THE GLENN SMUCKER ARCHIVE

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THE GLENN SMUCKER ARCHIVE

Glenn R. Smucker is a cultural anthropologist who has specialized for the past 40 years in practical applications of anthropology to alleviating human problems. A leading specialist on Haiti, Smucker first came to live in Haiti as a child in 1960.  He carried out dissertation fieldwork in a northern mountain peasant community in the mid-1970s. He subsequently published numerous articles, reports and books on a broad range of Haitian topics.

Smucker has directed major programs in reforestation and natural resource management.  He served as director of the Pan American Development Foundation in Haiti, which included a large scale farm forestry project.  He later led the USAID-funded Natural Resource Management Project in Rwanda, including protection of the mountain gorillas.  He has consulted for a range of donors including USAID, the Inter-American Bank, the World Bank, also the Haitian Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, and J/PHRO, the philanthropic organization founded by Sean Penn.

Civil Society Customer Survey

The objective of this customer survey was to review the USAID Mission’s program of assistance to civil society organizations (CSOs) and to elicit feedback from beneficiaries regarding the quality of Mission assistance. The basic issues guiding field inquiry for this assignment included the following...

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Land Tenure and the Adoption of Agricultural Technology in Haiti

There has long been an active debate in Haiti—as in many other developing countries— over whether or not the customary tenure system constrains technology adoption and agricultural development, and whether cadaster and land titling should be national priorities. This paper contributes to this debate by reviewing and interpreting the body of literature and new empirical evidence concerning the relationship between land tenure and the adoption of technology in rural Haiti.

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Political Will for Decentralization in Haiti

This is the second report prepared by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) under the terms of a contract with USAID Haiti to assess local government and civil society, and to support Mission redesign for these sectors. Local government and civil society are critical components of the Mission’s Democracy Enhancement Project (DEP) and its Strategic Objective for democracy and governance in the period 1999-2004.

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Social Capital and Development in Haiti

This paper explores social capital in Haiti and its pertinence to current USAID Mission objectives and programs. Social capital resources are of intrinsic interest to the Democracy Enhancement Program (DEP) and its Local Government (ARD-PACTE) and Civil Society (ADF-Asosye) Projects, and to ASSET (Winrock International, IRG, Datex), focused on renewable natural resources and environmental planning. The DEP Local Government Project works with executive councils in both municipal jurisdictions (conseil municipal) and rural jurisdictions (CASEC, conseil d'administration de section communale).

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Social Capital and Governance in Haiti: Traditions and Trends

Haiti’s poverty is clearly indicated by deficits in human and physical capital. These deficits derive from a long history of external and internal oppression, and a system of governance marked by profound deficits in social capital – the networks of norms and trust that facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit. A better understanding of Haiti’s social capital helps clarify the social context of poverty and mechanisms of survival among the poor. It also points to policy issues that must be addressed by any serious effort to alleviate Haiti’s poverty.

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Supplies of Credit Among Haitian Peasants

This is a study of the supply of rural credit available to small farmers in Haiti. Haitian society is by and large a peasant society, and the majority of its poor are small farmers. These peasant farmers are even today the very backbone of Haitian economy. Haiti’s primary tax base has long been the coffee crop which is produced by hundreds of thousands of smallholding peasant farmers.

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Trees and Charcoal in Haitian Peasant Study of Reforestation

This report explores the general feasibility of agroforestation projects with special attention to Haiti's northwest region and the island of La Gonave. It provides an assessment of some of the problems and possibilities for carrying out such programs to the benefit of small peasant farmers. Attention is focused on the planting of fast-growing hardwoods useful for producing wood charcoal.

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