Volume 1, Number 6, 10th June 2006
Profile of the Landless Peasant Protest Movement (Verettes, Artibonite) - 2 June 2006
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The Landless Peasant Protest Movement or in kreyol the “Mouvman Revandikasyon Peyizan San Tè” (MRPST) is based in the town of Vèrèt (Verettes) in the Artibonite Valley. It has 950 members and was formed as result of a struggle against several large landowners who stole more than 950 kawo (a measurement of land like an acre) from peasants in difficult circumstances. These plots of land are currently in the hands of the peasants.
Organizational Structure
The organization’s base is comprised of small groups known as gwoupman in Haiti, which have around 10 to 15 members each. (Note to readers: a gwoupman is a small local group of peasants who join together to work for social, economic or political change. They collectively reflect on a community problem and then come up with a group solution to the problem, usually an economic development project). Each gwoupman is led by three members: a coordinator, a secretary and a treasurer. They send a representative to a delegate assembly. An executive committee of nine members heads the delegate assembly; this committee is elected every three years at the general assembly. As you can see, the grassroots groups in Haiti have a clear understanding of democratic representation.The goals of MRPST are:
1. Fight to help poor peasants improve their lives socially, economically and politically
2. Create a large network which is fighting to help the peasants work in better conditions and to increase the value of their products
3. Participate in all the work being done in the area, particularly in environmental protection
Needs
Peasants in Vèrèt live solely through agriculture. They are able to feed and educate their children thanks to the small profit they make through farming. However, because they lack money, they face many difficulties. For example, they frequently can’t plant on time due to lack of capital, they don’t have access to good seeds or technical training, they cannot always maintain their crops, and the local environment is becoming more damaged all the time. In reflecting on these problems, the organization was able to come up with a plan to solve the problems. This project includes: a small bean farming project, a soil conservation and reforestation project, and a tool bank.
Project Objectives:
• Gain greater means to continue working a large portion of the plots of collective land that the MRPST occupies• Reinforce the solidarity work which exists within the organization
• Begin to be liberated from the control of local large landowners from whom they borrow money at exorbitant interest rates in order to do their agricultural work
• Enable farmers to gain more technical knowledge of agriculture and management of their economic activities
• Enable farmers to increase their harvests so they have more money to provide for and feed their families.
With seed money provided by the Lambi Fund, the Landless Peasant Protest Movement in Vèrèt is starting a micro-credit fund for farmers in order to break free of the sharecropping system controlled by the big landowners in the area. At least 60 peasants will be able to cultivate larger plots of land with loans from the micro-credit fund. They will re-pay the loans at a far lower rate than the exorbitant rates charged by the greedy landowners. In addition, the members will plant over 60,000 trees. By reforesting the land and farming larger plots of land, 60 peasant families will have the capability of earning more income and attaining economic justice.
(source: Spring 2006 issue of the electronic newsletter of the Lambi Fund of Haiti - supporting economic justice, democracy and sustainable development)
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'Ideas and Action - Projecting the voices of Haiti's progressive civil society organisations' is a Haiti Support Group project funded by the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).
Open letter to Préval from the Collective to Mobilise against the High Cost of Living - Vol. 1, No. 2, 4th May, 2006
SOS Journalistes: New press freedom organisation in action - Vol. 1, No. 3, 5th May 2006
Launch of peasant organisation network - Vol. 1, No. 4, 9th May 2006
The Collective to Mobilise against the High Cost of Living: Press release on neo-liberal policies and the people's demands - Vol, 1, No. 5, 15th May 2006
The Haiti Support Group is a British organisation working in solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for human rights, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
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