HAITIAN COFFEE

From 60,000 to 160,000 bags of Haitian coffee weighing 60 kg. each crossed annually the Haitian-Dominican border, according to Haitian Agronomist Gilles Damais of the Institute for Researches and Application of Development Strategy.

Within the Laboratory of the Haitian-Dominican Relations (LAREHDO), Damais made some researches in order to better track the commercial channels in which the Haitian Coffee get exported to the DR, and think about taking the necessary steps to better value this market.

These numbers, which are completely underestimated, make the Dominican Republic the primary trading partner of Haiti with reference to foreign coffee-trade, affirmed Gilles Damais. But, this trade is done "completely on an informal basis," he added.

In November 2004, the Haitian broker who facilitates the coffee-trade between the two countries resold the coffee of Beaumont for 36 gourdes per pound (before financial expenses) to the Dominican buyer. In April 2005, the coffee fetched 43 gourdes per pound.

The Haitian broker makes a small profit of 1, 2 gourdes on every pound of coffee bought in the capital from vendors of the Jérémie / Port-au-Prince channel. This situation is due to the fact that this part of the Grande-Anse Department is secluded and the roads are in bad shape.

"In the Beaumont's region, which is relatively far away from the Dominican Republic, the prices of coffee start at a very low level in the rural area (20 gourdes), but reach 40 gourdes per pound in the countryside's limit," states Gilles Damais. On its side, in addition to consume it, the Dominican Republic re-exports the Haitian coffee semi-roasted to Puerto Rican firms. On their part, the latters resell part of that coffee, as green beans shape, on the international market, according to the LAREHDO's study.

On the industrial scale, quality coffee-roasting could be considered in Haiti, according to the study, which admits, however, that the lost of the Dominican market would have a negative impact at the same time on Haitian farmers' incomes, on the coffee fields, and on the Haitian environment as well.

The coffee trade with the Dominican Republic is nothing new, it has existed for 30 years, according to LAREHDO.

For the past 20 years, the production of coffee in the Dominican Republic has dropped as a result of low profit-earning capacity compared with other commodities intended for export, labor shortage for harvesting, and natural disasters that occured in the area.

P.S.- Brazil is the first and greatest producing-exporting country of coffee in the world, thus influencing directly the prices of coffee on the international market.

The director of the Institute for Researches and Application of Development Strategy indicates that during the 1980's Haiti used to import Dominican coffee. "It was at that time more suitable for the Haitian market to import Dominican coffee, however, it did only last two years," he recalls.

For the past 15 or 20 years, the coffee consumed in the Dominican Republic is the Haitian coffee. It is estimated that almost half of this coffee comes from the South East of Haiti (Thiotte, Fond Jean Noel, Macary), one quart is from the Grande-Anse Department with a well established distribution network from Beaumont going through Jérémie towards Port-au-Prince, then Belladère, before reaching the Dominican Republic.

According to Gilles Damais, the cost of one pound of Haitian coffee fluctuates depending on the region, the location, and the period. The more secluded the region in relation to the coffee market, the lowest the prices will be. The highest the competition like in Thiotte, where the pound of green coffee went from 30 gourdes to 40 gourdes (less then $1 US) in February 2005, the highest the prices will be.