Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Cookstoves for displaced Haitians, ethanol to run these, biodiesel for electrical generators and fuel, and construction of transitional housing were among Public-Private Alliance Foundation interests discussed during the HAITI – Resources for Reconstruction & Humanitarian Assistance Summit, held on March 9 and 10 in Miami. 

Displaced Haitians Set Up Encampment at Port-au-Prince Golf Course

UN Photo

Dr. David Stillman, PPAF Executive Director, spoke at the panel on Economic Recovery and Reconstruction and hosted afternoon roundtable sessions.   Conference participants signed up to meet with speakers, to discuss business or support related to reconstruction priorities.

PPAF’s interest in renewable energy grows out of its work since 2008.  Several project possibilities that respond to the Haiti crisis are being developed, notably:

• Partnering with Project Gaia to make cookstoves that run on ethanol broadly available. 
• Partnering with businesses in Haiti to produce sufficient ethanol for cookstoves.
• Creating a production model that will result in sustainable commercialization of cookstoves and ethanol, on the local Haitian market.

PPAF seeks financial and technical support for these projects, from interested governments, business and financial houses, individual donors, major foundations and UN agencies. 

Regine Barjon, Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, holding stove, with Brady Anne Luceno and Harry Stokes of Project Gaia, talking with Maureen Taft-Morales (l), Congressional Research Service

This effort potentially meets several needs:  (a) cooking and the fuel to do it, (b) rebuilding small business capabilities, and (c) helping protect Haiti’s fragile environment, where many have relied on wood and charcoal for cooking.

Brady Lucerno, David Stillman & Harry Stokes, showing the cookstove and the ethanol canister

The Summit was organized by Global Investment Summits and the IPOA (International Peace Operations Association). The event stressed the pivotal role the private sector will play in long-term reconstruction in Haiti.  Its aim was to enable participants to begin addressing the efforts required to reconstruct Haitian infrastructure and rehabilitate the country’s economy and society.  The summit aimed to contribute to work in the fields of logistics, transport and communications, infrastructure, housing, security and stability, and medical and nutritional aid.

At the Summit, Stillman discussed with the organizers and with the leadership of SImACT, a Haiti Diaspora investment group, the possibility of convening a workshop on investment and commerce in Southern Haiti, to be held in Jacmel.

Opening remarks at the October 7-9 Bioenergy International Debate are now posted on PPAF’s YouTube channel. 

 Lic. Enrique Ramirez, President of the National Energy Commission, and Ambassador Federico Cuello, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations spoke at the opening of the session. (These videos in Spanish) .   Other conference videos include David Stillman’s opening remarks (in English), an appearance by Ambassador Federico Cuello, Tom Kadala (President, ResearchPAYS, Inc.) and David Stillman on the Dominican TV program Sabado Agropecuario.   Also available is the excellent 9-minute video on the Bioenergy International Debate (English and Spanish) produced by Frank Minaya y Willmore and Dr. Dana F. Minaya of Samana College Research Center.

Mountains of garbage are a dirty reality for Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. But with assistance from the UN Development Program, a new waste management project hopes to turn trash into a cheap source of energy. The paper waste gets pounded, mashed up, mixed with sawdust, and then squeezed into cylinders to make a dry briquette of recycled paper charcoal. Without electricity, Haiti’s population of nearly nine million depends on wood-based charcoal for fuel. So it is no surprise that the country has lost 98% of its trees. Though a tropical island, parts of Haiti are fast becoming a desert, where bare mountainsides lead to erosion and severe flooding. The briquettes could help solve Haiti’s looming environmental crisis.