Manure, Paper Waste and Corn Stalks Help Halt Deforestation in Haiti

World Concern
Monday, 16 April 2001

This Earth Day, as Americans face power blackouts and rising energy costs, remember that many other nations are struggling with ecological crises of their own.

In Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, 75% of the people live in poverty. One of the primary causes of poverty is the deforestation of the country. Forests once covered over 90% of Haiti, yet after decades of intensive tree cutting for firewood and charcoal, less than 1% of the land remains wooded.

World Concern, a Seattle-based Christian relief and development organization, decided to take on the environmental and economic challenge of deforestation in Haiti. Using a unique technology developed by Dr. Ben Bryant, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, the organization teaches families in Haiti to cook and heat their homes using an alternative energy source: the briquette.

Charcoal, inexpensive and reliable, has become the most widely used form of energy in Haiti today. Unfortunately, it is also a major contributor to deforestation. When making charcoal, 80% of the energy in the wood is lost. In addition, the smoke and emissions produced in charcoal kilns create air pollution, global warming and respiratory illnesses. Continued consumption of charcoal in this tiny nation with few forest areas remaining is not sustainable.

Moreover, the destruction of the environment has significant consequences beyond the energy crisis. Farmers, strapped by low farm yields and an insufficient amount of arable land, struggle to produce enough food to feed the population. Unemployment remains over 50%. Families, especially rural families, need income generation sources, jobs or small businesses.

Haitian families make the briquettes in World Concern's program out of manure, leaves, wood scrap like paper waste and corn stalks, materials that are readily available in the communities of Les Cayes, Port-au-Prince, and the Artibonite Valley where the project is located. World Concern teaches women and families to produce, utilize, and sell the briquettes, which cost even less than charcoal.

More than an innovative energy source, World Concern's briquette program provides economic opportunities that will benefit nearly a million people by June 2001. This meets two essential goals of development in Haiti: the creation of jobs and the development of a system that provides sustainable energy and electricity.

For more information, or to contact World Concern, see their website at: www.worldconcern.org