Wilhelm Emile does not fit the typical revenue profile of the average Haitian farmer. With half a hectare of land, he reaches revenues of approximately $5,000 (USD) per year, 10 times that of an average farmer in the same region with the same amount of land.
Wilhelm’s success is due not only the crop he grows, plantains, but more importantly to his understanding of best practices to increase yields.
In the Haitian corridor of des Matheux where Wilhelm lives, the thriving plantain industry is prevented from reaching its full potential by pests and poor cultivation techniques.
A Feed the Future project there is helping farmers like Wilhelm in des Matheux to increase yields by as much as 60 percent, training them in new methods of marking their fields and in the system of planting double rows that can lead to an additional $10,000 (USD) more in plantain yields per hectare.
Farmers are also trained in simple ways to prevent pest infestation, which typically accounts for more than 20 percent in production loss, as well as low-cost techniques for post-harvest management that limit damage to fruits.
As the president of a small farmer association, Wilhelm is already demonstrating these techniques in his plot. Through this project, Feed the Future expects an estimated increase of $80 million (USD) in Haiti’s plantain value chain.
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