Haiti: Overview of DR border closure impacts | 3 November 2023 – Haiti

KEY POINTS

1 Market adaptations after border closure shield consumers from drastic price increases

2 Decreased food security in households in border departments

3 Deterioration in household food consumption in the two target departments

CONTEXT

On 15th September, the Dominican Republic closed
its land, sea and air borders with Haiti. Given the
already fragile food security situation, with nearly 4.4
million food-insecure Haitian people, this event has
been expected to further deteriorate the
humanitarian situation in Haiti, with likely additional
needs given the interdependence of the two
countries in terms of business and trade. Indeed,
since the closure, many people in the areas close to
the border have not been able to commute daily to
the neighboring country for work. Also, provided
several goods are typically sourced from the
Dominican Republic, the availability of essential
goods in Haitian markets has been monitored. More
specifically, data about the prices of food
commodities, the functionality of markets, feedback
from the population about the situation, and the
number of people who could afford to buy essential
goods, has been collected and analyzed.