Overview:
In Fort-Liberté, 57-year-old farmer Marianne Victore wakes earlier than dawn to stroll to her rice fields. At house, she cares for 5 kids and a sick husband whereas supporting her grandchildren. Her story displays the important but invisible function of Haitian ladies farmers sustaining households and communities regardless of scarce assets.
FORT-LIBERTÉ — Daily at dawn, when most of her kids are nonetheless asleep, Marianne Victore ties on her wool hat, slips into her lengthy gown and walks greater than a mile to her rice fields at Cité Nébert—close to the doorway of the northeast’s capital metropolis. For the 57-year-old farmer, like a sacred ritual, this each day trek is extra than simply agricultural work — it’s survival, dignity and energy rolled into one.
With a sick husband and 5 kids —Miryame, Fredeline, Loudrige, Anne Flavi and Donaldson Bijou — relying on her, Marianne has turn into each breadwinner and spine of her household. She manages the family, tends to her crops and nonetheless finds vitality to be a grandmother to a few.
“It’s an enormous weight on my shoulders,” she says.
“The load of the home, the kids, and my husband.”
Her story is a robust reminder of Haitian ladies’s quiet energy. In keeping with the Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO), ladies make up practically 47% of the nation’s agricultural labor pressure but obtain little recognition or institutional help.
In Fort-Liberté, Marianne’s rice harvest is greater than a livelihood — it’s a part of the area’s fragile chain protecting meals on native tables.
“It’s an enormous weight on my shoulders, the burden of the home to offer for all the kids and my husband.”
Marianne Victore, Native of Fort-Liberté
Agriculture accounts for about 20–25% of Haiti’s Gross Home Product (GDP) and practically half of employment, the World Financial institution reported in 2020. However ladies farmers, regardless of being central to manufacturing and meals safety, management little land, earn lower than males, and face boundaries to credit score and trendy instruments.
Carrying the household alone
Marianne as soon as shared the workload along with her husband, Jean Frenel Bijou. His sickness, nevertheless, compelled her to shoulder the whole burden.
Now, Bijou watches from house, proud but saddened by his spouse’s relentless wrestle. His present well being situation stays a relentless supply of unhappiness for Marianne.
“Earlier than he fell unwell, we labored collectively within the backyard. It was far more joyful,” she recalled.
“I wish to sit and care for him all day. However I can’t — the home is dependent upon me.”
Her kids pitch in after they can.
“When my mom is planting rice, if we’re not in school, we assist her by cooking or doing different issues,” mentioned her youngest daughter, Flavi.
Marianne’s journey in agriculture has been one among adaptation. After setbacks in corn and pistachio manufacturing, Marianne switched to rice — a crop higher suited to the Coicou plain, adjoining to Fort-Liberté at lower than two miles of distance, and extra dependable and worthwhile for her household’s wants. She does a lot of the work by herself.
“I plow the land, I clear it, I dig the soil, and I uproot the bushes to make the land prepared,” she defined proudly.
Marianne’s about 124-acre plot now produces as much as half a ton of rice per 12 months. In good years with sufficient water, she harvests 3 times this quantity; in unhealthy years, solely as soon as.
“It’s a endless cycle, and each day is a brand new problem,” she mentioned.
The challenges are fixed with the price of fertilizer, instruments, seeds and irrigation, usually forcing Marianne to decide on between getting ready the land and paying for tuition for Falvi, her youngest daughter.
“Costs rise quicker than she will sustain, and generally I can’t afford what she [Flavi] wants,” Marianne admitted.
“When there’s water, I harvest 3 times, however in unhealthy seasons, I can solely harvest twice, generally solely as soon as,” she mentioned.
Regardless of the hardships, nevertheless, Marianne’s dedication evokes these round her. Neighbors usually cease by to lend help.
“I attempt to go to Marianne each time I’ve a break,” mentioned neighbor and long-time good friend Fanius Augustin, generally known as Kabare. “It’s essential to present her braveness and hope.”
“How can a girl work so exhausting in these circumstances?” requested one other neighbor, Davide Joseph. “It makes me respect her much more.”
Her brother, Gesner Victore, donated half of the land she cultivates to her.
“I see the difficulties she is enduring. I hope this can give her some respite,” Gesner mentioned. “ I’m so happy with her heroic strengths.”
Her kids echo that delight.
“My mom’s dream is evident: she needs us to dwell with dignity and commit ourselves to our research,” mentioned her daughter, Myriame, a theology pupil.
Her work highlights each the precariousness of the farming system and the pressing want for better recognition of ladies farmers and help for his or her function in rebuilding the nation’s agricultural system. At the moment, she receives no help from both the Haitian authorities or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Marianne’s fundamental dream is to make sure a steady future for her kids and husband. She firmly believes that everybody deserves a dignified life, even when it means sacrifice.
“I aspire for my household to have a standard life, even when we are able to’t get all the things we wish. I would like my kids to have entry to what they want,” she mentioned.