Nursery Technicians Distribute Seedlings
After a recent training module offered to the staff of area organizations, there are now 10 newly-trained tree nursery technicians in Jean Rabel. They will continue to establish new nurseries, pass along their knowledge to others, and distribute seedlings to community members.
Centuries of cutting and burning trees for charcoal, soil degradation, and natural and manmade disasters have left Haiti nearly completely denuded of trees. Local partner AGEHPMDNG has joined an effort to restore tree cover by training nursery technicians who then distribute seedlings to program participants. It’s imperative to plant trees for their nutritional value as well as to prevent soil erosion and add plant matter back into the soil for agricultural success.
The nursery training included how to select and prepare a space for a tree nursery, treating seeds, identifying seed populations, harvesting and preparing seeds, how to get seeds from fruit, and basic plant science. Attendees learned how to select the site of a tree nursery, looking for a flat area, well-cleared, sunny, with a slight slope, and little wind. The site should have a water source, either through a well, borehole, river, or lake. The nursery should also be accessible during all seasons.
The goal is to produce good quality plants that are able to resist bad weather. Seedlings have already been distributed to community members at four cents apiece and been planted in yards and in fields among crops. Trees include lemon, orange, saman (a type of mimosa), coffee, moringa (a fast-growing tree all of whose parts can be used for food or medicine), tamarind, cacao, grapefruit and lime.
One attendee, Ilogène, said the seedlings are very helpful for the community. “Trees are very useful plants for consumption by people and animals. They renew land for sustainable agriculture. Our living conditions will improve at a medical level, because some plants have medicinal effects; at the economic level, from selling fruit; and at the nutritional level at home, where our families can enjoy the taste and variety of what we grow.”
Haiti Jean Rabel Program
Led by Church World Service and local partner Association des Groupes Evangéliques d’Haïti pour la Prédication du Monde et le Développement d’une Nouvelle Génération (AGEHPMDNG)