COOPERATION AND COLLECTIVE ACTION AS STRATEGIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HAITIAN AGRICULTURE

Objective: The objective of this study was to understand the beliefs of Haitian citizens about collective action and cooperativism to assist in the economic development of Haiti through family farming, using Mancur Olson's Collective Action Theory as an analytical theoretical framework. Theoretical framework: The study is based on the "Collective Action Theory", as developed by economist Mancur Olson in his work "The Logic of Collective Action". The theory proposes a model for the construction of collective actions based on the understanding of group needs and the ability to achieve challenging goals. Method: The study is characterized by a qualitative case study, conducted in the interior of "Cayes Jacmel," Haiti, using intentional sampling for interviews with forty Haitian farmers. Results and conclusion: The study observed that family farming depends on the implementation of new technologies and a credit system to boost agricultural practices. The study concluded that cooperativism and collective action in the Haitian context have the potential to boost the development of family farming and promote economic, political, and social progress. Research implications: The study provides critical insights into Haitians' perceptions of collective action and its role in economic development. It underscores the importance of cooperation, challenges political structures, and highlights the need for international aid aligned with sustainable agriculture. Originality/value:


INTRODUCTION
Family farming in Haiti represents 45% of jobs nationwide and 63% of jobs are in rural areas, making agriculture the driving force of Haiti's economy, regardless of how the agricultural system is organized.However, there are problems in production organization in this sector for decades.This interferes with production, which remains precarious and without adequate funding, technologies, and international cooperation and trade relations to chart a path that can improve local, regional, and country-wide production (Haiti, 2013(Haiti, -2014;;Exime & Pallú, 2022).3 Agriculture is important for the population in the general context of the fight against hunger and poverty, as it currently represents about 60% of the country's economy, according to a MARNDR report (Haiti, 2013(Haiti, -2014)).The main products in agriculture are bananas, corn, coffee, beans, sweet potatoes, peas, and other types of vegetables that are produced in different regions of the country (Beaucejour, 2016;Charles et al., 2023).From this perspective, it is understood that, despite this production capacity, hunger and food insecurity remain in Haiti.Meanwhile, the country depends on the help of many countries and many international communities, including the forgiveness of foreign debts in continuous attempts to alleviate and allow the reconstruction of a new country.(Haiti, 2011).
However, the idea of a new Haiti goes through cooperation and foreign aid to address the problems of Haitian society in a precarious situation.In this case, cooperation is understood as bilateral and multilateral relations from the involvement of countries in the development of business, mobility's, international technical cooperation based on the friendships of the agreed countries (Cesarino, 2012;Guerra Hernández, 2012).In the context of institutional cooperation, there is a sharing of technologies and government programs.From the Haitian perspective, it makes sense to understand cooperation as providing help and assistance in various areas, such as the economy, politics, the environment, and others, as was the case during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti (Exime et al., 2021).
Thus, the Haitian economy, in its agricultural base, not only depends on cooperation to develop, but also on the collectivism of the Haitian society, both in governmental and nongovernmental institutions.Therefore, the choice of Mancur Olson's theory, called collective action, allows us to analyze the actions of everyone in a society based on his or her participation in cooperatives, associations, and each group in society aiming at a common goal including individual interests (Olson, 1999).It is understood that the importance of collective action from the point of view of a group continues to have its importance, even with the technological evolution, the globalization of recent times, still the societies maintain hope in the group context (Lupia & Sin, 2003;Hardin, 2015;Exime, 22023).
In Haiti, however, there are many wealthy individuals that do not belong to the country, although they are in it, as is the case of agriculture, because, most farmers do not own land, but work on the properties through the rental system (Sebestyén et al., 2020).After each harvest, the money is sent abroad to the landowners who live in other countries, leaving only a part of this resource in the country.This reality is one of the main factors that contribute to the economic, political, and social problems since Haiti's independence in 1804 until today.Among the main consequences of this reality is the closing of the country's doors to foreign investors, who are leaving the country without supporting many activities of the Haitian economy.The lack of funds in the economic departments is an alarming problem, which limits the development of the country.
In this sense, Annoni and Manzi (2016), reinforce that the problem of hunger in Haiti is related to agriculture, because the country has its economy based on agricultural production which is constantly devastated by natural disasters and political problems that impact the economy.In addition, the country became a cradle of non-governmental organizations that try to compensate for the state's inability to meet the needs of its citizens.
Agricultural production in Haiti has great weight for the Haitian community from the point of view of development, because an efficient agricultural production would be a way to reduce dependence on imported products and ensure the development of family farming, which has a huge role for the food security of the Haitian people (Fritz, 2012;Severe & Vera, 2014;Exime et al., 2021).For Graeub et al. (2016), the investment problem can be improved from the insertion of new technologies for farmers, creation of rural credit programs with favorable conditions for farmers to leverage local production.

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Based on this, the role of public and private institutions should be considered, whether in the context of cooperation to improve the infrastructure of distributions in all spheres to generate income to fight poverty, hunger, unemployment interconnected by what represents the Haitian agriculture (Dufumier, 2010).In this context, international cooperations and collective actions may be a key to help in understanding an economic advancement in the perspective of local and national development in Haiti.From this perspective, the difficulty of thinking about Haitian development remains a myth, due to the problems already mentioned above that increase the Haitian crisis in the political, social, and economic conjuncture (Furtado, 1974;Fritz, 2012;Exime et al., 2022).
Thus, the objective of this research is to know the beliefs of Haitian citizens about collective action and cooperatives to assist the economic development of Haiti through family farming, using Olson's Theory of Collective Action as a theoretical analytical basis.

THEORY OF COLLECTIVE ACTION IN THE HAITIAN PERSPECTIVE
The economist Mancur Oslon, in his book The Logic of Collective Action, brings a discussion for the construction of the theoretical model of collective action from the division and understanding of group needs and the ability to achieve objectives that may be difficult or impossible individually, indicating and pointing to cooperation as the initial point or the collective action to reach cooperation.
Cooperation in this study, as mentioned before, is understood as the working strategy of a group of people who come together with the same objectives, "respecting the same principles where all people have equal participation, working in a collective way for the welfare of society that may aim at use value and not exchange value".(Steele et al., 1971, p. 338;Junior, 2015).This process is configured as "a legal, institutionalized means that allows group action to compete with the structure of other types of commercial organizations."(Steele et al., 1971, p. 338).
It is noted, then, that cooperatives are based on the aspect of union and act as voluntary entities in a perspective of contribution to society.By using the principles of cooperation for the smooth running of the buying and selling process and allowing access to all members without discrimination, a fair path of development is created.Regarding the issue of fairness, it is understood that it is important that there should be absolutely no access, No restriction on access to participate as a member, no voting by member in elections or in decision on policy to be followed, no service provided at cost, no functional specialization or product, no extraordinary risk is taken by swearing on limited capital, no form of discrimination of race, creed, or political convictions will be tolerated (Steele et al., 1971, p. 339).
Considering the struggle to maintain a more just society, the notions of cooperation and collaboration become fundamental, as they can facilitate integration, improve the economy, and save the lives of people in need, as well as promote education.
Involving education in this process is a clear way to show concern for the future of society and the formation of professionals, leaders who will be able to see the problems of "Cayes Jacmel" with another look to bring solutions (Steele et al., 1971).
There is a lot of resistance to the idea of collaboration and cooperation in Haiti, especially among members with higher economic profiles than others, due to the political problems already mentioned.Given this, the idea of collective action loses strength to individual interests, because each member tends to analyze their participation considering their individual interests, which creates a resistance based mainly on the concern with the gains and privileges for the economic contribution.It can also be noticed that there is a concern with social status, which ends up generating discomfort among people who start to value the economic profiles of each member as references for commercialization, leaving aside a collaborative and cooperative vision.It is important to clarify that the permanence of the noncontribution of the group generates clear impacts that affect the economy of any country or entity (Tello-Gamarra & Verschoore, 2015).
According to Olson (1999), for cooperation to be possible, collective action is required from community members who must join forces to obtain more individual advantage through the group.Social movement thinking about well-being is in fact an answer to the problems mentioned above, and it is in this spirit that the theory of collective action was chosen to support and address the idea, because it understands that economic development is viable through the collective.
Moreover, this theory expresses a concern with the collaboration of several individuals, placing the idea of collectivism above individualism even if personal interests are achieved.Given the success of this process, group work achieves its purpose and has a direct impact on the economy.
A (chart 1) with some characteristics of the group division model is presented below, with three groups of collective action: privileged, intermediate, and latent.In groups it is much easier "to achieve a common goal that division does not, moreover, people will act voluntarily to promote the group's interest" (Olson, 1999).One can notice the author's concern in applying the notion of group, distinguishing privileged groups from intermediate and latent groups.In the first case, we notice the presence of people who are benefited without the proper contributions, although this does not affect the idea of collectivity, which remains even with the existence of these cases.These individuals understand that they will have a certain advantage when a member is willing to bear the costs of collective investments alone, and this generates a fraction of gains on the total product of the collective good (Olson, 1999).
According to Olson (1999), there are two groups that fit this theoretical approach to cooperative collectivity and that need to be identified: one of them can be described as the one in which subjects are unable to contribute due to some problem and, due to some difficulty, are unable to give back goods or parts of their production, but end up enjoying the same way as the other members of the cooperative.When this occurs, everyone in this group will experience a difference in individual earnings, and there may be an increase or a decrease in profit as a result.If the group has the same ideas and the same goals, the results will be positive, on the contrary, when there are members who oppose contributing, the results will be disastrous.Therefore, integral cooperation, that is, the coming together of the interested parties through agreements, has enormous potential to bring benefits to all.
The second group is one in which the more a member fails to contribute, the more it will feel the negative effect.Olson (1999) defines this group as intermediary based on the uncertainty of the gains from the non-collective actions of cooperation.The simplest formula for this logic of thought is without contribution there are no real gains.The simultaneous participation of individuals, in this way, is the result of each one's work (Olson, 1999).
Other than these first two groups configured in this discussion, there is a third group, the latent group.According to the author, this group is characterized by its organization, which is composed of large numbers of members.A condition that reflects directly on the individual contributions, in turn not affecting the overall result of the group, considering the size of each organization.According to Olson (1999), for the great advance from an economic point of view, cooperation and development incentives are needed from this group way more than any other group.The author reports in the mentioned model the need for incentives that can be positive, in the form of rewards for their contribution as members, or even negative, as sanctions to prevent the rules from being broken.
From the author's point of view, cooperation is possible, but for it to be successful, some basic rules of coexistence are necessary, some concerns that each individual needs to have and make conscious as a collective action (Exime, 2023).Thus, in integral cooperation there may be problems as in any group, because people may have interests and put them as a priority, but with well outlined coexistence rules, one can maintain the priority of cooperation (Axelrod, 2010;Mussi et al., 2023).That said, the next section seeks to present the results and discussions about the perception of the Haitian subjects participating in this phase of the research on the phenomenon of collective action.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
In this section we present the characterization of the research area and the methodological tools used in the research, with the function of acquainting readers with the conditions under which this case study was carried out.

Location
The research in question was conducted in the interior of the city (commune) of "Cayes Jacmel", located between 18 ͦ 14' North latitude and 72 ͦ 24' West longitude in the southeastern department of Haiti.The city has a total area of 78.99 square kilometers (30.49square Miles) of which 43.24 square kilometers (54%) are suburban, 34.81 square kilometers (44%) are rural, and 0.94 square kilometers (2%) are urban, where there are houses with approximately 36.000 inhabitants.The place where the research was carried out is not considered urban or rural or even a communal section, for this reason we denominate this locality as the interior of the city of "Cayes Jacmel" where approximately a hundred families of small farmers live.(Ihsi, 2018;Exime & Pallú, 2022).

Methodology
This is research of a qualitative nature, from a case study conducted with data collected by interviews applied with forty farmers chosen intentionally of both sexes, Haitian citizens, in the city of Cayes Jacmel-Haiti, considering that when "analyzing the contents in order to take advantage of a qualitative material is often necessary interviews relating to the initial questioning" (Bardin, 2011, p. 65).
The goal is to learn about Haitian citizens' beliefs about collective action and about cooperativism to aid Haiti's economic development through family farming, using Olson's Theory of Collective Action as the analytical theoretical basis.The subjects of the research are forty citizens residing in the city of Cayes-Jacmel, Haiti, whose identities will be preserved, and are referred to here as numbered subjects followed by the letter M or F to designate gender.In this part, direct statements of 19 interviewees out of the forty are used as the main cut.The following criteria were used to select the subjects.
1. Being a Haitian citizen from the city of "Cayes Jacmel" or having deep knowledge about the region and having experiences with associations, cooperatives and agriculture.
2. Being a resident of the city of "Cayes Jacmel-Haiti" and having participated in a group that has collective action characteristics anywhere in Brazil or Haiti.To analyze the data from the universe of 40 interviews, all the speeches were translated into Portuguese to maintain the logical understanding of the discussions, except for the direct speeches, which, due to their own meaning, remained in the local language (Creole) spoken by the farmers.Results and discussions are presented below.

The Subjects' Profiles
This section begins from the data of the interviews conducted with 40 Haitian citizens chosen intentionally 20 females and 20 males, during the period December 12, 2021, and January 5, 2022.In profiling the interviewees, the farmers of the city of "Cayes Jacmel" were divided into the following categories: age, profession, gender, area of rented land, area of owned land, and education.These are presented in (table 2) below.The Authors, 2021.Legend: In the first and fourth columns, F: female gender, M: male gender.In the last column, M: Middle School and F: Elementary School.
The 40 Haitian citizens were selected based on gender equality and the age range of the interviewees, who are between 29 and 65 years old, with an average age of 43.7.
Many of the farmers of both sexes have another activity: 27 of the interviewees work outside the domestic environment, in other professions such as politicians, agricultural technicians, teachers, accountants, commerce, academics, journalists, agronomists, painters, artists, nurses, lawyers, and students.From this information, it is understood that the majority does not have agriculture as their main activity because of the inability to meet the needs of the families, besides the low earnings from crops, i.e. subsistence agriculture.
Of these 27 interviewees, 16 are female and most perform work activities, there is only one male retiree and only 11 of the male interviewees have a second profession or activity outside of agriculture.Among the interviewees, 13 do not work outside, among them, 4 women and 9 men.This data indicates that the female respondents have a better qualification compared to the men, which allows more access to the labor market.
When it comes to the educational levels of the subjects surveyed, 23 of them have higher education, 12 women and 9 men.The rest is divided between High School (of 9 respondents, 6 women and 3 men) and Elementary School (of 5 respondents, 1 woman and 4 men); there are also 4 respondents with no studies, (1 woman and 3 men) and only one subject did not answer the question about education.
Regarding the conditions of the land for agricultural production, a very common reality is the number of rented properties.Below, (Graph 1) allows us to visualize this situation: It is realized that 21% of family farming farms are rented, and that represents 14 agricultural production properties in the city of "Cayes Jacmel".Of all properties 59%, that is, 39 properties belong to the farmers, titling owners of the properties, however, of the 40 respondents, 20%, which represents 13 properties, would fit into both situations.
In the Haitian context, the land rental process represents a sign of the lack of agrarian reform.This issue does not yet have a law to support it as is the case in Brazil, where the socalled rural property lease follows Law 4.504/64, which guarantees rights and obligations from the Brazilian agrarian reform (Exime et al., 2023).Moreover, it consists in an opportunity to improve agricultural policies.The issue of Haitian agrarian reform has been debated since 1804, after the country's independence, and even today the situation remains undefined, configuring itself as a structural problem of agricultural policies that directly impacts the economy (Altineus, 2015).
In the case of the data in graph 8, the 59% of owned land represents a portion of Haitian citizens with high purchasing power, whose properties come from family inheritance.Those who do not have purchasing power constitute a large part of the population and cannot buy due to the high price.
Thus, when we analyze the same data from the point of view of financial movements and the contribution to local development, it is understood that it helps to maintain the economy by spinning the local markets.In the case of rented land, the effects can be different, because most of the leases are made by Haitians living abroad and this ends up having a positive impact with the possibility of generating income, despite the problems of agricultural policies that affect the procedures of land distribution.

Belief in collective action through association
Starting from Olson's (1999) basic premise of collective action, it is important to have a common interest in the idea of building collective action, that is, a shared economic interest in personal development.From this, everyone will have the ability to boost the group's progress, giving life to a larger process of collective action that can contribute so that each one can reach their goal, which makes it interesting to bring people together to fight for a common goal.
Subject 23 F, 33 years old, active in the community of "Cayes Jacmel", when answering about her beliefs about associations and cooperatives, informed that, despite her young age, she already has a life well engaged in the aspects of collective action.She is a cradle farmer and has a degree in agronomy, having participated in the formation of a youth group to encourage them to value actions in the community.She reported that three years ago she started a work for technical training of 10 women, arguing that "for me, this is collective action, that after years women are managing to increase their incomes and learn how to produce quality products, we don't want to be recognized but to help each other" (Suject 23 F, 2021).This is a solidarity work that strongly impacts the personal development of women in the community, as it favors female empowerment to increase the quality of life of the families of the 10 women participating in this group.This can be considered a sign of local development in this community, which is why next the results of the question about association, cooperation through collective action, realizing dreams, receiving food, and obtaining income to achieve a personal or even group goal will be discussed.Most of the subjects answered yes as it is pointed out in (Graph 2, following).According to the authors, this situation can generate a conformist position, relating their beliefs to something fair or not.Also, in a positive way, this belief helps to create strategies for socioeconomic improvements, creating a framework to establish consensus measures among the people.Conformity is not something common to the Haitian people who, historically, are used to striving for development and collective action and cooperatives as a starting point for social development.
Graph 3 below, confirms the Haitians' belief in the collective, with 37 believing in collective action, 33 in cooperating, and 34 in the development of the country through collective action.In other words, they believe in collective action as a basis for social transformation.For subject 33 F, an agronomist and farmer, "if it wasn't for the people's belief, today they might have a civil war in the country," because collective action, "Tét ansanm" is like "yon sél dwèt pa manje kalalu," which, in an explanatory sense, means that union makes strength.In this perspective, the theoretical model of collective action itself configures that individual participation is not a great possibility for success.
When compared to other speeches on the same subject, one can see the similarity, as for example Subject 4 M, a farmer and politician with great experience in cooperation and association, working in an organization called Kòdinasyon Rejyonal Òganizasyon Sidès -KROS, from the southeastern state, whose capital is the city of "Cayes Jacmel", which works directly with farmers and social projects.He was responsible for developing the program in his community and making sure it worked well in the schools.In addition to partnering with different groups to ensure the success of the projects.Likewise, subject 13 M, a farmer and agricultural technician, believes that cooperatives can improve people's lives and change Haiti, but his concerns go beyond that, as he believes that everyone must start to have trust in people and believe that trust is the basis for development.In addition to trust, for him "the Haitian people need to give the rulers a chance because they will not be able to solve Haiti's problems alone, but together we will have the ability to build a Haiti for everything."In the words of these subjects, ''Tét ansanm", that is, all together and "union fait la forçe" in French, the union makes the strength (Subject 4 M & Subject 13 M, 2021) That is, Haiti needs to face its economic and political problems.
According to Subject 4 M and Subject 13 M (2021), to solve the economic problem, it is necessary to invest in national production, as other more developed countries such as Chile, Brazil, and even the neighboring Dominican Republic do, but through cooperation and association systems, that are effective strategies to develop sustainable agriculture, to leverage the local economy, and to get the people out of poverty.The subjects in question gave the following example: Some products, like the mango that can make several products from soaps, body and face cream, oranges to make perfumes, that would allow us to invest in agribusiness, in agricultural systems that work will be the starting point for a new country.
From this example, the subjects' view on development can be considered important because when studying the process of agricultural production in Brazil and Uruguay, they find examples that Haiti could follow.
Subject 2M has a lot of experience in associations, as a farmer and politician, with participation in several projects that involved the construction of houses in several Haitian cities and the social development and income recovery, which is why he knows much of Haiti and knows about the situation in which the initiatives for collective actions are given, which gives him authority to speak.In his words, I have certainty that any development initiative needs to bring people together to become able to help more people, but, I would be very innocent if I didn't warn anyone who intends to do a project in Haiti, about the dangers they run, things here are almost all politicized, the people have already gone through many things, difficulties to survive each crisis, this makes them not believe in organization or even government.You can't get them together to talk about politics or parties, but if there is a project of the community or even of the diaspora, they will give their blood to carry it out, because they believe in collective action, cooperatives usually help in difficult times.(Suject 2 M, 2021).
His speech meets the ideas of Axelrod (2010), for whom the basis of cooperation is the essence of collective action, which starts from the respect for rules to the concern for people.Thus, one cannot ignore the feelings of the people, the trust that one has or not in rulers, but rather take advantage of the possibilities of alliances to cooperate through the ideas of cooperatives and collective action, considering the beliefs and local culture.

Cooperation to promote family farming in Haiti
It should be noted that the theoretical model that sews the progress of the discussions of this work of the chapter in question, aims to explain the aspects and characteristics of cooperation, highlighting the costs and benefits for those involved, which can be organizations, companies, and governments as well as individuals.
For authors such as Boff (2016) and Axelrod (2010), there can hardly be development without the cooperation of several areas, whether environmental, economic, social, and even political.This involves governmental entities such as the Ministries that form the governments of each nation, in addition to international partnerships with friendly countries and even countries that do not share the same commercial principles, but that have common interests.This idea expands to regional organizations, such as ECLAC, and global ones, such as the UN and its agencies.
Following this line of thought, the forty interviewees were asked about cooperation as a basis for Haiti's development and about family farming as a pillar of the economy to decrease hunger.The question resulted in the following answers: Cooperation decreases hunger and poverty.All the answers can be seen in (Graph 3), which seeks to synthesize cooperation from the Haitian perspective and to demonstrate the importance of international cooperation.
Graph 3 -The main answers and phrases that arise when asked about cooperation for the development of Haitian agriculture.Source: The Authors, 2021.
The graphic shows the work that needs to be done in the field of international cooperation so that the country can overcome the difficulties in accessing resources that can contribute socially.For some of the interviewees, cooperation may be important, but not the only way to solve the problems related to the country's development, while 32 of them affirm that this may not be the only way.
One of the most striking statements in this series of answers was that of subject 7M, an experienced farmer for whom, Cooperation can help, but it would be very unworthy of a struggling, strong and good soul people to let the international community take over their country, to forget their beautiful history of achievements in terrible conditions.As a farmer, I love my country more than any politician who thinks of selling Haiti to the gringos, they never do anything, they steal more than the government itself, they put people against people to create problems.The solution in my opinion as an illiterate person, is not only international aid, even though it is important, but the most important role is ours.The responsibility to take over our country and fight against the deep-rooted evil, which are the corrupt governments, call all Haitians to strength and invest in a plan that can start by giving training, courses to farmers without political benefits 5 .(Our translation).
5 Citation translation: koperasyon ka ede, men li ta trè sanwont pou yon batay, fò ak bon-caractère moun kite kominote entènasyonal la pran swen peyi yo, bliye bèl istwa li yo nan konkèt nan kondisyon terib.Kòm yon kiltivatè, mwen renmen peyi mwen an plis pase nenpòt politik ki panse nan vann Ayiti bay gringos, yo pa janm fè anyen, yo vòlè plis pase gouvènman an li menm, yo mete moun kont moun pou kreye pwoblèm.Solisyon an nan opinyon mwen kòm analfabèt, se pa sèlman èd entènasyonal, menm si li enpòtan, men wòl ki pi enpòtan an se nou.14 His speech appropriately refers to the patriotic traits of a citizen concerned about the situation of his country, as well as the hope and the perspective of fighting for a better society, using education as the basis to bring about changes in the field of agriculture.Continuing, this subject emphasizes as follows, My father was a farmer and we always had international aid, but it didn't always change.I was young when the foreigners gave us rice and other food, even money to buy seeds in the fields, but it didn't last long, and then all the aid went away.
This last speech of subject 7M allows us to resume the discussion in chapter six of this study, which references the fact that this is a problem that began in 1970 and was enacted until 1980 with the demands of the IMF for emerging countries to pay off their debts.At this time, Haiti had to import products such as rice to feed its people at a very low price offered by the United States as a way out, but that eventually led the country to ruins (Vivas, 2011).
For many respondents, cooperation is a good way to improve the situation of the country and should not be a one-time thing.Subject 27F argues, "I cannot stay without doing anything, because I have 3 children who are growing up and I will do everything for a better country, give them studies, maybe they can help their community."In this way, she agrees that cooperation can help agriculture grow, in the same way as the other 39 interviewees.
Of the total respondents, 37 agreed that cooperation is good for the government.In this same perspective, 25 understood that cooperation is good for the people, and 15 were undecided on the question.To understand the difference between the numbers of undecided and those who answered yes, confirming that cooperation is good for the people as well, the speech of (subject 6M, 2021), farmer and teacher, stands out, according to which: The government steals and has no consequences, the worst is knowing that the money stolen would be for health, education, investing in agriculture to get the people out of poverty, that's why the cooperation is very good for them and not totally for the people, the stolen investments help them put their children in the best foreign schools and universities 6 .(Our translation) In this similar line of reasoning, subject 8M, farmer and politician, point out that: Without cooperation the government would not have the money to buy scoundrels to silence and kill those who disagree with them, for example, the president now governs by decree because there is no congress [...], because, because you who are students know?So, why is there a fight in the courts to accept and agree on the electoral laws of the country.Without opposition, the government does nothing, and the people continue to suffer, that's why I left politics to take care of my family and help my community 7 .(Our translation).
Responsablite pou pran peyi nou an epi goumen kont move rasin lan, ki se gouvènman kòwonpi an, rele tout Ayisyen pou fòs epi envesti nan yon plan ki ka kòmanse nan bay fòmasyon, kou pou kiltivatè san benefis politik.(Subject 7 M, 2021). 6Citation translation: gouvènman an vòlè e li pa gen okenn konsekans, bagay ki pi mal la se konnen ke yo vòlè lajan an ta dwe pou sante, edikasyon, envesti nan agrikilti leve moun soti nan povrete, se poutèt sa koperasyon trè bon pou yo epi yo pa pou pèp la, envèstisman yo vòlè li ede yo mete pitit yo nan pi bon lekòl ak inivèsite etranje yo.(Subject 6 M, 2021). 7Citation translation: san koperasyon, gouvènman an pa ta gen lajan pou achte bandi pou fè silans epi pase lòd pou touye moun ki pa dakò avèk yo, pa egzanp prezidan an kounye a gouvène pa dekrè poukisa pa gen kongrè, poukisa, poukisa, ou etidyan konnen, poukisa ou gen yon batay nan pou aksepte e dakò sou lwa elektoral peyi a. San opozisyon, gouvènman an pa fè anyen e pèp la kontinye ap soufri, mwen kite politik, pou sa, pou mwen pran swen fanmi mwen epi ede kominote na (Subject 8 M, 2021).15 Note in his words the experience with politics and the relationship with the complexity of the Haitian situation, marked by the historical and political context and the legacy of the colonizers of past centuries, because a politically devastated country is understood as one of the main factors to negatively affect the economy (Phillips, 2008).The devastation of Haitian society is pervasive, as I have already noted (Exime, 2021(Exime, , 2022(Exime, , 2023)).A concrete example is the widespread gang violence in the capital, Port-au-Prince, by the group "400 Mawozo", which robs, kidnaps, and murders people, especially after the death of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.(Exime, 2022;Ciorciari, 2022).Such a scenario requires a change in attitudes, so 30 respondents agree that cooperation can boost the economy through agriculture and point out that this may not be an easy task, but it is a possibility, as reported by subject 38F: With my formation as a lawyer, I can see how many people file lawsuits against their neighbors for a border or a small dam on their property, even though they cannot pay.Also, the amount of people who come to my office with land lease contracts because we don't have public policies that can help these people solve these cases, which would be the government's role.Besides this, there are many lost cases and times without solutions.As a daughter of farmers, I have rented and owned properties that belonged to my family, it is a challenge every day, even though I pay to do the tasks, in the agricultural field almost everything is missing, there are many needs, from training to help with costs or even technical support, I as a woman today it is easier to have properties because we are more united than men, there is more cooperation, "Tét ansanm", in this way the collective or something similar, I say similar like cooperating will help in the development8 .(Subject 38 F, 2021).(Our translation).
If, therefore, cooperation can help boost Haiti's development, it can also, according to 29 respondents, help reduce hunger and poverty in the country.In the word of subject 36 F, The hunger in Haiti is much worse in the interior of the country, if the cooperation helps to create a program that will help the campesinos to stay in the countryside to produce, then it can contribute to reduce hunger, I don't know about poverty, because it would be something more governmental and how this country is doing it is difficult to get the people out of poverty without a political conscience.(Subject 36 F, 2021).
The issue of the relationship between family farming, economic development, and the reduction of hunger and poverty from the perspective of collective action appears in the speech of several interviewees.For subject 8M, life is summarized in family farming and fishing, because without these two sectors, Haiti has no way to advance economically, and for this he takes as example's Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil, for whom the agricultural sector is very strong.For him "Haiti's problem is lack of unity.But collective action can play a fundamental role to boost the three following sectors: agriculture, education, and health.The strongest and most important is agriculture which will impact the other sectors of the economy."(Subject 8 M, 2021).
However, within agriculture, investments, application of technologies, and a departure from the archaic system are needed without, however, detaching from the importance of protecting the environment and thinking about ecologically viable agriculture to support rural and sustainable development.
When talking about rural and sustainable development or simply economic development, one has as a parameter and goal, in the case of Haiti, the reduction of hunger, inequality, and poverty, among other factors that impact the progress of society.From this perspective, financial and technological aid are important for the advancement and construction of a dignified life, which can be achieved through collective action, as emphasized by subject 8M (2021) "in this modern world, the challenges are many, we have only one way out, which is a collective way out, or we always stay where we are9 " (our translation) and enforces: Haitians know how to unite very well because history has said everything since the union for our independence, but for many years they have been deceived for a long time, building a lot of distrust in any projects and ideas that may arise" (Subject 8M, 2021).
To be confident, according to him "it is necessary the people see concrete changes, examples that can convince them that the project is not of a political character but is of a social economic character that will bring benefits to everything.(Subject 8M, 2021).Another important point raised by subject 8 M "is to avoid the transformation of any project by the rulers into a political act, he calls this governmental sensitization" (Subject 8M, 2021), that is, that politicians do not put their interests in people's projects, do not steal money from associations, and do not bar or boycott any initiatives to get around the economic problem.
Reinforcing this idea of solidarity, subject 8M (2021) continues: In just one sentence, only when we recognize that we are nothing without others, we also learn to work together for a common good, it is a way that demonstrates that we will achieve great things (not only material), but a clear example is also the union of the slaves for the independence of Haiti of 1804.(Subject 8M, 2021).

Perception, hope and messages from Haitians
The hope for the recovery of dignity as a person and as a citizen in Haiti is marked by hunger and extreme poverty, a situation that is visible in the lives of Haitians.Hunger is a problem in almost all emerging countries, as it is in the Haitian conjuncture; even so, one notes a constant hope for a better future, not only without hunger, but the hope for a dignified life.(Castro, 1967).The aspects related to this cultural profile of Haitians can be better visualized in (Graph 4): Graph 4 -To the principal perceptions of the interviewees-is there hope?Source: The Authors, 2021.
In the perception of the Haitians interviewed, the disappointments with the rulers are clear, because most believe that the government does not help at all, except to steal the few resources available.In the words of subject 9M (2021), "the rulers know how to conquer before the elections, the people always believe in them, but afterwards they only know how to steal and remain in the capital of the country to spend the people's money.
As for the union of the people, the 35 respondents who answered positively on this point believe that the collective is important for Haitian society.On this, Subject 28F (2021), a retired farmer, points out that: Here we always unite, contribute, and help each other in the community, I as an old person, I see that our struggle should begin to value even more the union we have [...] there may be mistrust, but not here.This happens with politicians when they want to sell us their ideas of lies, then we distrust them (Laughter), but since politics is dirty in our country, these politicians always win elections [...].I hope to have a fair, safe, and very good country to live in, because it is a paradise here, even though there is not enough food for everyone.I always believe that my grandchildren will live my dream, to see Haiti at the top.(Subject 28 F, 2021).
Among the interviewees, 39 agree with subject 28F's thoughts about the people's hope.Subject 35F reinforces the importance of questioning the proposals and not accepting anything that does not seem legitimate, to avoid lies and, above all, to understand the context of using the word democracy.From his perspective, "Haitians must unite to obtain greater goods and understands that the farmer can save lives in Haiti through collective action and then invest in health and education" (Subject 35 F, 2021).
For Olson (1999), in the logic of collective action it is important that the interests of the people who are part of the group or the cycle of coexistence are recognized and valued for the Undecided No Yes sake of unity and not individuality.About this, subject 35F (2021) points out that "[...] the spirit of unity allows excellent results, so if there is unity from the collective, this will allow the advancement and development of a country or a city10 ". (Our translation) In this regard, Olson (1999) emphasizes the need for collective action as an opportunity for growth because the benefits are much greater than the costs.Sharing this idea, subject 35F reinforces that the city of "Cayes Jacmel" needs "a big program where the Haitian state and the peasants work together to enforce trade barriers against imports and invest in modern agriculture11 ". (Our translation) In the speeches of the forty interviewees, it is possible to find reference to identical problems involving cooperation and collective action movements, which can be solved with some ease because, according to subject 39F, "we already have the answers to make cooperation work well, whether it is through technical cooperation agreements, family farming, and others.The challenge is to eliminate the people's mistrust, emphasizing the possibility that Haitians have of knowing how to unite for a greater good".From this statement, working with family farming and sustainable rural development will boost the strengthening of national production in the city of "Cayes Jacmel".
It was also asked what the greatest qualities of Haitian family farming and its importance for the resumption of food sovereignty of the country are, based on the ten qualities of family farming, as discussed above.It is understood that family farming is a subsistence culture whereby farms are characterized as minifundios for having an average of 1.8 hectares (Marndr/Fao/Eu, 2009).
For subject 5M, family farming does not only represent a way to earn a living, but a way to historically demonstrate that Haitian society can achieve any goal if they so desire, because the cultivation of land represents hope and the size of cultivable space is not only the problem facing Haiti, but the recovery of the essence of sustainable agriculture, as in the old ways: A return to the past does not mean to stay in it, we could use the old mentality, together with what the world offers for the time being, even with little technology we can begin to strive to work as dedicated citizens, moreover, we should make a junction between that agriculture of past centuries with what is produced today, with less devastation of nature12 [...].(Subject 5 M, 2021).(Our translation) Building on this idea, subjects 10M and 14M state that "today's agriculture does not represent what we can do as Haitians, but the shame we do not have as a people to decide the future in our nation, today we leave it only to the international communities and politicians"13 .(our translation) In this similar perspective, subject 15M points out that, [...], the big cities, they receive all the products, there is no support from the Haitians themselves to sell and buy right here in the local market, because we already got used to the canned products.I think we must avoid going to the capital to sell like Madame sara (Laughs).My wife used to work like this, as a big distributor of agricultural products, we even had a truck to make the trips, it gave more losses than gains, we almost went bankrupt, today we sell right here, and it is much better.In our community, each woman trader or farmer represents a symbol of the relationship between producers and consumers14 .(Subject 15 M, 2021).(Our translation).
This relationship between consumers and farmers is important for the development of local markets to strengthen trade, as the free fairs of agricultural products in Brazil do (Exime et al., 2023).With this, the distribution through the so-called short circuit would be a way out for the Haitian situation, to valorize what is produced there (Exime et al., 2021).In addition, purchasing directly from the producer could help reduce travel costs, avoiding loss of goods along the way, as highlighted by subject 27F, "[...] on several occasions, our truck was damaged and we stayed more than a day to fix the problem, when we got to the capital, most of our products had already spoiled15 [...]".
With the loss of commodities, the business of the "Madames Sara" (female people whose main activity is agricultural commerce) weakens and does not diminish the growth of local businesses.In this way, by avoiding the trips that result in losses, there would be more possibility of gains, making the commercialization more centered in the communities.
It is important to highlight that the speeches of the subjects were determinant to note the participation of Haitians in collective action groups in Brazil, which contributed to reaffirm the idea and the conception that the economic development of the city of "Cayes Jacmel" is possible if there is an investment in family farming, in association, in cooperatives and in collective action.
All the subjects of the research are Haitians living in the city of Cayes Jacmel-Haiti who had or have direct ties with associations in Haiti and who can interconnect and interrelate the logic of collective action.According to the data, the subjects mentioned maintain a constant journey in other associations in their country.And in their words, they emphasize the importance of Haiti, Be aware that a president or the congressmen won't be able to solve all the problems, a little patience with the politicians will help in this process.We need to stop destroying, breaking things, burning institutions when it comes to a political problem because violence is not going to solve anything (Subject 39 F, 2021).Subject 39F reinforces this idea by saying that "I think that only in collaboration can we achieve some kind of development"16 (our translation).When subject 39F was asked about to hope in perception, he did not hesitate to say that "we cannot expect that a ruler is just going to solve our problems without making the decision to help rule, to give real importance to our motto l'union fait la force'' and ''men anpil chay pa lou '' 17  To conclude this section, here are some excerpts from the interviews with these subjects that called our attention and that deserve to be highlighted here and translated into Portuguese: 1.
In a country like Haiti, where there are no public policies, I think that only in collaboration we can achieve some kind of development, so we can find some solutions18 .(Our translation) 2.
In this modern world, the challenges are many, we have only one way out, which is a collective way out, or we always stay where we are19 .(Our translation) 3.
Because the spirit of unity allows excellent results, so if there is unity from the collective, this will allow the advancement and development of a country or a city20 .(Our translation) 4.
International cooperation would be better, it would help citizens like me, if there were not such corrupt rulers, and the only solution would be to outsource the responsibility of developing the country to other nations like the Japanese without caring about sovereignty21 .(Our translation) 5.
I want to work together with women and men, who respect humanity, to leave a better future for my grandchildren, because I am a person of great faith and Haiti will overcome22 .(Our translation) In fact, these speeches allow us to clearly resume Oslon's (1999) thoughts about the theory of collective action, while highlighting the Haitians' concerns with the country's economic development and understanding that it is possible to develop the city of "Cayes Jacmel" through cooperation, treating the collective as one of the ways out of the Haitian crisis in that city and in the country.
The concerns expressed by the interviewees emphasize economic development issues and allow glimpses of problems that precede the issue of the economy, such as decisions made from the political structure, which have not had positive effects for generations because they are marked by personal interest, becoming a hindrance in the progress of any society for centuries.(Exime & Pallú, 2022).About this, Olson (1999) points out that the nature of the human being prevents the construction of the collective preventing evolution.
Finally, the evolution of the Haitian people has a great chance of going through collective action and cooperation as a path indicated by the interviewees from the city of "Cayes Jacmel".According to the forty interviewees, collective action is a possibility to contribute to the development of Haiti if associated with family farming and cooperatives.
The forty subjects interviewed in this paper clearly demonstrate their concerns about the actions of the rulers of the city of "Cayes Jacmel" and their country, as well as the efficiency of the work that could be carried out when prioritizing collective action, an aspect that could reflect immediately on the city.The probability and possibility of a high success rate through the collective would help populations such as those of "Cayes Jacmel" in the educational, political, economic, and social fields, as they would allow to build a debate about the reduction of inequality and to work for a better future, using cooperatives and associations as pillars.Therefore, we will make the last considerations of this paper below.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
This study permits an understanding of the Haitian people's beliefs about collective action as a strategy to aid in Haiti's economic development.From this, it is concluded that working together, even with the adversities and barriers that may arise, is the most propitious way to decrease hunger and poverty.The growth of agriculture is a way out of poverty, but it must be conducted through collective action, an aspect that was sought to be evidenced in this work by identifying the perception of Haitians on issues such as solidarity, collectivity, and cooperatives.It was noted that, even with the latest events, they believe that the country can get out of poverty and that there is hope.
One can see that the dialogue between farmers and cooperatives, between agricultural systems and production with commercialization, points to the need to use technology to improve family incomes and change the direction of the economy.Again, the great importance of collective action to drive this dialogue and improve agricultural production is emphasized.
The need for international aid to build a technology-based development plan beyond receiving cash aid from the international community was identified.This is necessary for disasters to have less impact on development, as investment in agriculture generates very fast results, considering that in one semester one can have production results in this area.In addition, it becomes a way to increase Haiti's agricultural exports, boosting its development through solid international cooperation projects.
Regarding the city of Cayes Jacmel, the problem of agricultural production or even the lack of investment to boost family farming is also linked to issues of technology and social and economic policy, as discussed throughout this work.The city's great chance for development is linked to cooperation and collective action, understood as successful strategies to increase the quality of life with the objective of leaving poverty in the past.
The survey also showed a series of complaints from the interviewees about how the government deals with the country's problems.To minimize these problems, it is necessary to create an international/national fund to help the population before and after the tropical storms that always put an end to agricultural production.This fund should be managed by an international commission formed by countries that have already dealt efficiently with natural disasters, such as Japan, and should include the permanence of young university students in the country, avoiding the emigration of talents and the flight of professionals.
It is worth pointing out that there are gaps that should be better explored and explained throughout the text, but that, given the cut of the work, were left aside.One of them is a critical analysis of Haiti's GDP from an economic development point of view, and another is the very understanding of the term international technical cooperation's.The problem of public policies for agriculture in Haiti, as well as community cooperation, political awareness, and an international cooperation model (governmental and institutional) adapted to emerging countries like Haiti and the impacts of international cooperation agreements on political parties and the government.
Finally, it is advocated that to improve agriculture in Haiti, investments are needed to give producers peace of mind, as well as provision and accessibility to rural credit to boost production, since the city and the country are very punished by tropical storms and hurricanes, which usually destroy agricultural production.It was possible to identify the relevance of this process being marked by trust between the parties with the intention of adding income to the family, improving the economy, and corroborating the concept of collective action.It is also perceived that Haitians have a strong will to collectivity and believe in the union among the people to reduce poverty with the development of agriculture in the country.
Therefore, in the case of "Cayes Jacmel", a technological plan for the rural environment is recommended in order to help preserve the environment and the construction of a water collection and distribution system for the rural environment, as well as the reduction of imported products that are normally produced domestically, encouraging farmers to implement agro-ecological systems in order to protect the soil, educate the population, and reduce waste in the general context.
3. Farmers who use food production for consumption and have a part dedicated to commercialization in local markets.4. Being active farmers in the city of Cayes Jacmel-Haiti or children of farmers with academic degrees around agriculture.Data were collected through unstructured interviews recorded between December 12, 2021, and January 5, 2022.The interview is composed of 26 questions (Appendix I) from which we seek to understand the trajectory of the interviewees, their participations and experiences with association, the income, qualities, and development of family farming, what were the benefits they could acquire through collective action and the possible effects of family farming for the economic development of the city of "Cayes Jacmel".

Graphic 1 -
Property situations of Haitian agriculture Source: The Authors, 2021.

Graph 2 -
Haitians' beliefs in collective action Source: The Authors, 2021.To better understand the beliefs of the Haitian people it is important to resume the thought of Del Prette and Del Prette (2003), according to which beliefs can imply in the Action as Strategies for The Development of Haitian Agriculture ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.4 | p.1-25 | e04538 | 2024.11 decisions of citizens to face their own personal or group difficulties for a change of position about their thoughts.

Table 1 -
The characteristics of the three groups of collective action: privileged groups, intermediate groups, and latent groups

Table 2 -
The Profile of the subjects interviewed in the city Cayes Jacmel-Haiti Cooperation and Collective Action as Strategies for The Development of Haitian Agriculture ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.4 | p.1-25 | e04538 | 2024.