Putting Haiti’s Unrest in Context

To understand the riots and violence in Haiti in response to last Friday’s announcement of fuel price increases, you have to go back to 1815 when Simón Bolívar landed in the newly formed nation of Haiti and asked the government of president Alexandre Pétion for arms and soldiers to help liberate various South American countries from Spanish rule. Bolívar’s request was met on the condition that he abolish slavery in all the countries he was helping to set free from Spain, which eventually included Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Bolívar was from Venezuela, and Haiti’s unique role in their gaining independence established a special bond between the two nations that continues to this day. 

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Partnering with Rotary to Plant Trees in Haiti

It would be hard to find a more diverse group than the 25,000 Rotarians from some 175 countries who gathered for their annual international convention last week in Toronto. I noted this in my opening remarks to a breakout session last Tuesday, and then went on to announce a partnership between Rotary and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) to plant trees in Haiti.

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Sign of Hope in Haiti

This sign was unveiled to mark the start of a partnership between the Haitian Ministry of Environment
and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, with a special focus on reforestation.

A large sign was unveiled on a rural road in Haiti last week to signal the start of a new partnership between the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) and the Ministry of Agriculture. Located near the farming community of Bayonnais, a few miles from the city of Gonaives, the sign translates as “Let’s together protect trees – trees mean life for all of us.”

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Exploring Cotton Potential in Puerto Rico

Yanna Muriel Mohan, Agricultural Manager of Visit Rico (left) with Timote Georges and Chris Kaput of the
Smallholder Farmers Alliance - Haiti, visit the the women-run textile cooperative "Cooperative Industrial
Creación de la Montaña" in Utuado, Puerto Rico.GUEST WRITER > Chris Kaput, Smallholder Farmers Alliance

Last year a serendipitous meeting at the Textile Sustainability Conference resulted in an unplanned collaboration between our Haitian farmers and smallholders in Puerto Rico: a spontaneous and unsolicited effort to raise funds ended up helping providing over 100 Puerto Rican smallholder farmers with emergency financial support following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.  

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Tropical Forests Suffered Near-Record Tree Losses in 2017

The western Amazon region of Brazil in September. Photo credit: Carl de Souza/Agence France-Presse
— Getty ImagesREPRINT > Brad Plumer for The New York Times

In Brazil, forest fires set by farmers and ranchers to clear land for agriculture raged out of control last year, wiping out more than 3 million acres of trees as a severe drought gripped the region. Those losses undermined Brazil’s recent efforts to protect its rain forests.

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Haiti Cotton Presentation at Oxford

Hugh Locke and Atlanta McIlwraith making a joint presentation at University of Oxford on May 18, 2018.

How often is Haiti a topic of discussion at the University of Oxford? The answer is at least once in the last month when Atlanta McIlwraith, representing Timberland, and I, representing the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), made a joint presentation about the reintroduction of cotton to Haiti at the Responsible Business Forum 2018. Our talk is available on YouTube and the accompanying Timberland/SFA case study can be downloaded here.

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Timberland, Discovery, Disney Win Big With Cause Marketing

Timberland began as a sponsor of the Smallholder Farmers Alliance and their tree planting initiative in
Haiti, and now is working with them to return cotton to Haiti.

REPRINT > Sarah Mahoney for Marketing Daily

Engage for Good, a cause-marketing group with both corporate and nonprofit members, is handing out its annual Halo Awards, with companies like Discovery, Disney, Walgreens and Timberland taking top honors.

The organization awarded 28 winners, chosen from 125 entries.

“Once again, Halo-winning campaigns rose to the top by effectively communicating cause-related messages while measurably building a better world and the bottom line,” says Engage for Good President David Hessekiel, in announcing the honorees.

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Next Generation Digital Tools for Smallholder Farmers in Haiti

Columbia student Nadia Asgaraly (center) guides Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) agronomist Georges
Dency (left) in using a beta data management app while Timote Georges, SFA Executive Director, looks on.

The students are part of a 'capstone project' providing a real-time consulting service to the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) before graduating in May. Specifically, the students are key members of a larger team (which includes the Better Sourcing Program and RCS Global) focused on developing a revolutionary new data management system that will help smallholders growing cotton and other crops to be more productive and profitable, while incorporating blockchain technology that will help potential cotton export customers like Timberland, Patagonia and Vans achieve increased transparency and efficiency.

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