Submitted by Haitian Relief Services, a non-profit organization located in River Falls, Wisconsin.
Haitian relief Services (HRS)
Haitian Relief Services is a small, registered 501(c)3 non-profit in River Falls, Wisconsin that has historically been working in Haiti. In 2002, working in cooperation with Food for the Poor and seven River Falls churches, we funded and began construction on twenty five houses that were completed and dedicated in 2004. We also funded the construction of an elementary school / high school that was completed and dedicated in Ganthier, Haiti in 2010. At this time we are fund raising to support the school, and have also developed the jatropha farming plan described in this proposal that, when funded, will have a very favorable, long term, impact on the economy in Haiti.
Environmental and Economic Situation in Haiti
Lush, virgin forest covered 60 percent of Haiti’s land and mountainous regions in 1925. Since that time, Haiti has been deforested to the point where only 2 percent of the forest cover remains. The recent logging has occurred primarily to support the production of charcoal, a commonly used source of cooking fuel. The deforestation has created serious erosion, flooding, and desertification problems. Soil run-off has destroyed farmland soils and polluted near-shore ocean fisheries. Reforestation efforts have been unsuccessful due to the fact that charcoal continues to be a main source of cooking fuel.
Ganthier, Haiti
Since we have been working in the Ganthier area and know the mayor and many of its residents very well, we propose to begin the project there. The farming model could then be replicated in other Haitian communities as will be discussed later in this proposal. Ganthier is a village (area) located approximately 25 miles southeast of Port-au-Prince, just south of Lake Azuei (see the map below). The community is spread out over 190 square miles and had, before the earthquake, an estimated population of 71,000 residents. People in Ganthier face a challenge every day to obtain food and water. Often, water must be carried in buckets or trucked in from distant springs. Because of the demands placed on survival, many children do not have the opportunity to seek an education. Less than 12% of the children attend school grades K-12. Average cost for school is about $250 annually per child. Twenty per cent of the children in Haiti will die before the age of 5. Of the population, 70% lives below poverty level. Thirty per cent of the Haitian population is either ill and or malnourished. The long term impact of this project will be to change these numbers for the better. One goal of this project is to provide resource people and volunteers with a place to stay while in Haiti working on the project. They will then provide education and oversight of the project that will ultimately make it sustainable. The guest house will serve this purpose.
Proposed Jatropha Farming Project
The development of jatropha farming is the major thrust of this proposal. The goal of this project is, beginning with the Haitian village of Ganthier, to develop a farming model that can provide Ganthier and other areas of Haiti with a self sustaining income and a much needed economy.
This project introduces a farming concept that can provide much needed employment for a very impoverished country. The project involves introducing a plant called Jatropha. This plant produces seeds that when crushed produce a fuel that can be used almost without any further processing. The fuel can be used in lamps, cooking stoves, and unsophisticated diesel engines without further treatment. When processed into biodiesel it can also be used to fuel vehicles such as cars and trucks. This further processing is needed to remove naturally occurring waxing agents in the oil. The waxing agents, when removed, are a useful byproduct in themselves.
Jatropha Curcas
The following is a summary of information on Jatropha available on the internet. Most current information comes from India, a nation that is taking Jatropha very seriously. The State Government of Uttar Pradesh, India has decided to encourage farmers to grow Jatropha on about 2.5 million acres of wastelands in 30 of its districts.
The Jatropha plant, native to Central America, South America, and Africa has been in existence for 70 million years. It can be cultivated at elevations up to 3600 meters (12,000 ft). It grows best in rain-fed, drought-prone areas (much of Haiti), where seed yield and oil content are both higher than when it is grown using irrigation. It is fast growing and has a life of 40-60 years. The plant and seeds are toxic to animals and birds and are therefore not bothered by either. Jatropha oil is obtained by pressing the seeds produced in the fruit of the plant and, when processed into biodiesel, is a real and cost effective substitute for hydraulic fluid and diesel oil. Many byproducts of the production process are also useful. It is used in medicines, tooth powder, oil based soap, eco-friendly pesticides, and as a natural fence for orchards and farms.
Jatropha will grow in a tropical climate in any non-loam soil having no water logging. It propagates by seeds or plants. To use it as a fence requires 190 plants per acre. Intercropping provides 625 plants per acre and dense cropping can provide 1000 plants per acre. We plan to plant 700 seedlings per acre. Beginning with the third year, it yields about 4.0 kilograms of dry seeds per plant per year for up to 40-60 years.
Other herbal crops can be intercropped with Jatropha to improve the economic viability, especially during the first three years, if desired.
Several reasons why this particular crop would be beneficial to Haiti are listed below:
1. Haiti has a desperate need for employment and jatropha is a labor intensive crop, especially suited for a country where jobs are scarce and salaries are low.
2. Jatropha, through greening, will add nutrients to the soil, check erosion, and stop land degradation.
3. It provides an alternative to charcoal as a cooking fuel, and it has been the production of charcoal that has lead to the deforestation and degradation of Haiti’s soil.
4. The biodiesel oil produced is environmentally friendly and in great demand.
5. If developed sufficiently it will reduce dependence on crude oil imports and provide energy security, especially in rural areas.
The plant itself is resistant to drought and high winds and can be planted on wasteland. It will grow almost anywhere, even on gravel, sandy, and saline and low nutrient soils. It can thrive on the poorest stony soil and even will grow in rock crevices. It thrives on 10 cm of rain a year. The life expectancy of a plant is approximately forty – sixty years, so replanting is not needed.
The use of pesticides and other polluting substances are not necessary, due to the pesticide and fungicidal properties of the plant.
The Jatropha plant has many additional purposeful uses as listed below:
1. Its leaves can be eaten once steamed or stewed. When crushed it can be applied near horses’ or donkey’s eyes to repel flies. The plant also absorbs 18 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.
2. The nuts are sometimes roasted and eaten. They can also be burned like candle nuts when strung on grass. They have also been used as a contraceptive.
3. Each tree produces about 4 kg of seeds per year. Seeds contain about 40% oil. Planted at 700 trees per acre, each acre will produce about 330 gallons of biodiesel per year when in full production (after three years). When crushed and processed the oil can be used for lamps, cook stoves, diesel engines, soap and candles. The residue can be processed further into biomass to power electricity plants; it can also be used as feeders for fertilizers. The fruits and seeds of the Jatropha in a raw form can be highly toxic, but toxicity is reduced after roasting.
4. Ashes from burning the roots are used as a salt substitute.
5. The bark can be used as a fish poison.
6. The latex strongly inhibits the watermelon mosaic virus
7. The sap stains linen and is sometimes used for marking.
For this project the main use will be of the seeds for lamp and stove fuel, and for biodiesel. Another huge benefit will be the reforestation of the land that was once a lush rainforest with plentiful rain, but now has been cleared of most of its trees. Today the land is baron and rainfall has been reduced to about 12 cm per year in the Ganthier area. When it does rain, erosion of the land occurs. The planting of Jatropha plants will prevent erosion and help return the climate to a normal state.
The Jatropha Farming Plan
The total land needed for this project, provided by Ganthier, is 22 hectares (55 acres) for the first year and 50 acres per year for the next seven years. One acre (0.4 hectare) will be needed for the nursery, four acres (1.6 hectares) will be needed for the production facility, and fifty acres (20 hectares) will be allocated to four farms of 12.5 acres each.
Each 12.5 acre farm will need a team of four farmers because there will be much labor intensive work to be done. The 12.5 acres will be allocated as follows: two acres will be needed for living quarters for four families and other buildings (maintenance, storage, processing, etc.), ten acres for Jatropha fields, and a half acre for miscellaneous use (garden, etc.).
All major farm and processing equipment will be used on a communal basis. There are two approaches that can be taken here. The land in the Ganthier area is covered with heavy scrub brush that will be very difficult to remove in a reasonable time frame without at least one significant tractor. Additional heavy equipment, such as a tracked dozer and/or trackhoe, if available, would speed the process of clearing land. This equipment could be very well utilized, especially if the initial Ganthier project is replicated in other areas of Haiti. Such heavy equipment would also be very useful in any attempt to harvest water requiring the construction of earthen dams. Unfortunately, it adds considerably to the initial cost of the project. The plan discussed in this proposal therefore assumes the purchase of a tractor, digger, and wagon. The heavier equipment, if available, would clear land in the Ganthier area for one year and then move to other sites. There will still be plenty of work to be done by laborers, as jatropha farming is labor intensive from beginning land preparation to final product. First year capital investment will be needed for 16 modest farm homes, one tractor, one digger, one wagon, and a machinery storage shed. The cost of these items and a more detailed start up plan can be obtained from:
Curt Larson
curtiss.o.larson@uwrf.edu
737 South Fork Drive
River Falls, WI 54022
715-425-5130
ECOsmarte wants to help the Haitian people.
DESALINATION SYSTEM with 2 million gallon per day capacity (to water all of Port Au Prince) Price Tag: $2.0 million USD: Engineering, Grant Writers and ECOsmarte team are being assembled.
TILAPIA FARM Price Tag: $250,000 USD. Donations to HealingHaiti.org
