For this fund raising initiative we are happy to offer individual donors various gifts in return for their support. Please visit here to learn more.

We are also happy to discuss business sponsorship opportunities and how we can advertise on your behalf. Please contact us to explore these opportunities.

Background & Problem: In Haiti and elsewhere in the world,environmental degradation and food insecurity go hand in hand. Years of manipulation by industrial farming extension services / modern food system pressures have eroded indigenous food production capacity and environmental stewardship.

Rather than providing opportunity, farm systems derived from industrial models have caused the disappearance of local food cultures, agricultural wisdom and ecology-minded foresight, while at the same increasing disaster
vulnerability and dependency on outside inputs, even food aid. It need not be so.

Traditional knowledge of sustainable agricultural techniques coupled with organic
approaches to cultivating indigenous perennial crops helps to create food sovereignty, health & nutrition, resource preservation and farmer income.

Reduced poverty cuts the need for unsustainable exploration of forest and other
natural resources. Small community based farming enterprises functioning as training & innovation centers offer chances for viable socioeconomic change, health improvements, and an escape from short-term determinism towards
long-term vision and planning.

Food unites all of humanity. Food is global as it is local. Fostering community-based organic agriculture and sustainability practices with income generation potential allows for farmers to augment nutrition, financial return, and preservation efforts. Sharing the knowledge, change is affected.

Project Team: The initial team will be composed of Mr. Catalis as Team Leader & CDi Field Coordinator, his immediate resident family, local youth from the
organization “OPDS“, and partner organizations in Haiti, supported by CDi field visitors, volunteers and graduate students.

"Food & Agriculture as Key to Change"

Building upon the success of CDi’s 21 acre working / educational farm in Virginia “New Earth Farm”, this fact-sheet outlines the vision and need for establishing a Haiti peri-urban outpost “Nouvo Tè Farm” near the South-Western city of Les Cayes.

Enlisting as project coordinator Mr. Guypson Catalis, a final year student of agronomy at the University of Notre Dame in Torbek, CDi and New Earth Farm seek to empower the local community to learn with and from each other the
techniques necessary to end food insecurity and resource depletion, to innovate and cross-fertilize ideas, and to increase economic opportunity from farming and related activities.

Mr. Catalis is also an alumni of CDi / New Earth Farm’s international farmer exchange program. He is highly respected within a community eager to become involved in a collaboration to create a model working/educational farm, tree nursery and agricultural center using and teaching sustainable and organic cultivation of indigenous crops.

Starting from a small plot a little less than half an acre in size, CDi and Catalis will create a model garden where members of the community can learn hands-on, and from where the techniques and principles will spiral outward to new fields, neighbors, and adjacent communities.

The location of this program is ca. 20 minutes North of the city of Les Cayes, five minutes from the airport, and just steps away from a busy biweekly market.

Expected Outcome & Impact:

Adoption and multiplication of organic farming techniques in community and region
Supra-regional exposure and requests for duplication in other parts of Haiti
Increased output and market revenue for participating farmers
Heightened sense of sustainability and environmental restoration & preservation

Project Goal & Objectives:

The project aims to connect local and regional farmers in a collaborative, hands-on and mutual exchange about non-conventional farming practices and environmental restoration / preservation techniques.
Implement a ~ 2 acre peri-urban model farm
Involve community members and associations in maintenance and expansion
Increase production of indigenous varieties of perennial crops starting from seed
Sale of produce and value added products such as preserved foods at the local market
Reach growing audiences and volunteer groups for scheduled site visits, tours, and local and international agro-”voluntourism”

Project Conceptualization - Phase I
Fencing, Seed Bed, Compost Station, Chicken Coop
Soil Preparation, Bed Design, Pathways
Planting and Cultivating existing and expanded land
Generate market sales & revenue
Project Conceptualization - Phase II

Capital Investments in:
Toolshed, Tools, Machinery
Tree Nursery
Biochar & Biochar Briquette Production Line
Motorized Transport (moto, SUV)
Solar Paneling
Wood Workshop & Class / Seminar Space
Visitors’ Center & Dormitory
Seed Bank / Storage Facility

Current Needs:
Funding for immediate Land Expansion of ~ 1/2 acre adjacent to existing plot
Funding for Soil Preparation, Various small
infrastructure projects such as fencing, chicken coop and compost station
Funding for future infrastructure projects (tbd)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL INC

Fundraising Campaigns

Eden Agricultural School, Haiti

Haiti Fundraiser $1 = 1 Tree in Haiti

Organic Educational Farm Project, Les Cayes Haiti: Nouvo Te Farm