Education
Education Concept
Reforestation and agroforestry education programs are not widely accessible. SRDH seeks to provide farmers, landowners, youth, and communities with the information they need to successfully incorporate reforestation and agroforestry initiatives on their land.
Reforestation and Agroforestry Training
Women receiving konparèt for sale.
Transporting seedlings.
One of the major barriers to reforestation and agroforestry initiatives is the lack of access to educational resources and training for rural communities. SRDH is working to break down this barrier by providing the following resources:
Tree Planting Days: Every year on Haiti’s Agricultural and Labor Day (May 1), YoutHaiti, another nonprofit operating in the area, takes students and other community members out to plant trees and learn more about reforestation. Many SRDH staff members have been involved with the annual tree planting for years. On May 1, 2021, SRDH staff partnered with YoutHaiti for the time as an official organization to expand this tradition. SRDH has continued and expanded our own May 1 event. In 2023, we planted around 3,000 trees on May 1 with students and community members from the region.
Support: SRDH staff works closely with farmers and landowners to best meet their needs implementing agroforestry on their land. We assist with tree selection (species that will grow best on the land while meeting needs) and provide training on how to care for them, where to plant them, and how to cut or use the trees they select, as needed. Farmers/ ladowners will have full autonomy in their tree selection and how they use their trees, SRDH will simply ensure that participants have access to any education or training they may need to be successful.
Agroforestry Program: Following the dissolution of the Vermont Haiti Project, SRDH is partnering with Lekòl Vokasyonèl Jean Despagne Felix (EVJDF), the vocational school in Duchity. In 2024, EVJDF will continue providing their agriculture class, along with an English class and a construction class. With further funding, SRDH seeks to partner on an agroforestry program to compliment the agriculture class. Donations specific to the vocational school can be made here.
Vocational School (Lekòl Vokasyonèl Jean Despagne Felix; EVJDF): After more than a decade of invaluable work and collaborations, the Vermont Haiti Project (VHP) has decided to disband, effective December 31, 2023. Among its many projects, VHP supported the development of the vocational school in Duchity (Lekòl Vokasyonèl Jean Despagne Felix; EVJDF), carbon water filters in multiple communities, and beginning steps of the construction of a water cistern in Duchity. From ongoing conversations with VHP members, SRDH is pleased to announce that we will be collaborating with the community group running the vocational school and clean water program. SRDH will provide a platform for donations to easily reach the community group running these programs and develop a deeper partnership with the school. Donations can be made directly for vocational school and to the clean water initiative here.
Women’s Konparèt Program: We partner with the Trees That Feed Foundation (TTFF) to provide women from Duchity and surrounding communes with training on how to manage a business making and selling konparèt (a pastery) from breadfruit flour. As of 2023, our breadfruit trees are not old enough to begin producing fruit, and we do not yet have the infrastructure for women to bake konparèt in Duchity so participants purchase konparèt from TTFF to sell.
In order to have healthy forests and successful reforestation and agroforestry initiatives, conservation needs to be taken into consideration from the beginning. For example, birds assist regeneration by spreading seeds and pollinating trees. Additionally, planting native tree species that provide food sources for birds and mammals can reduce animal damage on crops (to learn more, visit our Conservation Page). We want to encourage participating community members to plant trees for themselves and for Haiti’s incredible biodiversity. To accomplish this, we will:
Provide education for students on the importance of Haiti’s native flora and fauna and engage them with the species we are working to provide habitat for.
Educate landowners and farmers on how native species can help their agricultural productivity.
Provide an Agroforestry and Conservation Program - we have not developed this yet so stay tuned!
