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Creole Inc. -
Francois Brave Laroche
Co-
Creole Inc. Haiti
Contact
Francois Brave Laroche
+1(561) 310-
Follow Creole Inc. Haiti
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creoleinc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creoleinc/
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFO Magazine
Published – September 28, 2026
CEOCFO: Mr. Laroche, what was the idea when Creole Inc. was founded and what is your focus today?
Mr. Laroche: The idea for Creole began well before we formally incorporated in 2011. My partner, Brian, and I grew up in Haiti and later came to the United States, where we both studied agriculture. After completing our studies, Brian returned to his family's farm in Oregon and began farming, while I moved to Florida. Although our lives took us in different directions, we both continued to feel that we wanted to do something meaningful in Haiti, particularly in agriculture.
In 2008, we were in the Dominican Republic celebrating Brian's parents' 50th anniversary. While there, we had the opportunity to see firsthand how much agriculture had developed in the Dominican Republic. As we crossed the border into Haiti, we saw large quantities of agricultural products moving from the Dominican Republic into Haiti. We began asking ourselves a simple question, why can't Haiti produce more of its own food, when the two countries share the same island with similar soils, climate, and growing conditions? That experience made a strong impression on both of us. We began to think about doing something about it. That was the beginning of the idea that eventually became Creole.
My father was a farmer, and I grew up working on our family farm. I understood both the challenges and the opportunities associated with agriculture. As Brian and I continued our discussion, we began thinking about how we could use my family's land and our experience to contribute to agriculture in Haiti. A few early supporters who shared our interest in Haiti and agriculture provided resources that allowed us to begin experimenting with different projects.
Our first efforts were relatively small and community based. We established community gardens, worked with churches and local communities, and implemented terracing projects in the mountains to address soil erosion and deforestation. We also experimented with a small fish-
In 2015, a group of sponsor farmers in the US and eventually Canada provided financial support that enabled us to purchase agricultural equipment and begin developing the farm. The vision for the farm was to create a working model of modern, mechanized agriculture in Haiti. We wanted to demonstrate that agricultural production could be increased by combining good farming practices, appropriate technology, improved seed, and access to mechanized equipment.
From the beginning, the farm was intended to serve a purpose beyond producing crops on our own land. We wanted it to become a resource for the surrounding agricultural community. We are also committed for the farm to generates its own revenue and become financially self-
Today, our work has evolved around three primary areas, Seed Development and Production, Mechanized Agricultural Service and Agricultural Education and Training. Access to reliable, high-
We recognize that Haiti's agricultural challenges are significant and that there is no single solution. Creole’s goal is to demonstrate what is possible, develop practical solutions to some of Haiti's agricultural challenges, and provide services to surrounding farmers. By working with both small farmers and larger landholders, we believe Haiti can increase local food production, create jobs, and eventually expand its ability to supply both domestic and export markets.
CEOCFO: What has been the interest of the Haitian people and what role does the government and politics play?
Mr. Laroche: The way I like to put it is this, 99% of people in the world want the same basic things. We want to eat well, send our children to school, have a good home, and provide a better future for our families. I believe that is what every Haitian wants as well. We try to focus on those basic needs rather than on politics. The Haitian government has been in turmoil for as long as I can remember, and because of that, we have chosen to stay out of politics and focus on the issues we face directly.
Of course, we must pay attention to what is happening politically because we operate in Haiti and government decisions affect everything we do. Security, infrastructure, transportation, logistics, and trade are all areas where an effective government can make a difference. Agricultural trade is a good example. Haiti imports large quantities of agricultural products that could potentially be produced domestically. When imported rice, corn, and other products enter the Haitian market at very low prices, it can be extremely difficult for Haitian farmers to compete. These are areas where government policy can have an important role. A more structured and predictable trade policy could help create conditions in which Haitian farmers can invest, increase production, and compete more effectively.
Regardless of what happens politically, Haitians still need food, education, jobs, and opportunities for their families. That is where we believe Creole can make a difference, working with farmers, developing agriculture, creating opportunities, and addressing the practical challenges in front of us.
CEOCFO: What are some of the challenges you have been able to overcome and what is still challenging for you?
Mr. Laroche: One of the biggest challenges Haiti faces is the human factor. Many young Haitians go to school with the hope that, once they are educated, they will be able to leave the country. As soon as an opportunity arises, many of the people who have gained education, skills, and experience leave Haiti. The consequences of this brain drain are that it is very difficult to find people in Haiti with the technical skills and experience we need to hire. However, we don't want to operate like many NGO that relies on outside experts to do the work. When that happens, Haitians don’t have the opportunity to take full ownership and develop the skills themselves.
Our approach is different; we are very intentional about making sure that we don't create dependency. We want Haitians to have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to do the work themselves. Our goal is to build local capacity and transfer responsibility to Haitian professionals and workers.
Today, we have 12 employees in Haiti, and all of them are Haitian. We do not have any foreign employees running our operations. The people from outside Haiti are primarily members of Creole's Board in the US. Their role is to help raise funds, provide ideas and guidance, and offer support when needed. They may travel to Haiti to train and support the staff, but they are not running the programs. We want to demonstrate that Haitians can build and manage successful agricultural enterprises. We want young people to see Haitians operating the equipment, managing the farm, solving problems, and making a living through agriculture.
When a young Haitian sees a farm that is working in Haiti, sees Haitians running it, and sees that agriculture can provide a meaningful livelihood, they can begin to imagine doing the same thing themselves. That is the role we want Creole's model farm to play, build the capacity for Haitians to do it themselves, and to show the next generation that they can build their future in Haiti.
CEOCFO: How do you overcome the problems with repairing equipment?
Mr. Laroche: As I mentioned, one of our greatest challenges is developing the human capacity needed to support agriculture in Haiti. We work to address this by providing education and practical training. We offer internships to university students, train equipment operators, and provide hands-
Repairing equipment in Haiti is a significant challenge, so we have had to develop a practical approach to keep our operations running. We have a mechanic on the farm who understands our tractors and equipment and can handle most repairs. We also train our equipment operators to properly operate and maintain the machinery, which helps prevent unnecessary breakdowns and allows us to identify problems early.
Second, most of our tractors are older, the average age of our tractors on the farm is over 35 years old, they are relatively simple to diagnose and repair. In Haiti, that simplicity is an important advantage because sophisticated electronic equipment can be difficult to troubleshoot and repair locally. One of the biggest difficulties is often not the repair itself but getting the parts. Even when our mechanic knows exactly what is wrong, we often must order parts from outside the country and that can take weeks and sometimes months.
We have also begun looking at newer equipment from manufacturers that use simpler technology. One of our sponsors has helped us obtain a newer tractor from China that does not rely on sophisticated technology, that makes it more practical for our conditions. Consequently, we have less breakdowns however, it still takes a long time to get spare parts.
Ultimately, our strategy is a combination of local mechanics, operator training, preventive maintenance, simple and durable equipment, and maintaining an inventory of critical spare parts. We cannot eliminate breakdowns, but we can reduce their frequency and, reduce the amount of time our equipment is out of service.
CEOCFO: How do you and your board members stay positive when you have such great challenges?
Mr. Laroche: As co-
When you cross the border into the Dominican Republic, you see what is possible. It is the same island, but agriculture is much more developed because of greater access to equipment, technology, infrastructure, and expertise. That reinforces my belief that Haiti can do much more. My vision for Creole is to help demonstrate what Haiti can produce and to build the capacity to make that potential a reality. Another thing that encourages me is seeing people and organizations beginning to recognize what we are doing. Haiti has a very large NGO community, but organizations don't always work together or share what they have learned. We are seeing something different with the farm. More NGOs, agricultural organizations, and individuals are coming to us to understand what we are doing and learn from our experience. Recently, an organization interested in introducing harvesting equipment in northeastern Haiti contacted us because they knew we had experience operating a harvester. They wanted to know how we use it, how we maintain it, and what we have learned from operating it in Haiti.
That is particularly encouraging because we don't have enormous resources ourselves. Yet when people visit the farm, one of the things they often comment on is how organized and well maintained it is. That doesn't happen by accident. For years, we have invested in the people who work there. We don't just give someone a paycheck and tell them what to do. We want them to understand the operation. We train them to use and maintain the equipment, but we also tell them, “This is yours”. We want people to take ownership and responsibility for the farm. After ten years, we are beginning to see the results of that approach.
Those are the things that keep me encouraged. We may not have all the resources we need, but we are building knowledge, and creating something that others can learn from. My hope is that we can continue to build those relationships, leverage the experience we have gained, and increase our capacity to have an even greater impact.
CEOCFO: How do you reach potential donors?
Mr. Laroche: Raising funds for Haiti can be particularly difficult because international news often focuses almost exclusively on the country’s problems. As a result, people are less willing to invest. Our fundraising efforts to date have been based on sharing our mission and outcomes and progress, people have come alongside us and invested However, we need to do more. Religious organizations often have an easier time fundraising because people are naturally willing to support their mission. We have had potential donors tell us they couldn't fund us because religion was not part of our mission, and that's okay.
Because Haiti has so many challenges, people are usually skeptical, especially when they have seen other projects fail. We need to do a better job of telling our story, showing what we are accomplishing, and demonstrating that our approach works. We are beginning to explore social media to better communicate our work and reach potential donors. I am not particularly knowledgeable about social media, but younger people are, so we are looking for ways to involve them in telling our story and helping with fundraising.
Grants present another challenge. Large foundations and international organizations have specific criteria and requirements, and those approaches do not always fit the realities on the ground in Haiti. Sometimes a project looks good on paper but doesn't work because the local capacity simply isn't there.
For example, I met someone from an international development organization who was interested in our tractor services. His idea was to give farmers vouchers that they could use to obtain mechanized services from us. It sounds like a good idea, but I explained that we first need to build the capacity to provide those services. I told him instead, he should give us a contract that allows us to upgrade our equipment, train more operators, and expand our ability to provide services. Then we can go out and serve those farmers. When you have thousands of individual vouchers without the capacity to provide the service, you will create opportunities for money to be misused. Farmers could get some operators to sign the voucher and collect the money when little or no work was done. We try to avoid that kind of approach.
Going forward, I think we need to become much better at telling our story and showing measurable results. We need to use social media, personal relationships, and targeted outreach to connect potential donors directly with the impact they can see on the ground. We also need to build a broader network of supporters who believe in long-
CEOCFO: Why pay attention to Creole Inc.?
Mr. Laroche: We are trying to bring new ideas, practical resources, and new ways of sharing knowledge to the realities of Haiti. Agriculture has always been an important part of Haiti's economy, and we believe the country still has tremendous agricultural potential. But we also believe that lasting success must come from within Haiti.
We work with the people who are there, understand their culture and circumstances, and introduce technology and ideas that they can use, and make their own. If we can combine the right technology with Haitian knowledge, experience, and ownership, we believe agriculture can succeed and that success can become a model for others.
Creole is worth paying attention to because we are taking a different approach, one focused on building local capacity and creating practical solutions rather than just providing assistance. Our goal is to demonstrate that this approach can produce better and more lasting results, helping Haiti become more self-
Creole Inc. Haiti | Francois Brave Laroche | Creole Inc. -