Haiti

In 2021 the Associated Press estimated that Haiti produced more than 70 tonnes of vetiver oil a year, more than Indonesia, China, India, Brazil and the Dominican Republic, and over half of world supply. About 10,000 hectares are harvested each year. The sector brings in about USD 12 million a year and employs between 15,000 and 60,000 farmers, most of them in the south west.

A 2018 study by Heifer International and IFF found that most vetiver farmers earn under USD 2 a day and about 90% rely on the crop as their only income. In 2019 Premium Beauty News put the world market at about 100 tonnes of oil a year, with Haiti supplying more than two thirds, at over USD 350 per kg.

Estimates of world output and Haiti's share differ between sources; there is no official annual statistic.

To harvest the roots, the whole clump is dug out. Soil is turned to a depth of about 40 cm. Roots need at least a year to reach full length and oil content; yet farmers short of cash often dig earlier, sometimes after six months, since no state rule sets a minimum root age.

Much vetiver is planted on hillsides. Each harvest leaves the soil bare and exposed to rain. AVSF reports root yields in some areas falling from 350 to 400 bales per hectare to about 200, at roughly 25 kg per bale. Current trials leave rows of vetiver unharvested as erosion barriers and use vetiver leaves and straw as mulch.

The paradox is that vetiver is planted worldwide to hold soil against landslides, thanks to its deep roots. The uprooting harvest turns it into an erosion crop in Haiti.

Roots are washed, dried, chopped and steam distilled for more than 24 hours. The run is long because vetiver oil consists of heavy, slow evaporating sesquiterpenes. The crude oil is dark amber and viscous.

Some distilleries burn spent roots as boiler fuel instead of wood or fuel oil, to reduce pressure on forests that have largely been cleared in Haiti.

Vetiver oil holds about 100 identified molecules, almost all sesquiterpenes and their derivatives. A study of commercial oils from nine origins, including Haiti, Java, India, Réunion and Brazil, gave: khusimol 3.4 to 13.7%, vetiselinenol 1.3 to 7.8%, alpha vetivone 2.5 to 6.3%, beta vetispirene 1.6 to 4.5%. The authors found no meaningful compositional difference between origins.

No single molecule defines the scent. Its dry wood, damp earth and faint smoke come from many sesquiterpenes at low levels. Haitian oil is often described as cleaner and brighter than Java oil, which carries a heavier smoky note.

On 14 August 2021 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake centred in the Nippes department heavily damaged the south west, including Les Cayes. Over the same period gang violence around Port au Prince made the road from the south to the capital dangerous. The United Nations counted more than 5,600 people killed in gang violence in 2024.

For vetiver the risk lies in moving oil from Les Cayes to the airport and in distilleries' access to fuel and spare parts. Major fragrance houses have funded farmer support and traceability programmes in Les Cayes, but root prices paid to farmers remain low compared with the market price of the oil.