WASHINGTON, June 29, 2015 - The World Bank’s Board of Directors approved US$5 million to help Haiti better prepare for extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and hurricanes. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) to provide customized hydro-meteorological and climate information services to farmers and emergency responders to increase the country’s preparedness and resilience to disasters and climate change.
About 96 percent of the Haitian population is living in areas exposed to two or more hazards including hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, landslides and droughts. The agriculture sector, which contributes more than 25 percent of Haiti’s GDP and is the main source of revenue for rural households, is heavily dependent on rainfall and particularly exposed to the effects of climate change, with only one percent of farmers use irrigation. Over the past decade, hydro-meteorological hazards affected 1.3 million, killed more than 6,000 Haitians and caused average annual losses equivalent to nearly 2 percent of GDP.
“More than 70 percent of rural families have been economically affected by climatic weather shocks. This project will provide essential meteorological information to farmers to be better prepared and able to respond to agricultural and climate shocks”, said Mary Barton- Dock, World Bank Special Envoy to Haiti. Specifically, the Strengthening Hydro-Meteorological Services project will:
- About 40 civil protection municipal committees and farmers country-wide to receive improved information services including early warnings and contingency planning information;
- An open-data platform, accessible online, consolidating data collected country wide by hydrological, meteorological, marine and other stations;
- About 80 technicians and professionals trained to use weather and climate data applications;
- Enhanced capacity of the Hydro Meteorological Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) and strengthened coordination between key government agencies in the sector including the Ministry of Environment (MDE), National Center for Geo-Spatial Information (CNIGS), National Coordination for Food Security (CNSA), Inter-ministerial Committee for Territorial Planning (CIAT) and Civil Protection Directorate (DPC) of the Ministry of Interior.
This five year project will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR). The funding is a US$ 5 million grant from the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience of the Climate Investment Funds.
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