IICA, USDA and Postgraduate College of Mexico collaborate to improve post-harvest capacities in Haiti

Haití, August 24, 2011 (IICA). Thirty-five (35) professionals from the agricultural sector in Haiti improved their knowledge of fruit conservation and the use of post-harvest technologies, thanks to an alliance between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Postgraduate College of Mexico and the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development of Haiti.

This initiative forms part of the efforts to revive agriculture in Haiti following the earthquake of January 2010, and is one aspect of the project entitled “Promotion and Development of Capacities for Sustainable and Competitive Agriculture in Haiti.” 

“One of the main problems facing agriculture in Haití is post-harvest losses. We need to improve the conditions that will lead to better marketing of products, in order to achieve food security,” declared Alfredo Mena, IICA Representative to Haiti.

Training for the Haitian professionals was carried out in two phases, one theoretical, on August 17 and 18 at the Karibe Convention Centre, and the other practical, on August 19, at the Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences.

The participants, drawn from the public and private sectors, acquired techniques relating to ripening, aging, conservation, storage and packaging of fruit. They also learnt how to assess the impact of a new initiative in the sector aimed at regulating fruit conservation in order to reduce post-harvest losses.

The inauguration session of the seminar was attended by high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ambassador of Mexico in Haiti and the representative of the USDA in that country.

The USDA, through its Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), has implemented various concrete initiatives to assist the Haitian government in its reconstruction of the agricultural sector.

The Postgraduate College of Mexico was founded in 1979 to carry out postgraduate instruction and research and offer technical services and assistance in the agricultural and forestry domain.

For more information, contact:
alfredo.mena@iica.int