A drought early warning mechanism for six vulnerable areas in Haiti
Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) commissioned ArkoConsulting to conduct a study on drought anticipation in six areas of Haiti — Belle-Anse, Bainet, Maniche, Jérémie, Jean-Rabel, and Port-de-Paix — with the aim of designing a community-based early warning mechanism tailored to the Haitian context.
Haiti is exposed to recurrent drought episodes, exacerbated by El Niño phenomena, endemic deforestation, and the fragility of irrigation systems. Rural populations in coastal and mountainous areas, dependent on rainfed agriculture, have limited adaptive capacity to face these climate hazards.
DKH sought to design a drought anticipation mechanism (MAS) grounded in the community realities of its intervention zones.
ArkoConsulting conducted the study between January and April 2024 in five phases: desk review and comparative analysis of existing prediction systems (FEWS NET, UHM, CNSA), assessment of the reliability of national meteorological data, field surveys in the six zones with focus groups involving communities (farmers, CASEC, watershed management committees, civil protection, municipal agricultural offices, Red Cross), development of strategic recommendations, and drafting of the final report in French and English. The field mission (February–March 2024) covered the six zones between Jacmel, the South, and the Northwest, with consultations with local authorities, NGOs (ACDED, ATEPASE, CRS), and community actors.
The study delivered a theoretical and practical framework for a community-based early warning system with three pillars — risk knowledge, indicator monitoring, and alert communication — that DKH and its local partners can manage and deploy in Haiti’s vulnerable areas.
