As of October 2009, the food insecure population is estimated at 1.8 million people. This figure should show a downward trend through March 2010. This decrease is due to several factors, including good agricultural performance of the last season; low inflation (especially for the category of food, beverages and tobacco), the continuation of infrastructure projects across the country, and weather conditions favorable to national agricultural production of the season in progress (August 2009–January 2010). The 2009 hurricane season that will end in November 2009 has not been detrimental to date.
However, these factors alone cannot lead to substantial improvements in food security conditions in the baseline scenario considered. Other factors to take into account include the price of oil on the international market and inflation in the U.S. dollar versus the gourde. These two variables would increase the price of imported goods and thus lead to a resumption of inflation.
For a significant improvement of food security, CNSA and FEWS NET suggest that the Government and its partners take the following measures: 1) Help farmers obtain needed farm inputs in time for the winter growing season (November 2009 through February 2010); 2) Develop and implement programs to improve nutrition and health of students at the basic education level, especially in poor districts of Port-au-Prince, and in the Northwest and Southeast regions.
