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New Hope for Haiti: A Bioenergy Solution

By Johanna Mendelson Forman
Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Haiti received a new burst of energy this past December. In its final hours the 109th Congress passed a trade bill that included legislation that would create up to 7,000 new jobs by allowing Haitian assembly plants to import, duty-free, textiles that would be made into clothing for the U.S. market. While not a long-term solution to Haiti's ills, the symbolism of this action, called H.O.P.E. went further to bolster the morale of the Haitian private sector than anything in recent years. The most promising signs to continue this forward momentum in the coming years will be centered on a push to help Haiti become energy independent through the use of biomass energy.

Haiti suffers from many problems, not the least of which is lack of jobs. Despite successful municipal elections held this month, the first time since 1995 that Haitians democratically elected leaders of local government, and a new effort to create a non-corrupt civil service, conditions conducive to development are not present. The robust U.N. Peace Mission is unable to stop continued violence and kidnappings, while the Haitian National Police is ill equipped to provide effective assistance. These issues in a country of 8 million people without jobs spell insecurity. What vexes those who want Haiti to succeed is just how to create a viable and sustainable development program.

Haiti is a perfect candidate for bioenergy projects, especially growing oil-seed crops. In rural areas, where 70 percent of the population remains engaged in subsistence agriculture, developing an indigenous biofuels market could transform the countryside and prevent the urban migration that continues to swell the slums of Port au Prince. A World Bank study reported that growing energy crops creates jobs in addition to fuel. In a country totally dependent on foreign oil for its energy needs, such independence could prove revolutionary.

The environment could also be saved. And the proven anti-erosion qualities of seed crops like Jatropha and Castor bean could also revitalize the soil in a country that is 96 percent deforested and where every rainfall puts thousands of people at risk for natural disasters. And with crops such as Jatropha, the bush is a natural fence since its leaves are poisonous to animals.

Unfortunately, helping Haiti to become energy self-sufficient is not a priority for donors despite the potential it represents. A donor's meeting at the end of November in Madrid yielded almost $80 million to support good governance. And the World Bank decision to offer Haiti debt reduction will help alleviate the drain on Haiti's limited revenue. However neither case addressed biomass energy or energy independence. Furthermore, U.S. development assistance has yet to see this type of sustainable agriculture in Haiti as a means of long-term poverty alleviation.

If real hope is to be restored in Haiti, it must go beyond the trade incentives embodied in the H.O.P.E legislation. Urgent action is needed so that a U.S. biomass policy for the Caribbean addresses not only the regional dilemma of foreign oil dependency, but also moves Haiti away from the trajectory of state failure, a threat that U.S. policymakers consider a grave danger to U.S. interests.

With Brazil as the lead nation in the U.N. peace operation in Haiti, the technical means for bio-energy transformation could get underway within the next year. The combined power of U.S. economic support, coupled with Brazil's biomass expertise, could certainly be applied to a place such as Haiti. It could also demonstrate that ending addiction to fossil fuels, a goal President Bush endorses, can also be applied to one of the great development challenges in our hemisphere.

In a country just a two-hour flight from the U.S. mainland, the risk of state failure looms large. Support for bioenergy as part of the solution to Haiti's economic dilemma -- unemployment and lack of energy -- could advance the development of Haiti, and reinforce the governance and security reforms that Haitians so desperately deserve.

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