Above: Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti is facing serious food insecurity.

According to the United Nations, almost seven million people in Haiti struggle to meet their own food needs on a regular basis, and around 1.5 million face food insecurity.

In an effort to combat that problem, Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe laid the first stone on Thursday of Haiti’s planned Strategic Food Reserve.

The new facility, located in the area of Port-au-Prince, will store food both to fight against food insecurity and to combat the issue of speculation on the agricultural market during periods of drought, according to a statement by Lamothe’s office.

“The construction of this strategic reserve reflects the desire of my government to promote national agricultural production, stabilize the market price of commodities and combat food insecurity,” Lamothe said. “The fight against hunger and extreme poverty are the main pillars of government action.”

The Reserve Lafiteau, as it will be known, marks the beginning of what Lamothe said would be a series of agricultural facilities to be built “in all regions of the country.”

This facility will contain four large silos, each of which will have a capacity of around 2,500 metric tons and a shed of 25,000 metric tons on around 5,400 square metres of land.