Lifeline arrived in Haiti in early February 2010; just a few weeks after the devastating earthquake struck the island on January 12th. Based on its experience in Africa, Lifeline had a keen appreciation for how important safe and efficient stoves would be to helping the victims rebuild stable and sustainable lives amidst the rubble.
Throughout Haiti, 95% of the population relies on wood and/or charcoal for cooking. This cooking method has ravaged the environment, which has lost literally 98% of its forest cover. In the aftermath of the earthquake, the cost of charcoal accounts for approximately 40% of the income of the typical Haitian family living in Port au Prince.
Lifeline’s initiative in Haiti seeks to address these urgent needs by providing fuel saving stoves, which are serving the cooking needs of thousands of displaced Haitians. The initiative includes the piloting of various stove technologies and the provision of institutional stoves, which are reaching more than twenty thousand schoolchildren.
Over the long-term, Lifeline hopes to make its initiative completely self-sustaining through the creation of a commercial market for fuel-saving stoves. In this way, Lifeline intends to build local capacity, at the same time that it helps Haiti combat the deforestation, poverty and diseases that are attributable to open fire cooking.
Haiti – 2010 Update
ILF in Haiti Overview
- No. of Household Stoves Distributed to Date 8,500
- No. of People Benefiting from Household Stoves: 22,665
- No. of Stoves Distributed in Urban Camps and Relocation Centers: 3,033
- No. of Stoves Distributed in Rural Communities: 1,500
- ILF Staff in Haiti: 1 expatriate, 19 local, 50 camp monitors
Urban Beneficiaries
- Average Daily Expenditure on Charcoal Prior to Receiving Stove: $1.40
- Average Daily Expenditure on Charcoal After Receiving Stove: $0.72
- Average Daily Fuel Savings with Stove: $0.69
- Average Monthly Fuel Savings with Stove: $19.40
Rural Beneficiaries
- Average Daily Expenditure on Charcoal
or Wood Prior to Receiving Stove: $0.77 - Average Daily Expenditure on Charcoal
or Wood After Receiving Stove: $0.28 - Average Daily Fuel Savings with Stove: $0.49
- Average Monthly Fuel Savings with Stove: $13.64
Institutional Stove Beneficiaries
- No. of Institutional Stoves in Schools: 100
- No. of Schools Using Institutional Stoves by End of the Year
[average school accounts for 300 children]: 27
The use of fuel-efficient stoves eliminates or significantly decreases the dependency on traditional fuel, namely wood and charcoal. Providing an alternative to these traditional fuels reduces environmental impact (deforestation), protects beneficiaries from detrimental health effects of air pollution produced by traditional fuels, and reduces the burden of costly fuel expenses by eliminating the need to buy charcoal or wood. The stoves are designed to run on either wood or briquettes. When using briquettes made from waste, stoves save 100% of wood or charcoal that would have been previously used. When briquettes are unavailable and wood is the only option, the stoves save 60-80% of wood as compared to cooking on a traditional three-stone fire or charcoal stove.
While the economic benefits of using the household and institutional stoves are substantial, the long-term effect these stoves will have on preventing further deforestation is indispensable. Haiti is currently only 2% forested, in most part due to the cutting down of trees to be used as firewood. Deforestation contributes directly to susceptibility to flooding, unproductive farmland, and a slew of other environmental issues that are not only bad for the environment but also directly and negatively affect Haitians on a daily basis.
International Lifeline Fund has distributed individual household stoves in the urban camps and relocation centers of Korray, Tabarre Isa, Ona Ville, and Camp Hollywood as well as to the three rural communities of Las Palis, Papay and Basin Zim in the Central Plateau of Haiti. In partnership with World Food Program, ILF has distributed 100 Orka Institutional Stoves to 27 schools throughout Port-au-Prince.
Results of ILF Stove Distribution
Through monitoring we know that the primary reason individual household beneficiaries like their stove is because it allows them to save money on fuel costs. People also explained to our monitors that they liked the stoves because the stoves are cooler to sit near, safer for children and safer for cooking with near tents. One individual household beneficiary also shared that:
“With my stove I am able to purchase less charcoal, which means I help protect the environment and save money. For me this project is more than just giving people a stove; there is solidarity between ILF and the people; also this program is helping us to re-build our country so that Haiti can be more beautiful than before the earthquake.”
School canteen cooks had very similar responses when proving feedback regarding the Orka Institutional Stove. The cooks say that they appreciate the Orka stove because it allows for a more comfortable work environment; the Orka stove radiates significantly less heat into the kitchen than the charcoal stoves. The cooks were also pleased that the Orka, utilizes briquettes, produces less smoke than the charcoal stoves. Lastly, the cooks appreciate that the briquettes allow them to stay physically cleaner than when working with charcoal.