Monsanto Donates $4 Million In Seeds To Haiti

Posted by Matt Hopkins|17 May 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Following the devasting earthquake in January that left at least 217,000 people dead, one million homeless and nearly 2.4 million food-insecure, Haiti had been the recipient of more than $560 million in donations as of Jan.30. Last week, the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture approved a donation of $4 million in conventional hybrid seeds from Monsanto, the company announced in a press release. The hybrid seeds, selected for growing conditions and farming practices in Haiti — the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere — include corn, cabbage, carrots, eggplant, melons, onions, tomatoes, spinach and watermelon. The total shipment will be 475-tons; 60 of which were delivered last week. No genetically modified seeds will be included in this donation.

About 60% of Haiti’s agricultural production comes from the current planting season, which spans from mid-March through the end of May, says Monsanto, which hopes to reach 10,000 farmers through this program.

Freight services have been donated by US-based UPS and Swiss logistics company Kuehne and Nagel. Once the seeds arrive in Haiti, they are distributed by the WINNER project, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development. WINNER will also provide technical services and crop inputs, such as fertilizer.

The seeds will be sold to farmers, but none of the revenues will go to Monsanto.