Earthquake's Effect on the Haitian Economy
![Picture](/uploads/2/4/7/8/24781725/1189024.jpg?283)
The earthquake had many lasting effects throughout Haiti, one of which was the damage caused to its economy. Prior to the earthquake Haiti was never known as a wealthy country, in fact it has been the poorest in the Americas for quite some time. In 2009 the countries entire GDP amounted to a mere $11.9 billion compared to the United States $14.5 trillion GDP. This explains why over 80% of Haiti's population falls below the poverty line. Before the earthquake Haiti needed to import 1/4 of its food. This was largely due to the fact that farmland was scarce due to the overpopulation on the island. Trade throughout the island has always been a struggle due to the poor transportation system throughout the country. Poor roads and small ports restrict large trading operations to occur, and after the earthquake this transportation system proved to slow down the relief efforts.
On Tuesday January 12, 2010 a massive earthquake was responsible for the destruction of over 105,000 homes. This caused the already struggling nation to force thousands of its people into poverty due to the lack of homes, workplaces and access to basic human needs. Airports and ports were shut down as a result of the catastrophe. This put a stop to Haiti’s already limited trade access which shut down the nation’s income almost altogether, and slowed the relief efforts from global nations and corporations as well. The massive level of destruction destroyed industrial workplaces, as well as agricultural farms which caused the already high unemployment rate to surge. Many jobs in agriculture, Haiti’s main source of employment, were put on hold stalling the of sugar refining industry which in turn caused the economy to suffer greatly, as sugar is one of the nations largest exports. Those who were fortunate enough to survive the earthquake were left homeless and/or jobless. Tourism also suffered as a result of the earthquake. Prior to this event tourism had diminished due to political instability as well, and the earthquake made these struggles a much realer problem to the economy. Haiti’s poor transportation systems, political instability and a cholera outbreak shortly before and after the earthquake, forced reconstruction and relief efforts to slow greatly.
This struggling developing nation was now put into a desperate situation. Haiti had now became a nation whose future lied in the hands of other nations. The United States among other world powers including nations from the European Union all helped in the recovery and relief efforts inside of Haiti. The United Nations Security council sent armed forces to help control and prevent the outbreak of riots. The UN also held a donor conference in which they raised over $9.9 billion, collected mostly from the USA and the European Union to begin the repair the damage that was estimated to cost $7.8 billion. The World Bank donated millions of dollars to speed the relief process as well. This aid was much needed to help Haiti after this tough time, and get the nation back on its feet.