South-South Cooperation is not a new concept in development speak. The term has been used since the 1990s by development thinkers, policymakers and academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries. In Haiti, for the past twenty years, cooperation with other developing countries has played an important role in the development process, complementing traditional international aid. It began mainly with Cuba and Venezuela, and then extended to other countries like Brazil. Following the 2010 earthquake, new countries, such as Senegal, have joined in supporting Haiti.
Another country, Colombia, is interested in revitalizing the Haitian coffee value chain through “soft” investments – study tours in both countries, training in Colombia for young Haitian professionals and research on introducing new coffee varieties in Haiti.
Coffee is one of the leading value chains in rural Haiti. It is a cash crop that involves more than 100,000 families, impacting the lives of about one million people, or about 10% of the population. In 2011, partnering with the French Development Agency, the MIF approved a new project, designed to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the coffee value chain in Haiti. In parallel, the Colombian Presidential Agency signed an agreement with both the IDB and the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture to support Haiti in revamping its coffee value chain, within the framework of the MIF/French project. The intervention aims to increase the volume and quality of coffee produced, to do so in a sustainable way, and to strengthen the capacity of key institutions in the sector. By positioning Haitian coffee in the world’s highest quality and price markets, it is expected that the income of Haitian farmers will increase significantly, leading to greater access to basic services such as potable water, health care and education.
So far, the cooperation between Haiti and Colombia on this project has led to a fruitful sharing of knowledge and expertise, and has laid the foundation for a long-term collaborative relationship between coffee sector stakeholders in Haiti and Colombia. In October, a Haitian delegation traveled to Colombia on a study tour to observe how cutting-edge technology is used in the coffee transformation process.
The Haitian visitors also learned about in-depth research undertaken by Colombia in terms of production technology, coffee processing and marketing. The delegation was especially excited to see the large number of byproducts that are possible through the use of these technologies: shampoo, cosmetics, alcohol, mushrooms, organic fertilizer, honey, etc.
Seeing this relationship get off to such a promising start raises the following questions for me:
- Could this model of south-south cooperation be applied to other sectors than coffee/agriculture?
- Could the MIF use this model with another country in the region?
The Latin American and Caribbean region is very diverse in terms of experience, sophistication, and economic development. I hope this Colombian-Haitian alliance may serve as an example to inspire other relatively developed countries within the region to reach out to some of the smaller or poorer ones.