Zanmi Latè Seed Project 2021
Donation protected
Support a locally-led seed-lending project in Haiti, and help farmers grow more food!
This spring, for the fifth time, my friends at Zanmi Latè on the island of Lagonav are raising money to lend seeds to farmers. Zanmi Latè (“Friends of the Land”) is a local group of Haitian farmers, founded in 2015, working to help their communities grow more food.
ZL is led by Jeanes, an agronomist, and Balaguel, an agricultural technician. I became friends with them when I lived in their community five years ago, and I’ve admired their work ever since. With very limited resources, they’re creating projects that improve the lives of farmers all around them.
Together, the members of Zanmi Latè have created a fruit tree nursery, worked on reforestation, helped improve a local road, and led agricultural trainings. Last year, they grew orange, mango, papaya, and avocado seedlings, and built a seed storage building for local farmers.
But their most impressive initiative is the seed-lending project, which they designed in 2017 to help some of the poorest farmers in their area become more self-sufficient. Every year since 2018, it’s been funded by your donations.
The project has been successful and deeply appreciated by local communities. The farmers and I would be thrilled if you'd help support it this year!
(Below: ZL members at the opening of the seed storage building. Jeanes is on the far left with the microphone)
Success so far
Lagonav is an island off the coast of Haiti, 40 miles long, where about 120,000 people live. Almost all of them are subsistence farmers, and many struggle to afford basic necessities.
Zanmi Latè designed the seed project to help farmers who can’t afford to buy seeds at planting time. These farmers have to take out high-interest loans to buy seeds and struggle to pay back the lenders at harvest time, and the cheap seeds they can afford often don’t grow well in local conditions.
When farmers join the seed project, ZL lends them good-quality, local seeds for crops that grow well on Lagonav, like peanuts, pigeon peas, and corn. The farmers agree to pay back the same amount of seeds, plus some “interest”, at harvest time. Farmers who need them also get basic tools—a sickle and a hoe. They get technical training and visits from ZL technicians.
The project is working. Jeanes and Balaguel told me last week that about 85% of the farmers they’ve supported with seed loans say they no longer need help. For each of these people, this is a huge step forward. “The farmers totally depend on their land,” Balaguel explains. “The farm is food, the farm is what pays for school for their children, the farm pays for medical treatment, the farm takes care of the family.”
(Below: ZL farmers with pigeon peas)
Your donations supported 40 farmers in 2018, 26 in 2019, and 40 in 2020. ZL has also helped around 25 more farmers using the seed “interest” from these loans. Each year, they hope to help more people with “interest” and depend less on donations.
People admire the project and are reaching out to help. Balaguel’s cousin, who owns a truck, transports the seeds and tools every year at a discounted rate. When the roof of the brand-new seed storage building was ripped off by a tropical storm last August, another American friend, Tim, raised enough money to pay for the most important repairs, which will be finished soon.
An organization called FOKA, which works with church-based groups all over Haiti on economic and environmental projects, has also offered some support. ZL has connected with some of FOKA’s local leaders, and last year, FOKA gave some ZL farmers cassava and yams to plant. This year, FOKA will contribute lima bean seeds.
In nearby communities, farmers have been organizing and forming groups. They’ve been coming to meet with ZL, asking if they can become members, help with the work, and participate in the seed project.
This year, ZL would like to lend seeds to 70 farmers, supporting a few of the neediest farmers from each of these groups, who could later support others with the “interest” they pay back.
As well as peanuts, pigeon peas, corn, and lima beans, ZL will lend millet to a few farmers as part of an experiment they started last year. Millet used to be common on Lagonav, and many people want to bring it back. Balaguel explained, “It’s very good for the land and for people to eat, especially breastfeeding women; it helps them produce plenty of milk. The leaves are good for animals to eat during the dry season, and the grain is also good for chickens.”
Although Lagonav hasn’t been badly affected by COVID, it’s suffering from food instability. The island imports a lot of food from mainland Haiti, through local merchants, who cross the channel and buy food to resell. Recently, political protests have led to violence on the mainland, and merchants are afraid to travel there, so food prices on Lagonav are going up. In the long term, Zanmi Latè hopes to help the island become more self-sufficient.
(Below: a ZL farmer harvesting peanuts)
The Budget
This year’s budget is below. 70 farmers will get seeds, tools, training, and support. Each will also receive a cash stipend of about $13, so they can hire people to help with planting or weeding, or cook food for the people who help them. “It won’t cover everything they need, but it’s a little bit of help,” Jeanes explained.
I’ll cover all GoFundMe and money transfer fees, so all your money will go to Zanmi Latè. A few dollars can do a lot.
$5 will buy seed corn for an average farmer (each farmer will receive slightly different seeds, based on land and soil type)
$7 will buy a hoe
$8.25 will pay for 3 full days of training for one farmer
$9 will buy pigeon peas for one farmer
$11 will buy peanuts for one farmer
$25 will pay for all the experimental millet seed
$61 will “sponsor” one farmer: seeds, tools, training, stipend, and transportation expenses
$192 will cover all transportation for the year
Any amount you can give will help! If ZL doesn’t raise their full budget, they’ll scale it down and support as many farmers as they can.
Thank you so much for your help! Last year, some of the farmers made this thank-you video for you. If you didn’t see it then, enjoy! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QkAphXzsql7mO0wZV-9dF9FleJ065_Fe/view?usp=sharing
This spring, for the fifth time, my friends at Zanmi Latè on the island of Lagonav are raising money to lend seeds to farmers. Zanmi Latè (“Friends of the Land”) is a local group of Haitian farmers, founded in 2015, working to help their communities grow more food.
ZL is led by Jeanes, an agronomist, and Balaguel, an agricultural technician. I became friends with them when I lived in their community five years ago, and I’ve admired their work ever since. With very limited resources, they’re creating projects that improve the lives of farmers all around them.
Together, the members of Zanmi Latè have created a fruit tree nursery, worked on reforestation, helped improve a local road, and led agricultural trainings. Last year, they grew orange, mango, papaya, and avocado seedlings, and built a seed storage building for local farmers.
But their most impressive initiative is the seed-lending project, which they designed in 2017 to help some of the poorest farmers in their area become more self-sufficient. Every year since 2018, it’s been funded by your donations.
The project has been successful and deeply appreciated by local communities. The farmers and I would be thrilled if you'd help support it this year!
(Below: ZL members at the opening of the seed storage building. Jeanes is on the far left with the microphone)
Success so far
Lagonav is an island off the coast of Haiti, 40 miles long, where about 120,000 people live. Almost all of them are subsistence farmers, and many struggle to afford basic necessities.
Zanmi Latè designed the seed project to help farmers who can’t afford to buy seeds at planting time. These farmers have to take out high-interest loans to buy seeds and struggle to pay back the lenders at harvest time, and the cheap seeds they can afford often don’t grow well in local conditions.
When farmers join the seed project, ZL lends them good-quality, local seeds for crops that grow well on Lagonav, like peanuts, pigeon peas, and corn. The farmers agree to pay back the same amount of seeds, plus some “interest”, at harvest time. Farmers who need them also get basic tools—a sickle and a hoe. They get technical training and visits from ZL technicians.
The project is working. Jeanes and Balaguel told me last week that about 85% of the farmers they’ve supported with seed loans say they no longer need help. For each of these people, this is a huge step forward. “The farmers totally depend on their land,” Balaguel explains. “The farm is food, the farm is what pays for school for their children, the farm pays for medical treatment, the farm takes care of the family.”
(Below: ZL farmers with pigeon peas)
Your donations supported 40 farmers in 2018, 26 in 2019, and 40 in 2020. ZL has also helped around 25 more farmers using the seed “interest” from these loans. Each year, they hope to help more people with “interest” and depend less on donations.
People admire the project and are reaching out to help. Balaguel’s cousin, who owns a truck, transports the seeds and tools every year at a discounted rate. When the roof of the brand-new seed storage building was ripped off by a tropical storm last August, another American friend, Tim, raised enough money to pay for the most important repairs, which will be finished soon.
An organization called FOKA, which works with church-based groups all over Haiti on economic and environmental projects, has also offered some support. ZL has connected with some of FOKA’s local leaders, and last year, FOKA gave some ZL farmers cassava and yams to plant. This year, FOKA will contribute lima bean seeds.
In nearby communities, farmers have been organizing and forming groups. They’ve been coming to meet with ZL, asking if they can become members, help with the work, and participate in the seed project.
This year, ZL would like to lend seeds to 70 farmers, supporting a few of the neediest farmers from each of these groups, who could later support others with the “interest” they pay back.
As well as peanuts, pigeon peas, corn, and lima beans, ZL will lend millet to a few farmers as part of an experiment they started last year. Millet used to be common on Lagonav, and many people want to bring it back. Balaguel explained, “It’s very good for the land and for people to eat, especially breastfeeding women; it helps them produce plenty of milk. The leaves are good for animals to eat during the dry season, and the grain is also good for chickens.”
Although Lagonav hasn’t been badly affected by COVID, it’s suffering from food instability. The island imports a lot of food from mainland Haiti, through local merchants, who cross the channel and buy food to resell. Recently, political protests have led to violence on the mainland, and merchants are afraid to travel there, so food prices on Lagonav are going up. In the long term, Zanmi Latè hopes to help the island become more self-sufficient.
(Below: a ZL farmer harvesting peanuts)
The Budget
This year’s budget is below. 70 farmers will get seeds, tools, training, and support. Each will also receive a cash stipend of about $13, so they can hire people to help with planting or weeding, or cook food for the people who help them. “It won’t cover everything they need, but it’s a little bit of help,” Jeanes explained.
I’ll cover all GoFundMe and money transfer fees, so all your money will go to Zanmi Latè. A few dollars can do a lot.
$5 will buy seed corn for an average farmer (each farmer will receive slightly different seeds, based on land and soil type)
$7 will buy a hoe
$8.25 will pay for 3 full days of training for one farmer
$9 will buy pigeon peas for one farmer
$11 will buy peanuts for one farmer
$25 will pay for all the experimental millet seed
$61 will “sponsor” one farmer: seeds, tools, training, stipend, and transportation expenses
$192 will cover all transportation for the year
Any amount you can give will help! If ZL doesn’t raise their full budget, they’ll scale it down and support as many farmers as they can.
Thank you so much for your help! Last year, some of the farmers made this thank-you video for you. If you didn’t see it then, enjoy! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QkAphXzsql7mO0wZV-9dF9FleJ065_Fe/view?usp=sharing
Organizer
Meg Holladay
Organizer
Cambridge, MA