Nexant Final Report Annexes.pdf

Alternative Cooking Technologies Program for Haiti Client Confidential: USAID

ANNEX A Haiti Macroeconomic Overview

1.1 THE ECONOMY OF HAITI

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. According to data provided by the World Bank, gross domestic product (GDP) was just under US$4 billion in 2009, as shown in Figure

1.1. Haiti’s total economic output level is the lowest among its Caribbean neighbours.

Figure 1.1 GDP Level in the Caribbean: 2000 -20091

Constant 2000 US$

Total population in Haiti is around 10 million; hence GDP per capita is only around US$400.

The figures and table below further highlight Haiti’s position as the poorest among its neighbours in the Caribbean islands and well behind major economies in the world, except countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded an average GDP per capita of around

US$200.

1 World Bank World Development Indicators Database

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0 ANNEX A Haiti Macroeconomic Overview

Figure 1.2 GDP per Capita in the Caribbean: 2000 - 20091

Figure 1.3 GDP per Capita in 20092

2 World Bank World Development Indicators Database

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Table 1.1 GDP per Capita Worldwide1

1.1.1 GDP by Economic Activities

Figure 1.4 below shows the breakdown of GDP by economic activities in Haiti over time.

The last public data available with a breakdown of economic activities date back to 2004. The distribution among sectors remained very similar between 1995 and 2004, with approximately 28% for agriculture sector, 20% for industry and 52% for services sector in 2004. Agriculture’s contribution to the country’s GDP dropped from 33% in 1995 to 28% in 2004. This drop in agriculture was somehow compensated by an increase in the industry’s output from 15% in 1995 to 20% in 2004; while the services sector fluctuated at around 52%.

The agricultural sector in Haiti is dominated by small scale subsistence farming. There are various cash crops that are produced and that include Haitian Bleu, a high quality blend of coffee, supported by European NGO’s fair-trade scheme, cocoa, mangoes, avocados and spices. The industrial sector mainly consists of textile and automotive parts production industries, other products include beverages, butter, cement, detergent, edible oils, flour, refined sugar and soap. Jobs in the public sector make up a large proportion of the services industry, while a small portion goes to banks and tourism.

2000 2005 2009 Haiti 424 379 390 Dominican Republic 2 718 2 993 3 697 Costa Rica 4 057 4 501 5 043 Jamaica 3 479 3 742 3 679 Mexico 5 935 6 179 6 099 Suriname 1 910 2 328 2 712 Guyana 942 966 1 124 Chad 165 301 274 Mali 230 278 304 Niger 163 168 174 Brazil 3 701 3 975 4 419 India 453 589 757 United Kingdom 25 089 27 705 27 211 United States 34 606 37 019 36 647

Figure 1.4 GDP by Economic Activities in Haiti: 1995 - 20041

Figure 1.5 and Table 1.2 show the breakdown of GDP by economic activities in other countries. In contrast to Haiti, agriculture in its neighboring countries in the Caribbean region represents a much lower share of their economic output at around five percent, while Haiti’s figure is about thirty percent. Haiti’s industrial sector only accounts for twenty percent of its economy, while the Caribbean region’s average is around one-third. There is also a different pattern for services between fifty percent and just under two-thirds. The economic structure of Haiti is comparable to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and indeed very similar to Guyana in South America.

Figure 1.5 GDP by Economic Activity (Selected Countries)2

1 World Bank World Development Indicators Database and CIA World Factbook

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Table 1.2 GDP by Economic Activities Worldwide1

1.1.2 Economic Growth

The level of economic growth in Haiti has been rather slow and very unstable. Figure 1.6 shows Haiti’s growth rate lagging behind its neighbours most of the time in the past decade, except in 2009 when a number of Caribbean countries were hit hard by the financial crisis.

Haiti’s average growth rate was only 0.8% in the last decade. This forms a strong contrast to its next door neighbor, The Dominican Republic, which experienced an average annual rate of economic growth of about 5%. Haiti improved its performance in the second half of the decade though, as the average figure between 2000 and 2005 increased from -0.3% to 2.2% between 2005 and 2009.

Country Watch2 forecasted a growth rate for Haiti in 2010 of approximately -8.5% due to the significantly adverse impact of the earthquake that struck the country in January 2010, but predicted quite a significant recovery next year, projecting a rate of 3.7% in 2011. Due to a lack of publicly available post earthquake economic projections, this figure may need to be treated cautiously.

2 http://www.countrywatch.com, a business research organisation based in Houston, Texas, United States.

Agriculture Industry Services Haiti 28% 20% 52% Dominican Republic 6% 30% 64% Costa Rica 7% 28% 65% Jamaica 6% 30% 65% Mexico 4% 38% 58% Suriname 5% 40% 55% Guyana 28% 22% 50% Chad 24% 36% 40% Mali 37% 24% 39% Niger 40% 17% 43% Brazil 7% 27% 66% India 17% 28% 55% United Kingdom 1% 24% 76% United States 1% 22% 77%

Figure 1.6 Economic Growth in the Caribbean: 2000 - 20111

Table 1.3 Economic Growth in Caribbean: 2000 - 20112

The often cited fundamental reasons of Haiti’s poor economic growth performance include the country’s long history of political instability, poor governance, distortions at macroeconomic level and inadequate level of private sector investment.

1.2 INFLATION

Figure 1.7 illustrates the inflation rate movements in Caribbean countries in the past decade.

Almost all countries recorded a high rate of inflation during that period averaging around 10% per annum. The average inflation rate in Haiti between 2000 and 2009 was 15%. It declined from an average of 19% between 2000 and 2005 to 11% between 2005 and 2009. In 2009, it was reported to be 0%.

1 World Bank World Development Indicators Database and Country Watch 2 World Bank World Development Indicators Database and Country Watch

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Historic Forecast

Average Average Average 2000-2009 2000-2005 2005-2009

Costa Rica 1.8% 5.9% -1.5% - - 4.0% 3.7% 4.7% Dominican Republic 5.7% 9.3% 3.5% - - 5.1% 3.9% 7.4% Haiti 0.9% 1.8% 2.9% -8.5% 3.7% 0.8% -0.3% 2.2% Jamaica 0.9% 1.0% -2.6% - - 1.1% 1.8% 0.3% Mexico 6.6% 3.2% -6.5% - - 1.9% 2.6% 1.3%

2000 2005 2009 2010 2011

Figure 1.7 Caribbean Region – Inflation (CPI): 2000 - 20091

1.3 LABOR MARKET

Despite a total population of 10 million, the size of Haiti’s labor force (as reported in the official data) is only 3.6 million, or 36% of the total. Figure 1.8 shows that Haiti’s figure is significantly lower than other countries in the world, except for Suriname, Mali and Niger, where all these countries have relatively large informal sectors. Most countries in the Caribbean have a labor force of around 45% of total population and in other major countries in the world, the share is over 50%.

Figure 1.8 Percentage of Population in Labor (Selected Countries)2

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Figure 1.9 illustrates the distribution of labor force by occupation in Haiti. The structure has not changed much compared to the previous decade. Two-thirds of Haiti’s labor force is employed in the agricultural sector, a quarter in the services sector and the remaining nine percent in industrial sector.

Haiti has the highest proportion of labor force in the agricultural sector and the lowest proportion in industry and services among the countries listed in Figure 1.10. The average for Caribbean countries is around 15% for agriculture, 20% for industry and 65% for services.

Worldwide, only Chad and Niger, in Sub-Saharan Africa, have a higher proportion of their labor force in the agricultural sector, at 80% and 90% respectively, with a very small proportion for industrial and services sectors.

Figure 1.9 Labor Force by Occupation in Haiti1

1 CIA World Factbook

Agriculture 66%

Industry 9%

Services 25%

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Figure 1.10 Labor Force by Occupation Worldwide1

There are no official statistics on Haiti’s unemployment rate, but it is a fact that the country suffers from widespread unemployment and underemployment. More than half of the population is reported to be out of work, and for those who have a job, it can be very seasonal, resulting in a large proportion of Haitians living below the poverty line.

1.4 POVERTY & PRODUCTIVITY

Haiti has a GINI coefficient (a measure of income inequality) of about 60, which is the highest among countries listed in Figure 1.11. Distribution of income in Haiti is very uneven.

The top 1% of the country’s population own 50% of the nation’s wealth, and the median level of income in Haiti is likely to be less than half of the reported average figure of US$ 400 per capita.

80% of Haitians live on US$2 per day and 54% are officially under the international poverty line of less that US$ 1 per day. At the moment, families are reported to spend around 50% of their daily household incomes just for cooking fuel. This is a consequence of limited earning options and relatively high level of fuel cost.

1 World Bank World Development Indicators Database and CIA World Factbook

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Figure 1.11 GINI Coefficient Worldwide1

Labor productivity in Haiti’s agricultural sector is very low. The sector employs 66% of the country’s labor force and yet it only produces less than 30% of Haiti’s total output. The agricultural sector is characterized by scarcity of physical capital including tools, machines, fertilizers, transportation and infrastructure. Hence, labor productivity is low and households engaged in farming are mostly poor. In return, low income households also pose a key obstacle to innovation and technological changes in agriculture.

Agricultural output in Haiti suffered from increasing farming of a finite and shrinking area of land available, resulting in the division of cultivated land into smaller plots. Soil on these small farms has become poorer and less productive. This situation was worsened by extensive deforestation, which led to severe erosion of the fertile top soil. As a result of this, farmers suffer from low crop yield and are eventually trapped in a situation that forces them to cut trees for charcoal supply and farming of land higher up the mountainsides. This might help them in easing short term financial constraints, but at the same time result in greater long term problems.

In order to generate more sustainable economic growth, Haiti will need to consider the development of its industrial base to create new sources of wealth in addition to the agricultural sector. Potential investments into industries would help reduce the country’s significant unemployment burden and ease its poverty-related problems. The manufacturing of improved cookstoves, although not a major industry, would be a good opportunity for the expansion of employment in the industrial sector.

1.5 INTERNATIONAL TRADE & FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

The figure below shows the net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the different Caribbean countries. Haiti received FDIs equivalent to only an average of 0.8% of its GDP over the last decade, while the figures for other countries are generally above 2%. Most of the countries have significant higher average FDI levels than Haiti during that period. The figure

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1.5 INTERNATIONAL TRADE & FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

The figure below shows the net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the different Caribbean countries. Haiti received FDIs equivalent to only an average of 0.8% of its GDP over the last decade, while the figures for other countries are generally above 2%. Most of the countries have significant higher average FDI levels than Haiti during that period. The figure for the Dominican Republic is 4.4%, Costa Rica 4.6% and Jamaica 3.7%. Haiti reached a peak of 3.3% in 2006, before reverting back to its low FDI level recorded between 2000 and 2005.

Figure 1.12 Caribbean Region: Net Inflows of Foreign Direct Investments1

Percentage of GDP

The sudden surge of FDIs in 2006 was the result of a macroeconomic program developed by the International Monetary Fund in 2005 and the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act enacted by the U.S. Congress in December 2006.

These program boosted production-exports and investment in the textile and automotive parts industries by providing tariff-free access to the United States. The HOPE program was extended in May 2008 for 10 years, and has expanded duty-free treatment to products that are wholly assembled or knit-to-shape in Haiti regardless of the origin of the inputs.

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1.6 ENERGY SECTOR

On a per capita basis, Haiti consumes a very limited amount of energy, approximately 80 kilograms of oil equivalent (KGOE) per capita per year, while energy consumption in other Caribbean countries is mostly above 1 000 KGOE per capita. Average energy consumption in developing countries is generally above 1 000 KGOE per capita, whilst developed economies have an average consumption level of no less than 4 000 KGOE, the contrast is illustrated in the figure below. Only countries in Sub-Saharan Africa consume less energy than Haiti.

Chad, Mali and Niger consume 9, 24 and 28 KGOE per capita respectively, which is less than one-third of Haiti’s consumption level.

Figure 1.13 Total Primary energy consumption per Capita1

Kilograms of Oil Equivalent

The split of energy consumption by fuel source is illustrated in the figure below. The share of solid biomass is approximately 75%, fossil fuel 20% and electricity 5%.

1 United States Department of Energy Information Administration Database

Ki log ra m of Oi l E qu iva len t

Figure 1.14 Energy Consumption by Fuel Source1

The Péligre Dam provides power supply to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. There is no hydrocarbon reserves in Haiti, so all petroleum products are imported and sold on to the market at a fixed price, supported by government subsidies. The major form of energy use in Haiti at the moment is the burning of wood and charcoal.

It should be noted that the percentage of forested land in Haiti has dropped from 60% in 1923 to the current level of 2%. Despite strong reforestation efforts deployed, it still takes a long period of time to turn newly planted trees into fuelwood. Hence, long term sustainability of these reforestation measures is severely challenged in Haiti.

The traditional and basically main source of energy supply is being eroded away by the very rapid rate of deforestation and Haiti, which is not endowed with any indigenous oil and gas resources, is facing a very serious security of energy supply situation.

The lack of energy infrastructure is also preventing Haiti from introducing alternative sources of energy to improve energy supply. Building an accessible and reliable grid network for energy distribution would require sizeable investments that are challenging to mobilize at the moment given the country’s economic situation.

However, the significantly high level of poverty in Haiti and the resulting affordability issue for most of the country’s households remain formidable obstacles that severely restrict the range and use of alternative energy sources.

1 World Resources Institute

Solid Biomass 75%

Electricity 5%

Fossil Fuels 20%

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 1 of 20

Annex B

SURVEY AND FOCUS GROUP REPORT:

ALTERNATIVE COOKING

TECHNOLOGIES IN HAITI

FOR NEXANT, INC.

The Paradigm Project, L3C 50 Long Bow Circle Monument, CO 80132 www.theparadigmproject.org http://www.theparadigmproject.org/�

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 2 of 20

Overview of scope and findings

Haiti’s natural environment has suffered severe degradation over the last century, which has left it vulnerable to natural disasters and has depleted agricultural and other rural livelihood income generating activities. 72% of Haiti’s energy demand is met with local resources; 66% of this is from charcoal and wood fuel, with bagasse comprising 4% and hydro energy 2% (ESMAP Technical Paper 112/07, report from the World Bank and Haitian Bureau of Mines and Energy (BME).1

It is estimated that Haitians use at least 4 million tons of wood annually, 33% of which is transformed into charcoal, chiefly for cooking purposes. (2007 ESMAP)

According to the ESMAP, 37 million cubic meters of living wood and a 2% annual growth rate means that 474,000 tons of wood or 71,000 tons of charcoal could be produced sustainably from existing wood stocks in Haiti. The consumption rate of charcoal in Port-au-Prince alone is estimated to be approximately 413,000 tons/year, based on a population of 3.5 million with an average households size of 4.9 and a 70% charcoal usage rate. Any effort to reverse the environmental degradation must address both alternative fuel options, such as LPG, and methods for reducing charcoal consumption through improved efficiency stoves.

Over 6 weeks from September 15 through October 31, The Paradigm Project was contracted to conduct focus groups and surveys with households, food vendors and energy intensive businesses (bakeries and laundries), and those working in the charcoal trade. The aim of these surveys and focus groups is to assess the following:

1. For each consumer group, what are the market barriers to increasing their uptake of improved cooking technologies? E.g. high upfront costs, limited distribution networks, cooking preferences and practices, social norms, lack of product knowledge, etc?

2. What are the existing incentives for switching away from charcoal? E.g. price differentials between alternative fuels and charcoal, fuel attributes, etc.

3. Given revealed preferences (adoption rates, taste, etc), what combination of alternative cooking technologies and/or fuels would maximize reduction of charcoal consumption by each consumer group in Haiti?

4. Can beneficiaries of the charcoal trade be brought into the stove manufacturing supply chain?

1 ESMAP Technical Paper 112/07. Haiti: Strategy to Alleviate the Pressure of Fuel Demand on National Woodfuel Resources. Washington, DC: The World Bank, April 2007.

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 3 of 20

Key Findings Summarized

1. Traditional cooking practices and cultural norms are the most influential drivers of behavior with regard to the adoption and use of efficient cooking technologies and/or alternative fuels.

2. Barriers to reducing or eliminating charcoal as a primary cooking fuel are numerous and extremely high. Lack of abundant distribution channels, supply chain infrastructure and lack of consumer education are the largest barriers to LPG adoption over the long-term.

3. SMEs selling food on the street are prolific and constitute a significant portion of charcoal demand and use in Haiti. An improved stoves, green charcoal and/or fuel switching program targeted at this grey-market industry could have a major impact on deforestation rates, user health and economic security.

4. Institutions such as schools and orphanages consume large quantities of charcoal and other biomass fuel in implementing vital feeding programs. An improved stoves and/or fuel switching program targeted at this industry could have a major impact on deforestation rates, user health and reduce the strain on the institutions’ limited financial resources.

5. Urban SMEs such as bakeries and laundries and generally not consumers of charcoal or other biomass. Though rural bakeries are large consumers of wood, they do not utilize baking technologies that readily lend themselves to fuel switching or efficient replacement technologies.

6. Charcoal production is an important source of rural income and an unregulated industry fraught with corruption. An improved stove or alternative fuel supply chain would be perceived as a major threat to the industry and its beneficiaries, creating extreme difficulty in transitioning current beneficiaries into a new supply chain.

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 4 of 20

Summary of Surveys Conducted

8 surveys were created to capture information from the following groups:

1. Households in urban and rural areas (both a short survey and a long, detailed survey were used)

2. Street Vendors

3. Institutions (school, orphanages, and other institutions cooking for large amounts of people)

4. Bakeries

5. Laundries

6. Charcoal Sellers

7. Charcoal Producers

The geographical focus for data collection was Port-au-Prince, with an emphasis on Delmas, Petionville, and Champs de Mars. Other areas visited were Section 5 of Gran Goave, Hinche and Papay in the Central Plateau, Cap Haitian and the East Department near the border with the Dominican Republic.

A total of 53 household surveys were conducted, 38 in urban areas and 15 in rural areas, with an additional 62 short household surveys to supplement information on family size, fuel usage, and stove/technology use. 34 street vendors, 7 bakeries, 2 laundry/dry cleaners, 2 orphanages and 10 schools were interviewed in detail regarding their fuel use, business profits and expenses, and the incentives and barriers to their adopting alternative fuels and improved technology. To assess the charcoal supply chain, 14

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 5 of 20 charcoal sellers and 6 charcoal producers were interviewed. In addition to these interviews, many different groups were informally interviewed and 3 focus groups were conducted with households in order to provide more comprehensive qualitative information in addition to the quantitative data captured through surveys.

Methodology Used for Data Collection Interviews were conducted with various households, street vendors, institutions, bakeries and laundries in 4 geographical areas: Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas, Gran Goave Sections 5 and 6, Central Plateau in Papay and Hinche, and Cap Haitian and its nearby East Department. The primary focus of the study was Port-au-Prince. As the seat of both industry and population in Haiti, it provided a venue to better understand the continued impact of the earthquake and to explore viable options for improving the lives of those affected. Corail was selected as representative of permanent settlements on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince that will continue to grow as part of the reconstruction strategy. Cap Haitian was selected for its role as the ‘second city’ of Haiti.

Gran Goave was selected as a rural community in which the resources of a locally-based NGO with a long established presence in the area could be used to provide access to representative rural communities members. The Central Plateau was selected primarily to work with Mouvement Paysan Papay (MPP), who have worked with MIT on briquette production, and who recently received a container of ~1,200 StoveTec household stoves and two types of institutional stoves from International Lifeline Fund (ILF).

Households, street vendors, laundries, bakeries, and charcoal sellers and makers were chosen at random in all geographic areas except for Gran Goave, where Plant With

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 6 of 20

Purpose facilitated our visits to representative members of each of these groups. An emphasis was placed on middle to lower income households, as those that were most likely to be using charcoal or a mix of fuel, and thus those that represented the target group which would most benefit from improved cooking technology, given both the health and economic burdens of woodfuel-based cooking practices.

In Port-au-Prince, surveys were conducted around Petionville, Delmas, La Ville, Champs de Mars, Thomassin, Tabarre and Croix de Bouquets. Other areas of the city, most notably Cite Soleil were not explored due to security concerns, however it is presumed that these areas of extreme poverty could benefit greatly from an improved stove program. A special visit was made to Corail, the permanent settlement camp just outside of Port-au-Prince, to better understand the living conditions and environmental impact involved in the resettlement of IDPs.

All interviews were conducted based on the selection of a geographic area with distinct demographic qualities and interviewees from various groups were then randomly chosen based on their willingness to participate in the survey and their relative representativeness of the trends observed in that area.

Given the difficulty in finding and accessing institutions, schools and orphanages were not randomly selected, but rather facilitated through partner organizations. Orphanage visits were facilitated by Grassroots United from their distribution beneficiaries list.

Schools visits were facilitated by the World Food Program for the School Feeding Program. Outside of the WFPs work in feeding school children, very few schools provide food to their students.

The 2007 ESMAP report from the World Bank and Haitian Bureau of Mines and Energy (BME), served as a loose baseline for evaluating current data and in providing the data from which findings were extrapolated inn order to estimate scale. Much of the information provided in this report references earlier studies, some of them dating back to the 1980s. The Women’s Refugee Commission report produced in March 2010 was also used as a reference for post-earthquake activities in Port-au-Prince and the 2010 WINNER survey (not yet released) was utilized to supplement primary data and gain a a better understanding of the activities of street vendors operating at various scales.

As the focus of this study was more qualitative than quantitative, further research is required to understand the current scale of various industries using biomass fuels, available agricultural waste for use in alternative fuels, and to confirm accurate population and demographic information, which will inform various types of interventions.

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 7 of 20

Detailed Findings

1. Traditional cooking practices and cultural norms are the most influential drivers of behavior with regard to the adoption and use of efficient cooking technologies and/or alternative fuels.

Haitians (like all peoples) have certain specific traditions, learned behaviors and ingrained habits that dictate their likes and dislikes in relation to food types and preparation. These behavioral drivers are extremely powerful and often override external influences like cost and value propositions when it comes to consumer preference. Efficient cooking technologies and alternative fuels cannot succeed if the implementing programs do not take into account these key factors and design strategies accordingly. The taste, consistency and smell of food produced are of paramount importance. Technologies or fuels altering the traditional norms in these areas will generally experience low adoption and slow growth. Likewise, the modes and processes of preparing meals and securing fuels have become part of the lifestyle of most Haitians.

For instance, nearly all urban poor households purchase fuel daily on the street corner in small, meal-size portions. Adopting an alternative fuel that requires advance planning and saving for bulk purchase and/or travelling any distance to secure the fuel represents a major behavioral shift for the user which will greatly deter or prevent adoption, even if that alternative fuel choice offers other benefits such as lower cost and less toxic fumes.

The more behavior change required to use the stove (or the further from the traditional stove the improved stove functions and appears), the more training will be required to encourage sustained use. Improved stoves will change cooking time, heat distribution to pots, fuel load required, and other aspects ingrained in the daily cooking habits. Without a thorough education campaign and user training, improved stoves will quickly be given up in frustration for their inability to cook a meal in a way that is familiar to cooks.

Deep understanding of the behavioral regime behind cooking and the processes leading up to and immediately following the meal are core drivers of consumer behavior and need to be closely evaluated in light of the proposed technology prior to implementation or design.

Cooking practices are relatively consistent throughout urban and rural Haiti due to the lack of meal options available to the urban and rural poor.. Breakfast is a light meal consisting of coffee and boiled spaghetti or plantains. Lunch is the main meal of the day, typically rice or maize and beans cooked for 2 hours. Dinner is the lightest meal of the day and is often skipped, especially in poorer households; it consists of grain porridge or soup. There is little seasonal variation in diet, though cooking becomes much more difficult during the rainy season, especially in rural areas where many households are cooking in separate kitchens that become wet during the rains.

Current fuel use patterns show that, of the 100 urban households interviewed, only 7 households are using LPG. Given the scale of the survey work done, the emphasis on

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 8 of 20 lower income households, and the new reality in post-earthquake Haiti, which reduced the number of households using LPG, this is relatively consistent with ESMAP’s findings that 70% of households use wood or charcoal. Wood is the primary fuel used in rural areas, but only 4 of 15 households reported using wood exclusively (while only 1 household reported using charcoal exclusively). Charcoal is used by most households in rural areas during the rainy season, when fuel wood becomes harder to find and the ground is wet, making cooking on 3-stone fires difficult. This seasonal fuel switching could represent a significant barrier the adoption of new stove technologies or fuels.

Households currently using LPG as their primary fuel will still cook time-consuming parts of the meal (especially beans) on charcoal and will use charcoal a handful of days each month when they are unable to afford to refill the gas tank or when gas is unavailable.

Analogous to LPG use that is supplemented with charcoal in Port-au-Prince, rural households often use charcoal in the morning because it is easier to light and cooks more quickly than wood. The main meal of the day is still typically cooked on wood to reduce expenditures for charcoal.

The importance of the taste of food in adopting improved cooking technology is illustrated in the limited uptake of kerosene. Even though it is affordable, widely available, and considered a safe fuel, only 6 of 38 respondents were using kerosene, and all but 1 were using charcoal concurrently. Kerosene generates black smoke when the fuel source gets low and respondents complained that the taste of kerosene gets into the food, making it seem more detrimental to health than charcoal or wood. Detailed field trials should be conducted with alternative fuels to better grasp potential issues with new fuels or technologies altering the taste or consistency of food.

Cast aluminum rice pots (chodye) that are used for cooking nearly every meal represent a major investment in all Haitian households. Cooks are very particular about the quality of their rice and most are adamant that rice can only be made in the traditional rice pot.

The majority of households also use a narrow, thin bean pot (bom) that is used for cooking beans and heating water for bathing or boiling for water purification. Any improved cooking technology must be suitable for use with the widely varying sizes of rice pots that are currently being used in Haitian homes, since a majority of households cook large meals fairly frequently for their family or to share with neighbors. Families will be reluctant to adopt new technologies or fuels that require a reinvestment in new pots.

An improved stove must also be able to accommodate larger pots, since a majority of households cook large meals fairly frequently for their family or to share with neighbors.

Urban households interviewed are an average size of 4.9 people, with 6.12 people fed daily; this accounts for an average 1.22 additional persons fed per urban household. The most common pot sizes are 25cm and 30cm in diameter. Rural households tend to be larger and cook much larger meals to share with neighbors than urban households. The average rural household size is 6.1, with 8.3 people cooked for on a daily basis, Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 9 of 20 averaging 2.2 additional persons fed per rural household. In addition to common hospitality, there is a cultural practice of kombit or giving food in exchange for work that is more common in rural areas. Rural families tend to have one very large pot (approximately 36-42 cm diameter) for these purposes. Typically two rice pots and 1 bean pot are used for cooking.

For all households, stove portability is an important feature, since nearly all households will cook outside or on a covered veranda during dry weather and will move their stoves inside during the rains and at night to protect them. Stability is also a key influencer in adoption, since the cooking pots are very heavy and a commonly cooked traditional dish, mais moulu (thick corn porridge), is vigorously stirred.

Cultural habits around purchasing fuel and stoves will be a strong determining factor in new fuel and technology adoption. In urban areas, both fuel and stoves are purchased very inexpensively for short-term use. 12 of 25 urban respondents who had purchased charcoal stoves (other respondents were given stoves through NGO distributions or were not using charcoal) were using a scrap aluminum stove (recho tol), sold for 100gd (~$2.50) and lasing 1-3 months. Unless new technologies and fuels can rapidly build supply chain solutions that rival the convenience and availability of charcoal and locally-made stoves, they will have a difficult time achieving significant uptake.

In rural areas, 6 of 14 respondents using charcoal stoves were using the less durable recho tol, 2 of which regularly repaired their stove to make it last longer. The majority of households interviewed purchased rebar stoves and repaired them; some respondents had their stove for over 10 years, indicating that there is more of a practice of investing in technology. This is especially true in rural areas that are more remote from urban centers where charcoal stoves can be readily purchased as needed.

There is not a culture of buying wood stoves or wood for cooking in rural areas; wood is typically collected close to the house, which indicates that there is not a significant burden involved in fuel collection. Efficient wood stoves in rural homes could provide significant environmental value, but may prove difficult to ingrain in the lives of people not currently paying for fuel. Any wood stove would have to provide additional benefits (to fuel savings) that are highly desired by Haitian cooks (speed of cooking, for instance) and likely need to be priced at a very low level.

In urban areas, the cultural norm is to buy fuel daily as needed. Among urban charcoal users, only 5 respondents were buying fuel in bulk while all others were purchasing single servings (marmite) for 25gd. This presents a significant challenge for fuel switching strategies as urban Haitians are conditioned to small, daily fuel purchases and may resist changing their behaviors to manage larger bulk purchases of fuel.

Interestingly, no rural respondents reported buying fuel in single servings; most all households using charcoal will purchase large sacks for an average of 300gd (~$7.50)

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(prices ranging from 200gd, ~$5, in more remote areas to 600gd, ~$15, closer to urban centers; this same size sack would cost 750gd, ~$18.75, in Port-au-Prince). This may indicate that rural consumers may be more receptive to alternative fuel strategies and stove technologies that require a bulk purchase mentality. However, because charcoal is a significant source of rural income production, it will be extremely difficult to introduce new technologies which may displace charcoal in these areas. The ubiquity of charcoal, even in rural areas, again speaks to its ingrained role in Haitian society.

Charcoal can be purchased within a 2-minute walk of nearly any location in or near a major metropolitan area. It can also be purchased in any quantity, and can easily be transported home. The convenience and ubiquitous nature of charcoal represent the largest barrier to fuel switching. The convenience of purchasing charcoal as an ingrained behavior can be witnessed in the practice of purchasing bad charcoal. Given the plethora of charcoal vendors, a short walk would often reward a consumer with a vendor selling better quality charcoal, but consumers regularly exhibited a propensity to purchase the closer, more convenient option (even if of lower quality) rather than making an effort to seek a better alternative. Consumers are aware that they should be paying less for an inferior product and could source better quality product if they travelled just a bit further, but consistently do not make this purchasing choice.

The wide availability of charcoal (and the lack of availability of LPG or other fuels, stoves, tanks, etc) creates significant incentives to continue the use of charcoal in households and small street vendor businesses. The familiarity and thus ease of use, the ease of transporting fuel and stoves, and the ability to buy stoves and fuel at very low cost (even if this method of purchasing is more expensive when viewed as cost over time) are considerable behavior drivers keeping the charcoal trade alive and well.

2. Barriers to reducing or eliminating charcoal as a primary cooking fuel are numerous and extremely high. Lack of abundant distribution channels, supply chain infrastructure and lack of consumer education are the largest barriers to LPG adoption over the long-term.

Surveys and focus groups conducted with households revealed that one of the largest barriers to adopting improved stoves and alternative fuels is lack of awareness and education to both encourage the adoption of new technology and to properly implement and sustain positive behavioral change. Educational campaigns must be thorough and long-lived enough to alter the current perceptions about improved technologies, pricing structures, and proper usage of new stoves. As described in the previous section, because cooking practices and purchasing behaviors are so ingrained and difficult to change, extensive education in the form of public events, radio announcements, and hands-on training are needed to help overcome the behavioral barriers to new technology. It is not enough to simply inform the public about the benefits of new technologies or fuels. Extensive education and training needs to be

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 11 of 20 conducted to literally demonstrate benefits to potential consumers and to illustrate potential savings in tangible and personal ways.

One of the key reasons previous and current improved stove programs in Haiti have not achieved sustainable and large-scale success is inadequate educational campaigns.

CARE/BME’s Recho Mirak program emphasized the environmental benefits of using the stove, but did not link stove usage to direct benefits for end users, such as the economic benefits of fuel savings. This led to limited uptake because consumers did not see the justification of the higher stove price in terms of their personal benefits (Synergies 3, 1999).2

BND, in conjunction with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is currently selling an improved institutional stove that comes with attachments to work with wood, charcoal, or kerosene. In two institutions, these stoves were found unused because their distribution was not accompanied by adequate training on how to properly use the stove. In both instances, recipients did not make an effort to use these stoves themselves, stating that they were waiting for someone to return to show them how to use the stove.

Extensive hands-on education will be necessary for urban households purchasing either improved charcoal or LPG stoves. Haitians tend to prefer high-powered fuels and technologies for cooking. Extensive training in the benefits of reducing stove power during the simmer phase of cooking alone could create significant additional fuel savings, even in the absence of more efficient technologies.

There is widespread concern about the danger of LPG driven by misunderstanding and misinformation. Many of the households surveyed noted that they felt this could be overcome with education about safe usage. Many of the survey respondents mentioned that they knew someone who was blown up or severely burned by using LPG. The fear associated with LPG was attributed to the fuel itself yet, in numerous survey situations, respondents demonstrated a habit of turning on their LPG tanks, leaving the room to open the tank valve, and returning to light the stove without recognizing that the room was now filled with gas. This unsafe practice likely contributes to the gas explosions that so many respondents expressed concern about.

Safety concerns were particularly present among younger women, who are also typically the early adopters of new technology. The most common concern expressed about LPG safety is that people do not want their children around it because they believe their children will play with the stove and leave gas to fill the room, creating the conditions for an explosion. A technology that avoids the problem altogether, such as an LPG stove that is directly connected to the tank (rather than a 4 burner stove with separate tank) will help to address the behavioral issue and the fear associated with the fuel.

2 Dalcé, Jean Kissinger, Emile Jean Gilles and Kate Potts. “L’Expérience pilote de diffusion des réchauds améliorés à charbon de bois baptisés Mirak.” Synergies, No. 3: May 1999, pp. 3-5.

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Compounding this issue, there seems to be a lack of regulation on LPG distribution resulting in many tanks that have leaky heads, which invariably lead to accidents that further reinforce fears. Further, there is often wide variability in LPG selling prices and transportation costs leading to uncertainty in consumers minds about the real cost and savings associated with LPG. Though most households in urban areas expressed an interest in using LPG, a primary concern was that fuel would not be consistently available (the ESMAP report also notes this concern and attributes it to the memory of the oil embargo). Consistent regulation followed by an educational campaign clearly communicating how these problems have been addressed would be needed to overcome current negative perceptions of LPG usage.

Training and awareness building on safe practices, how to ensure safety of LPG around children (perhaps by creating a safety feature to lock the tank valve or showing how to put away the stove when not in use), certified distributors, and guarantees in the safety and control of tank exchange or filling will be key components of successful uptake.

Outside of Port-au-Prince, transporting alternative fuels, especially LPG, makes the fuel more expensive and less available than charcoal, which is produced all over the country and available on every street corner and market in even the most remote areas. All LPG must be transported by truck from Port-au-Prince on very bad roads, adding high transportation costs to these fuels and limiting the available supply outside of the city, even in other urban areas such as Cap Haitian. The school visited in Ferier, 1 hour outside of Cap Haitian on a new paved road is paying 500gd (~$12.5 to transport fuel from Cap Haitian. LPG in Cap Haitian is sold directly from the Total gas station at 30gd/lb, 5gd/lb higher than it is sold directly from the pump in Port-au-Prince.

A critical educational issue arose from respondents in that Haitians do not currently seem to think in terms of a value across time, but rather understand new technology purchases primarily in terms of their immediate out of pocket cost. A majority of households are currently choosing to purchase the least expensive stove knowing that it will not last, and single servings of fuel, knowing that they are more expensive. Though these consumers know that it is somewhat more expensive to engage in these purchasing behaviors, they do not seem to have a sense of the how their various economic choices will play out over time. Focus groups revealed that, even though consumers could understand fuel savings as a concept, none thought in terms of the financial savings over time. Once savings over time was demonstrated to participants using their own fuel cost numbers, their attitude toward stoves, fuels, and prices dramatically shifted, indicating that including this information in educational campaigns will be a decisive marketing approach. Education to demonstrate comparative cost savings over time for different types of fuels, models of stoves, and different modes of use could create very different actions at the point of purchase

Existing incentives for switching away from charcoal may be able to be leveraged to increase uptake of new fuels. Consumers in all sectors view charcoal as a dirty fuel that

Nexant USAID Haiti Efficient Stoves & Fuel Use Report 11/05/2010, Page 13 of 20 is of very inconsistent quality. Many cooks also report feeling dizzy or having headaches while cooking with charcoal. For many Haitians, the most important benefit in an improved stove is that is cooks more quickly, positioning LPG an attractive alternative for many Haitians if the supply chain was developed enough to provide easy access to fuel. Despite these incentives for seeking alternative fuels, the majority of Haitians use only charcoal and nearly all Haitians are occasional charcoal users. Thus the incentives for moving away from charcoal must be carefully weighed against the reality of the convenience of charcoal use and its ingrained place in Haitian daily life.

The average urban household interviewed consumes 2.27kg of charcoal per day, or just under 2 marmite/day. This represents 47.29gd/day (~$1.20 US) spent on fuel, which is 28% of the average income of respondents who are employed (average income is 170.11gd/day). Estimates show that rural households are consuming 1.5kg of wood per day (ESMAP 2007). Charcoal usage among rural households is difficult to judge because it is based on seasonal variations and is often sold in different quantities (such as macoute, or donkey sacks), but is likely around 2.18kg/day in the rainy season among wealthier households.

Though most rural respondents report that wood is more difficult to find, wood is still gathered close to the house; usually 1-2 hours are spent searching for wood each day.

Nearly all rural households cook in a separate enclosed kitchen and report respiratory and eye problems from cooking with wood on open fires. Still, because households are not currently paying for stoves or wood, the incentives to altering behavior and purchasing patterns remain limited. During the rainy season, the incentive to seek improved technology is much stronger. Many rural households report that they do not cook when it rains because the ground and wood is wet. All but 4 households report using charcoal during the rainy season. In rural areas, charcoal remains an aspirational fuel. An improved charcoal stove would be well suited to rural needs, but would also run the risk of increasing charcoal consumption in rural areas.

In urban areas, the price of fuel purchased by marmite has risen 20% since the earthquake, from 20 to 25gd, while the price of charcoal purchased in large sack has risen 67%, from 450 to 750gd.3

This price increase has eliminated the economic benefits of purchasing fuel in bulk, which may account in part for the tendency to purchase fuel by marmite. Further, when purchased by sack, charcoal quality is highly variable and cannot easily be judged because it is concealed in bags.