A country story / HT
Haiti
A future built with Haiti’s farmers
Haiti’s agricultural story is bound to freedom, family land and the work of small farmers. Today those farmers keep producing through a profound food and security crisis.
Preparation stage · available acreage not established
01How the landscape took shape
Land, freedom and the family farm
Haiti’s independence in 1804 followed a revolution against slavery. The agricultural order that followed took a distinctive path: small farms became central as people resisted a return to large plantation labour. FAO’s historical account describes family and collective arrangements, including the lakou, shaping the ownership and use of rural land.[1][2]
That history produced a landscape of working plots and several farming traditions. FAO’s earlier sector assessment records maize, sorghum, rice, beans, bananas and tubers, alongside coffee grown under shade. These overlapping uses of land for food, trees and household livelihoods make local history important when reading a land-cover map.[3]
02The country today
Protect the capacity to keep growing
In June 2026, a joint FAO–WFP briefing described a food crisis intensified by violence, economic pressure and climate shocks. It also stressed that Haiti retains a functioning agricultural base. Farmers continue to produce under difficult conditions, even as insecurity has forced cultivation to stop in parts of Artibonite and Centre.[4]
The same briefing called for immediate food assistance alongside protection of livelihoods, support for smallholders and recovery of local production. That combination recognises the urgency of hunger while keeping farmers’ skills, planting seasons and future harvests within the response. Producing food and enabling families to obtain it belong together.[4]
03What CaribVista could contribute
Begin where local partners can sustain the work
CaribVista proposes a carefully chosen, locally led pilot with farmer organisations and experienced partners able to support safe access. Participants would decide which practical needs come first: seed, water, soil protection, storage or a buyer. Any use of land would begin with the people who hold rights and depend on it.
Training would build on local knowledge and follow the agricultural calendar. Farm records, visits and satellite observations could help document recovery and learn which approaches deserve further support. The proposed measure of success is tangible benefit for participating families, with expansion following evidence and local agreement.
04 / Read the landscape
Put the story beside the map.
With that history in mind, explore Haiti in natural colour, through its vegetation signal and by mapped land cover. These views help frame local questions; the land records and field assessment establish what a specific site can offer.
From the satellite record
See the land.
Read the signal.
Explore the same landscape in natural colour and through its vegetation signal.
Sentinel-2 · January–September 2026
RGB · Natural colourHaitiCloud-screened median compositesStronger vegetation signals can include forests, pasture and crops. The dark background shows masked water, areas outside the study boundary or missing data.
How to read these images and inspect the sources
Natural colour combines the red, green and blue bands (B4, B3, B2). NDVI compares near-infrared and red reflectance: (B8 − B4) / (B8 + B4). Both views use the same dated scene list and extent, with cloud and shadow screening. Each pixel summarises observations across the period; this is not a single photograph.
The colour scale is fixed across countries; values beyond its endpoints use the endpoint colours. The separate NDVI statistic is the spatial mean of the temporal-median index on the documented 1 km screening grid. Image pixels use the display grid stated above.
These views help guide a closer inspection. They do not identify available rental land, confirm ownership or measure agricultural suitability.
- A temporal median of observations in January–September 2026, not a single-date photograph.
- RGB and NDVI use identical bounds, display grid and valid-pixel masks. Higher NDVI indicates greater spectral greenness, not crop identity, yield, land vacancy or suitability.
- Transparent pixels represent the selected boundary/land mask or missing valid observations, not proof of absent vegetation.
- The overview grid is for display. The published numerical screening uses a separate 1 km grid; do not extract hectares or availability from these coloured pixels.
- Cloud and shadow masking can leave residual haze or remove valid surfaces. Native 10 m source bands do not make the overview a 10 m product.
Download the imagery reproduction package ↓
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed for CaribVista.
The 2021 land-cover baseline
What covers the landscape?
Haiti2,702,150.9 mapped hectaresAll classified pixels in the selected boundary, including water
Explore a class in the chart or legend.
Grassland
1,340,465.5 haThis class includes managed pasture and natural grassland. It does not identify vacant, idle, leasable or cultivable land.
View the values and boundary notes
| Land-cover class | Hectares | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tree cover | 1,024,359.4 | 37.9% |
| Shrubland | 138,883.8 | 5.1% |
| Grassland | 1,340,465.5 | 49.6% |
| Cropland | 65,992.3 | 2.4% |
| Built-up | 49,311 | 1.8% |
| Bare / sparse vegetation | 26,229.9 | 1.0% |
| Snow and ice | 0 | 0.0% |
| Permanent water | 27,022.5 | 1.0% |
| Herbaceous wetland | 12,829.8 | 0.5% |
| Mangroves | 17,056.8 | 0.6% |
| Moss and lichen | 0 | 0.0% |
| Total mapped area | 2,702,150.9 | 100% |
Boundary source: FAO/GAUL/2015/level0. Calculation: 11 October 2026. Rounded values may not add exactly; downloads retain the source values.
- Selected national polygon was matched uniquely; mapped area and reference surface were compared. Coastline and all minor island membership are not certified by a national agency.
- Earth Engine geometry area and raster pixelArea use different area conventions; their ratio is a sanity check, not a valid-pixel or classification-accuracy percentage.
ESA WorldCover 2021 v200 · Historical observations · Reviewed 11 October 2026.
Shares use classified pixel area inside each selected screening boundary, including mapped water. They do not measure available farmland. Local classification accuracy and parcel availability are not established.
05Land and access
From a land lead
to a workable parcel.
A country programme or a patch of grassland helps direct the search. A pilot needs a specific place, clear rights and a current agreement.
No available parcel or reliable general lease offer was verified. Establish all ownership, inheritance, occupancy and customary-use interests through Haitian legal and community processes before acquisition or trial entry.
What the satellite evidence supports
A fresh calculation using the documented country boundary is complete. Source artifacts, area checks and processing details are preserved. Local classification accuracy and legal land access have not been established.
Land cover describes vegetation; it does not establish vacant, accessible or plantable land. ESA WorldCover v200 observes 2021. Newer Sentinel screening has its own dates, quality controls and geographic scope.
Boundary scope: Selected national polygon was matched uniquely; mapped area and reference surface were compared. Coastline and all minor island membership are not certified by a national agency. Earth Engine geometry area and raster pixelArea use different area conventions; their ratio is a sanity check, not a valid-pixel or classification-accuracy percentage.
A separate Sentinel-2 screening for January–September 2026 completed on a 1 km sampling grid. It checks the monitoring workflow and records observation coverage. It is too coarse for parcel decisions and does not establish current land use or availability.
ESA dataset and methodologyHistorical programmes and listings need current written confirmation. Gross parcel area and net plantable area are separate decisions.
06Production priorities
Design around the site
and the people using it.
The World Bank identifies security, disrupted connections and market access as central current constraints. Prior landscape work included water and irrigation restoration. Use a locally managed route-specific operating plan, including staff safety, transport continuity, water, storage and delivery of benefits; do not infer national impossibility or national readiness from one area.
Compare proposed production with current use. Protect existing livelihoods and valuable habitats. Choose crops and farming systems after soil, water, market and farm-management checks.
- World Bank: Haiti economic potential and constraints 2026-09-16; event 2026-09-14
- World Bank: Haiti productive landscape results 2025-10-22
These are proposed feasibility priorities. Sources provide country context and do not establish a CaribVista partnership.
08Check the evidence
Country sources, dates and access limits 12 records · Reviewed 11 October 2026
History and local context
Land, agriculture and programme evidence
Records distinguish primary text reviewed from excerpts and material that could not be retrieved. A source’s publication date and the review date serve different purposes.
- ESA WorldCover data access
2021 reference map; 2022 release
Access: primary text reviewed. WorldCover v 200 is land cover, not a cadastral, vacancy, crop-yield or legal-availability survey. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- Haiti Ministry: agricultural census national synthesis
2008–2009 reference; report date not fully verified
Access: located full text unavailable. Primary report located; direct retrieval returned HTTP 503. WCA corroborates the historical census round. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- World Bank implementation completion report P 162908
2025-07-12; disclosed 2025-08-06
Access: primary catalogue abstract reviewed. Formal completion evaluation located; full report not re-audited, abstract identifies coordinated landscape approach. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- IPC Haiti country analysis
Latest analysis retrieved covered March–June 2026
Access: primary text reviewed. Acute food insecurity analysis periods must be shown. No October 2026 nowcast inferred. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- World Bank: Haiti economic potential and constraints
2026-09-16; event 2026-09-14
Access: primary text reviewed. Cocoa, vetiver, mango and coffee opportunities with security, credit and market access constraints. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- World Bank: Haiti productive landscape results
2025-10-22
Access: primary text reviewed. Existing farmer field schools, watershed work, market support and implementation lessons; World Bank project reporting, not independent CaribVista verification. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- FAO agricultural census participation by round
Publication date not established
Access: primary text reviewed. Round listing; a listed year is not proof that final results have been released. Accessed on the review date; this does not make historic data current.
- Haiti tax code published in Le Moniteur, Special No. 3
2023-01-20
Access: Official MEF-hosted code: relevant article text reviewed in search index; finance agent owns commencement/amendment check.. Printed page 92, Article 248(3)(a), provides a 7,500 HTG/ha/year agricultural state-private-domain land schedule. Enactment, current commencement, amendments, parcel assessment and legal occupancy must be distinguished; not a parcel quotation.
The next conversation
Help shape a pilot in Haiti.
Bring a local delivery team, a candidate site or a route to customers and households. Together, the next task is to agree the preparation work, its responsibilities and its budget.
Discuss a preparation partnershipAn invitation to prepare a project. Sites, funding and operating partnerships are still to be agreed.