Restructuring USAID:A Case Study on Haiti
Pranay Udutha, University of GeorgiaDefense and Diplomacy Center, Spring 2011
The role o oreign aid as a oreign policy ool has long been a conenious debae. ‘Developmen’ is disincrom he oher wo ‘big D’s’ o Deense and Diplomacy ye o wha exen is i subjec o he sraegic objec-ives o hese bigger policy and poliical imperaives? In his Presidenial Policy Direcive on Global Develop-men, Presiden Obama laid ou a vision or America’s developmen eors o be one o hree equal pillarso America’s oreign policy porolio wih he oher wo. However, he exen o which his can be realizedin pracice is sill unclear. Promising seps, mos noeworhy o which is he inclusion o he USAID Admin-israor a Naional Securiy Council, have been aken bu appropriaely placing developmen’s voice in heconex o American oreign policy remains challenging.One hing ha is clear, however, is ha oreign aid and developmen eors are exremely imporan. None-heless, oreign aid has come under requen atack or being ineecive, misdireced, or even or creaingperverse incenives and uelling corrupion and, ironically, underdevelopmen. Thereore, a rank, open, andinnovaive debae on aid eeciveness is much needed. Such a debae wihin he developmen esablish-men is already ongoing and many iniiaives have been launched o achieve and manage resuls or improveddevelopmen oucomes.Wha his Whie Paper seeks o do is no o replicae his ongoing process bu raher o provide resh per-specives on several o he many curren developmen challenges. This research is by no way mean o becomprehensive or o provide a single ormula or improved aid eeciveness. Indeed, a he core, his WhiePaper desires o underscore he essenial need or conex-driven aid policies and aciviies. I is he sincerehope o he wriers’ ha his work becomes a conribuion o he wider eors o rerame aid and improvedevelopmen eeciveness hrough improving he mechanisms o aid planning, delivery, and managemen.Mathew Eldridge and Ahmad SolimanSenior Policy FellowsDeense and Diplomacy Cener | Roosevel Insiue Campus Nework
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The curren model o oreign aid or disaser relie employed by USAID needs o be redeveloped. Following Haii’s 7.0 earhquakein January 2010, USAID was highly inuenial in providing immediae relie. As ime progressed, USAID shied o providing or longerm reconsrucion and redevelopmen. However, USAID policy in Haii ocuses on consequences and no heir roo causes. ShiingUSAID’s ocus o addressing he causes would allow problems o be resolved in he long-erm and would aciliae Haiian develop-men. In addiion o resrucuring USAID’s programs, US oreign policy isel mus butress USAID goals i USAID measures are o beeecive.USAID’s our projecs in Haiian redevelopmen address issues o agriculure, educaion, credi, and healhcare. Over 67% o workingHaiians are employed by he agriculural secor, so improved agriculural pracices and yields would direcly aec mos Haiians.This paper proposes several recommendaions o resrucure USAID’s assisance in Haii. USAID should decrease ood aid o de-crease dependence on oreign impors, allowing armers o have a marke and an incenive o be more producive. Governmenalrelaionships wih privae schools should be resrucured o creae a more unied school sysem. Simulaing he economy by urningi ino a growing new marke would atrac more oreign invesors.Immediae aid in Haii se he oundaion or any long erm relie o address he need o he people. In he immediae aermah oa disaser or humaniarian crisis, aid oods ino he aeced area. However, his inux o aid overwhelms he capaciy o exisinginrasrucure due o he ac ha i was never used or he ransporaion o such quaniies o goods. This leads o large amounso supplies being suck a heir poin o arrival. These clogged supplies preven oher supplies rom arriving, and are hemselveswased. They can also preven even more vial supplies rom reaching heir inended desinaions. This is especially imporan whenmuliudes o vicims need immediae medical atenion.USAID has our main projecs or long erm recovery and redevelopmen in Haii. The rs projec ocused on managing he waersupply in order o assis in he recovery and developmen o he Haiian agriculural indusry. The second projec ocuses on reorm-ing and expanding he capaciy o schools in Haii. The hird projec is geared oward expanding access o nancial services. The nalprojec is improving he qualiy o he healh care sysem.
Agricultural Redevelopment
Mos Haiians who have jobs are employed in he agriculural secor, which accouns or over wo hirds o Haii’s jobs.
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The purposeo he rs long erm USAID projec in Haii is o boh susain agriculural capaciy and o supplemen he incomes o armers. Theproposed mehods o doing so are o improve he managemen o he waersheds and naural waer resources available o he Hai-ian armers. In addiion, Haii is inamous or is rampan deoresaion; is border wih he Dominican Republic is one o he ewnaional borders which can be seen rom he air due o he ac ha he Haiian side is comprised o denuded hills which mee heproeced oress o he Dominican Republic. Anoher poin o ineres is he resoraion o rees, which help proec he preciouserile soils rom erosion and which help replenish he soils wih vial nuriens. This projec is mean o ackle he pracices o Haiianarmers which are derimenal o he naural resources, especially he deoresaion and inefcien use o waer. USAID has saedha i would like o creae parnerships beween he governmen and armers’ associaions as well.In regards o is rs projec, USAID has made seps in he righ direcion. I has indeed assised Haiian armers increase heir cropyields hrough is Waershed Iniiaive or Naional Naural Environmenal Resources program, or WINNER. This program, which isslaed o las hrough 2015, has provided exper advisors and agronomiss o armers across Haii o help each hem good armingpracices, especially in erms o planing, erilizaion, and seed selecion. This has ranslaed ino a 75% increase in he sorghum,corn, bean, and poao crop yields rom las year’s harves. This projec is assising 1,500 armers direcly and has allowed or parallelprojecs o assis 50,000 more armers across Haii.
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Anoher projec allowed or he consrucion o wo mango packaging ceners,which are designed o sreamline he preparaion o mangos or expor.
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Previously, armers los 30-40% o heir mango crop dueo poor packaging mehods and litle o no inrasrucure or raining. These packaging ceners will increase almos 10,000 armers’income by 20% by sreamlining his process, while creaing jobs a he aciliies hemselves.
Food Aid
USAID’s Ofce o Food or Peace conribued over $188 million in aid o Haii in he 2010 scal year.
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This has me he need or oodsupplies in severely hi areas. However, his mehod o ood supply is based on American-grown crops. Furhermore, he only col-
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Restructuring USAID
A Case Study on Haiti,
Defense & Diplomacy Center, Spring 2011
Defense & Diplomacy Center, Spring 2011
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