STORY: :: File

Haitians are struggling to find food and some say change cannot come fast enough to the Caribbean country.

In the capital, Port-au-Prince, conflict with armed gangs has cut the city off from suppliers, paralyzed trade routes and pushed Haiti to its highest levels of hunger on record.

Mirriam Auge stays in a makeshift shelter at a school.

"This is the way we live, sitting here every day. There is no food unless an organization sends us something to eat. After that, there isn't anything else."

Some five million people are struggling to feed themselves due to the conflict, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

That's an international benchmark used to assess hunger.

Soaring food prices have also fueled the crisis.

The cost of fresh fish was up 60% in March compared to a year ago, according to Haiti's statistics agency.

Rita Losandieu looks after her two granddaughters, who are four and six.

Her sons work odd jobs to help make ends meet.

"Things are very expensive. It's a problem to buy anything to eat. You must have a lot of money in order to just buy enough for three meals, it's very difficult," she says.

Unable to work, families are depending on food rations and hygiene kits brought in by NGOs.

The World Food Programme is a major meal supplier.

But with armed groups holding sway over some routes, its Haiti director Jean-Martin Bauer says transporting that food can tricky.

"What we've done in response is shorten our supply chains. So outside Port-au-Prince, we try to do as much as we can with local farmers, like I've said, we work with 170 farmer organizations with 20,000 members to supply the food we use for our programs, and that's been very successful."

He also pointed to a 2024 U.N.-wide humanitarian fund for Haiti that is over $500 million below target.

Haiti's last president was assassinated in 2021.

Since then, armed gangs have expanded their power and influence, resulting in looting, arson, mass rapes and indiscriminate killings.

:: June 28, 2024

In June, the first wave of a long-delayed United Nations-backed force of mostly African troops arrived in Haiti to bolster security services...

And Kenyan police have begun patrolling the capital.

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that move marked a critical stage in restoring security.

"The arrival of the first contingent of the Multinational Security Support kicks off a new era in Haiti."

Residents are cautiously optimistic, although it's unclear when the bulk of the force will arrive.