Haiti is the poorest country in the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2001, 54% of the population lived on less than $1 per day and 78% lived on less than $2 per day. The country’s socio-political structure and supporting institutions remain weak, with the government lacking the capacity to create and execute policies or deliver core public services.
The January 2010 earthquake affected one-third of the country’s 9 million people, leaving more than 1 million people homeless. Much of the infrastructure in the capital and surrounding areas collapsed, and many houses built and purchased by people who migrated to the capital and surrounding areas over the last decade were destroyed. Within days of the disaster, significant numbers of people began migrating back to rural areas.
Land rights in urban areas are largely undocumented. Prior to the earthquake, the majority of residents in Port-au-Prince and other urban areas lived in informal settlements. The earthquake has pushed several urban land tenure issues to the fore, including establishing a system of land claims and dispute resolution as residents attempt to resettle, take possession of rubble, and rebuild. Establishing rights to areas of undeveloped land for temporary and transitional housing, as well as for long-term reconstruction, is also a pressing concern. Clarifying and developing institutional authority for land registration, land-use planning, and dispute resolution is essential to balance the need to assert authority over land in the interest of public health and safety with the need to protect vulnerable groups, such as informal tenants.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for Haiti’s rural population, but agricultural productivity has declined. Farmers lack the needed resources and agricultural inputs. Weak governance of natural resources, scarcity of productive land, and unsustainable farming methods have caused intensive erosion, deforestation, and widespread land degradation. Customary law governs access and tenure security of rural land in Haiti, providing security of access to land through deeply engrained and relatively stable systems of personal and social relationships.
The population of Haiti is approximately 9.78 million people, with 36.7% of the population under the age of 14, 58.9% between the ages of 15 and 64, and 4.3% aged 65 or older. The population growth rate is 1.7% per annum, and the rural population accounts for 53.2% of the total population. The population density is 354.9 people per square kilometer. The literacy rate is approximately 60%, and the land area is 27,560 square kilometers. The arable land accounts for 28.3% of the land area, and the agricultural land accounts for 57.7% of the land area. The permanent cropland accounts for 11.6% of the land area, and the irrigated land accounts for 8.4% of the cropland. The forest area accounts for 3.8% of the land area, and the nationally protected areas account for 0.3% of the total land area. The renewable internal freshwater resources per capita are 1353.6 cubic meters, and the annual freshwater withdrawals for agriculture, domestic, and industry account for 93.9%, 5.1%, and 1.0% of the total freshwater withdrawal, respectively. The crop production index is 97.1, and the livestock production index is 111.5. The GDP is approximately $6.95 billion, and the GDP growth rate is 1.3% per annum.