Belladere Region
In 2013, Just Haiti added the Belladere region as one of it’s newest grower communities. Just Haiti is partnering with Grace Community Church of Frederick, MD and Food for the Hungry in the region.
Belladere is located approximately 4-hours east of Port-au-Prince in the Centre Department, bordering the Dominican Republic. Cutting through the community is one of the four major roads between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
"The Belladere coffee association discussing the process they’ve used to harvest the coffee."
Most all of the approximately 80,000 people who live in the region are subsistence farmers. Only 25% of the children in the community are able to attend school because of the wide-spread poverty. And given its close location to the Dominican Republic, trafficking of young children is a major issue in the region. Through the coffee project, we are helping to support the community’s most vulnerable people.
"Marie Lourdes Exantus proudly showing her coffee beans."
Belladere is a mixture of mountains and low-level valleys. High in the mountains the area is rich with coffee trees that are perfect for the work of Just Haiti. Several decades ago Belladere was known for its coffee — exporting it to the U.S., Japan, and France. However the coffee trees been mostly left unattended for the last twenty-years, with the only coffee being produced being sold at local markets. Through the work of Just Haiti, coffee farmers in Belladere revitalizing their coffee production.
Presently, the grower community is comprised of thirty-five farmers and plans to expand in the coming years.
