters lacking access to water, healthcare, and food. The metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince remains the epicenter of violence, where most IDPs live in makeshift sites under alarming conditions, such as lack of food and income opportunities, and the depletion of livelihoods, among other challenges. In addition, deportations of Haitians — nearly 136,000 people between January and June 2025 — with 98 percent coming from the Dominican Republic (and others from the U.S., Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos Islands), further increase pressure on local communities. These returnees face the challenge of limited livelihoods, pushing some unemployed youth toward armed gangs, thereby fueling a vicious cycle of violence. The worsening security situation has also disrupted both formal and informal commercial activity, which together make up two-thirds of the national economy. Armed gangs have tightened control over key supply routes — especially National Roads 1 and 2 — imposing tolls on basic goods and severely limiting both physical and economic access to food. Downtown markets in Port-au-Prince, particularly Croix-des-Bossales, remain dysfunctional, forcing retailers to relocate to areas like Pétion-Ville and Delmas. Local products barely reach the capital, resulting in price hikes and significantly reduced profit margins for farmers. Prices of staple foods remain very high, driven by both inflation and the scarcity of local products. Food inflation remained above 31 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025, outpacing overall inflation, which ranged from 20 to 30 percent. In this context, economic access to food is severely compromised, particularly for poor urban households whose incomes are rapidly declining. The hardest-hit areas are those where economic activity has been paralyzed by violence — such as Port-au-Prince, Croix-des-Bouquets, and Delmas — as well as rural communes where gangs control trade routes. July coincides with the spring harvest period, especially in the departments of Sud, Grand’Anse, Nord, Artibonite, and Nippes. IH/ iciHaiti
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