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We’re so happy that you are joining us in this critical conversation about capturing water in Haiti. Many don't realize that the health of the soil and the availability and quality of water are interconnected.

We believe that everyone has a role to play in restoring the watersheds and ecosystems of Haiti, and with this toolkit, we hope you will find the assets that best empower you to spread the message about restoring our Haitian landscapes and the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them.

Thank you for taking the time to engage with our campaign and contributing to the ultimate goal of #harvestingwaterinhaiti.

SIMPLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE ONLINE CONVERSATION BY:

1|  SHARING your opinions, thoughts and ideas on the harvesting water movement.

2|  POSTING your favorite harvesting water messages, facts, and graphics as outlined below.

3|  ENGAGING WITH POSTS that use the following hashtags:  #morewaterhaiti  #harvestingwaterhaiti  #regeneratehaiti  

WHY A HARVESTING WATER MOVEMENT?

1|  Approximately one million households in Haiti are involved with small-holder farming and about 30% of Haiti's workforce depends on agriculture. If there’s any chance of a sustainable future for Haiti, it will require a harvesting water movement. There is no viable alternative to land as a natural resource.

2|  Erosion affects over half of Haiti's territory, a consequence of an alarming rate of deforestation, combined with inappropriate agricultural practices. With 6% of the land, or 166,500 hectares, being considered to be severely eroded, we need farming and pastoral solutions that restore the land instead of degrading it further.

WHERE DO WE COME IN?

1|  The Harvesting Water Movement aims to bring awareness to what is needed to begin capturing and holding more water in the soils across the ten departments of Haiti. 

2|  To improve agricultural yields on such a large scale requires a radical rethink of water-management strategies across Haiti.

3|  Regenerative agroforestry has long been used to successfully create self-watering forest gardens. The aim now is to scale-up relevant practices across the country.

4|  By incorporating trees into farmlands and communal land, the Harvesting Water Movement is helping to mobilize a full and complete restoration of Haiti's depleted watersheds. 

5|  By the end of _____, the Harvesting Water Movement hopes to be ready to transition to a nationwide reforestation movement across Haiti that will further improve the livelihoods, food security and climate resilience of over _____ households by restoring ecosystem services through agroforestry. 

A MESSAGE TO POLICYMAKERS

1|  For Haiti to become food-sovereign, strategies are needed for harvesting rainwater, storing runoff, and retaining soil moisture to bridge dry spells that last for weeks; the major challenge for rain-fed food production.

2|  Water and food need to be integrated and managed in the same political sphere, preferably together with the environment, to enable sustainable and efficient blue- and green-water management in agricultural ecosystems and landscapes. (Blue-water is fresh surface water and groundwater. Green-water is the water held in the soil that is available to plants.)

3|  Green-water can be retained in three ways — collecting run-off, improving the infiltration of rain in soils, and managing land, water and crops across watersheds to increase water storage in soils, wetlands, and the water table.

4|  Soil, nutrient and crop-management strategies are also needed to boost crop yields. One of the most promising practices is abandoning the plough, which has proven to be an effective way of burning soil carbon — by exposing it to sun and oxygen — causing emissions of carbon dioxide. Ploughing compacts and encrusts the soil, preventing rain from infiltrating and increasing run-off. Conservation tillage instead avoids turning the soil to allow its structure and microorganisms to build up.

5|  We propose a nature-based solution that will improve water security, address hunger and poverty, and enhance carbon storage.

A MESSAGE TO DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

1|  Most farming communities are a long way from rivers and cannot use irrigation. A dedicated water goal that includes science-based targets and indicators is essential.

2|  Most farming communities depend on green-water, or moisture from the rain that is held in the soil. Management of green-water for rainfed, small-scale farming is integral to eradicating hunger. 

3|  In most of Haiti, rain evaporates before it generates blue-water, or runoff, so very little of it recharges the rivers, lakes and groundwater.

4|  Small-scale water harvesting methods could include terracing to conserve soil moisture, or dams and ditches to channel run-off into fields. Storage systems such as ponds, tanks, and sub-surface storage in sand and soil, offer another approach. Together, these systems can hold the equivalent of a few rainy-season deluges, enough to bridge month-long dry spells. 

5|  Green-water management strategies need to span scales — from fields to watersheds and river basins. Diverse sets of ecosystems should be protected to dampen the effects of flash floods and encourage underground flows to avoid erosion from run-off. Wetlands, meandering rivers, forests and patchy landscapes are natural capital assets that build resilience.

A MESSAGE TO FAITH COMMUNTIES

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A MESSAGE TO FARMERS

1|  Watershed and river-basin management protect local rainfall. Much tropical rain is convective, meaning that clouds produced from rising vapor over forests generate rain downwind, even toward distant locations.

2|  Water harvesting improves the stability of crop yields and can raise productivity for up to four times as much.

3|  Mulches and canopy cover cut evaporation. The limiting factor is extremely nutrient-poor soils in certain farming systems.

4|  Regenerative agroforestry offers several economic incentives for those that practice it, including tree based products like fruit, nuts, fuelwood and honey.

A MESSAGES TO HOUSEHOLDS / SCHOOLS

1|  Rainfall is becoming more erratic. Later rainy seasons, longer dry spells, and fewer rainy days. The cause is uncertain but it is likely linked to climate change, which references the increasing long-term shifts in global temperatures and weather patterns.

2|  Harvesting rainwater reduces soil erosion, stormwater runoff and the pollution of surface water with fertilizers, pesticides and other sediments. It is an excellent source of water for irrigation with no chemicals, dissolved salts and minerals.

3|  Failing to restore our landscapes is the surest way to poverty. Restoring it, on the other hand, offers massive potential for livelihoods.

4|  Water harvesting is a low-cost solution to landscape degradation and food insecurity. It is a solution for everyone and can be done by anyone. As communities implement sustainable environmental practices, restoration can begin with us.

5|  Water harvesting and regenerative regreening efforts are necessary for the future of Haiti and those who want to continue to live and thrive in it.

A MESSAGE TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR

1|  A green society is a sign of prosperity. By growing trees, we’re directly investing in healthier soils and more food, fuelwood and medicinal plants for us to enjoy and trade. Our water tables and water-holding capacities in soils dramatically increase in green environments.

2|  If leaving our landscapes to degrade is the surest way to poverty, then pushing for their restoration is the surest way to prosperity.

3|  A regenerative agriculture movement is an opportunity to address one of our biggest socio-economic issues. Putting women and youth at the forefront of land restoration and management so that they can reap the benefits.

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