The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is distributing and installing 800 energy efficient cookstoves in Haiti in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local deforestation.
17 April 2012: The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in cooperation with the Lauritas Sisters order of nuns, is distributing and helping to install cookstoves to more than 800 Haitian families. The stoves are more energy efficient, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and help cut deforestation.
According to the IICA Representative in Haiti, Alfredo Mena, firewood is the main source of energy in Haiti and its use in traditional and inefficient three-stone open fires contributes to deforestation and GHG emissions. The stove being used in the IICA project is both easy to handle and efficient, shaped to deliver maximum heat to the cooking surface while reducing emissions. The stoves can also burn smaller pieces of firewood, crop residues or dried twigs, thus reducing pressure on trees.
The IICA is also working with the Lauritas Sisters in Haiti on a nursery for fruit-bearing and timber-yielding trees that are are intended both for sustainable use and for teaching students about environmental stewardship. It also works with the Lauritas Sisters on food security, potable water and agriculture.
The IICA is a specialized agency of the Organization of American States (OAS), created in 1942 to promote cooperation on agriculture and rural development among the nations of the Western Hemisphere. [IICA Press Release]