Overall, 4.7 million people – nearly half of Haiti’s population – face severe food insecurity.
The country is also facing a resurgence of a deadly cholera outbreak, with thousands of suspected cases.
Earlier this month, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Haiti was “on the brink of an abyss.”
Many families survive on remittances, sharing or dropping off food, and do not send their children to school because they can no longer afford.
lack of fuel
The trigger for the current humanitarian crisis was a blockade of a major fuel terminal by armed gangs that began in September, cutting off supplies of gasoline and diesel, leading to shortages of basic commodities including clean water.
Fuel shortages halted most economic activity and forced hospitals and businesses to sharply reduce operations or close their doors, just as a cholera outbreak hit the country.
Since the beginning of October, health officials have confirmed 924 cases of cholera, more than 10,600 suspected cases and 188 deaths.
Citizens had hoped for quick relief after police broke the blockade earlier this month, but the effects continue.
Fuel prices have more than doubled in the past two months, according to data from the Haitian Central Bank.
Drinking water cannot be delivered to some slums, according to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, as streets are choked with garbage not collected for months and filled with clogged canals and sewers.
For Johnny Decius, a motorbike taxi driver, fuel shortages have meant a rise in gas prices, which still remain exorbitant, causing a big loss in daily income.
“We are struggling every day. The increase in gas prices is hitting all of us,” said Decius, a 34-year-old father of two.
“I have been in many fights with passengers who have refused to pay the new tariffs. Since we are forced to buy more expensive gas, we also have to raise our prices to make any profit.”
Fuel is slowly starting to return to stations but Decius said he could spend a full day without any passengers.
He said, “Every time this happens, my family and I have to face disaster. It means nobody will get anything to eat, because we have to earn our daily bread.”
‘gang rule’
Monique Joseph, 38, a secretary and single mother of three teenagers, said she can’t raise her monthly salary of 30,000 Haitian gourds ($220) to put enough food on the table.
Roughly a third of Haiti’s 11.4 million people live in extreme poverty, barely living on less than $2.15 a day.
“Life has become increasingly miserable,” she said. “The food that used to be eaten by one person now has to be shared among many.”
Joseph said she no longer keeps the little money she has in the bank because it is often difficult to withdraw.