Haiti Coffee Supply Chain Risk Assessment

Coffee is an economically, culturally, and ecologically significant crop for Haiti, however exports of coffee fell from 76.6 percent in 1979-81 to only 17.2 percent of total agricultural exports in 2002. This document highlights and prioritizes risks in the Haitian coffee supply chain and can be used to stimulate discussion and inform planning of a long-term coffee revival strategy. The study emphasizes that while immediate and short term measures need to be taken to address some imminent risks, revival of the coffee sub-sector will be determined by the long term measures taken to build resilience of the Haitian coffee supply chain against internal and external shocks and its ability to manage economic, demographic, and environmental changes. The document illustrates the application of a rapid supply chain risk assessment methodology, with the overall sequence of analysis and consultative steps outlined, and being potentially very useful as examples on how to design and undertake a supply chain risk assessment. The assessment identified multiple risks confronting the different Haitian coffee supply chains, which were classified under production, market, and other risks. The following are the priority risks for Haiti:

• Long term decline of national coffee production and the exodus of a number of major coffee sub-sector participants are leading to the long term decline of the coffee industry in the country. This decline poses the greatest risk to the continued existence of the Haitian coffee sub-sector.
• Environmental degradation in coffee producing areas is both a cause and an effect of the decline in national coffee production volumes.
• Significant coffee quality and yield reduction due to pest and disease, especially Scolyte (coffee berry borer) with annual production losses between 15 and 20 percent.
• Coffee exporting cooperative failures due to managerial, operational and financial problems could damage higher-value gourmet and fair trade coffee supply chains.

The coffee supply chain map (page 10) is also useful to those trying to understand better how coffee and agricultural supply chains might look. Important to note is that the assessment was carried out in 2009 and does not reflect the conditions in Haiti after the January 12, 2010 earthquake. It is predicted by the authors, however, that given the informal nature of Haiti’s coffee supply chain, the earthquake is not expected to have caused major shocks to production and distribution in the country, despite most likely severing some links in the chain.