Haiti is highly vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, including seismic hazards, hurricanes and tropical storms, flooding, mudslides, and other hydrometeorological disasters. In addition, environmental degradation and poverty form a cycle of structural food insecurity, which is exacerbated by frequent rapid-onset disasters,
according to USAID-supported Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).
In 2001, USAID/OFDA began to provide funding to the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) to support the development of national disaster management capacity using a systems approach. Since 2006, USAID/OFDA has provided training and technical assistance to improve the ability of local Haitians to prepare for and respond to disasters.