Focus on Haiti
Solid waste management in Carrefour Feuilles, Haiti
Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country, bore the brunt of damage in the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The impact of one tropical storm and three hurricanes was significant enough to reverse the development gains made in Haiti in 2007, including improvements in security and GDP. More than 800,000 people—or 10 percent of the population—were directly affected by the storms.
Project Objectives
This project improves the urban environment and increases stability through the collection, recycling and transformation of solid waste. The project has created two new streams of revenue: the production of cooking briquettes that replace wood charcoal, and the production of compost for agriculture. To accomplish its goals, the project supported the creation of a novel partnership between the local authorities, a commercial bank (Haiti’s Sogebank), and bilateral and multilateral donors. The community-led project directly contributes to greater stability and the reduction of gang violence, once prevalent in the area. The project also supported the construction of a public market to enhance commerce and stimulate the local economy. Funding, totaling USD 2.5 million over the last three years, came from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the IBSA Facility for Hunger and Poverty Alleviation.
Beneficiaries
The project created 385 jobs for community members, and indirectly benefited 150,000 inhabitants of Carrefour Feuilles. During critical periods (e.g., the start of the school year, Carnival), the project subsidizes an additional 200 jobs.
Impact
- Quality employment for more than 385 people, 57 percent of whom are women, each earning at least USD 3 per day for four hours’ work, contributing to the reduction of violence and vulnerability
- Cleaner streets—70 percent of streets are now cleaned daily—reducing the incidence of disease, improving circulation, and preventing the blockage of canals by waste, in turn reducing the incidence of flooding and reducing carbon emissions
- Recycling of 30 percent of overall waste into:
o Fuel (250,000 cooking briquettes to date), reducing costs (by 78 percent) for poor families and reducing deforestation caused by the production of wood charcoal
o Compost (production to begin in September), to be sold for agriculture
- Strengthened civil education and community organization, achieved through the creation of the CASCAF organization, which is responsible for selling the project’s products and ensuring its self-sustainability.
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