Papyrus and RTI International partner on new agriculture program in Haiti

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC— RTI International has partnered with Papyrus S.A., a Haitian management firm, to implement a new, five-year project to source maize locally for the grain processing company and large-scale buyer Les Moulins d’Haiti (LMH). The project aims to better integrate women and youth into the maize value chain, as well as foster their efforts through a small grants fund to promote innovation and efficiency.

Funded through Global Affairs Canada, additional project partners are Les Moulins d’Haïti (LMH) and Alliance pour la Gestion des Risques et la Continuité des Activités (AGERCA).

“Papyrus is excited to be embarking upon this new market-driven effort to strengthen the maize value chain, connecting farmers to a sustainable commercial buyer,” said Alice Nkunzimana, CEO of Papyrus, S.A., which will be the lead implementer of the project.

The MAIS MOULIN (“Maize: Adaptive & Innovative Solutions via Market Opportunities Using Local Investment”) project will target its efforts in the south of Haiti and the Artibonite Valley. Key impacts include:

1. Increasing maize farmers’ access to competitive and dependable commercial markets by better linking them to large-scale buyers;
2. Improving the capacity of farmers to increase yields and product quality through training in improved techniques and technologies, post-production processing/handling, and best production practices;
3. Increasing maize farmers’ knowledge and use of climate-smart agriculture approaches, technologies and practices;
4. Increasing the resilience of maize value chain actors to natural disaster events via community disaster risk reduction (DRR) training, instruments and awareness-raising, as well as tree planting in targeted areas by women and youth.

The project partners will adapt and use the innovative and cost-cutting Mobile Supply Chain Platform developed in the SMASH sorghum value chain program, in which RTI is also a partner. The project will be governed by the Mais Moulin Consortium (MMC), consisting of the partners and representatives of Global Affairs Canada.