Haiti's Agriculture Minister Urges Greater Funding at Rome Food Forum
Marcelin Aubourg met with FAO officials to press for resources to match a food crisis affecting 5.8 million Haitians.
On the sidelines of the World Food Forum in Rome, Haiti's Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR), agronomist Marcelin Aubourg, met with Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO's Office of Emergencies and Resilience, to call for increased financing to revive national production, according to haitilibre.com. The appeal comes as roughly 5.8 million people in Haiti face acute food insecurity, per Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) data for the March–June 2026 period.
Aubourg emphasized the need to intensify emergency agricultural interventions and consolidate resilience mechanisms in the face of food crises, insecurity and population displacements. He said food assistance, while essential for immediate needs, must be paired with support allowing farmers to resume activities, including better access to seeds, tools and inputs, support for livestock, rehabilitation of productive infrastructure, and restoration of fishing livelihoods where security permits.
The Minister thanked the Office of Emergencies and Resilience for internal resources that financed the "Boosting agricultural production for better food security in Haiti" project, but urged more predictable commitments from technical and financial partners. The advocacy aligns with the FAO Emergency and Resilience Plan for Haiti 2026-2028. MARNDR said it wishes to establish a joint technical monitoring mechanism with the FAO to define priority areas and mobilize additional donor resources.