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Haiti\u2019s publicly-run Darbonne sugar enterprise, once the largest source of employment and a key supplier for L\u00e9og\u00e2ne and regional farmers, has been closed for a second time in its 42-year history since 2015. Officials say a revival plan is in progress. However, most are skeptical, although people whose livelihoods depended on the sugar mill remain hopeful. Economists doubt the revival plan will succeed without viable financing, accountability and sustainable agricultural support.<\/p>\n
L\u00c9OG\u00c2NE, Haiti \u2014 The rusting gates and weed-filled courtyards of the Jean L\u00e9opold Dominique Sugar Factory stand as a monument to Haiti\u2019s industrial decline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Known locally as the Darbonne Sugar Factory, the once-bustling sugar mill complex\u2014 situated about 21 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince\u2014 has been shuttered since 2015, devastating sugarcane farmers, distillers and vendors across L\u00e9og\u00e2ne and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe closure of the factory killed L\u00e9og\u00e2ne\u2019s economy and farmers\u2019 livelihoods,\u201d said Andr\u00e9 Romulus, a contractor who spent decades at the plant. \u201cWhen it operated, the whole region had work. Now everything is silent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once capable of crushing 3,000 tons of sugarcane daily, Darbonne was Haiti\u2019s last major sugar factory still operating in the 2000s\u2014 following the trend that saw the country\u2019s industrial sugar mills shut down one by one through the 1990s due to competition from cheaper smuggled sugar. It employed over 1,400 people at its peak.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just about sugar production. The mill powered the local grid with bagasse, supplied cane syrup for the output of Haitian distilled alcoholic spirits known as clairin<\/em> or kleren<\/em><\/a> and supported an ecosystem of transporters, street vendors and farmers. The enterprise\u2019s closure left not only workers unemployed but also devastated a town historically known as Haiti\u2019s capital of clairin, <\/em>a staple of the local economy.<\/p>\n Google Maps showing the short distance between Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, and Darbone, L\u00e9og\u00e2ne, via the National Road No. 2.<\/p>\n Inaugurated in 1983 under then-dictator Jean-Claude \u201cBaby Doc\u201d Duvalier, the factory symbolized the state\u2019s ambitions to industrialize agriculture and reduce dependency on imports. But like other state-owned industrial enterprises, it was brought down by a mix of economic liberalization, mismanagement and political instability.<\/p>\n In 1986, Finance Minister Leslie Delatour\u2019s sweeping trade reforms shuttered state-run sugar factories, paving the way for cheap foreign imports. In the 1990s, Haiti slashed tariffs on sugar to as low as 3%, making imported sugar far cheaper than local production. By the 2000s, Haiti was importing nearly all of its sugar and rice, devastating farmers and factories alike.<\/p>\n Renamed in 1999 by President Ren\u00e9 Garcia Pr\u00e9val to honor slain journalist and agronomist Jean L\u00e9opold Dominique \u2014 who championed farmers\u2019 rights and opposed ethanol imports \u2014 the factory reopened on Jan. 25, 2001, with Cuban technical assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf they want the factory to rise again, the government must invest in replanting cane in the hills and vast swathes of unused land. If they do, the mill can become sustainable and profitable.\u201d<\/p>\n G\u00e9rald Succ\u00e8s, A contractor<\/p>\n Operating with no transparency for nearly 14 years, production never reached sustainable levels. By 2015, after years of debt and shrinking cane harvests, operations ceased again.<\/p>\n H\u00e9bert Docteur, one of the many agricultural directors at the factory over the years, said the mill machine, which could crush 3,000 tons of sugarcane daily, had always operated below its capacity since opening.<\/p>\n \u201cIt crushed about 85,000 tons in its first year and between 120,000 and 180,000 tons from the second year onward,\u201d the former director told The Haitian Times.<\/p>\n The shutdown has had ripple effects across L\u00e9og\u00e2ne, where generations of families lived off sugarcane. Fields in the Grande Rivi\u00e8re area and others once covered in cane are now overgrown, sold for housing, or converted to other small-scale and subsistence crops.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThere were several sugarcane fields here. They no longer exist,\u201d Romulus said in an interview with The Haitian Times, pointing to the vast plain mostly covered with concrete-roofed homes.<\/p>\n The loss also gutted clairin<\/em> production, a vital part of Haiti\u2019s cultural and economic life. Distillers who once bought syrup from Darbonne now scramble to source it from Mirebalais in the Centre Department, now controlled by gangs \u2014 when insecurity on the roads allows. Many small distilleries, also known as gildiv<\/em> in Creole, have closed altogether.<\/p>\n While large-scale industrial sugar production has halted, some artisanal production of sugar and its derivatives, like clairin<\/em> and rapadou<\/em>\u2014a solidified caramel-flavored syrup blocks or cones often wrapped in dried palm leaves\u2014 continues on small family farms.\u00a0<\/p>\n A worker pours the fermented mixture for distillation at a gildiv in Leogane on July 12, 2025. Photo by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Times<\/p>\n \u201cThe syrup from Darbonne was cheaper and better,\u201d said Delbrun Audry, a distiller and father of five who shut down his gildiv<\/em> last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWithout it, our livelihood disappeared overnight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Others have turned to imported brown sugar as a substitute, driving up costs.<\/p>\n Workers seen unloading sugarcane bagasse from a pickup truck at a gildiv in Leogane on July 12, 2025. Photo by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Times<\/p>\n Officials acknowledge the factory was operating at a loss for years. Between 2002 and 2011, revenues averaged 31.7 million gourdes annually or about $239,000 (USD), while expenses exceeded 32.9 million gourdes or over $253,000. Yet the lack of transparent financial records fuels skepticism.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe Cubans kept most of the data, but no reports were published,\u201d said Martenot-Nels Narcius, a technical manager involved in revival efforts.<\/p>\n The factory also suffered from political meddling, according to a senior official from the sugar mill\u2019s supervising agency\u2014the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR) \u2014who requested anonymity to speak freely. \u201cHundreds were hired under political pressure. Many never worked a day. Buyers pushed for lower prices. The system was unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, the main entrance looks completely dilapidated and loose goats and cows graze where sugarcane carts once rolled. Yet Narcius insists the Haitian government is preparing a new revival plan, estimating it will cost at least $5 million.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe are studying cane-growing capacity, planning maintenance, and exploring public-private financing,\u201d he told The Haitian Times.<\/p>\n The main entrance to the Jean Leopold Dominique Sugar Factory in Darbonne, Leogane, as seen on June 27, 2025. Photo by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Times<\/p>\n Goats grazing on grass in the Darbonne Factory\u2019s courtyard as seen on July 26, 2025. Photo by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Times<\/p>\n Cows and calves grazing where sugarcane-filled trucks and carts used to drive through, as seen on June 27, 2025. Photo by Daniella Saint-Louis for The Haitian Times<\/p>\n Not everyone is convinced. \u201cThe plain is no longer what it was,\u201d said Johanna Jean-No\u00ebl, a resident near the plant.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLand has been sold, houses built. People grow other crops. I doubt there\u2019s enough sugarcane left for the mill to run again.\u201d<\/p>\n Others remain hopeful. \u201cThe state must invest in replanting cane in the hills and unused land,\u201d said G\u00e9rald Succ\u00e8s, a long-time contractual worker. \u201cIf they do, the factory can live again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe are studying sugarcane-growing capacity, planning maintenance, and exploring public-private financing.\u201d<\/p>\n Martenot-Nels Narcius, a technical manager<\/p>\n Several well-known Haitian economists and agronomists specializing in economics refused to comment on the government\u2019s plan to reopen the sugar mill after being contacted by The Haitian Times, citing a lack of sufficient information.\u00a0<\/p>\n Economist Kesner Pharel of Group Croissance S.A<\/a>. said that his firm had no information about this plant because officials have never published any of its financial statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n The debate over Darbonne reflects Haiti\u2019s broader economic struggles. Agriculture once employed two-thirds of Haitians, but today it contributes less than 20% of the country\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the World Bank. Haiti now imports over 80 percent of its food, leaving it vulnerable to global price shocks.<\/p>\n As of late 2024 and early 2025, political and security unrest continues to harm agricultural output. A Mercy Corps<\/a> report notes that gang violence is driving hunger and poverty to severe levels. The World Bank<\/a> anticipates that Haiti\u2019s GDP will continue to shrink, following six consecutive years of economic decline.<\/p>\n Sugar, once the backbone of the Haitian economy since colonial times, has virtually disappeared. With the collapse of factories from the south to the north, domestic production has given way almost entirely to imports. Meanwhile, insecurity, land grabs and lack of state support continue to push farmers out of production.<\/p>\n Haiti does not have any major functioning sugar mills today, despite several large-scale mills having operated there in the past. The country\u2019s largest sugar factory, the Haitian-American Sugar Company (HASCO), closed in 1987. HASCO\u2019s closure was followed by a wave of shutdowns in Les Cayes, Saint-Marc, among other places\u2014including Darbonne.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fall of Darbonne [sugar factory] is the story of Haiti\u2019s economy \u2014 disinvestment, mismanagement, and dependency,\u201d Frantz Charles, an agricultural economist, said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it is revived, authorities must not repeat the mistakes of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\nA turbulent history, the collapse of sugarcane and <\/strong>clairin<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Numbers that don\u2019t add up: <\/strong>A revival plan \u2014 or another mirage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The problem runs deeper than one factory<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Like this:<\/h3>\n