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Urgent Request

Our decades-long relationship with the farmers and their families in Gros Morne, Haiti, continues. Good things are still happening, thanks to the determination and perseverance of Haitians and their partners, like us, outside the country. Right now, the Gros Morne community needs extra help from us.

The community's mango crop is the main source of cash for many farmers in Gros Morne. They use the money to send their kids to school, pay for medical care, and augment their food supply. The mangoes are ripening now and must be harvested and consumed before they are inedible. In the past, the U.S. bought many of the mangoes, but the USDA has cancelled Haiti's export contract. We describe what happened and the context in detail HERE ([link removed]).

The situation is urgent, because if the producers cannot sell their mangoes for cash, they may start cutting down their trees and selling the wood for cash. The community reports that some trees have already been cut. Ideally, the mangoes would be harvested and sold within the country; unfortunately, QC's on-the-ground partners in Gros Morne have not been able to secure a local buyer. Although negotiations continue, they need help right now to save the mangoes while they are ripe.

The community has a plan that will get their delicious, nutritious mangoes from the trees to hungry mouths in Haiti in three to five days. This message is our response to the community's plea. While our long-range efforts focus on alleviating the entrenched political and economic problems embroiling Haiti today, including a sustainable mango market, sometimes a situation arises that needs immediate triage. This is one of those times.

Our goal is ambitious but realistic:$35,000 will cover the harvesting, packing, transporting and distributing of 168,000 mangoes to areas in Haiti that do not produce the fruit. The community will distribute them to school lunch programs for needy children.

Quixote Center partners in Gros Morne, Haiti, are dependent on mango exports for their main source of cash. Haitian producers grow the Fransik variety, sometimes called peach mangoes, because they are small, yellow, and sweet. In 2022 Haiti exported 28 million mangoes to the United States, their main customer.

In late 2022 mango producers received notice that the USDA was cancelling the mango export contract, citing insecurity. It was no longer safe for USDA inspectors to disinfect the crop and clear it for export. Quixote Center has been working to change this decision since 2022. We wrote about it at the time, here, and here. These articles provide additional details about the importance of mango production for the region and for the country.

We have sent letters and phone calls to USDA, with no response. We had what seemed to be a hopeful meeting with State Department officials that ultimately went nowhere. Most recently we have been working with Members of Congress to pressure the Administration to develop a workaround, which would be irradiation of the fruit in Miami instead of Haiti. We are very hopeful that our colleagues in the House and Senate will make progress and get the decision reversed in time for the 2025 harvest.

Donate to
Mango Appeal ([link removed])

 

Some Background on the
Importance of Mangoes

Quixote Center partners in Gros Morne, Haiti, are dependent on mango exports for their main source of cash. Haitian producers grow the Fransik variety small, yellow, juicy and sweet. In 2022 Haiti exported 28 million mangoes to the United States, their main customer.

In late 2022 mango producers received notice that the USDA was cancelling the mango export contract, citing insecurity. It was no longer safe for USDA inspectors to disinfect the crop and clear it for export. Quixote Center has been working to change this decision since 2022. We wrote about it at the time, here ([link removed]), and here ([link removed]). These previous articles provide additional details about the importance of mango production for the region and for the country.

We have sent letters and phone calls to USDA, with no response. We had what seemed to be a hopeful meeting with State Department officials that ultimately went nowhere. Most recently we have been working with Members of Congress to pressure the Administration to develop a workaround, which would be irradiation of the fruit in Miami instead of Haiti. We are very hopeful that our colleagues in the House and Senate will make progress and get the decision reversed in time for the 2025 harvest.

In the meantime, our partners in Haiti have been working to find a local buyer. World Food Program and Food for the Poor are mandated to purchase some local produce to supply their food programs to assist schools and families in distress. So far, neither organization has agreed to purchase any of this year's harvest, which is starting this month. Those negotiations continue.

Gros Morne producers are losing hope as well as income, and so they are beginning to cut down their trees to sell for cooking fuel. They desperately need a short-term fix, so that they can wait out the security crisis, and while we continue our work toward a solution for next year.

Not everyone in the region has mangoes. There are drier areas with no fresh fruit where the children would benefit from mangoes in their lunch program. Rather than allowing all the mangoes to rot on the ground, and rather than looking away while desperate families cut down their trees, with your help Quixote Center will purchase mangoes from Gros Morne producers, and the local parish community will transport them to remote areas that can use the fruit. The community has already organized, and they believe they can get the mangoes from tree to hungry mouth in 3 to 5 days. Besides providing delicious, nutritious mangoes to fruit-deprived areas, we hope to encourage mango growers to protect their mango trees and not cut them down for wood planks or charcoal.

We would like to raise $35,000 to support this emergency mango distribution program. This will purchase 168,000 mangoes and pay for coordination and transportation costs.

We are also working toward a longer-term solution of local mango processing (into juice and dried fruit) and local sales. This idea is on hold because the ports are closed and it is not possible to import machinery into Haiti right now. Buying mangoes now will keep this dream alive by preserving the future of the mango industry in Gros Morne.

If you have questions or would like to discuss this issue with Kim Lamberty, you can contact her at [email protected]

Donate to
Mango Appeal ([link removed])

 

Artist Corner
Alexandra Antoine

Alexandra Antoine was born and raised in Leogane, Haiti and is now based in Chicago.Alexandra mixes painting, photography, collage and sculpture to create collages. Her work seeks to tell stories related to culture, identity and spirituality, especially about her own Haitian identity.

You can learn more about Alexandra Antoine and see more of her art HERE ([link removed]).

 

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