Why Haitians from other Provinces will Continue to Flock to the Capital

During my recent trip to Haiti last week, I spent a great deal of time talking to entrepreneurs and other people living in Haiti about the current condition and other economical forces affecting the country.  While the country seem to have a flair of life goes on, challenges are still rampant. Port-au-Prince is barely 15 square miles. Within that small space lives an estimated two to three million people. It is one of the most densely populated locations in the world. Quite often I hear people say that the farmers need to go back to their land to cultivate. More than likely, those that say that are not well informed about the challenges that the farmers face. Farmers would like to do what they do best by cultivating their land. Unfortunately, the various challenges forced them to seek opportunities elsewhere.
The challenges:
From the discussions that I had, there are four common reasons why Haitians frequently leave the countryside to come to Port-au-Prince. Two of them are commonly known in the community while the other two are not readily known by outsiders and even Haitian natives.

Common two:
1. Transportation
a. Bad roads have been and continue to be a challenge for agriculture in Haiti. The country is plagued with bad roads and rough terrains. This makes it particularly hard for farmers to find a viable methodology to get their product to the center of town. Some farmers would commonly walk for 1-2 hours in order to get to the center of town. This logistical nightmare makes it hard to carry a significant amount of goods at a given time. This commonly results in non-fresh quality products. Eventually, their goods are sold at the center of town and then resold in other provinces and Port-au-Prince.

b. Price of gas fluctuates to as much as $7 US per gallon at times. This is another transportation problem. The businesses of transporting agricultural products from provinces to the mass commonly find that their profits are evaporated in the transition from the provinces to its final destination. Possible solution might be for the Haitian Government to build a refinery capable of processing crude oil to curb the price of gas. Asphalt, the byproduct, can be used for road construction and roofing alternative to cement and tin. Excess refined oil can be sold to neighboring markets including the US.

2. Unintentional centralization of Port-au-Prince
If you need to get a driver’s license or other formal documents, you would need to travel to Port-au-Prince. There are no systems in place in the provinces to enable you to do that.

Uncommon
3. Free Housing
There is  common talk (dubbed rumor) that the Haitian Government will be building houses for all the people that are currently living in tents. For this reason, many that left right after the earthquake are making their way back into the capital in order to secure a house built at the courtesy of the government.

4. Water
On average, under the right conditions, a farmer in Haiti would expect to have 3 crop yields over a period of one year. Farmers in Haiti usually plant after it rains. Given rain scarcity and lack of available fresh water, they tend not to plant without adequate rain as the crop would be lost in between. This commonly results in an annual average yield of one crop as opposed to the potential three.  Prior efforts to get fresh water from the mountain have been challenging due to obvious reasons.  Possible solution could be to use gravity tank pressure in succession to mountain tops.

Unless if these issues are addressed in a comprehensive manner, any other mitigation efforts taken would simply be a temporary patch.  This will be a recurring issue not only for Port-au-Prince but also for the next capital should the Haitian people decide to move the capital just as Brazil did in the 50’s when it moved the capital from Rio to Brasilia.