Caribbean · public research route

Haiti

Haiti is organized here as a Caribbean research route covering 8 public-policy areas. The route begins with Monoculture Agriculture, Firearms (gang arms trafficking), Deforestation & Logging (charcoal economy).

Executive summary

This page is a structured research guide to institutions, public frameworks, and possible lines of inquiry in Haiti. It supports rapid orientation and identifies where current primary-source verification is required.

Research-use notice. This material is for research and educational use. Information may be incomplete or out of date. Verify primary sources, current law, institutional authority, source dates, and local applicability before acting. This site does not provide legal, financial, investment, regulatory, or implementation advice.

Monoculture Agriculture

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Document deforestation through community organizations
  • Report illegal charcoal production to MDE (Ministry of Environment)
  • Engage international development organizations

MDE (Ministère de l'Environnement) — the environment ministry, severely under-resourced. Note: Haiti's state institutions are largely non-functional due to the ongoing security and governance crisis. International organizations (UN, USAID, EU) provide most environmental programming.

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • International agricultural companies: Support sustainable supply chains from Haiti
  • Invest in tree crop processing (coffee, cacao, mango)
  • Charcoal alternatives: Support LPG transition programs

Haiti's private sector is small. The Chambre de Commerce d'Haïti coordinates business activities. International NGOs (Partners in Health, Trees for the Future) implement many development programs.

Regulator / Agency

  • MDE: Enforce (to extent possible) remaining forest protections
  • MARNDR (Agriculture Ministry): Prioritize hillside agroforestry programs
  • ONEV: Support reforestation monitoring

MARNDR (Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Ressources Naturelles et du Développement Rural) — the agriculture ministry. ONEV (Observatoire National de l'Environnement et de la Vulnérabilité) — environmental monitoring.

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • Support international reforestation and land restoration programs for Haiti
  • Advocate through CARICOM for regional environmental support
  • Push for debt-for-nature swaps to finance reforestation
  • Support Haitian diaspora organizations working on environmental restoration

Note: Haiti's democratic institutions are non-functional — no elected parliament since 2023, no elected president. Transitional governance is underway. International channels: UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), CARICOM, OAS, Haitian diaspora organizations.

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Firearms (gang arms trafficking)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Customs and port-authority staff document falsified manifests and bribe demands on inbound containers
  • Report diversion routes and complicit officials to the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti

Administration Générale des Douanes (AGD), Autorité Portuaire Nationale (APN), UN Panel of Experts on Haiti

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Banks apply enhanced due diligence on importers and shipping agents flagged for arms diversion
  • Money-transfer and trade-finance providers screen against UN and OFAC sanctions lists for Haitian gang networks

Banque de la République d'Haïti (BRH), Unité Centrale de Renseignements Financiers (UCREF)

Regulator / Agency

  • Haitian National Police and customs deploy scanning and joint inspection at main ports
  • US ATF and DHS prosecute straw purchasers and exporters feeding the Haitian pipeline

Police Nationale d'Haïti (PNH), US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), US Department of Homeland Security

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • UN Security Council enforces and expands the arms embargo and targeted sanctions on Haitian gang financiers
  • CARICOM coordinates regional interdiction and intelligence sharing under the Arms Trade Treaty

UN Security Council (Resolution 2653 sanctions regime), CARICOM IMPACS, Arms Trade Treaty

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Deforestation & Logging (charcoal economy)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Forestry agents and farmers map illegal cutting sites and charcoal kiln networks
  • Report protected-zone clearing to the environment ministry and partner NGOs

Ministère de l'Environnement, Direction des Ressources Forestières

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Development banks finance LPG distribution and clean-cookstove supply chains
  • Channel climate funds into agroforestry and watershed payment-for-ecosystem-services schemes

Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, Green Climate Fund

Regulator / Agency

  • Ministry of Environment enforces protected-area boundaries and charcoal transport permits
  • Coordinate reforestation targets with the agriculture ministry's watershed programs

Ministère de l'Environnement, Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Ressources Naturelles et du Développement Rural (MARNDR)

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • FAO supports national forest monitoring and sustainable land-management programs
  • Channel Paris Agreement and REDD+ finance toward Haitian reforestation commitments

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNFCCC REDD+ framework, Paris Agreement

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Topsoil Erosion

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Agronomists document yield collapse and gully formation in target watersheds
  • Flag misallocated soil-conservation funds to the agriculture ministry and donors

MARNDR, Direction Départementale Agricole field offices

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Development finance backs watershed restoration and cash-for-work terracing at scale
  • Microfinance lenders tie credit to soil-conservation practices on hillside plots

Inter-American Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Regulator / Agency

  • Agriculture ministry mandates and supports contour farming in priority basins
  • Land-registry reform gives farmers tenure security to justify conservation investment

MARNDR, Office National du Cadastre (ONACA)

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • FAO provides technical standards and monitoring for sustainable land management
  • UNCCD channels desertification and land-degradation funding to Haitian watersheds

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

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Fisheries / Overfishing (coastal reefs)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Fisher cooperatives report destructive gear and reserve poaching
  • Document catch decline to the fisheries directorate and conservation partners

Direction des Pêches et de l'Aquaculture (MARNDR), local fisher associations

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Blue-economy and conservation funds finance fish-aggregating devices and alternative livelihoods
  • Grant capital supports community-managed marine reserves

World Bank, Caribbean Biodiversity Fund

Regulator / Agency

  • Fisheries directorate designates marine protected areas and enforces seasonal closures
  • Coast guard interdicts foreign trawlers and destructive fishing in Haitian waters

Direction des Pêches et de l'Aquaculture, Garde-Côtes Haïtiens

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • FAO and CRFM support regional stock assessment and management standards
  • CARICOM coordinates shared-stock management and anti-IUU fishing enforcement

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), CARICOM

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Plastics (waste and import packaging)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Customs and sanitation workers report banned-plastic imports and dumping sites
  • Document drainage blockage hotspots to municipal authorities

Service Métropolitain de Collecte des Résidus Solides (SMCRS), Administration Générale des Douanes

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Impact investors finance recycling enterprises and waste-collection logistics
  • Banks tie trade finance for importers to packaging take-back compliance

Société Financière Internationale (IFC), Banque de la République d'Haïti

Regulator / Agency

  • Environment ministry enforces the single-use plastics ban at ports and markets
  • Municipalities organize and fund solid-waste collection in dense neighborhoods

Ministère de l'Environnement, mairie de Port-au-Prince, SMCRS

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • Support Haiti's participation in the UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations
  • Channel UNEP and Basel Convention support against plastic waste imports

UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Basel Convention, UN Global Plastics Treaty process

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Insurance & Climate Risk (uninsured disasters)

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Insurance regulators and adjusters expose underpriced or unfunded disaster exposure
  • Report payout failures after storms to the finance ministry and donors

Banque de la République d'Haïti (insurance supervision), Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Reinsurers and development finance capitalize a Haitian microinsurance and catastrophe pool
  • Climate funds subsidize premiums for low-income policyholders

World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF)

Regulator / Agency

  • Finance ministry buys sovereign parametric coverage and pre-arranges disaster financing
  • Enforce building codes and risk disclosure to make property insurable

Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances, Direction de la Protection Civile

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • CCRIF provides parametric payouts to Haiti after hurricanes and earthquakes
  • UNFCCC loss-and-damage funding supports Haitian climate-risk financing

Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC), UNFCCC Loss and Damage Fund

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Sovereign Debt

Insider / Whistleblower

  • Treasury and central-bank staff expose off-budget borrowing and monetary financing of deficits
  • Report debt-data discrepancies to the supreme audit court and IMF

Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances, Cour Supérieure des Comptes et du Contentieux Administratif

Investor / Capital Allocator

  • Bilateral and multilateral creditors offer grants and concessional terms over commercial debt
  • Diaspora-bond and remittance-linked instruments fund development without high-cost borrowing

Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank International Development Association (IDA)

Regulator / Agency

  • Central bank ends deficit monetization and enforces a borrowing ceiling
  • Finance ministry publishes a transparent debt registry and medium-term fiscal framework

Banque de la République d'Haïti, Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances

Policymakers / Treaty Forum

  • IMF structures a concessional program with fiscal and governance conditionality
  • Paris Club and bilateral creditors coordinate relief for a fragile, disaster-exposed state

International Monetary Fund, Paris Club, World Bank

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Research references

Use the public glossary for terminology and the selected publications and working papers for public evidence and methods.