Farmers Driving Increase in Compost Sales in Cap-Haitien

SOIL’s compost team working at compost site

Over the past year, SOIL has produced 170 metric tons of our rich, organic compost at our waste treatment facility in Mouchinette, Haiti. Extensive research shows that not only does compost increase agricultural harvests, but compost application can also be instrumental in restoring ecosystems and mitigating against the impacts of climate change through increased soil water retention, restoration, and carbon sequestration. This means that with every sack of compost that SOIL sells, Haiti is becoming a little more resilient to droughts, floods that wash away topsoil, climate change, and food insecurity.

Over the past few months SOIL has seen a noticeable increase in compost sales, and so we recently in with SOIL’s Sales Manager, Handy Louis, to get some more information on what’s driving the increase in sales and creating buzz for our Konpòs Lakay.

SOIL’s Sales Manager, Handy Louis

Handy explained that he works alongside, Davidson Richelus, SOIL’s compost sales manager, who has started going out to neighborhoods to meet with a neighborhood community leader  that can help organize meetings with the local farmers’ association. This new outreach is yielding sales results and is one of the main reasons why the compost sales are increasing. More farmers are now learning about SOIL’s Konpòs Lakay through farmer associations and agricultural co-ops and helping to increase the visibility for the compost. Additionally, farmers in Haiti are starting to plant by season, (which is typically every 3 months) so it’s important that the soil is prepped, healthy, and full of nutrients. When reaching new farmer associations and co-ops, Richelus shares critical composting and soil health information in order to highlight the benefits of SOIL’s compost when compared to no compost application as well fertilizer application.  

In addition to farmers associations, the sales team also partners with the agricultural departments of local universities, so that students can use SOIL’s compost for agricultural research or intern at our compost site, as well individuals, organizations and local government where the compost is used for a variety of uses including nursery preparation, city landscaping, and home gardening. The sales team is also working to partner with local businesses that sell agricultural products to make Konpòs Lakay more visible in the market.  

We asked Handy how SOIL can continue to spread the word about our compost and he said “promotion should be done through radio stations and TV” and “having more sales agents to travel to unreached communities.”  

We are so proud to see SOIL’s holistic sanitation service come to fruition in the form of  healthy soil and ecosystems. We are dedicated to a zero-waste system that can both help protect Haiti from waterborne illness and support more resilient soils that can help Haitian farmers avoid the negative impacts of droughts and other climate events, while increasing food security. The SOIL team will continue to work to find and deliver holistic solutions that will help ensure a greener and more resilient future for Haiti.    

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