Third Workshop of the Central America, Caribbean and Mexico Soil Partnership | 20 - 22 February 2018 | Panama City, Panama Representatives from 15 countries of Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean region analysed in Panama the key achievements of the Regional Soil Partnership and strengthened its engagement to implement their Regional Plan.

1. III TALLER DE LA ALIANZA REGIONAL paraIII TALLER DE LA ALIANZA REGIONAL para
Centro América, México y El CaribeCentro América, México y El Caribe
INFORME DE HAITI
Pais : HAITI
Socios: FAO/IICA/OIEA/BID/
Nombres:
JEAN SERGE ANTOINE
DONALD JOSEPH
20 a 22 de febrero de 2018, Ciudad Panamá20 a 22 de febrero de 2018, Ciudad Panamá

2. Impacto del anio Internacional del
suelo 2015
Fortalecimento de Capacidades
Conferencias y Publicaciones

16. Proyectos Bilaterales y Regionales

18. Haiti Pilot Soil Survey Initiative
Thomas Reinsch1*, Charles Kome1, Paul Reich1, Shawn Mcvey2, Zamir Libohova2, Tom D‘Avello2, Paul Finnell2, Nathan Jones3, Tony Rolfes4, and Pierre-Louis Oge5
1* Soil Science Division - World Soil Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USA, Email: thomas.reinsch@wdc.usda.gov
2 National Soil Survey Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USA, 3 Pierre SD, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USA, 4 Pacific Island Area, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USA
5 Haiti Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Development (MARNDR), Haiti
Pre-map of 2nd
order pilot soil survey
covering an area of about 3,000 hectares
at a mapping scale of 1:25,000 as
specified in the USDA-NRCS National Soil
Survey Handbook and Soil Survey Manual.
Digital
Soil
Mapping
Examples of terrain derivatives using
1 m LiDAR data and Arc Soil Inference
Engine (ArcSIE).
• Training and field work was conducted in Haiti from February 17 thru April 4, 2014.
• NRCS staff and Haiti Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Development
(MARNDR) and Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (FAMV) met to discuss the
project activities and expected outcomes.
• Trainees were introduced to basic techniques for describing (i) soil horizons based on color,
texture, structure and other morphological characteristics and (ii) soil-landscape
relationships.
• Trainees were divided into three teams for field soil sampling within the pilot soil survey
area and conducted soil investigations with and without supervision.
• Soil samples from 92 sites assigned based on Conditional Latin Hypercube (cLHS) were sent
to Lincoln, Nebraska for complete physical and chemical analysis.
Trainings
•20 Haitian Leaders learned techniques for supporting soil survey activities.
•9 Database and GIS specialists as well as 10 Laboratory Specialists trained on activities
related to support soil survey.
•36 Agricultural Scientists trained in field sampling, soils description and field data collection.
•20 specialists acquired skills to lead, plan, conduct, interpret, and disseminate soils
information.
Project Deliverables
•Cul de Sac Haiti Soil Survey manuscript (Digital products and hard copies).
•SoilWeb smart phone, Web Soil Survey applications developed for pilot area.
•Media outlets: - TV, radio, internet, smart phones and text messaging - now used to
disseminate soil information to end users in addition to flyers and extension agents.
•About 500 farmers in the pilot survey area have access to general soils information.
•FOHNDAD continuing training on using soil information for agronomic improvements and
natural resources conservation.
Equipment and Supplies
•Haiti has field equipment and materials to support three separate soil survey teams.
•In addition, 2 Panasonic Toughbooks, a differential GPS Unit and 2 work stations for data
storage and processing.
•Completion of about 3000 hectares of detailed soils and vegetation maps.
•About 500 farmers in the pilot survey area now have web or smart phone access to general
soils information.
Impacts
•Government of Haiti expressed satisfaction and gratitude and requested expansion of the
project and continued NRCS support.
Accomplishments: Capacity Building
Introduction
High resolution LiDAR data available for the pilot area provided the basis for detailed
terrain modeling. Terrain attributes were generated to delineate potential soil map
units. Haiti GIS Specialists were able to utilize digital soil mapping and traditional
techniques to establish conceptual preliminary soil landscape models and soil maps
units.
Training: USDA National Headquarters and National Soil
Survey Center
Training and Field Work in Haiti
• 13 Haitian Cochran Fellows visited the US in 2013 to learn about USDA-NRCS voluntary
conservation practices.
• Phase I included a two day working session with National Leaders at the USDA/NRCS
National Headquarters in DC. Participants met with leadership staff to learn how the US soil
survey program is structured and managed.
• Phase II was held at the National Soil Survey Center and focused on methods for conducting
a soil survey for both the Haitian Leaders and Specialists.
• Phase III was an additional week of in-depth training for the Haiti GIS, Database and
Laboratory Specialists.
United States
Department of
Agriculture
The Haiti Pilot Soil Survey
Initiative is a joint project
between USAID, FAS, NRCS,
Direction Rurale Forestière et du
Sol (DRFS) of Ministry of
Agriculture (MARNDR), Faculty of
Agriculture and Veterinary
Medicine (FAMV) and USAID
funded WINNER Soils Laboratory
and Training Facility at Bas-Boen,
Acknowledgment
USAID and NRCS staff with Haitian
Ministry of Agriculture scientist and
leaders (Jean Pierre-Louis OGE- Director
of Forests and Soils raising his hand) at
the end of project ceremony, Sept 11,
2014
Introducing trainees to the process of describing and sampling
soils.
Urban sprawl depleting limited prime agricultural land.
The Haitian MARNDR delegation with Charles Kome, Roy Vick, and
Thomas Reinsch at USDA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
USDA-NRCS conducted a detailed pilot soil survey in 2014 funded by USAID for a 3000 ha
segment of the Cul-de-Sac Area of Haiti with interpretations for urban planning, grazing,
forestry, agriculture and land restoration. The focus of this project was to increase capacity
of the Haiti Ministry of Agriculture to provide leadership and create partnerships with
other ministries or partners to conduct soil surveys and develop soil information delivery
tools to improve crop productivity and conservation planning.
USDA-NRCS trained 12 leaders from the Ministry of Agriculture and 3 faculty members of
the University of Haiti to support and manage soil survey activities; 35 soil scientists and
agronomists, to conduct field investigations, 3 soil testing, analyses and interpretation
specialists, 3 GIS specialists, 3 database managers, 20 soil conservation and extension
agents to work with farmers to improve crop productivity, land use management and
sustainability.
The Haiti soil survey project demonstrated the value and utility of soil survey as a tool for
conservation, environmental and community planning, and possibly land tax assessment.
Skills learned during training and project activities contributed toward building capacity to
meet the nation’s agenda for sustainable land use, soil and water conservation, and
agricultural productivity as part of President Obama’s flagship “Feed the Future Program”.
Landscapes of the pilot soil survey
area.
Site
6
Site
7
Site 9
Site
10
Site
12
Site 5
Site
13
Sit
e 4
Site
11
Site
2
Sit
e
1
Site
3
Site
8
National Cooperative Soil Survey
National Conference
June 7-11, 2015
Haiti Pilot Soil Survey Deliverables
Soil survey manuscript
Web Soil SurveyWeb Soil Survey
SoilWeb
Detailed soil map
Ministere de l’Agriculture
des Ressources Naturelles
et du Developpement Rural

19. Figure 1. (a) General Geology – Geomorphology Map for
the Pilot Study Area showing its location (small inset) and
(b) General Soil Map of Pilot Study Area.
Mapping Haiti Soils by Combining Traditional and Digital Soil Mapping Techniques
Zamir Libohova1
, Thomas Reinsch2
, Charles Kome2
, Tony Rolfes3
, Nathan Jones4
, Paul Reich2
, Tom D’Avello1
, Manuel Matos5
, Steve Monteith1
1 - National Soil Survey Center, USDA-NRCS; 2 – World Soil Resources, USDA-NRCS; 3 – Pacific Island Area, USDA-NRCS;
4 – South Dakota, USDA-NRCS; 5 – Puerto Rico , USDA-NRCS
Introduction
Soil is an important natural resource yet for many countries including Haiti the only soil
inventory is a general soil map at 1:250,000 scale which is not suitable for management
planning at the farm level (Figure 1).
The soil survey combined traditional
and digital soil mapping approaches
accompanied by field observation, data
collection, soil sampling, and laboratory
analysis of physical and chemical
properties.
Study Area General Characteristics
Figure 3. Detailed Soil Map and the distribution of soil types.
ConclusionsThe detailed soil map of the Pilot Study Area highlighted several unique features of the Cul de Sac valley. The Cul de Sac originated from the collision of Caribbean Plate and North America Plate
approximately 10 million years ago. Cul de Sac valley was initially submerged under sea water separating the two islands north and south but rose steadily as the tectonic plates moved toward each
other. The uplift of the limestone sedimentary rocks on both sides of the valley was followed by erosion and deposition processes that resulted in the Cul de Sac valley filling with Ca rich materials
coating and cementing the gravel deposits. The concentrated water movement toward the valley combined with dryer and warmer climate conditions in Cul de Sac valley lead to further enrichment
of fine sediments with CaCO3 as shown by the chemical soil properties.
The use of cLHC allowed for unbiased and efficient representation of the soil variability in the study area and served as the base for selecting representative sites for full soil characterization and
understanding of soil landscape relationships and soil geomorphology based on transects. The soil variability could have been represented by a smaller number of points selected from the cLHC,
however this was necessitated due to the need to provide training for 25-30 Haiti soil scientists in order to build capacity in the country for expanding the survey beyond the Pilot Study Area.
AcknowledgementsThe completion of this project would have not been possible without the support of the Government of Haiti, United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Soil Science Division (SSD), World Soil Resources and National Soil Survey Center (NSSC) as well as the participation of
many individuals and non governmental organization such as FONHDAD whose contribution has been crucial for the success of this project.
The objectives of the Pilot Study Project were to:
(a) Generate a detailed soil map (1:24,000) for a 3000 ha Pilot Study Area;
(a) Combine Traditional Soil Survey and Digital Soil Mapping approaches;
(a) Develop capacities in Haiti for conducting future soil surveys at national scale.
Figure 2. Elevation of Pilot Study Area and the
location of field sample sites and transect sites.
a b
Materials and Methods
Pilot Study Area is located in Cul de Sac valley which is situated between tectonically
uplifted mountain ranges. The valley has been filled with marine and erosional deposits. The
southern part of the study site is located at the foothills of mountains and expands north
toward the central Cul de Sac valley (Figure 2). Pilot Study Area is characterized by
high relief with elevations ranging from
130 to 330 meters above sea level.
The climate for the Cul de Sac valley is
tropical but varies with elevation. The Cul
de Sac area is relatively warmer and dryer
with mean annual temperature of 26.2°C
and the mean annual precipitation was 740
mm. The annual rainfall distribution shows
two distinct rainy seasons April–June and
October–November.Soil Survey
Elevation Data Processing
The LiDAR elevation 1x1 m pixel size was smoothed and resampled using a 3x3
neighborhood low pass filter (Richards, 1986) followed by a bilinear resampling to 5x5 m pixel
size in ArcMap 10.2 (ESRI, 2013). This was necessary to highlight trends in morphometric
surface features by reducing noise in the data introduced by anthropogenic influence such as
roads and man-made ditches.
Soil Pre-Mapping and Site Sampling Selection
A preliminary digital soil map was developed from slope, curvature, and elevation using hill-
climbing clustering algorithm (Rubin, 1967) using System for Automated Geoscientific
Analysis (SAGA) (Böhner et al., 2006). Terrain features were used to highlight major
topographic drives of soil formation and establish soil landscape relationships to predict soil
distribution. In order to assure sampling representativeness of preliminary digital soil map
units conditioned Latin Hypercube (cLHC) (Minasny and McBratney, 2006) was used to select
99 observation sites based on slope, curvature, and elevation (Figure 2).
Soil Sampling and Analysis
At each site characteristics such as slope length and shape; the general drainage pattern;
bedrock and parent material depositions; and native and cultivated plants were recorded.
Other soil characteristics (color, texture, effervescence) were also described based on
standard methodology (Schoeneberger et al, 2012). Six representative sites were selected for
a full pedon characterization and laboratory analysis (Figure 2). Soils were sampled based on
the field-identified horizons for chemical and physical analysis at the USDA-NRCS Kellogg
Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Results and Discussion
République d’Haïti
Repiblik d’Ayiti
Soil Types
Based on the observed and measured field site and
soil characteristics, 11 soil types were identified (Table
1).
Soil Name Taxonomic Classification
Bas Boen Coarse-silty, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Fluventic Haplustepts
Bel Fond Fine, smectitic, superactive, isohyperthermic Torrertic Calciustolls
Delman Fine, smectitic, isohyperthermic Calcidic Haplustalfs
Dleudon Fine, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Torrertic Calciustolls
Dumay Clayey over loamy-skeletal, smectitic over mixed, superactive, isohyperthermic Aridic Argiustolls
Gaman Clayey over loamy-skeletal, smectitic over mixed, superactive, isohyperthermic Calcidic Argiustolls
Ganthier Coarse-silty, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Aridic Haplustepts
Haut Boen Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, isohyperthermic Aridic Argiustolls
Jacquet Coarse-silty, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Fluventic Haplustepts
Jong Fine, smectitic, isohyperthermic Torrertic Argiustolls
Sha Sha Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, isohyperthermic, shallow Petrocalcic Calciustolls
Table 1. Taxonomic Classification of soils in the study area.
Figure 4. Soil-Landscape relationships in the study area and the underlying parent material deposits.
Most of the soils in the study area
were Mollisols and Inceptisols (Table
1). Mollisols occurred on Depositional
Upper Flat Plains and Hills and
Dissected Alluvial Fans while
Inceptisols, occurred on the
Depositional Lower Flat Plains (Map
Units 1A, 4A, 5A, and 6A ) (Figure 3).
A combination of relatively dry climate
and Ca-rich materials such as
limestone bedrock lead to the
formation of Ca deposits such as calcareous gravel and Ca enriched alluvial deposits (Figure 4). The soil texture for the majority of the
soils was fine/clay and silty/loamy. Soils on the Flat Plains were mostly fine except for Bas Boen that was coarse silty most likely due
to its proximity to the marine deposits associated with Lake Azuei and Calman (Figure 2, inset). Soils on Hills and Dissected Alluvial
Fans were mostly loamy-skeletal (Sha-Sha) or clay over loamy-skeletal (Dumay, Gaman) due to the abundance of cemented
calcareous gravel.
Site Soil Profile Total CaCO3 Rock
CaCO3
Organic SAR/
ID Horizon Depth Clay Clay Sand Silt Fragments
<2mm <75mm
Carbon pH EC Exch Na
cm % dS m-1 %
1 Bas Boen 200 25 16 54 21
-- -- --
1 10 9.38 102/60
3 Sha-Sha 68 35 13 20 45 57 42 43 4 8 0.35 --
4 Bel Fond 200 45 14 41 15 7 38 -- 1 8 0.24 --
11 Delman 200 28 12 45 27 11 41 46 1 8 0.24 --
12 Sha-Sha 42+ 57 10 24 18 58 36 59 5 8 0.71 --
13 Ganthier 104 24 14 46 31 9 75 67 1 8 1.06 8/6
6 Jong 200 53 9 32 15 19 35 36 1 8 5.01 46/46
39 12 39 22 22 43 46 2 8 3 --
Table 2. Summary of Chemical-Physical properties for selected soils.
Soil Physical and Chemical Properties
The presence of Ca enriched materials and salts especially sodium was reflected by the measured soil chemical properties
(Table 2). Overall, the total clay for all soils combined was 40%, however, CaCO3 clay accounted for one fourth of the total
amount. Generally clay decreased with depth while CaCO3 clay did not always follow the same trend.
Site 12 – Sha-Sha Site 13 - Ganthier Site 11 - Delamn
Site 12 Site 13 Site 11 Site 4
Site 4 – Bel Fond Site 1 – Bas Boen
Site 1
Petro calcic (CaCO3)
Gravel
Colluvium/AlluviumColluvium Colluvium AlluviumBedrockBedrockBedrock Colluvium
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500
Distance (m)
Site 3
Site 3 – Sha-Sha
10
D
9E 8C 7B 5A 3A 4A 1AS
M
U
Figure 5. Soil Profiles, their associated landscapes and a conceptual general stratigraphy and water movement following a transect from southeast to
northwest direction (see Figure 2 for transect sites).
Soil Geomorphology
The spatial distribution of soil map units and major morphological
differences between soils were closely related to the landscape and
stratigraphy of the study area (Figure 5). Slope and elevation were the
major controls for the differentiation of soils at landscape scale. Based
on the slope and elevation the detailed soil map units (Figure 3) were
aggregated to a new general soil map with three major landscapes
representing also three different major geomorphic units; Dissected
Alluvial Fans and Hills; Upper Flat Plains; and Lower Flat Plains (Figure
6).
Figure 6. General Soil Map aggregated from the detailed soil map
based on slope and elevation.
Dissected Alluvial
Fans and Hills
Upper Flat Plains
Lower Flat
Plains
The soil analytical data coupled with elevation data showed a clear
differentiation between Lower Flat Plains that were under the influence
of sodium and the Upper Flat Plains that were less influenced by
sodium. Other studies have also documented the presence of salts in
Cul de Sac valley (Schubert, 2012).
Soil Behavior - InterpretationThe urban expansion in the agricultural prime
farm land in the Cul de Sac valley has increased
rapidly, especially after the 2010 earthquake in
Port au Prince. Based on soil properties mainly
depth to a water table, ponding, flooding,
subsidence, linear extensibility (shrink-swell
potential), and compressibility the soils in the
study area
Figure 7. Ratings of map units for construction of dwellings
(houses) without basements.
Soil Behavior - Interpretations
a b
c
were rated for suitability to support small houses without basement
(Figure 7). Three categorical ratings were developed “Not limited,
“Somewhat limited” and “Very limited”. The rating of the soils for
construction suitability based on the soil properties and landscape setting
confirmed the existing land uses (Figure 7 a, b) and highlighted also the
potential problems with the most recent construction of houses in “Very
limited” areas (Figure 7c).
Lake
Azuei
Lake
Calman
Existing Residential Area Old Cemetery
New Houses

21. Activities already carried out in Soil
Management and Crop productivity

22. Activities already carried out in Soil
Management and Crop productivity

23. Activities Already Carried out in Crop productivity and Soil
Management

25. The World Bank study on the management of natural resources in
Haiti from 1990 estimates of soil losses for some watersheds
ranging from 7.5 MT / ha. / Year to 750 MT / ha. / Year. The report
also indicates that loss of the order of 12 to 150 MT / ha. / Year
can be seen in many parts of the country

27. Factores limitaciones para promover el
tema suelos en Haiti
• Voluntad Politica
• Financiamiento

28. ¿Cree usted que la AMS cumple su
objetivo? Si no, ¿como se podría
mejorar?
• Financiamiento??????

29. Perpectivas para 2018-2019.
• Finalizar y Ejecutar el Programa Nacional de
Manejo Sustentable de Suelos, incluyendo:
• Ampliar el proyecto nacional de Clasificacion
de Suelos,
• Establecer y finalizar la construccion del
laboratorio de suelos
• Elaborar el marco regulatorio legal del suelo
en materia de manejo sustentable de suelos.
• Promover el manejo racional de fertilizantes y
GAP,