A view over Port au Prince. The extreme vulnerability of the country to natural disasters has triggered internal migration waves from rural to urban areas. Port-au-Prince, half of whose residents were not born there, is the main destination for the thousands of environmental migrants moving around the country each year. Haiti, Port au Prince. 2015. © Alessandro Grassani
Delva, 22 years, holds the hand of one of her children outside her flooded house in Village des Rapatriès. She emigrated from Plato Central, in the Thomondo province. She emigrated to Port au Prince on 2009 together with her husband; they have three children. Both Delva and her husband have no occupation and thus struggle to provide for their children. The family often gets very sick and suffers from malnutrition. They left the countryside because of drought and lack of rains but they didn't expect to live in such hardship in Port au Prince. © Alessandro Grassani
The growth rate of Lake Azuei (and of the neighbouring Lake Enquirillo in the Dominican Republic) is unprecedented: the size of the lake has almost doubled in the last 10 years, destroying and submerging homes and farms. Ghostly trunks of dead palm trees are all that remains. Scientists point to the changing climate as the main culprit, with a noted rise in rainfall in the area, attributed to the warming in the Caribbean Sea. The picture shows what is left of a village where around 25 families were once living. Haiti, Lake Azuei. 2015. © Alessandro Grassani
A man bathing on the lakeshore of lake Azuei. Other scientists focus on the effects of climate change on underground water, which might also be responsible for the vast expansion of the lake. Haiti, Lake Azuei. 2015. © Alessandro Grassani
Arisma, 24 years old, photographed in the house where she lives in the slum of Bois Moquette. She arrived in Port au Prince from a village in the Jacmel province when she was 15 years old. She started to work the land when she she was 12 years old and she soon realized that it would not be possible to rely on agriculture anymore to make a living. That's when she decided to take the chance and emigrate to Port au Prince. She now sells vegetable on the city streets and her husband works as a shoe-shine boy (who originally came from the same village). At first, they were both thinking life was better in the city, but today they are struggling to have a decent life. Still, Arisma says, "In the countryside, because of the drought, my life can only be worse than this. So, this is the only choice I have." Haiti, Port au Prince, 2015. © Alessandro Grassani
A man walking to his village through Savanne Dèsolèe, considered to be the largest desert area of the country. In the background, one sees deforested mountains. © Alessandro Grassani
The densely populated and violent Cité Soleil is considered to be the most dangerous place in the Western world. Absence of economic activity puts its residents below the already low poverty level of Haiti. The area is controlled by gangs, making the situation even more dangerous. Cité Soleil has a population of around 400,000 inhabitants. Climate change and deforestation have dramatically reduced the farmland in the Haitian countryside and led to mass emigration into urban areas. Cité Soleil has been one of the principle recipients of these migrants. Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Cité Soleil. 2015. © Alessandro Grassani
Drought in the so-called North Ouest, surrounding the village of Magasins, in the North Ouest province. © Alessandro Grassani
Drought in the North Ouest province. © Alessandro Grassani
A refugee camp in the surroundings of Anse a Pitre, a town next to the Dominican Republic border where hundreds of Haitians expelled from the neighbouring country are living in tents and looking for a place to go. Usually, when Haitians immigrate abroad they have two options: the poorer people emigrate to the Dominican Republic, while richer people heads towards the US. Todays, thousands of Haitians risk expulsion from the Dominican Republic, which increases the pull of already overcrowded Haitian cities. Anse a Pitre, 2015 © Alessandro Grassani
Makendy photographed in his house in the slum area of Bois Moquette. Makendy, 23, emigrated to Port au Prince in 2008 from Mabrilol in the Jacmel province. He was working as a farmer together with all his family, but the continuous drought convinced him to emigrate to Port au Prince to find a better life. Today he works as a shoe-shine boy. He and his wife decided to leave their son of two years old with their grandparents, who survive live with the money that Makendy sends to them in their village. Makendy manages to send $20 per week. He says that $20 is not enough and he would need to send at least $100 per week to guarantee to his son and his parents a decent life. © Alessandro Grassani
Makendy photographed while smoking outside his house . © Alessandro Grassani
A mine on the road from Port au Prince to Lake Azuei. Due to the growing request for sand to build houses in Port au Prince (and other cities), mines are popping up everywhere. The resulting soil erosion and deforestation are becoming widespread. Together with land exploitation, this make the country very vulnerable to the effects of climate change and to the extreme weather events such as heavy rains and cyclones. © Alessandro Grassani
In the village of Lunettes, there was once around one hundred families. The village was destroyed from two angles: the growth rate of Lake Azuei and a cyclone in 2006. © Alessandro Grassani
Adrien portrayed in the house where he lives in the slum of Bois Moquette. Adrien, 26 years old, emigrated to Port au Prince in 2012 from the area of Aquin, in the province of Les Cayes. He was pushed by his father to emigrate because the family farm was no longer producing enough. Today, sometimes, he works as a carpenter but it's not consistent. He is forced to live in a shared house with other people and thus had to leave his son and wife back in his village. He is able to send home between $25-$50 a week. Port au Prince. © Alessandro Grassani
A man builds a dam with mud in order to hold back the flooding sea water in the village del Repatriès. As sea levels rise, the area is often flooded. Despite the constant flooding, people continue to build houses in the village because the area is not considered as dangerous as the nearby Citè Soleil. © Alessandro Grassani
A view over Port au Prince. © Alessandro Grassani
Nadie, 28, together with her daughter, 10. They are both drinking non-potable water in the shelter where they live. Nadie emigrated with her husband and daughter from St. Michel de Latalaille in the province of Cap Haitien to Port au Prince in 2010. They used to cultivate rice and vegetables and then sell them in the market but the production has dropped in recent years to the point that the farm could not support them. They sold their house and their land for a tiny amount of money and moved to Port au Prince. Today, they are still struggling to survive. © Alessandro Grassani
Nadie outside the shelter where she lives together with her family in the village des Rapatriés. © Alessandro Grassani
A garbage dump in the village des Rapatriès. Here, the poorest people work collecting bits of scrap and selling them for money. © Alessandro Grassani
A boy stands in the flooded landscape of Rapatriès. © Alessandro Grassani
Outside the city of Les Gonaives, in the village of Passereines, a man is taking out roots from the field in order to make charcoal. As there are no trees anymore, the charcoal-makers take out the only thing left: roots. Haiti is considered to be one of the most deforested countries in the world. In the background, one can see a mountain which is half deforested. The man in the picture is Gustave, 56 years old. He has been making charcoal for decades, though it's becoming harder and harder to survive. © Alessandro Grassani
A goat stands on a mountains of sand utilized for the building site in the background. © Alessandro Grassani
A man stands next to his house in the flooded landscape at Rapatriès. © Alessandro Grassani
A boy walking through the flooded landscape at Rapatriès. © Alessandro Grassani
A woman standing next to her house in the flooded landscape at Rapatriès. © Alessandro Grassani
Soil erosion and deforestation are incredibly hard to reverse, and especially in a short time frame. Meanwhile, the land becomes more and more vulnerable to disaster. The future is uncertain for these lands. © Alessandro Grassani
