The creation of market demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stoves in Haiti is one of the latest endeavors to emerge from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which says the Caribbean nation’s reliance on charcoal to cook food is contributing to “climate change” and leaves the country vulnerable to catastrophic weather conditions.
Besides, Haiti’s use of the fuel is not in its best economic interests, USAID has declared.
Although USAID admittedly met with “limited success” in previous pilot projects, that is not stopping the agency from launching yet another effort to encourage the use of LPG and other efficient “biomass” stoves. Consequently, it has unveiled what is formally known as the Improved Cooking Technology Program, which seeks to influence Haitian lawmakers to develop a “regulatory framework governing technical and commercial standards” for LPG products and services, according to the Statement of Work (Solicitation #521-11-041).
USAID is looking for a contractor to sway Haitian legislators to craft such policies, but the selected vendor also will engage in tasks to cultivate LPG stove manufacturing and distribution networks in Haiti. The contractor likewise will launch a media program in Haiti to encourage participation, the SOW says.
Although the project is not directly linked to the United Nations Foundation’s Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves—which U.S. Secy. of State Hillary Clinton helped to unveil in September 2010—the USAID endeavor is “consistent with the Alliance and will contribute towards its goals,” according to the SOW. The primary worldwide goal of the U.N. initiative is to have “100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves or fuels by 2020,” the document says.
USAID did not disclose an estimated cost for the Improved Cooking Technology Program.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was modified 6/16/2011. Sorry for the confusion, but the Monitor inadvertently reported on Haiti's "reliance on coal to cook food," rather than "reliance on charcoal." Many thanks to a reader from FreeRepublic.com for pointing out that oversight.)
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