Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Haiti drought causes 'extreme emergency'

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A drought is causing an extreme emergency in northeast Haiti, wiping out sorely needed crops and livestock, an official said Tuesday.

Pierre Gary Mathieu of the government's National Coordination of Food Security told The Associated Press that the eight-month-long drought in the region has caused the loss of two harvest seasons. It will take the area six months to recover.

"That's a major problem," Mathieu said.

The hardship is especially evident in some schools where there's food for students but no water to cook. Other schools have neither food nor water, Mathieu said.

The usually arid area has seen some rain lately but not enough to replenish crops.

Government employees and aid workers plan to distribute seeds to farmers and food to others. Officials are due to meet this Thursday with international humanitarian workers to figure out how to coordinate a response, Mathieu said.

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