For a factory worker in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, the war in distant Iran has stopped being a faraway conflict and started showing up on daily schedules and meal planning. Alexandre Joseph, 35, said he now has to walk about two hours to get to work and the same distance back each day because he can no longer afford public transportation, after gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices rose. He spoke in a loud voice in public, drawing attention as he described the impact on his family’s ability to buy food.
Joseph linked the price increases to his own household budget, saying, “The government raised the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, hitting my family. I now am unable to feed my two children on the salary I have.” He said he plans to try to earn extra money by selling soft drinks at night out of his home, but he warned it would still not be enough and that he and his family would reduce how they eat.
The escalation in fuel costs traces to a broader oil-price jump tied to the conflict in Iran, the report said, disrupting supply chains and doubling transportation costs. The Associated Press said Haiti, described as the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, has been hit hardest by rising oil prices that experts warn will deepen a spiraling humanitarian crisis. Almost half of Haiti’s nearly 12 million people already face acute food insecurity, and in recent months the World Food Programme said about 200,000 people shifted from an emergency phase to acute status.
Erwan Rumen, the World Food Programme’s deputy country director in Haiti, said the consequences can quickly erase progress. “The consequences are huge,” Rumen said, adding, “It’s one of the most fragile countries in the world.” He said efforts to support the most vulnerable can be “basically wiped out” by factors “completely out of our control,” characterizing the remaining at-risk population as “extremely fragile” and “on the verge of collapsing completely.” He also warned that the combination of hunger and insecurity leaves more people vulnerable to gang violence, which the report said includes recruitment of children whose families need food and money.
Gang violence is also complicating how aid groups and basic goods move through Haiti. Emmline Toussaint, the main coordinator of Mary’s Meals’ school-feeding program in Haiti, said gas stations in some regions sell fuel for 25% to 30% higher than the price the government set because of gang-related violence and truck access difficulties. She said the charity is forced to rely on boats and longer, multiple road routes to feed the program’s 196,000 children across Haiti, in part to avoid armed groups. “The humanitarian crisis that we’re facing right now is at its worst,” Toussaint said, adding, “So far, we are doing our best not to step back. Now, more than ever, the kids need us. … Most of them, it’s the only meal they receive.”
Other Haitians described the fuel shock as a cascading problem for food sellers and commuters. Fedline Jean-Pierre, a mother of a 7-year-old, said she sells carrots, tomatoes and other produce at an outdoor market and is seeing demand fall because people do not have money. “People are not buying now because they don’t have money,” she said, adding she may have to raise prices to survive because “I have a child to feed.” She said she has lived for two years in a cramped and unsanitary shelter among the record 1.4 million people displaced by gang violence, and she pointed to how higher fuel costs translate into higher prices for everything.
At street level, vendors described the squeeze in practical terms. Maxime Poulard, a seller of charcoal, said he buys fuel for reselling at higher prices but has limited capacity, occasionally selling two bags a day. He said he expects he may soon afford only half a bag. “Traveling is expensive; eating is expensive; everything is expensive,” Poulard said. “I’m not sure if I will be able to hold on much more.” The report also cited broader economic strain, including a World Bank estimate that nearly 40% of Haitians survive on less than $2.15 a day and said Haiti’s economy has contracted for a seventh consecutive year, with inflation reaching 32% at the end of fiscal year 2025.
The report said the anger spilled into protests as Haitians blamed the fuel hikes for worsening daily life. On April 6, people dragged burning tires and other debris to block streets and protest the increase in fuel prices in Port-au-Prince, where an estimated 90% of fuel distribution is controlled by gangs, the Associated Press reported. Local media said gunfire broke out as some protesters forced the drivers of tap-tap minibuses to disembark their passengers. Marc Jean-Louis, a 29-year-old tap-tap driver, said passengers increasingly barter fares, but he cannot afford to offer discounts because “All the money is going toward gas,” and he urged the government to reduce prices “so that everyone can breathe.”
Beyond transport and food purchases, aid deliveries and access to basic services are also at stake, Rumen said. He said the World Food Programme has been unable to reach 60,000 people in Haiti’s central region who are waiting for aid, and he pointed to a recent gang attack in the area that killed more than 70 people. Mercy Corps program manager Allen Joseph said rising oil prices are crushing Haiti’s fragile economy, saying, “The families already spending most of their income on food will face impossible tradeoffs.” He warned that the increase will affect access to basic services, including potable water, and added, “This is not an abstract inflation,” saying it “will directly impact survival.”