The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Launches Five Year Program in Haiti

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership hosted by the UN Foundation to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions.  At present, 93% of Haitian households cook with wood fuels - a major, ongoing driver of deforestation. The Alliance has launched a five year plan to improve access to clean cooking alternatives in Haiti. If you have partners or staff interested in working with them, contact information follows.  

The Global Alliance has kicked off efforts to design and scale a national five-year clean cooking program in Haiti. Toward this goal, the Alliance will work with key government ministries, in-country partners, Haitian stakeholders, local champions, donors, manufacturers, non-governmental organizations, women's groups, investors and other counterparts. Global Affairs Canada, which is supporting the clean cooking program development, has also indicated a strong interest in supporting implementation of the plan upon its completion.

Currently, 93% of households in Haiti use wood or charcoal as their primary source of energy for cooking. The health effects of cooking-related household air pollution (HAP) are dire – use of solid fuel for cooking is the 3rd greatest risk factor for mortality in the country; and dependence on biomass has depleted Haiti’s forest cover.  Based on our previous and ongoing work developing clean cooking programs around the world, the Alliance will use assessments, interviews, research reports, desk studies, and stakeholder meetings to gain an understanding of the state of the Haitian cookstove and fuel markets; the cultural, political, and economic barriers and incentives that have precluded a thriving market for clean cooking solutions in the past; the opportunities that exist for public and private investment to accelerate market growth and further adoption; and the opportunities to scale the market for clean and efficient solutions.

The resulting plan is expected to serve as a blueprint for the sector with proposed roles and responsibilities for market actors. The plan will outline a mix of policies and actionable programmatic interventions to catalyze the clean cooking sector and bring measurable health, environmental, and economic benefits to Haiti.  We have posted an FAQ on the project on the Alliance website here.

In the coming months, we will be meeting with Alliance partners in Haiti on a regular basis. If your organization is actively working in Haiti and would like to stay informed of the Alliance’s efforts there, please ensure that this is reflected in your partner profile in our online partner directory. You can also reach out to us at Haiti@cleancookstoves.org if you have partners or staff in the country that you suggest we meet, or any additional questions. We look forward to working together with our partners to improve health, environment, and livelihoods through a stronger market for clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels in Haiti.