This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, August 2, 2016.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Haiti and Rwanda are similar in size, both uniquely suited to produce high quality coffee,

but Rwanda exports 60 times the coffee value than Haiti.

All this, despite millions of dollars in aid projects in Haiti specifically to boost coffee for export.

Tate Watkins is author of Haitian coffee grows on trees.

In it he explores some of the lesser appreciated reasons why Haitian farmers focus more

on food and less on longer term profit opportunities.

We spoke last week in Bozeman, Montana.

So yeah, I essentially try to use my experience working in Haiti, living in Haiti, and coffee in particular as kind of a vehicle

to tell a story about Haiti.

So Haiti has a fascinating history, if often tragic, during many periods but especially with respect to

coffee so the French colony that became Haiti the colony was called

Sandeming this is in the late 1700s, that colony, which is just about the size of Massachusetts,

used to grow half of the world's coffee.

You know, the world was a much different place back then, but still it's a kind of staggering achievement for such a small place.

The colony as well was more valuable to France than all the 13 original American British colonies were combined.

So this was a hugely productive place,

but it was all done on the backs of slaves from Africa.

So you have the Haitian Revolution that whole period 1804 Haiti becomes an

independent nation. Coffee still was super important to Haiti kind of

throughout the whole century and really into about the mid 20th century you could say.

...