In a working visit focused on advancing food security and rural development in Haiti, Minister of Agriculture Marcelin Aubourg, a professional agricultural engineer, recently traveled through Haiti’s Grand’Anse department to conduct on-site oversight of initiatives under the Resilient Agriculture for Food Security Project (PARSA). The primary goal of the tour was to evaluate on-the-ground progress of two high-priority infrastructure initiatives: the construction of family-sized rainwater harvesting tanks and the expansion and upgrade of rural road networks. Both sets of projects are designed to remove longstanding barriers to accessing agricultural production zones and lift living standards for local communities that have long struggled with limited infrastructure.
The first stop on the minister’s itinerary was the commune of Pestel, where the delegation first traveled to the small community of Deron to check progress on the local water tank program. After walking through the construction sites and speaking with contractors, the team sat down with local residents to hear first-hand accounts of how the new infrastructure has already changed daily life. Beneficiaries told the delegation that the 3,000-gallon rainwater harvesting tanks, installed through the Ministry of Agriculture’s leadership, have put an end to a years-long struggle for consistent access to clean water for household and agricultural use, opening the door to a more stable and dignified quality of life for the whole community.
Leaving Pestel, the ministerial convoy traveled next to the commune of Beaumont, where they inspected ongoing construction on a 300-meter rural road expansion that spans the second communal section of Chardonnette and the nearby locality of Dumois. The journey into Chardonnette itself served as a stark reminder of the daily challenges area residents face navigating poorly maintained roads, underscoring the urgent need for the upgrades the project is delivering.
Across every community the delegation visited, local residents, parishioners, and the local parish priest turned out to extend a warm welcome to Minister Aubourg and the entire PARSA project team. Conversations with locals were marked by broad smiles and repeated expressions of gratitude for the tangible improvements the projects have already brought to the region.
To wrap up the multi-site supervisory tour, the minister and his team traveled to Fonds-Rouge Torbeck, the ninth communal section of Jérémie. In this area, the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) has already completed several key infrastructure projects through the PARSA framework. Finished works include more than 350 linear meters of rural road constructed with reinforced concrete strips, erosion protection infrastructure for the critical Hypollite natural spring, and resurfacing of roughly 200 linear meters of unpaved dirt road. Local leaders say these completed upgrades already represent a tangible, meaningful improvement to daily life for area residents, while creating new opportunities for long-term growth and investment in the region’s agricultural sector.