Meridor Sagesse, a rice farmer outside Verrettes, throws aside rice stalks after he finishes threshing them to remove the rough rice grains. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Meridor Sagesse, a rice farmer outside Verrettes, looks over newly planted rice seedlings on his farmland. He usually harvests two crops a year, corresponding to the two rainy seasons. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Meridor Sagesse, a rice farmer outside Verrettes, talks about the hard life he has as a rice farmer in the Artibonite Valley. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Clothere Presidieu cleans rough rice, still in its hull, in a straw sieve, to remove debris, in his yard in the province of Drouet where he farms a small amount of rice for his family. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Clothere Presidieu holds a handful of rough rice, still in its hull, in his yard in the province of Drouet. He also buys other farmers' rough rice to process and resell for a living. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Clothere Presidieu dumps rough rice, cleaned but still hulled, from a straw sieve into a shed at his home in the province of Drouet where he farms a small amount of rice for his family. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

A young girl measures hulled rice, using a measuring can, so it can be packaged in 50-lb bags, at a rice mill in the province of Drouet. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

A worker operates a rice mill, which separates the hull from rough rice so it can be packaged in 50-lb bags, in the province of Drouet. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

A worker pours rough rice into a rice mill, which separates the hull from cleaned rice so it can be packaged in 50-lb bags, in the province of Drouet. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Madame Yvon Simeus, 45, leaves a rice mill in the province of Drouet, carrying a small bag of waste hulls from rice for livestock feed, as she walks across a yard full of rough rice set out to dry before it can be processed. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Government agronomist Josaphat Vilna talks about growing rice in the Arbonite Valley during a radio interview in Verrettes. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Water spills over a dam on the Arbonite River near Verrettes. The dam siphons water into two canals for irrigation and also can regulate the upstream water levels to avoid flooding. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Locals walk alongside a canal used for irrigation from the Arbonite River near Verrettes. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

This former rice field is now used for soccer in Pont Sonde due to broken irrigation networks. JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF