Moving Beyond American Conditional Aid to Haiti
Security Theme
State Stability and Infrastructure
Keywords
Political Stability, Haiti's poverty, Chinese aid
Description
Haiti is one of the poorest countries today, with an extreme poverty rate. Its per capita income is two hundred fifty dollars, while 80% of the rural population makes less than $1.25 per day (World Bank, 2017). Although the country has abundant natural resources, resources are extracted by foreign predators, leaving very few margins to local Haitian people. I will argue that the problems in Haiti became most salient when the United States imposed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) structural adjustment plan. It promised a profitable transition from agricultural industry to light manufacturing industry; instead, it destroyed Haiti’s agricultural industry while its manufacturing industry showed minimal success. The country lost its political autonomy while it became more dependent on foreign capital that is largely operated by American companies. In this paper, I will address the problems of the IMF’s structural adjustment plan and offer solutions to improve Haiti’s agricultural industry. I will argue that China’s unconditional aid is important to reduce the dependency on Western capital and also develop protective policies for agricultural industries; in particular, the rice industry.
Moving Beyond American Conditional Aid to Haiti
Haiti is one of the poorest countries today, with an extreme poverty rate. Its per capita income is two hundred fifty dollars, while 80% of the rural population makes less than $1.25 per day (World Bank, 2017). Although the country has abundant natural resources, resources are extracted by foreign predators, leaving very few margins to local Haitian people. I will argue that the problems in Haiti became most salient when the United States imposed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) structural adjustment plan. It promised a profitable transition from agricultural industry to light manufacturing industry; instead, it destroyed Haiti’s agricultural industry while its manufacturing industry showed minimal success. The country lost its political autonomy while it became more dependent on foreign capital that is largely operated by American companies. In this paper, I will address the problems of the IMF’s structural adjustment plan and offer solutions to improve Haiti’s agricultural industry. I will argue that China’s unconditional aid is important to reduce the dependency on Western capital and also develop protective policies for agricultural industries; in particular, the rice industry.
