Inside a failed state

A woman sells mud cookies, a toxic replacement for the food most Haitians cannot afford to buy

Haiti has been brought to its knees by famine and the economic crisis and a series of hurricanes has now left the already struggling country in turmoil. 

In Port Au Prince, brightly-coloured market stalls are laden with food and rice, but few are shopping here. 

Haiti’s farmers have been long forced out of the market by cheap imported food, and when world food prices rocketed Haiti had no way of protecting itself.

Haiti’s people are powerless and those that criticise the government are harshly punished.

Rice is now a luxury item and people are forced to eat mud cookies to delay hunger pains. The mud cookies are often toxic and cause sickness and diarrhea.

The situation is desperate, floods brought by the hurricanes have intensified the situation and it is remarkable so many of Haiti’s people continue to survive.

Inside a failed state is a fly on the wall account of a state on the brink of collapse.

This episode of People & Power airs from Saturday, November 29, 2008 at the following times GMT:
Saturday: 0130, 1230, 1930; Sunday: 0330, 1030, 2330; Monday: 0730