Transport Infrastructure

Arabica Typica flourishes and has a better flavour when grown at higher altitudes in tropical countries. RECOCARNO coffee farms therefore located in the upland areas of Haïti, up to 1200m above sea level. The landscape is rugged, and a high proportion of the land comprises steep slopes, subject to seasonal heavy rain plus tropical storms.

The farms frequently have no road access and sometimes a mountain track represents the only way of reaching a coffee farmers' village, such as Champagne in the Plaisance area. Tracks and roads may be made impassable by heavy rains and rising rivers. This is accepted as part of the normal challenge by the coffee farmers as they move their coffee to the washing stations.

The condition of Haïti's roads is a major problem and coffee must be transported in bulk from the washing stations to the mills (eventually the central processing facility near Cap-Haïtien), and then back to Cap-Haïtien for export.