Silent hunger: a look at Haiti's nutritional reality

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the Food and Nutritional Security (FNS) situation in Haiti. FNS is key to human development. A review was conducted of documents published between 2015 and 2026 in English, French, and Spanish, using the keywords: Haiti, food and nutritional security, FNS, FAO and malnutrition. Sixty-five sources from international organizations were consulted, of which 43 were selected. Opinion pieces, documents published outside the defined timeframe and those that did not have Haiti as the focus of their analysis were excluded. It was found that more than 50% of food is imported. Inflation exceeded 20%, and extreme poverty and armed violence severely limit access to food. Only half the population has access to safe drinking water. While the country's security crisis continues, 5.4 million Haitians struggle daily to access food, as the implementation of humanitarian aid programs is weak, despite their existence. Agroindustry could improve food availability, reduce losses, and strengthen value chains, although it faces financing and infrastructure challenges. It is concluded that all components -availability, access, utilization, and stability - of FNS in Haiti are in crisis due to structural factors such as violence, climate change, poverty, and institutional fragility. This constitutes a multidimensional crisis, requiring comprehensive actions that combine humanitarian assistance with investment in sustainable agroindustry and sound governance to reduce import dependency and improve resilience.