WASHINGTON (AFP) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Tuesday more than 50 million dollars in US aid for poverty-wracked Haiti, as it struggles to recover from last year's devastating hurricanes.

Clinton, preparing to visit Haiti on Thursday, said the United States was setting aside 20 million dollars for roads and infrastructure, 20 million dollars to ease its debt load and another 15 million dollars in food aid.

She also pledged two million dollars for counter-narcotics efforts under the Merida Initiative, a program launched last year to fight drug trafficking in the Caribbean, Mexico and neighboring countries.

Speaking at an international donors conference in Washington organized by Haiti and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), she outlined efforts to help the Haitian government with its recovery, after the country was flattened by four massive storms in the space of a just a few weeks last year.

"Even the most responsible government in the world cannot prevent a natural disaster," Clinton said.

"The hurricanes didn't just wash away crops and houses, they washed away months of government planning," the chief US diplomat said, adding Haiti faced a 50-million dollar budget deficit that could undermine its plans.

"We will provide 20 million to help Haiti's debt service obligations and to free up other resources," Clinton said.

She invited other donors to help clear up the budget deficit.

She added that the destruction of crops caused by the hurricanes, combined with a rise in global food prices, expose Haitians to the risk of malnutrition.

"Food security is not only a source of suffering, it is a direct threat to economic growth and global stability," Clinton said.

"The United States will provide a 15-million dollar in-kind contribution of food to help Haiti as it rebuilds," she said.

"But that is not an answer. We need to revitalize Haitian agriculture. We need to reforest the upper watersheds," Clinton added.

Clinton said the 20 million dollars for infrastructure in order to help with the flow of goods and services.

Some of it would go toward roads which she called "beyond inadequate," including those needed to build up the tourism industry.

The IDB and Haitian government organizers said the conference will focus the international community's support on priority projects in the Haitian government's economic recovery plan, a two-year program aimed at generating 150,000 jobs."

Also attending the conference is Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is facing a serious economic crisis that led to bloody food riots last year. Haitian President Rene Preval has forecast a difficult 2009 amid the global financial downturn.

Clinton is due to arrive Thursday in Haiti and travel later the same day to the Dominican Republic -- both countries share the island of Hispaniola -- before heading Friday to Trinidad and Tobago to join President Barack Obama for the Summit of the Americas.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Clinton will meet with Haitian President Rene Preval "to discuss issues of common concern, including stability, security and assistance."

AFP, April 15, 2009