A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends November 2018 CHARCOAL in Haiti A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends Andrew Tarter, Ph.D., anthropologist (principal investigator; lead author) Katie Kennedy Freeman, agricultural economist (World Bank Group) Christopher Ward, consultant (World Bank Group) Klas Sander, Ph.D., natural resources economist (World Bank Group) Kenson Theus, sociologist, Haiti Takes Root (research team leader, J/P HRO) Barbara Coello, economist (World Bank Group) Yarine Fawaz, economist (CEMFI) Melinda Miles, anthropologist, Haiti Takes Root (J/P HRO) Tarig Tagalasfia G. Ahmed, consultant, Humphrey Fellow (Cornell University) Financing for this study was provided by the Program on Forests (PROFOR) © 2017 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND KEY FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Haitian Government Legislative and Executive Efforts to Address Deforestation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Original Forests of Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Deforestation of Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Current Estimates of Arboreal Coverage in Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Historical Production of Charcoal in Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Use of Non-Charcoal Wood in Haiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Historical Supply of Charcoal to Port-au-Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Contemporary Charcoal Production in Port-au-Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 II. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Principal Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Methodological Similarities and Differences from Previous Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Timeframe of the Fieldwork Scoping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Spatial Sampling: Core and Periphery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Data Standardization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 III. RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Descriptive Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Differences between the Three Sampling Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Comparison of All Three Sampling Periods Based on One Shared Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Comparison of All Sampling Periods Based on Total Shared Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Reconstruction of the Peak Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Robustness Check on Number of Trucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Variation within Days and across the Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Regional Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Effects of the Farthest Periphery Stations and Feeder Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The Southern Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Central Plateau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 North . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 East of Port-au-Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends iii Charcoal Entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Estimates of Charcoal Entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Alternative Hypotheses Concerning Charcoal Entering from the Dominican Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 IV. ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Estimated Annual Consumption in Port-au-Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Changes in the Regional Supply of Charcoal to Port-au-Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Estimated Annual Consumption at the National Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Economic Value of the Charcoal Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Charcoal as Compared to GDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Charcoal Related to Other Commodities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Employment in the Charcoal Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 V. IMPACT OF MATTHEW ON CHARCOAL PRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Hurricane Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 VI. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Explaining Increases in Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 The Sustainability of Haitian Charcoal Woodlot Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Social and Ecological Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Improving Existing Woodlot Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 VII. POLICY IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 The Charcoal Industry in the National Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Implication of Charcoal Production Stigma on Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Policy Designs Inhibited by a Lack of Data on Charcoal Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 VIII. AREAS OF ADDITIONAL RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Undertake Additional Research on Key Facets of the Charcoal Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Undertake Additional Work in the Policy Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 IX. REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 X. ANNEXES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Annex 1—Fieldwork Timeframe Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Annex 2—Logistical Details about the Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Annex 3—Possible Sources of Errors and Adopted Mitigation Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Annex 4—Complementary Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Annex 5—Post-Hurricane Matthew Arboreal Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Annex 6—The Gendered Aspects of Charcoal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 iv Charcoal in Haiti Acknowledgments The report is a product of the Agriculture Global Practice Agriculture Economist), Andrew Mitchell (Senior Forestry of the World Bank. It was prepared by a team led by Specialist), and Erika Felix (Bioenergy Specialist, Food and Katie Kennedy Freeman (Agriculture) and Klas Sander Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)). In addition, the (Environment) and authored by anthropologist and expert team would like to thank Raju Singh (Program Leader), Pierre consultant Andrew Tarter, PhD. Research was led by a team Xavier Bonneau (Program Leader), Preeti Ahuja (Practice from nonprofit organization J/P HRO in conjunction with the Manager Agriculture), and Valerie Hickey (Practice Manager Haiti Takes Root initiative. The final report considers feedback Environment) for their support and guidance. from multiple experts across various institutions. The team acknowledges and thanks the Program on Forests The authors would like to thank the peer reviewers, Dana (PROFOR) for supporting this research and publication. Rysankova (Senior Energy Specialist), Joanne Gaskell (Senior A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends v Executive Summary and Key Findings A widely cited report from 1979 suggested that existing wood passing trucks (August 2017, October 2017, and December supplies in Haiti would be enough to meet increasing charcoal 2017) that amounted to a total of 384 hours of observations, demand until around the year 2000, but that ongoing charcoal registering 10,404 unique enumerations of charcoal vehicles production could result in an environmental ‘apocalypse’ by 69 enumerators placed at 23 different roadside stations that (Voltaire 1979, 21, 23) The prediction that wood supplies in controlled charcoal vehicles at multiple intersections of roads Haiti would be exhausted by 2000 was also supported by a or maritime wharfs leading into Port-au-Prince from every report on trends emerging from early remote sensing analyses direction of the country.1 of aerial photographs spanning from 1956 to 1978, for three different locations in Haiti (Cohen 1984, v–iv). And yet, some The estimations and subsequent extrapolations presented 40 years later, Haitians continue to produce large quantities of here are conservative, using midrange estimates on a number charcoal despite these dire predictions to the contrary. of variables, including charcoal bag carrying capacities for different-sized vehicles in the classificatory typology, an average The research presented in this report directly addresses weight assumption for charcoal bags, and the utilization of important and unresolved questions stemming from the annual extrapolation methods (for Port-au-Prince and all of unexpected fact that Haitians continue to meet approximately Haiti) based on extending data sampled during representative 80 percent of their national energy needs through firewood low and peak periods of charcoal production to corresponding and charcoal production: low and peak seasons across the entire year. 1. How much charcoal is consumed annually in the capital city This research provides targeted answers to a narrow set of of Port-au-Prince? research questions, helping to fill an important information gap 2. Which geographical regions produce the charcoal consumed in Haiti. Most notably, the total volume of charcoal moving into in the capital? Port-au-Prince has implications on the total required volume of 3. How do these production areas variably supply charcoal to primary production of biomass for charcoal and the total value the capital? of the charcoal value chains, demonstrating the magnitude of 4. In what ways have these trends changed over time? and importance of charcoal production for Haiti. These two up-to- 5. What percentage of charcoal is originating from the date figures may inform policy decisions for development and bordering Dominican Republic? government programming related to landscape management, reforestation, tree planting, agroforestry, and agricultural This report draws on research spanning nearly half a century projects in Haiti. to answer these questions, presenting both longitudinal and cross-sectional data related to multiple aspects of charcoal production and consumption in Haiti. Data collection spanned two years, commencing in 2016 with literature reviews, key informant interviews, and regional scouting trips across Port- 1 The research design also controlled for every known and relevant vehicular point of entry from the Dominican Republic at the time of the research. The au-Prince and Haiti to identify the best locations to position authors acknowledge that charcoal may be entering Haiti from Route National research teams with the objective of enumerating passing Number 6, along the northern coast of Haiti, or through wharfs along the northern coast of Haiti (the only known major entry routes not controlled for). charcoal trucks and boats. These preliminary stages were However, such charcoal would most certainly be headed to the nearby city of followed by three different periods of roadside sampling to count Cap Haitian, or other urban towns north of Haiti. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends vii Key Findings and Conclusions rural economy, such as yams, bananas, beans, avocados, coffee, sugarcane, and corn. The data and analyses permitted conclusions and estimates that help • Contrary to popular conception, the data contextualize the enormity of charcoal production in Haiti in terms of show that a negligible amount of the charcoal scale, geographic scope, economic impact, and employment generation. All consumed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, originates key findings and conclusions briefly summarized here are supported in more in the Dominican Republic. Across five different detail in the main body of the report. enumeration stations controlling for charcoal entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic, the total amount The main findings of the research are: of charcoal observed in the research presented in this report is equivalent to 2.48 percent of the amount • Approximately 438,000 metric tons of charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince during that same period.3 are consumed annually in Port-au-Prince. The annual charcoal consumption range for Port-au- Other key findings include: Prince is based on 24/7 counts at six key enumeration stations controlling for the largest known charcoal • Researchers are approaching consensus that entry points into the capital. Extrapolating from two current arboreal land coverage in Haiti is weeks of sampling data (one week of sampling data significantly higher than previously believed. from a peak charcoal production season and one week Since the early 1980s, the Haitian government has stated from a low production season), an estimated 352,014 that in ideal conditions (given realities of topography, to 524,394  metric tons, with a midrange estimate of geology, and meteorology) some 35–55  percent of 438,204 metric tons of charcoal are consumed the land surface of Haiti should be covered forests. annually in Port-au-Prince. Five recent land-cover studies have concluded that • Approximately 946,500 metric tons of charcoal Haiti has a much higher than conventionally reported are consumed nationally in Haiti each year. level of tree cover and/or forest cover,4 with many The estimated annual charcoal consumption range for reports estimating present tree coverage in Haiti at Haiti at the national level is based on a tons-to-population approximately 30 percent of the land surface. ratio created from the annual estimate for Port-au- • There are clear annual low and peak seasons of Prince—by far the largest city and largest consumer of charcoal production in Haiti. Evidence presented charcoal in the country. The tons-to-population ratio here demonstrates that charcoal production fluctuates was applied to the entire urban population of Haiti2 significantly during the course of a year; there are clear (inclusive of Port-au-Prince) as last reported by the peak and low seasons of charcoal production, typically Haitian government (IHSI 2015), suggesting a range lasting approximately six months each. Unexpected between 759,470 and 1,133,537 metric tons, with events such as disasters, droughts, agricultural pests, an estimated midpoint of 946,506 metric tons of tropical storms, or political unrest—which disrupt the charcoal consumed nationally in Haiti each year. traditional agricultural calendar—may shift, shorten, • Charcoal production is the second-largest or extend low and peak charcoal production seasons agricultural value chain in Haiti. The charcoal sector’s outsized influence on Haiti’s economy is evidenced by its size relative to other agricultural 3 These data are supported by other research, suggesting that the percentage of commodities. It is the second largest agriculture official charcoal exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti has declined value chain in the country, behind only mangoes, and significantly over the last two decades, while Dominican exports to overseas markets have surged. In 2001, Haiti received over 50 percent of official dwarfing most other traditional pillars of the Haitian Dominican charcoal exports, which were valued at only US$4k. By 2012, the value of Dominican charcoal exports had grown to between US$500,000 to US$1,200,000, and exports were exclusively to the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, indicating new charcoal markets of higher value were found elsewhere. 2 Charcoal is primarily produced rurally and consumed in urban locations. In 4 Definitions of forest and tree cover vary, but controlling for differences in rural locations Haitian use firewood for cooking. definitions, many studies converge at or near 30 percent. viii Charcoal in Haiti in Haiti. It is likely that market fluctuations—either of (41.0%), these top three locations supply nearly price or of supply and demand—have a similar effect. 80 percent of the charcoal consumed in the capital. • Charcoal production in Haiti is now • The volume of charcoal counted at the farthest, decentralized throughout the country. The most remote enumeration stations registered addition of approximately 1,200 new feeder roads an amount equivalent to one-half of the total (remote, smaller roads that later join national highways) amount entering the capital. The four enumeration since the late 1960s and improvements to existing stations farthest from Port-au-Prince registered an roads have opened up most remaining areas in the amount of charcoal equivalent to approximately country and permitted the decentralization of charcoal half the charcoal consumed in the capital during the production in Haiti. same time period, demonstrating that high volumes • The national decentralization of charcoal of charcoal production occur at the far reaches of the production in Haiti has resulted in less pressure country. on some traditional production areas, permitting • The amount of charcoal emerging from areas arboreal recovery and subsequent return to penetrated by feeder roads established since the charcoal production. Although charcoal production late 1960s is equivalent to approximately one- has reached most corners of the country, decentralization third of the quantity consumed in the capital has relieved pressure on traditional production areas, during that same period of time. These ‘feeder permitting natural arboreal regeneration and a return to roads’ demonstrate the high level of decentralization increased charcoal activities. of charcoal production in Haiti and the production • The differential supply of charcoal to Port-au- capacity of these remote locations. Prince by region has shifted over time as a • Maritime charcoal transport in Haiti has function of the influences of decentralization, decreased in significance. While historically boats changes to transportation, and arboreal carried large percentages of charcoal into Port-au-Prince, recovery in historical production zones. Presently, data presented here show the total volume of maritime the following geographical regions differentially supply charcoal counted at the wharfs sampled at an amount charcoal to Port-au-Prince. The relative contributions equivalent to 6.7 percent of the charcoal consumed in from the following regions represent all the charcoal the capital during the same period. This is likely a result consumed in Port-au-Prince during our combined of new and improved roads and road transport. sampling periods: northwest (1%); island of La Gonâve • The overall production of charcoal has increased (3.4%); Artibonite (9.7%); Central Plateau (20.3%); in all geographical areas of Haiti, even as east of Port-au-Prince (18%); the southern (Tiburon) relative supply of some areas has decreased. peninsula (41%); southeast (4.2%); due south of Port- The annual estimate for charcoal consumed in Port-au- au-Prince/Kenscoff/Furcy (0.1%); and the Dominican Prince is at least five times the amount from a similar Republic (2.3%). study in 1985, suggesting that overall charcoal production • Regionally, the largest charcoal supplier to has increased in virtually every area sampled, including Port-au-Prince is the southern peninsula, and those that show a decline in the relative percent of the three top charcoal production locations charcoal supplied to Port-au-Prince. together produce approximately 80 percent of • Haitians are not only still meeting their the charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince. The woodfuel needs, they are also producing Tiburon peninsula registered 41 percent of the total charcoal at higher volumes, not only from new charcoal supplied to the capital. This position as the locations, but also from many of the same largest regional supplier of charcoal to Port-au-Prince historical production regions. This suggests that has remained above 30 percent since 1978. The second at least part of the charcoal being produced in Haiti is and third largest suppliers of charcoal to the capital are made with biomass resources that are renewable. the Central Plateau (20.3%) and the area east of Port- • Total charcoal sales in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, au-Prince (18%). Together with the southern peninsula are approximately US$182 million per year. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends ix The average cost of a large sack of charcoal was The charcoal sector’s large—and likely growing—scale stands approximately 800 Haitian Gourdes (US$12.42) in stark contrast to the decades of apocalyptic predictions of from July–August 2018. Using these figures, the total the rapidly approaching day when a charcoal maker would estimated value of the charcoal market in Port-au- fell Haiti’s last tree. This dynamic sector has continued to defy Prince is US$182 million per year. these forecasts through an intriguing combination of increased • At the national level, total charcoal sales across geographic reach and the evolution of more sustainable Haiti are an estimated US$392 million per year. production techniques, relying on sources of renewable Using the same values for the price of charcoal as used biomass. in the Port-au-Prince calculation, the total value of the national charcoal market is an estimated US$392 This study and its innovative charcoal rapid-assessment million per year. methodology highlight important new steps in growing • Based on the calculations of total sales, efforts to understand the charcoal sector in Haiti. The data charcoal represents approximately 5 percent presented here shed additional light on charcoal—a poorly of Haiti’s GDP. The economic significance of understood commodity with multifaceted and far-reaching the charcoal industry in Haiti can also be placed in impacts on Haiti’s economy and environment. The persistent context by comparing it to national GDP. Based on stigmatization of charcoal as a dirty, destructive, and illegal fuel 2017 figures, charcoal represents 4.7 percent of GDP source tends to lead to calls for controls on production, or for (US$8.408 billion). the replacement of charcoal with other, often more expensive, • Charcoal is over six times more valuable sources of imported cooking fuels. With these aspects more fully than Haiti’s total agriculture-related export considered, policy makers have the opportunity to capitalize on market. When charcoal’s estimated national annual the economic, environmental, and energy policy opportunities value (US$392,026,140) is compared to 2016 exports offered by charcoal production in Haiti. of crop and livestock products, charcoal is six times more valuable than all of these exports combined Despite these promising aspects, any such efforts to leverage (US$62,479,200). Comparing to individual export these economic, environmental and energy opportunities commodities, charcoal is over 15 times more valuable need to equally recognize and mitigate the negative outcomes than the highest-valued export in 2016 (essential oils; associated with charcoal production. In particular, the health US$25.5  million in exports), 30 times more valuable risks related to the use of charcoal for cooking. This study’s than cacao exports (US$13.2 million), over 40 times narrow focus examining volumes of charcoal transported to more valuable than mango exports (US$9.2 million), Port au Prince, charcoal origin, and historical trends, does not and a startling 650  times more valuable than coffee consider the health impacts of the use of charcoal. However, exports (US$611,000). large bodies of ongoing research by the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, The results of this study vividly underscore that in Haiti, academic researchers, and other organizations are carefully charcoal is big business.5 Indeed, based on initial calculations examining the relationship between health outcomes and described above, charcoal is the second largest agriculture- cooking fuels/cooking practices. Although much work is still related value chain in the country. With a total market size under way to define precisely where biomass stoves and fuels in Port-au-Prince of approximately US$182 million per year become harmful, it is widely accepted that the use of charcoal and a national market value of approximately US$392 million for cooking is more hazardous than modern alternatives like per year, charcoal is one of Haiti’s most important crops. It Liquid Propane Gas (LPG), natural gas, and electricity. When contributes nearly 5 percent to GDP and has large impacts for developing policy related to charcoal, health aspects need to be employment in rural areas. prioritized and further researched. Addressing, mitigating, and improving all aspects of the 5 charcoal industry requires additional research and the A recent study in the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste references so-called ‘charcoal millionaires’. collation of existing research on: the characteristics of the x Charcoal in Haiti charcoal value chain and its many actors; price behaviors transportation side; cleaner burning stoves and ventilation and trends; agronomic analyses of current wood energy systems on the consumption side; and charcoal consumption production techniques by farmers; measures of sustainability habits and preferences. Such knowledge, combined with an and the renewability of charcoal production under different increasing openness toward engaging in and improving the conditions and in different settings; aspects of environmental sector, could provide significant improvements to one of degradation and/or improvement; cleaner kilns on the Haiti’s largest value chains. production side; safe labor and working conditions on the A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends xi I. Introduction and Background Introduction approximately 80 percent of their national energy needs for cooking through firewood and charcoal production,11 a deeper Deforestation and charcoal production in Haiti are widely understanding of current charcoal production in Haiti in the misunderstood phenomena. This is perhaps nowhere more context of a historical perspective is crucial to inform policy evident than the misplaced belief that charcoal production is decisions for development and government programming the principal driver of deforestation. It is a well-documented related to landscape management, reforestation, tree planting, historical fact that Haiti’s primordial forests of valuable agroforestry, and agricultural projects in Haiti. hardwoods largely vanished as a result of a series of other historical events, highlighted subsequently. In the present era, it The methodology for data collection was drawn from research is widely believed that some 2 percent of primordial forests remain spanning nearly half a decade to allow for comparison with in Haiti, despite that approximately one-third of the surface of previous results. The following section presents a brief review of Haiti remains covered in trees that supply the necessary woody historical and contemporary knowledge to address widespread biomass for ongoing charcoal production at the national level. misinformation and misconceptions about tree cover, forest cover, and deforestation in Haiti, setting the context for the Misinformation about deforestation and charcoal production research questions and methodologies subsequently presented. in Haiti spread as part of a larger, global phenomenon: the so-called ‘woodfuel crisis’ of the 1970s and 1980s.6 This belief drove development planning during those decades and continues to drive popular but misinformed myths around Background woodfuel use in Haiti and beyond.7 To illustrate, a widely cited report from 1979 suggested that existing wood supplies in Haiti Haitian Government Legislative were enough to meet increasing charcoal demand until around and Executive Efforts to Address the year 2000, but would ultimately result in an environmental Deforestation ‘apocalypse’.8 The prediction that wood supplies would be The first Haitian government efforts to slow the cutting exhausted by 2000 was also supported by a report on trends of trees in Haiti were enacted in 1804, the year of Haitian emerging from the early remote sensing analyses of aerial independence, although they were driven more by agricultural photographs spanning from 1956 to 1978, in three different production considerations rather than strictly environmental locations in Haiti.9 Forty years later, Haiti is still covered with concerns (Bellande 2010, 3). Throughout the 19th century, trees,10 and Haitians continue to produce large quantities of various Rural Codes provided strictures against the cutting charcoal to supply their domestic energy needs. of trees in and around mountain ridges, natural springs, and the banks of rivers (see Bellande 2010 and Bellande 2015 for This report directly addresses important and unresolved extensive details)—a strategy reflective of an understanding of questions about charcoal production. Since Haitians meet linked human and environmental influences. 6 Eckholm 1975, 1984. 7 Leach and Mearns 1988; Mwampamba et al. 2013; Arnold and Dewees 1997; Hansfort and Mertz 2011; Bailis et al. 2017. 11 8 Charcoal in Haiti is used principally for cooking in urban areas, while wood Voltaire 1979, 21, 23. 9 is used for cooking in rural areas, although wood is used to a much lesser extent Cohen 1984, v–iv. 10 in urban bakeries and urban drycleaners. Tarter 2016; Tarter et al. 2016. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 1 Such 19th century Haitian government legislation has much forest growth, and many rocky hillsides probably addressed the ownership, utilization, protection, control, never supported heavy timber stands, even though the restoration, marketing, and establishment of reserves for valleys and ravines are known to have yielded some high- natural resources for:12 quality timber. A general survey of the country indicates that most of the stories of former vast timber resources of Forests: the Law of February 3, 1926; Law of August 20, Haiti were probably greatly exaggerated. Even allowing 1955; the Rural Code of May 24, 1962, Law No. VIII; for the difference in rainfall and topography between Decree of March 18, 1968; Decree of November 21, the North, West, and South coasts, it is still obvious that 1972; Decree of November 20, 1974. many of the mountainsides in the central zone and on Soil: the Rural Code of May 24, 1962, Law No. V; the the West coast were never covered with the heavy mixed Constitution, Article 22; and the Decree of June 16, vegetation of the Northeast and Southwest, nor with 1977. the pine forests of the higher mountain ranges of the Land use and agriculture (in terms of both state Southeast.14 and private land): the Law of July 26, 1927; the Constitution, Article 22; the Rural Code of May 24, Estimates of initial forest cover and land capacity that have 1962, Laws No. IV and V; and the Law of August 11, considered these natural determinants range from 35 percent 1975.13 (Haitian Ministry of Environment)15 to 55 percent forest cover (Haitian government’s forestry plan of 1975).16 Stated The historical consensus is that while the Haitian government succinctly, Haiti was probably never more than roughly halfway recognized early on the related challenges around proper land covered with forests. and natural resource management—and passed corresponding legislation to address these challenges—they were ultimately The Deforestation of Haiti not equipped to effectively and equitably enforce these laws at Many of the primordial forests of Haiti were felled during the the national level. While the exact percentage of tree or forest colonial period to establish and support the plantation model cover in Haiti during many of these historical periods is not well of agricultural production that would become the precursor to established, early historical records provide evidence, and several modern industrialized agriculture. Subsequent tree felling was new studies have provided current arboreal coverage estimates. authorized through contracts established between the fledgling Haitian government and foreign timber concessionaries to pay The Original Forests of Haiti off a post-independence war indemnity and the new republic’s Haiti was never fully cloaked in forests, largely due to the early leaders.17 Cultural and religious beliefs spared some trees combined influence of geographical, topographical, and from felling, but both the Catholic and Protestant churches in meteorological deterrents—the nation is located on the leeward Haiti later targeted these same species in concerted efforts to (i.e., dry), western side of the island of Hispaniola, in the rain destroy them.18 While the exact percentage of tree or forest shadow of several large mountain ranges that block much of cover in Haiti during previous periods is unknown, several new the precipitation carried on the northeastern and Caribbean studies have provided current arboreal coverage estimates, trade winds. which are briefly presented below. As a forester completing a survey of the Haiti’s timber reserves in 1945 confirmed: 14 Klein 1945, 5. The appearance of many of the inland smaller mountains 15 World Bank 1982 (pg. 17), citing a 1980 report by the Haitian Government’s and plateaus does not indicate that they ever supported Département de l’Agriculture des Ressources Naturelles et du Développement Rural DARNDR—now ‘Ministère de l’Agriculture des Ressources Naturelles et du Développement Rural (MARNDR). 16 USAID 1979: 33 12 This list is illustrative, not necessarily comprehensive. 17 See Tarter et al. 2016 for a lengthy history of deforestation in Haiti. 13 USAID 1979, 19–27. 18 Tarter 2015b. 2 Charcoal in Haiti Current Estimates of Arboreal Coverage The Large Island of La Gônave, Offshore in Haiti from Port-au-Prince21 A frequently cited figure that repeatedly finds its way into In 2012, geographers conducted a land-use/land- the development literature posits that Haiti is only 2 percent change analysis of the large island of La Gônave, forested. One of the major issues of contention related to this offshore to the northwest of Port-au-Prince, using two estimate results from the paucity of available data concerning high-resolution Landsat satellite images twenty years when the figure first surfaced; it was almost assuredly based apart, from 1990 and 2010. Both photos were selected on extrapolating trends from incomplete data into the future. from late January—the middle of Haiti’s dry season—to It is also not clear if the 2 percent figure refers to an estimated control for seasonal variability in vegetation and cloud percentage of remaining forests, and if so, whether or not it is cover. For their classification, researchers considered five based on the false assumption that 100 percent of Haiti was different land-cover types that were mutually exclusive covered with forests at some point in the past—an assumption and exhaustive of all land types in the area, including that discounts the known environmental determinants of separate land category classifications for forests and forest cover (geographical, topographical, and meteorological) shrubs. Several complementary and higher resolution discussed above. Perhaps the 2 percent figure simply represents satellite photographs were consulted for the accuracy an estimate of overall forest land cover at the time of its assessment of the image classification, in combination formulation, although there is no solid empirical evidence that with the analysts’ knowledge of the area and a two- primordial (or primary) forests or forest patches in fact covered month field visit.22 2 percent of the land. While the overall percentage of the forest land cover Complicating the issue, how a ‘forest’ is defined and measured decreased over 20 years by 22.7 percent, the majority varies significantly by individual, discipline, and institution,19 of 1990 agricultural lands were converted to shrub casting increasing doubt on the validity of the 2 percent figure (45.01%), forest lands (34.23%), and 56.2 percent of the and what it actually represents.20 While the 2 percent estimate eroded land area in 1990 had been revegetated in 2010. probably originated in reference to original, primordial forests, Overall, the shrub coverage in La Gônave increased by it discounts secondary forests, woodlands, managed woodlots, 87.4 percent from 1990 to 2010. The entire land surface tree plantations, agroforestry systems, and the many trees of La Gônave in 2010 (excluding water and masking the found on farms. < 2% cloud cover) was 40.4 percent covered with woody shrubs and 46.0 percent covered with forest. Until the recent availability and close examination of high-­ resolution, remotely sensed (satellite) imagery, researchers A Nationwide Estimate of Forest estimating arboreal coverage in Haiti relied exclusively on and Tree Cover in Haiti23 field-site visits or qualitative assessments from aerial flyovers. In an analogous study, a geographer, a geologist, and a Six recent research studies summarized here present data natural resource management specialist estimated forest based on new satellite data, and reach conclusions contrary to cover for the entire country of Haiti. The authors used conventionally accepted estimates and the belief that Haiti’s 2010–2011 Landsat national satellite images of Haiti at landscape is devoid of tree cover: 21 White et al. 2013. 22 A stratified random sample of validation points to ground-truth their classifications was used. The team averaged 61 verification points for each of the five land-use categories (n = 301 total), locating random geospatial coordinates with GPS units. The random sample strata were 15, 52-meter elevation increments, to look for elevation-based influences (White et al. 2013, 498). The overall accuracy of their 2010 classification was 87%, with a Kappa coefficient of 0.84. The results show that the percent of land area change on La Gônave from 1990 to 2010 for agricultural land, forest/DV, shrub, 19 Lund 2014 lists approximately 1,600 different established definitions for and barren/eroded land classes, were −39.73%, −22.69%, +87.37%, and ‘forest’ and ‘forest land’. −7.04%, respectively (White et al. 2013, 499). 20 Tarter 2016. 23 Churches et al. 2014. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 3 Tree cover map produced by Churches et al. 2014 Bare/non-vegetated Water Shrub cover/herbaceous Wetland Tree cover No data the dry season. After a series of standard renderings and USAID Global Development Lab’s GeoCenter corrections, the authors reclassified their satellite images Land Cover Analysis of Haiti using FAO’s forest class definition, thereby creating a In 2016, the GeoCenter of USAID’s Global Development low and high range of percent tree cover.24 The results Lab undertook a land-cover analysis of Haiti in of the nationwide analyses showed that in 2010–2011, anticipation of a Notice of Funding Opportunity related trees covered 29.4 percent to 32.3 percent of Haiti’s land to the U.S. Congressional earmark for reforestation efforts surface,25 and that shrub areas accounted for 45.7 to in Haiti. The analysis was based on different parameters 48.6 percent of the land surface.26 Rather than a thinly applied to two different global datasets: (i)  Hansen/ dispersed arboreal covering, trees are aggregated in University of Maryland;27 and (ii) the World Forests28 fragments and patches (Churches et al. 2014). global dataset. Using the second dataset and associated definition of ‘forest’, USAID estimated forests span 9 percent of Haiti’s land area. When applying FAO’s standard definition of tree cover29 for the first dataset, USAID found that 40  percent of Haiti’s land area fell 24 These image classifications were verified through the application of a under this forest cover definition. Finally, USAID applied stratified sample of 1,525 random reference points to higher resolution satellite imagery. Strata were based on the land use distributions from their custom parameters to the Hansen dataset,30 suggesting initial classification (Churches et al. 2014, 209). Their ‘tree cover’ class had a users’ accuracy of 86% and a .81 Kappa statistic, and the overall classification accuracy ranged from 78% reference point counts to 83% class proportions. 25 Includes ‘water’, ‘wetlands’, ‘bare/non-vegetated’, and ‘cloud’ categories. 27 Hansen et al., 2013. 26 It should be noted that the Churches et al. 2014 study and the White et al. 28 The BaseVue 2013 World Forests dataset parameters define ‘forest cover’ as 2013 study used slightly different land-use classifications. Nevertheless, both trees higher than three meters in height with a closed canopy of >35%. studies use a single category that operationalizes trees in the same way, and 29 Designating 30 m 3 30 m units as tree covered if containing vegetation taller similarly restricts smaller shrubs, and all other land uses. Said succinctly, the than 5 m and greater than 10% canopy cover. tree cover in both studies is similarly classified, though the non-tree cover 30 USAID defined 9 intervals of tree cover canopy based on the Hansen 2000 category varies between studies. tree cover dataset. 4 Charcoal in Haiti that using the most stringent forest cover definition (>90% severe as is typically portrayed.” Under a ‘business-as- canopy cover), forests cover an estimated 11  percent usual’ scenario, “the simulated regenerative capacity of of Haiti’s land area, while an estimated 36  percent of woody biomass is insufficient to meet Haiti’s increasing Haiti’s land area would be considered forest cover when demand for wood energy and, as a result, between 2017 defined by a >50% canopy cover. Stated differently, when and 2027 stocks of aboveground (woody) biomass could USAID applied three different forest definitions to two decline by 4 percent (±  1%), equivalent to an annual different global datasets, their analyses yielded present loss of 302  kilos/ton (± 29%) of wood.” The authors forest cover estimates that ranged from 9 to 36 percent acknowledge that “the input parameters utilized in this of Haiti’s land surface. preliminary exploration carry large uncertainties,” given limits to primary data and model input assumptions. A Regional Study of the Greater Antilles31 In a broader study of land use changes within the An Assessment of Biodiversity Linked to Greater Antilles 2001–2010, researchers observed that 26 Remaining ‘Primary Forest’ in Haiti39 Haitian municipalities32 underwent significant changes In late 2018, a report was released indicating that to woody vegetation33 (8 decreased and 18 increased); 36 ‘primary forest’ in Haiti has declined from an amount municipalities underwent significant changes in agriculture/ equal to 4.40 percent of the total land area in 1988, to herbaceous cover34 (25 decreased and 11 increased); and an amount representing 0.32 percent of the land area in 48 municipalities experienced significant changes in mixed- 2016.40 The research uses a definition of ‘primary forest’ woody/plantations35 (9 decreased and 39 increased). Across that assumes a “stringent 70 percent threshold [for tree municipalities of significant change, there was an 8 percent canopy] and then eliminates cases of major regrowth loss of woody vegetation, a 114 percent loss of agriculture/ (secondary growth) by following 30-m pixels back in time herbaceous, and a 133 percent increase in mixed-woody/ to make sure to always represent forested areas.”41 Here plantation. Conversely, in overall land percentages for the the definition of ‘primary forest’ is restricted to those entire country, woody vegetation increased from 1 percent, areas with a tree canopy cover equal to or greater than agriculture decreased from 4 percent, and mixed-woody/­ 70 percent, unchanged over the last 33 years (excluding plantations increased from 4 percent. Municipalities that areas of significant arboreal regrowth), and only on plots experienced losses or gains were widely geographically of land larger than 0.5 hectares. Although certain aspects distributed.36 of the methodology of this study need to be examined further,42 the study identifies important primary forest areas that represent some of the hotspots of remaining An Assessment of Aboveground Biomass and highly sensitive animal (and plant) biodiversity. in Haiti37 A dynamic landscape model38 was used to simulate changes in land cover if woodfuel demand in Haiti 39 Hedges, Blair, S., Warren B. Cohen, Joel Timyan, and Zhiqiang Yang. 2018. continues unabated. The modeling found that current Haiti’s biodiversity threatened by nearly complete loss of primary forest. Proceedings of the National Academies of the Sciences. Online/pre-print demand might contribute to moderate levels of version accessed Nov. 1. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809753115. ecological degradation, but that “the situation is not as 40 Hedges et al. 2018, 1. 41 Ibid., brackets authors, parentheses original. 42 Two methodological questions should be raised: (1) The study’s generalization 31 Álvarez-Berríos et al. 2013. of results from the few areas of remaining ‘primary forests’ to the national 32 Sections communales. level is based on the assumption that at one point in the past the entire land 33 Woody vegetation was defined as trees and shrubs with >80% cover. surface of Haiti was covered with such forests, whereas, as cited, the combined 34 ‘Agriculture/herbaceous vegetation was annual crops, grasslands, and pastures with influences of geography, topography, and meteorology suggests that the >80% cover’ (Álvarez-Berríos et al. 2013, 86). natural capacity for forest cover in Haiti ranges from 35–55%; and (2) do all 35 “Mixed-woody/plantations was woody vegetation with a 20% to 80% cover, nine categories from Holdridge’s life zones—an ecological classificatory system including agriculture/herbaceous vegetation or bare soil as background, as developed in, and for, Haiti, but now applied as a globally recognized ­standard well as all forms of plantations and perennial agriculture” (Álvarez-Berríos (Holdridge 1947, 1967)—meet this new definition of ‘primary forest’? For et al. 2013, 86). example, ‘Subtropical Dry Forest’ (19% of Haiti’s land) and ‘Subtropical 36 This points to the wide decentralization of charcoal production in Haiti. Thorn Woodland’ (less than 1%) may not meet the 70% canopy threshold. 37 Ghilardi et al. 2018. Other serious concerns about the methodology remain but are beyond the 38 Modeling Fuelwood Sustainability Scenarios (MoFuSS). scope of this report. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 5 Charcoal sold by the bucket in a local market Traditional charcoal stoves These findings, highlighting differences in how forests are facilitated by the emphasis in the 1920s46 to rehabilitate conceptualized and measured, and collectively presenting existing and build new transportation infrastructure, including overwhelming data contrary to popular depictions of charcoal roads, railways, and maritime wharfs. Increased urbanization and deforestation narratives about Haiti, induce the research and population densities called for more agricultural clearing questions posed in this report. and charcoal production. Research from other analogous locations throughout the world The Historical Production of Charcoal has debunked many myths surrounding woodfuels, especially in Haiti the conclusion that charcoal production is the primary driver Charcoal production in Haiti commenced around the of deforestation.47 Although there has been lengthy debate 1920s.43, 44 Prior to that time, given the large rural population over whether charcoal production or agricultural clearing distribution, most Haitians met their domestic energy needs is the principal driver of deforestation in Haiti,48 the widely through firewood, which could be procured in rural areas, a cited historical figure suggesting that only 2 percent of Haiti’s task mostly relegated to children and women.45 primordial forests remain is disassociated from either argument. Charcoal in Haiti is largely produced from trees, not forests, The rise of charcoal production in Haiti in the 1920s correlates trees found in woodlands, woodlots, agroforestry systems, and with increasing urbanization that occurred not only in Haiti, on farms. and particularly in Port-au-Prince, but also as regional and global phenomena. Increased charcoal production was also The Use of Non-Charcoal Wood in Haiti 43 Tarter 2015a; Tarter et al. 2016. The present study examines charcoal use precisely because it 44 Haitian agronomist, researcher, and author Alex Bellande has recently is the principle use of wood in Haiti, primarily for cooking. uncovered the earliest known reference to charcoal production in Haiti: a report of charcoal entering the capital by railway in 1909 from the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste, listing a total of approximately 375 metric tons for six months during 1909 (Bellande, personal communication, 10/16/2018). 46 1919–1934. 45 See Annex 6 for a discussion on the gendered division of labor and 47 Leach and Mearns 1988; Mwampamba et al. 2013; Arnold and Dewees the differential gender effects on health related to the product, transport, 1997; Hansfort and Mertz 2011; Bailis et al. 2017. marketing, and consumption of charcoal in Haiti. 48 Stevenson 1989. 6 Charcoal in Haiti Although rural dwellers use wood or a mix of charcoal and of the capital, where large-scale production had historically wood for cooking, urban and peri-urban dwellers use almost commenced.50 Likewise, only 5 percent of charcoal consumed exclusively charcoal. The use of charcoal in urban areas relates in Port-au-Prince came from central Haiti; 10 percent came to the economics of moving wood versus charcoal (charcoal from the large offshore island of La Gônave; 50 percent is lighter, more compact) and it burns less smoky than wood, originated from the northwestern peninsula; and 30 percent making it more comfortable for densely populated areas. In from the southern peninsula. Voltaire predicted charcoal Haiti, food cooked with charcoal is also a cultural preference, production would eventually shift from the rapidly depleting related to custom and stated preferences for the flavor of food areas of La Gônave and the Northwest to the more wooded cooked with charcoal, and for this reason, charcoal is the areas of the Central Plateau and Grand Anse.51 Table 1 preferred fuel for most Haitians. The choice to use fuelwood displays these and subsequent estimations of varied regional for cooking in rural areas is related to cost—it is generally free contributions to the charcoal consumed in the capital city of to cut wood in rural areas, whereas charcoal carries a cost. Port-au-Prince. Beyond uses for cooking, the literature occasionally references The first comprehensive, robust survey on the production and the ongoing use of wood in urban businesses such as dry cleaners consumption of charcoal in Haiti52 was administered some six and bakeries; however, these are few (around an estimated 100 years after Voltaire’s report and predictions. According to the across the country) and result in a negligible amount of wood study, by 1985 the northwestern area of Haiti was supplying compared to the demands from charcoal production. Other 34.2 percent of charcoal consumed in the capital; the large uses of wood in Haiti include furniture, doors, beds, coffins, off-shore island of La Gônave supplied 7 percent; the Central and construction scaffolding. However, the demand for these Plateau area supplied 12.7 percent; the southeast supplied products is limited (scaffolding polls are reused between jobs, 10.3 percent; an area in the center of the southern peninsula and furniture and other carpentry works are imported). provided 28.1 percent; and an area toward the end of the southern peninsula supplied 7.7 percent (see Table 1). The use of and demand for charcoal in Haiti dwarfs that of wood, and for this reason this research focuses exclusively on Contemporary Charcoal Production the movement of charcoal toward the principle urban market of Port-au-Prince. in Port-au-Prince According to the Haitian government’s National Institute for Statistics and Information (IHSI), Port-au-Prince has an The Historical Supply of Charcoal estimated population of 2,618,894,53 which is over seven times to Port-au-Prince the population of the second largest city of Gonaïves (356,324) The first historical areas of large-scale charcoal production in and nearly ten times the population of the third largest city of Haiti occurred east of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and Cap-Haïtien (274,404). As such, the capital remains the largest later shifted offshore to the nearby island of La Gonâve, as areas consumer of charcoal in the country, and the logical location in closer proximity to the capital started producing charcoal. from which to sample and extrapolate to produce an estimate Then charcoal production moved into the northwest peninsula, of annual charcoal consumption for the capital and the urban and later swung to the more remote southern peninsula, and population of the country. to a lesser extent into Haiti’s Central Plateau area.49 Charcoal production designated for the capital, the largest consumer to date, commenced in areas close and accessible to Port-au- Prince before shifting toward geographically remote areas. By around 1980, estimates suggested that only 5 percent of charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince came from the area east 50 Voltaire 1979. 51 Ibid. 52 Grosenick and McGowan 1986. 49 Smucker 1981; Conway 1979; Voltaire 1979. 53 IHSI 2015. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 7 TABLE 1: Regional Contributions to Annual Charcoal Consumption in Port-au-Prince Est. % Year Main production areas contribution Source 1930s East of Port-au-Prince; Island of La Gonave; Northwestern peninsula ~100% Smucker 1981; Conway 1979 1979 East of Port-au-Prince ~5% Voltaire 1979 Island of La Gonave ~10% Northwest ~50% Central Plateau ~5% Southern peninsula ~30% 1985 East of Port-au-Prince ~0% Grosenick and McGowan 1986  Island of La Gonave ~7% Northwest ~34.2% Center (Croix-des-Bouquets, Hinche, St. Marc) ~12.7% Southern peninsula  ~35.8% (Center of southern peninsula ~28.1%; tip of southern peninsula/ Grand Anse ~7.7%) Southeast (Jacmel and Thiotte) ~10.3% 1990 Grand Anse ~13 ESMAP 1991 Island of La Gonâve ~5 Northwest ~21 Central (Central Plateau and east of Port-au-Prince) ~13 South ~2 Southeast ~3 West ~26 Artibonite ~13 North ~4 The southern peninsula (Grand Anse, Belle-Anse, Aquin, ~100% ESMAP 2007 the south coast); the Northwest; and the Central Plateau 2005–2007 (Maïssade, Thomonde, Thomassique, Pignon, Cerca-Cavajal, Hinche, Mirebalais, Boucan Carr., Saut d’Eau, and Lascahobas) 8 Charcoal in Haiti II. Research Questions and Methodology Research Questions passing charcoal vehicle or incoming charcoal vessel, they also recorded the date and time of each observation, permitting As a general, historical, and widely observed trend, charcoal in hourly and daily analyses. Haiti is produced rurally and transported for consumption to urban areas, in contrast to wood, which is largely consumed in rural areas.54 Since the majority of charcoal produced in Haiti is Methodological Similarities geared toward consumption in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, and Differences from Previous Studies the following, overarching questions guided this research design: The methodology presented below is based largely on an earlier study of charcoal consumption in Port-au-Prince, produced by (R1) How much charcoal is consumed annually in the researchers from the University of Maine, working in conjunction capital city of Port-au-Prince? with the decade-long Agroforestry Outreach Project (AOP).55 (R2) Which geographical regions produce the charcoal This methodological approach was loosely replicated in various consumed in the capital? forms in several subsequent studies (see Table 2). (R3) How do these production areas variably supply charcoal to the capital? By modeling the methodology on aspects of these earlier (R4) In what ways have these trends changed over the studies, it is possible to provide both cross-sectional (2017) and last 40 years? longitudinal (diachronic changes over almost four decades) (R5) What percentage of charcoal consumed in estimates of nationwide charcoal production and consumption the capital is originating from the bordering trends in Haiti. Dominican Republic? Other aspects of the methodology are independent of these earlier studies, in order to address new research questions pertinent to Methodology current production and consumption patterns in Haiti. Principal Method Timeframe of the Fieldwork Scoping56 The principal method of this study mirrored previous estimation During a preliminary scoping phase (2016–2017) the research methods—to count charcoal transport vehicles (trucks) and vessels team conducted visits and undertook contextual interviews to (boats) entering the capital city of Port-au-Prince and/or passing identify the important charcoal depot (wholesaler) locations in through important roads or crossroads en route to the capital. Port-au-Prince. The team examined storage points accessible by roads and sea, and in warehouses and wharfs. The interviews Teams of three enumerators were positioned at roadside and observations allowed the team to develop a typology of stations and maritime wharfs alongside 23 carefully identified charcoal transportation vehicles (trucks and boats). In addition, locations throughout the country. The enumerators took shifts the research team visited locations throughout the country to manning the stations for 24 hours a day, over three different identify the places along roads and at key intersections where sampling periods. Enumerators not only tallied every single enumeration stations would be placed during the survey phase. 54 Exceptions include wood used in bakeries and drycleaners, although these are negligible amounts in comparison to the amount of wood that is transformed 55 Grosenick and McGowan 1986. into charcoal. 56 See Annex 1. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 9 TABLE 2: Differences between Previous Charcoal Study Approaches Study Principal method Sampling period(s) Locations Time period Grosenick Stopping vehicles Three one-week Police checkpoints on two major 24 hours and at checkpoints and periods, although due highways that controlled all traffic McGowan counting charcoal to political unrest, into the capital from the North, 1986 bags only two weeks were Southeast, and Southwest. utilized: High traffic periods on lesser roads High traffic • July 1985; and and on important maritime wharfs: periods • May 1986 • Avant Poste de Police (police station) at Cazeau (north and southeast); • Avant Poste de Police in Brochette/ Carrefour (southwest); • Intersection of Rue Huc and Delmas (major entry location for charcoal on donkeys); • Djoumbala on Rue Freres (major entry location for charcoal on donkeys); • Cité Soleil wharf (maritime arrivals); • Martissant/La Rochelle wharf (maritime arrivals); and • Jérémie wharf (maritime arrivals). ESMAP Counts of the number One week in February • Gressier; Not clear 1991 of charcoal shipments 1990; • Wharf Martissant; entering Port-au- • Wharf Cite Soleil; Prince Averaged with counts • Wharf Jérémie; from the first trimester • Wharf Lamantin; of 1989 • Mariani; • Croix-des-Bouquets; and • Croix-des-Mission. Assessing arrivals: One week in the • Carrefour Shada (northern Partial daytime number of bags, capital; entrance); coverage (areas transportation means • Rond Point de la Croix des listed to the left) used, source of Buttressed with Bouquets Police Station (Central charcoal supplementary surveys Plateau and border zone); Partial nighttime ESMAP 2007 conducted over an • Gressier (southern entrance); coverage undetermined amount •  Cité Soleil wharf; (Carrefour of time • Jérémy wharf; Shada, Croix des • La Rochelle wharf; Bouquets, and • Mariani; and Gressier, only) • Croix-des-Bouquets market. While the studies outlined in Table 2 vary in sampling strategy, duration, and robustness, they represent the best and only data Sampling available. This study takes Earl’s (1976) and Voltaire’s estimates Spatial Sampling: Core and Periphery (1979) as baselines, although they do not use methodologies Figure 1 identifies the location of 23 different charcoal similar to those presented in Table 2. All comparisons made in vehicle/vessel enumeration stations located on major roads, at ­ the analyses and concluding chapter of this report recognize important intersections, and at maritime wharfs across most these limits and control a series of variables to increase of Haiti. Enumeration stations farthest from the capital or at comparability between and across these early reports. 10 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 1: Geographical Dispersion of 23 Enumeration Sites Note: The red points represent the six core stations (Croix-des-Bouquets, Kafou Thomazeau/Mòn Kabrit, Kenscoff, Mariani, Titanyen, Wharf Jérémie). The green points represent the periphery points.57 Hinche 1 and 2 overlap due to their close proximity. the intersection of two major routes provide ‘periphery’ counts occur in the periphery, whereby different enumeration that further disaggregate the location of charcoal production, stations count the same truck on the same day en route while those located around the capital are referred to as ‘core’ into the capital. Instead, core counts represent the final stations. More precisely: amounts of charcoal entering the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and are used to make estimations of the • The core accounts for the six final enumeration consumption level of charcoal in the capital, and later stations that all trucks and boats must pass through to to make extrapolations to the entire country based on a enter the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.58 The tons-to-population ratio and associated economic national core data do not suffer from double-counting that may estimates. • The periphery stations are all other enumeration stations outside of the Port-au-Prince area. Many of 57 See the entire list of the enumeration stations in Table 5. the periphery stations are located at intersections, and 58 The metropolitan population of Port-au-Prince encompasses all areas thus control for charcoal flows headed in the direction included in our ‘core’ (the communes of Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Cite Soleil, Tabarre, Carrefour, and Pétion-Ville). toward the capital from more than one location. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 11 All subsequent results are noted as core or periphery results. Final production periods across rural Haiti: (1) August/September; counts presented in the subsequent analysis are based on the six (2) December/January; and (3) May/June. It is also generally ‘core’ stations in order to avoid double-counting of trucks. The believed that the first range is the highest production period, but periphery stations allow for the determination of approximate regional differences should not be discounted. The remaining geographical origins of production for charcoal supplied to intervals of time throughout the year may be considered as Port-au-Prince. lower production periods. These seasonal differences provide for six months of peak charcoal production, and six months of low production in a typical year. Temporal Sampling: The Annual Calendar for Charcoal Production59 Previous research demonstrated seasonal fluctuations in annual Timeline of Data Collection62 charcoal production in Haiti. The scoping phase of this research The research protocol was initially designed for data collection found similar results—interview respondents confirmed that during two sampling periods of one week each: there are low and high seasons of charcoal production. (i) One week in a high-production season, August 2017; and High seasons of charcoal production correspond to periods (ii) One week in a low-production season, October 2017. when households anticipate higher than normal financial expenditures. According to the interviews conducted during The aim of this design was to collect data from weekly periods this research and more generally on Haitian households’ that could be applied to associated low and high charcoal expenditures, school-associated costs are one of the most production seasons throughout the year, producing an annual frequently reported costs for which the rural population must estimate that considers seasonal production fluctuations. make provision. The two periods during which primary school enrollment fees must be paid include the first semester of the However, due to logistical issues63 during the first sampling school year (August/September), and the second semester period, a third sampling period of 72 hours was added in (December/January).60, 61 December 2017—another peak period—to make up for hours missed during the peak period of August 2017 (see Table 3).64 Trees are also harvested for charcoal during increased periods of drought, when crop failure is widespread. In the case of Reconstruction of a Peak and a Low Period crop failure, charcoal production intensifies when it becomes The sample data for the peak charcoal production season apparent that seasonal rains are insufficient to produce a were divided between two periods (1 and 3, see Table 3). In marketable crop, although droughts are often experienced order to construct a complete peak week for comparison to the differentially by region. Charcoal production lulls during the complete week from low production season, sampling periods rainy seasons and during periods when farmers and their weeks 1 and 3 were combined. When there were observations families are occupied with the preparation of fields, planting, from both peak periods, the means of tons and the mean weeding, harvesting, processing, and marketing of agricultural number of trucks were used. When there were data from only food crops. one period, values from the observed period were imputed into the new peak season week. This methodology is described in Despite these difficulties in determining exact seasonal further detail in Section III Results. fluctuations in charcoal production on an annual basis, three intervals of time are generally considered as peak charcoal 59 ‘High’ and ‘peak’ are used interchangeably as synonyms across the report. 60 This also corresponds to the pre-Christmas expenditure period. 61 The 2017 school year began on September 4, as decreed by the Ministry 62 See Annex 1 for more details. of Education’s (MENFP) academic calendar. However, it is common in rural 63 An error was made by the firm contracted to collect the data. All enumerators Haiti that children do not return to school on the start date. Many families were mistakenly sent home 17 hours early during the first sampling period. instead delay until they are able to gather the money to pay for school fees, The firm mitigated the mistake by resampling a few days during the following books, and uniforms. (MENFP Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la peak season (sampling period 3 in Table 3). Formation Professionnelle.) 64 See Annex 2 for further details about the logistical organization on the field. 12 Charcoal in Haiti TABLE 3: Description of the Three Sampling Periods Total Day Su M T W Th F Sa hours Period 1 24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 19 hrs *5 hrs 144 (8/26/17, 7 pm– 9/1/17, 7 pm) (12 am–7 pm) (7 pm–12 am) Period 2 24 hrs *24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 24 hrs 168 (10/23/17, 7 am–10/30/17, 7 am) Period 3 24 hrs 7 hrs No No No *17 hrs 24 hrs 72 (12/15/17, 7 am–12/18/17, 7 am) (12 am67–7 am) data data data (7 am–12 am) Total hours 72 55 48 48 48 60 53 384 * = Sampling period start time TABLE 4: Conversion of Categorical Counts to Metric Ton Averages Truck weight range (metric tons) Truck carrying capacity (full Truck Size capacity with large sacks) Low-end range Midrange High-end range Small truck 25–50 0.75 1.125 1.5 Medium truck 100–200 3 4.5 6 Large truck 300–400 9 10.5 12 Data Standardization average for a large charcoal bag,67 and other important studies reported counts of different-sized bags but also reported weight Standardizing Vehicle Classifications totals in tons,68 for the sake of comparability across time, this Roadside enumerations were based on a tripartite typology study uses a 30 kg estimate for a large sack of charcoal. Given of transportation vehicles (small, medium, or large trucks); that the average of the 72 bags of charcoal weighed was enumerators counted and classified different-sized charcoal- 41.93 kgs, the 30 kg number used in the present calculations is carrying vehicles. During Phase I, a series of ‘carrying capacity a conservative estimate. Table 4 outlines the carrying capacities ranges’ were established for each of these three truck categories, and associated ranges of metric tons ascribed to enumerator based on trucks at full capacity with large bags.65 counts of small, medium, and large trucks. The estimated average weight of a large charcoal bag The subsequent data are analyzed as: (1) counts of the different was initially established by repeatedly weighing large bags categories in the tripartite vehicle typology; and (2) total weight (n = 72 bags) at four different locations (two wharfs and two based on the average (midrange) of the metric ton ranges for charcoal depots) throughout Port-au-Prince, with an average of each type of truck, as displayed in Table 4. 41.93 kilograms per large charcoal bag.66 Previous researchers also varied as to the weight they ascribed to a large bag of Distinction among Vessels and Vehicles charcoal. Since the most relevant early studies used a 30 kg The three wharfs that were sampled also function as de facto charcoal depots, with some bags of charcoal stacked high and 65 sitting for indeterminate periods of time. Those enumerators A.M. denotes midnight; P.M denotes noon. 66 The range of the weight of the 72 large bags was wide, from 20 kg large bags stationed at maritime wharfs were instructed, trained, and to 65 kg large bags. Since weights varied so much, the mode of all the bags was also not a viable option. In Haiti charcoal bags vary in weight tremendously by the type of wood that produced the charcoal, the moisture content of the 67 Earl 1976; Voltaire 1979; Smucker 1981; Grosenick and McGowan 1986. charcoal, the sizes of the charcoal pieces, the occasional addition of rocks, and 68 Stevenson 1989; ESMAP 1991; ESMAP 2007. slight variations in the sizes of bags themselves. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 13 Large truck Medium truck Small truck equipped to count not only charcoal vessels entering the Enumerators also noted the origins of boats entering the wharfs, but also to record trucks departing the wharfs, which wharfs, and the quantities of charcoal such boats carried, in had come to fill their beds with charcoal. order to estimate percentages that reflected different origins of charcoal. This effort was similar to those enumerators In the final analysis, wharf counts were based on those vehicles station at intersections, noting the specific direction each departing wharfs with beds full of charcoal, rather than on vehicle originated from. However, all respondents at Wharf incoming boats. This ensured that charcoal en route to the Marigot noted that charcoal arrived from the southeast, all capital was counted during the respective sampling periods, respondents at Wharf Jérémie (in Port-au-Prince) reported rather than counting charcoal that may be stored at wharfs for maritime arrivals came from Grand Anse, and all respondents undetermined durations of time, that could have extended the at Wharf Arcahaie reported charcoal incoming from the island amounts headed for the capital during sampling periods. of La Gonâve.69 Wharf Archahaie from La Gonâve 69This is only unusual in the case of Wharf Arcahaie, where the historical literature indicated that charcoal offloaded at the wharf is separated by that coming from the island of La Gonâve and that originating in the northwest. It appears that the advent of better transportation has changed this historical trend. 14 Charcoal in Haiti III. Results Descriptive Statistics TABLE 5: Total Number of Observations by Location and Size73 Enumerators made a total of 10,43670 observations of small, Truck size medium, or large trucks during the 384 hours of data collection Grand Enumeration station L M S total across three different sampling periods, in the 23 enumeration stations, (see Table 5). These observations consisted of 3,790 Anse-à-Pitres 0 0 0 0 trucks entering Port-au-Prince (core) and 6646 trucks heading Belladère 0 0 0 0 toward the capital (periphery).71 Carrefour Dufort 631 391 413 1,435 Carrefour Mariani 530 338 315 1,183 The data collection and classification were potentially Carrefour Moussignac 586 154 442 1,182 susceptible to different sources of errors. In order to mitigate Les Cayes 347 163 374 884 any potential errors, several measures were adopted (see Cerca-La-Source 14 13 4 31 Annex 3 for more details). Croix-des-Bouquets 293 161 179 633 Hinche 1 87 28 69 184 Two locations had no observations: Belladère and Anse-à-Pitres. Hinche 2 112 36 91 239 The Belladère enumeration station was at an intersection Jérémie 120 28 45 193 controlling two routes of entry near the border with the Mòn Kabrit/Thomazeau 319 120 669 1,108 Dominican Republic. Anse-à-Pitres was controlling for charcoal Kenscoff 1 0 5 6 entering Haiti at the southern-most land point along the Haiti- Malpassee 102 38 50 190 Dominican Republic border. In subsequent figures, the two Miragoâne 515 206 455 1,176 stations with no observations will not be displayed.72 Mirbalais_1 235 45 131 411 Mirbalais_2 54 26 31 111 In addition, some other enumeration stations were outliers, Pont-Sondé 112 60 193 365 failing to generate substantial observations. This was the Thiotte 87 8 5 100 case for the Cerca-la-Source enumeration station, where only Titanyen 163 144 246 553 31 observations were made at an intersection controlling for two Wharf Archahaie 44 28 8 80 routes of entry along the central border with the Dominican Wharf Jérémie 5 22 280 307 Republic. There were also only six total observations from the Wharf Marigot 2 22 41 65 Kenscoff enumeration station in Pétion-Ville, which controlled Grand total 4,359 2,031 4,046 10,436 for charcoal entering the capital from the large and wooded mountain ranges due south that tower above Port-au-Prince. 70 These figures represent raw data, before any standardization of the dataset occurred. 71 In the periphery stations some observations are repeats (i.e., the same truck recorded at more than one enumeration station, en route to the capital). 72 Enumerators were still posted at these stations for the full 384 hours of 73 These figures represent raw data, before any standardization of the dataset observation across all three sampling periods. occurred. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 15 Differences between the the three sample periods 1, 2, and 3 in the periphery and in the core enumeration points. Three Sampling Periods It appears that more charcoal is circulating in the periphery Comparison of All Three Sampling than in the core. Generally speaking, this is true, as urban areas Periods Based on One Shared Day outside of Port-au-Prince consume charcoal as well, and not Sunday is the only complete (24-hour) day when data were all charcoal passing through periphery stations also passed collected across all three sampling periods. Figure 2 shows into the core. However, the totals from the periphery were a comparison of the total metric tons circulating in the also subject to double-counting of the same trucks by different periphery, and passing into the core on Sunday, for all three enumeration stations along the same road. sampling periods combined. From Figure 2, sampling period 3 appears to have the highest flows of metric tons into the core; Comparison of All Sampling Periods this trend is repeated in the periphery but does not account for double-counting along the same route, or for charcoal that was Based on Total Shared Hours offloaded prior to entering Port-au-Prince. This section compares the 47-hour period shared across all three sampling periods, as shown in Table 6. Establishing seasonal differences in charcoal production TABLE 6: Description of the 47 Hours Overlap across All based on only one day can create certain caveats in the data Sample Periods interpretation, including statistical overgeneralization of Weekday Time period Number of hours results considering daily variations within a weekly period. Sunday All  24 To mitigate this challenge, data are compared in several ways Monday (12 am to 6 am) 7 to highlight the real variation between sampling periods. Friday (7 am to 6 pm) 12 Figure 2 compares the means of tons per hour passing through Saturday (7 pm to 11 pm) 4 enumeration stations during the 24 overlapping hours between Total 47 FIGURE 2: Total Charcoal Production by Periphery and Core for All Periods (in metric tons, Sunday—24 hours) 3,000 2,000 Metric tons 1,000 0 1 2 3 1 2 3 Periphery Core 16 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 3: Average Tons per Hour across the Three Sampling Periods on the 47-hour Overlap 60 50 Tons of charcoal per hour 40 30 1 2 3 Sampling period When these temporal overlaps between all sampling periods are Figure 3, and Figure 4 demonstrate what the qualitative added together, we can compare metric ton flows of charcoal interviews suggested: Period samples 1 and 3 (peak season) into Port-au-Prince across all three sampling periods, based on have on average more metric tons entering Port-au-Prince than a combined 47 shared hours (see Figure 3). sample period 2 (low season). Figure 3 shows that on average sampling periods 1 and 3 both As described in Section II, due to 17 hours of missing data register more overall metric tons of charcoal entering the core during sample period 1, sample periods 1 and 3 are merged of Port-au-Prince than sampling period 2. Given that daily to recreate a full week of peak. When there are observations hours of sunlight vary by season, Figure 4 shows only daylight from both periods, tons of charcoal and number of trucks are hours in order to control for this seasonal difference. It displays averaged across the two periods. Where data from only one the average tons per hour across the three sampling periods’ period was observed, values from the observed period are daylight overlapping hours (7 am–7 pm). Figure 4 shows that imputed to the unique peak week construction. that quantity of charcoal transported during daylight hours (7 am–7 pm) is higher per hour in December than in August. Figure 5 reproduces Figure 3, and Figure 6 reproduces In other words, the average total tons of charcoal transported Figure 4, but in each case with the newly reconstructed peak per daylight hour is higher in the wintertime. This is logical week. These statistical robustness checks confirm the hypothesis given that, during the month of August there are more hours of low and high charcoal production season. Figures 5 and 6 of daylight, permitting trucks transporting charcoal to travel demonstrate that the average tons per hour for the peak weeks over a greater number of daylight hours than in the winter. are significantly higher than in the low weeks. Reconstruction of the Peak Week Robustness Check on Number of Trucks Despite small observable variations, the difference between Figure 7 compares the mean number of trucks of each size sampling period 1 and 2 is not statically significant. Figure 2, per hour for the low week and for the reconstructed peak A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 17 FIGURE 4: Average Tons per Hour across the Three Sampling Periods [7 am, 7 pm] 70 60 Tons of charcoal per hour 50 40 30 1 2 3 Sampling period FIGURE 5: Average Tons per Hour of Peak (reconstructed) vs. Low Weeks 60 55 Tons of charcoal per hour 50 45 40 Peak Low Sampling period 18 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 6: Average Tons per Hour of Peak (reconstructed) vs. Low Weeks [7 am–7 pm] 55 50 Tons of charcoal per hour 45 40 35 Peak Low Sampling period FIGURE 7: Average Number of Trucks by Size for Low and Peak (new) Weeks 6 5 4 Number of trucks per hour 3 2 1 Peak Low Peak Low Peak Low Size S Size M Size L A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 19 week. It is clear that these two periods have different trends. As charcoal flows. The peak and low seasons demonstrate the expected, the low season has on average more small trucks, and same trend, except on Thursday and Friday. the peak season records on average more medium and large trucks of charcoal. In the low season, charcoal continues to be In Figure 9 it is clear that Thursday and Friday are the days transported, but with smaller trucks than in the peak season, when peak and low flows are the most different. Monday is the because the overall quantities to be transported are smaller. In only day when we observe more charcoal being transported the high season, larger trucks are used to transport the larger in low season than in peak season. The highest volume of amounts of charcoal. charcoal entering Port-au-Prince during the peak season is Thursday and during the low season is Monday. In order to have a clearer idea of how these flows vary per day and per hour, Figure 10 examines the distribution of charcoal flows by Variation within Days hour for both peak and low seasons. and across the Week Figure 10 shows some trend reversal, with larger volumes There are differences between the days of the week within of charcoal transported between 7 pm–midnight during the a given sampling period, both in terms of the volumes of low season. This trend reverts during the peak season, when different types of vehicles used to transport charcoal, and the volumes are higher between midnight and 7 am. overall flows of metric tons into the core of Port-au-Prince. Finally, the hourly pattern of the tons of transported charcoal Figure 8 and Figure 9 show the distribution of charcoal day-by-day was examined to provide the most complete picture flows over the course of the week for peak and low seasons. of the quantities entering Port-au-Prince (Annex 4). By analyzing As expected, the low season displays overall lower levels of the hourly flows day-by-day, the data confirm that there is a FIGURE 8: Charcoal Flows over Time: Peak vs. Low Period in a Week’s Time 200 150 Metric tons of charcoal 100 50 0 Sun 12 am Mon 12 am Tue 12 am Wed 12 am Thu 12 am Fri 12 am Sat 12 am Sun Peak Low 20 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 9: Distribution of Charcoal Flows by Day 2,000 1,500 Metric tons 1,000 500 0 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Peak Low FIGURE 10: Distribution of Charcoal Flows by Hour 800 600 Metric tons 400 200 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Peak Low A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 21 daily change at about 7 pm, occasionally shorty after 7 pm, and Plateau area, when subtracting the portion from Rue Tomazo another change in flows at midnight on almost every day. (with charcoal originating east of Port-au-Prince), is 20.34 percent, placing it in third place as a regional contributor. Thus, the second largest flow of charcoal enters the capital Regional Differences from the east, enumerated at the Croix-des-Bouquets station (21.15%) joined with the percent from Rue Tomazo (3.39%) to Figure 11 displays the different regional contributions of represent a total of 24.54 percent of the charcoal consumed in charcoal entering Port-au-Prince, as percentages of the total Port-au-Prince. Likewise, 14.01 percent of charcoal entering the amount entering the capital during combined peak and low capital originates from the north, as observed by the Titanyen periods. enumeration station. A small amount (2.45%) enters the capital at Wharf Jérémie (attributed to the southern peninsula), while Approximately 40 percent of charcoal consumed in Port-au- the negligible remainder, so small it fails to show in the image, Prince originates from the southern peninsula.74 The second enters from the mountain ranges directly south of Port-au- highest contributor of charcoal consumed in the capital initially Prince measured at the Kenscoff enumeration station. appears to come from the Central Plateau area, captured at the enumeration station of Kafou Tomazo/Mon Kabrit and Before turning to regional trends, the influence of the farthest contributing 23.73 percent of the total charcoal flow in the out (most remote) periphery stations and smaller feeder roads to Port-au-Prince. However, since this station is situated at an the national highways and departmental routes are discussed. intersection, the true amount originating from the Central FIGURE 11: Charcoal Entering the Core of Port-au-Prince75 2.45% 14.01% 21.15% 23.73% 38.57% Croix-des-Bouquets Kafou Tomazo/Mòn Kabrit Kenscoff Mariani Titanyen 0.09% Wharf Jérémie 74 This total considers the sum of the Mariani enumeration station and Wharf Jérémie. While Wharf Jérémie is indeed a core station due to its location within the capital, it can be added to the Mariani station due to the origin of this charcoal (Jérémie is located in the southern peninsula). 75The charcoal origination from Kenscoff is so small, it fails to appear in ­Figure 11. 22 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 12: Total Metric Tons in the Four Most Remote Periphery Stations 3,071.2 3,000 2,000 Total metric tons 1,515.4 1,051.7 1,107.4 1,000 563.2 456.4 365.2 368.2 179.1 0 3 2 te se 08 n 1 2 06 N #7 o N 10 n An #3 si #2 R R ce n e D te n d e l e R ta Vi n l l Ex ta ta en ra en en io G m #2 en m m te St te le te ar na ar ar ep ue ep ep io D R at D D te N te te ou te ou ou R ou R R R Hinche 1 Jérémie Les Cayes Pont-Sondé Thiotle The Effects of the Farthest Periphery charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince during the same time. Stations and Feeder Roads Inevitably, much of this charcoal was later counted again on major national highways closer to the capital, but no double- Farthest Out Periphery Stations counting occurred on the feeder roads themselves. Figure 12 displays the total metric tons that passed through the four most remote (periphery) enumeration stations during data Taken together, the influence of feeder roads and the most collection. remote enumeration stations demonstrate just how much charcoal production has become decentralized in Haiti, how a The charcoal noted passing through these most remote large portion of charcoal is produced in areas very remote from enumeration stations alone yielded a total amount equivalent the capital, and how only a portion of this charcoal actually to approximately half of the charcoal entering the entire makes its way into Port-au-Prince. capital from all directions during that same period of time. The Southern Peninsula The core capital counts show that only a portion of this amount actually entered the capital, illustrating not only the extent to As noted in Figure 11, approximately 40 percent of the which charcoal production has become decentralized at the charcoal entering Port-au-Prince originates somewhere along national level, but also how much charcoal is now consumed in the southern peninsula, west of the Mariani enumeration urban areas located outside of Port-au-Prince. station or entering from Wharf Jérémie. Figure 14 displays the total metric tons that passed through Feeder Roads each of the enumeration stations of the southern peninsula Figure 13 displays only the small feeder roads and departmental before reaching the core Port-au-Prince station of Mariani.76 roads—analogous to tributaries of a river that join the national highway system in Haiti—where the charcoal enumerated 76 Note that enumeration stations in this image are not arranged left-to-right in a represents an amount equivalent to over one-third (34%) of the manner that reflects their actual position (east-to-west) on the road. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 23 FIGURE 13: Metric Tons Produced by Feeder Roads 300.9 179.1 566.3 56.6 73.9 73.7 144.9 456.4 1,107.4 570.9 La Gonave (maritime route) Route Departementale #11 Route Departementale #208 Route Departementale #21 Route Departementale #305 Route Departementale #306 404.8 Route Departementale #308 Route Departementale #72 Route Nationale #2 Extension Route Departementale #208 and #102 Rue Cerca-La-Source Rue Dania 417.4 Rue Fond-des-Blancs 1,051.7 Rue Stenio Vincente 365.3 FIGURE 14: Metric Tons Passing Through Enumeration Stations of the Southern Peninsula 8,000 7,638.2 6,404.3 6,500.1 5,979.9 6,000 Total metric tons 4,178.6 4,000 2,000 1,230.8 0 Jérémie Les Cayes Miragoâne Carrefour Mariani Carrefour Dufort Moussignac 24 Charcoal in Haiti What is immediately clear is that there is not an increasing Figure 15 displays the counts of trucks passing through the progression of charcoal toward Port-au-Prince. There are same enumeration stations displayed in Figure 14. It appears notable increases (Jérémie to Les Cayes; and Miragoâne to that many of the large trucks are making the long haul Carrefour Dufort) and notable declines (Carrefour Moussignac toward the capital, through all the stations, in a progressively to Miragoâne; and Carrefour Dufort to Mariani,) of total increasing number, with the exception of a small decline of charcoal flows between stations when considering a west- large trucks between Carrefour Moussignac and Miragoâne. to-east trajectory toward the capital. The most significant This trend also appears to be true of medium-sized trucks, decrease (Carrefour Dufort to Mariani) of over 1,000 metric with the exception of a small decline between Les Cayes and tons occurs just before the core station controlling entry into Carrefour Moussignac. Finally, in respect to small trucks, there Port-au-Prince from the entire southern peninsula. is a gradual incline toward the capital, with the exception of a slight dropoff between Miragoâne and Carrefour Dufort. Based on this analysis alone, it is difficult to determine if such trends in the passage of metric tons along the enumeration However, Figure 16 makes it clear: the sudden decline of overall stations of National Highway 2 toward the capital represent: metric tonnage between the Dufort and Mariani enumeration stations is due to a sudden drop in the number of all types of 1. Additions of charcoal; trucks entering Port-au-Prince. 2. Off-loading of charcoal before the capital; 3. Missed enumerations; The 1,138 metric tons of charcoal unaccounted for between the 4. Misclassifications of vehicles; or Dufort enumeration station and the final Mariani enumeration 5. Some combination of all of these. station is best explained by the prior passage of National FIGURE 15: Trucks Passing Through the Enumeration Stations of the Southern Peninsula 600 537 512 449 398 400 380 366 353 Total metric tons 337 301 200 183 134 142 102 38 26 0 Jérémie Carrefour Moussignac Les Cayes Miragoâne Carrefour Dufort Number of trucks size S Number of trucks size M Number of trucks size L A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 25 FIGURE 16: Trucks Passing Through the Last Two Stations on the Western Peninsula 600 537 458 400 366 353 Total metric tons 304 282 200 0 Carrefour Dufort Mariani Number of trucks size S Number of trucks size M Number of trucks size L Highway 2 through the city of Léogâne, with a population in Port-au-Prince, there is a large population willing (needing) of over half a million at the arrondissement (municipal level). By to purchase the charcoal, and the trip is notably shorter. comparison, the arrondissement population of some of the other large cities found en route along the southern peninsula Central Plateau toward Port-au-Prince include: Jérémie (238,218); Les Cayes Some of the same trends noted for the southern peninsula (346,276); and Miragoâne (141,826). While commensurate are repeated on the route from the Central Plateau toward declines might be expected between the Jérémie, Les Cayes, Port-au-Prince, where five different enumeration stations were and Miragoâne stations based on their urban populations, placed at multiple intersections. these other cities are surrounded by areas of high tree cover, while Léogâne has only Port-au-Prince to the east. Residents Figure 17 groups together the two stations at Hinche, the two of Léogâne are thus reliant on and receive charcoal from only stations at Mirebalais, the core station at Kafou Tomazo/Mòn one direction along the national highway, whereas residents Kabrit, while excluding the inputs from all feeder roads. In this of other areas along the peninsula receive charcoal from formation, we see an expected trend: metric tons increasing multiple smaller ‘feeder’ roads that eventually join the national along the national highway toward Port-au-Prince. highways. These influences likely give incentive to drivers of large trucks to initially travel farther east along the peninsula to However, when not combining the counts of both different receive higher prices that are driven by higher demand. enumerations stations at Hinche and Mirebalais, and not discounting the charcoal counts from feeder roads, another Thus, the most plausible explanation for the drop in picture emerges. Consider Figure 18, which presents data approximately 1,000 tons of charcoal prior to entry into the from the two stations at Hinche (farther north) and Mirebalais core is that truck drivers are off-loading large quantities of (farther south), respectively, in disaggregation. charcoal in Léogâne because the prices are comparable to those 26 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 17: Metric Tons En Route to Port-au-Prince from the Central Plateau. 4,000 3,429.0 3,000 2,628.4 Total metric tons 2,000 1,389.9 1,000 0 Hinche (both) Mirbalais (both) Kafou Tomazo/Mòn Kabrit Examining Figure 18, the pattern at Hinche makes logical sense, southwestern enumeration station of the city (Mirebalais_2), with a total of 919.6 metric tons entering the north of the city an additional 73.7 tons are added by RD11 from the west, via RD308 and RN3 (enumeration station ‘Hinche_1’), and bringing the total amount of charcoal entering the city of a total of 826.7 metric tons recorded exiting the city through Mirebalais to 2,546.9 metric tons. the southern enumeration station on RN3 (enumeration station ‘Hinche_2’). When we consider an addition of 417.4 However, only 560.1 metric tons of charcoal leaves the city tons from RD306 (also enumeration station ‘Hinche_2’), a of Mirebalais at the southwestern exit on RN3 (Mirebalais_2), total of 1,337 metric tons enters the city of Hinche, while only meaning 1,986.7 metric tons are unaccounted for in passing 826.7 metric tons leave the city of Hinche heading south on through Mirebalais. Stated differently, more charcoal enters RN3. Therefore, it appears that 510.3 metric tons of charcoal the city of Mirebalais than leaves the city, in a pattern similar are debarked in Hinche. to the one observed in Léogâne on the southern peninsula. Enumerators at Mirebalais, the next city south on RN3 Mirebalais has a population of around 192,852 at the heading toward the capital, recorded a higher amount of arrondissement level, while Hinche has a population of 264,943 charcoal (2,068.3 metric tons) at the northeastern entrance of at the same municipal level. In other words, comparing Hinche the city (enumeration station ‘Mirebalais_1’). The addition of and Mirebalais, more charcoal went unaccounted for in the approximately 1,200 tons of charcoal on the 56.5 kilometers city with the slightly lesser population; population differences between the cities of Hinche and Mirebalais is not surprising; don’t explain the missing volume of charcoal in Mirebalais. this is one of the most tree-covered stretches of the highway passing through the Central Plateau. It is probable that what occurred on the southern peninsula is also occurring here. Recall that a large amount of charcoal The total entrance of charcoal into Mirebalais via the in the southern peninsula went unaccounted for between the northeastern entrance of the city (Mirebalais_1) when factoring station at Carrefour Dufort and the core station of Mariani, in a 404.8 ton input from RD305 is 2,473.1 metric tons. At the after passing through Léogâne, the last big city before the A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 27 FIGURE 18: Metric Tons of Charcoal Entering and Leaving Hinche and Mirebalais. 2,068.3 2,000 1,500 Total metric tons 1,000 826.7 563.3 560.1 500 417.4 404.8 365.3 73.7 0 RD308 RN3 RD306 RN3 RD305 RN3 RD11 RN3 Hinche_1 Hinche_2 Mirbalais_1 Mirbalais_2 capital. Mirebalais occupies that same structural link or Figure 19 displays the three stations counting charcoal position in the charcoal transport chain of the Central Plateau, originating in the northern (Artibonite) area, from the offshore suggesting the truck drivers are unloading substantial tons of island of La Gonâve and passing through the final core charcoal at Mirebalais for all the same reasons they likely did station at Titanyen. It should be noted that Wharf Archahaie at Léogâne—charcoal likely sells in Mirebalais and Léogâne counts were registered by enumerators at the seaside wharf as for prices comparable to those in Port-au-Prince; there are trucks left loaded with charcoal, not counted along National large populations in both Mirebalais and Léogâne willing Highway #1. Therefore, Wharf Archahaie counts are almost to purchase this charcoal and offloading charcoal; at these assuredly double-counted in the Titanyen total displayed in locations reduces overall transportation costs, distances, and Figure 19. time77 than traveling all the way into Port-au-Prince. Pont-Sondé, in the heart of Artibonite, was the northern-most enumeration station in the study (not counting enumeration North stations in the Central Plateau area). When comparing the In the north there was an opposite trend from the one noted on counts from Pont-Sondé (1,515.4 metric tons) to the counts the southern peninsula and in the Central Plateau area—rather from the core enumeration station at Titanyen—without than the disappearance of large amounts of charcoal at the last counting the Wharf Archahaie counts and the small amount major city before core enumeration stations controlling entry coming from the feeder road at Titanyen (nine metric tons)— into Port-au-Prince, there was a large, unaccounted for surplus we found an additional 261.7 metric tons of unaccounted for of charcoal passing through the last core station controlling charcoal between these two locations. entry into the capital. Since there are several cities and towns of notable size between 77 Port-au-Prince has infamous traffic congestion. Pont Sondé and Titanyen—St. Marc (pop. 443,007), Archahaie 28 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 19: Metric Tons of Charcoal Entering Port-au-Prince from the North 2,500 2,352.4 2,000 1,515.4 1,500 Total metric tons 1,000 566.3 500 0 La Gonave (maritime route) RN1 RN1 Wharf Archahaie Pont-Sondé Titanyen (pop. 130,306), and Cabaret (pop. 68,245)78—the addition of Wharf Archahaie indicated all incoming charcoal originated 261.7 metric tons of charcoal is an unexpected and surprising from the island of La Gonâve.79 discovery. There are few substantial feeder roads leading from National Highway 2 into the barren western coast of Haiti that One hypothesis is that the 261.7 metric tons of charcoal could have provided this volume of charcoal, and the Titanyen enumerated at Titanyen but not accounted for by Pont Sondé enumeration station controlled for the only such road (RD113) or Wharf Archahaie came from the northwest peninsula, that connects to other major roads, in this case roads leading to making landfall at the St. Marc wharf, which comes after the the Central Plateau area. But the RD113 feeder road registered Pont Sondé enumeration station on RN#1. The St. Marc only nine tons of charcoal total during the combined sampling wharf is a much shorter distance for boats coming from the periods. And charcoal is rarely observed for sale alongside RN1 northwestern peninsula, and both the improvement of RN#1 between Titanyen and Pont Sondé. since earlier studies, and the growth of St. Marc, have likely redirected much of the maritime charcoal traffic originating in The 261.7 additional metric tons of unaccounted for the northwest toward Wharf St. Marc. Seasonal variations in charcoal noted at Titanyen is approximately half the volume wind or ocean currents may have also played a factor. of charcoal incoming to Wharf Archahaie. The historical literature suggested that Wharf Archahaie received charcoal from the Island of La Gonâve and from the Northwestern 79 When visiting this Wharf during preliminary scouting, it appeared that peninsula. However, during data collection, informants at charcoal from La Gonâve was stacked on one side, and charcoal from the Northwest was stacked on another side. However, enumerators indicated that virtually all the charcoal they counted originated from the island of La Gonâve. This result is puzzling, and could have origins in enumerator errors, 78 Marc and Archahaie populations are noted at the arrondissement level; St. or some sort of seasonal transportation variability related to the currents, tides, Cabaret is noted at the commune level. or waves of the sea. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 29 East of Port-au-Prince TABLE 7: Charcoal Observed Entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic, as % of Amount Consumed in The literature suggests that the area east of Port-au-Prince was Port-au-Prince the first location of charcoal production to supply the city, but Location Total Disaggregates by 1978 it was supplying only 5 percent (Voltaire 1979). But this figure increased to 5.6 percent by 1985 (Grosenick and Malpasse 1.28% McGowan 1986) and continued increasing to an estimated Cerca La Source 1.00% 0.438% (Cerca La Source Rd.) (east of Hinche) 0.571% (Route Dania & Garde 11 percent by 1990 (ESMAP 1991). Salnave) Total 2.28% We know from Figure 11 that the second largest flow of charcoal enters the capital from the east, when considering the counts enumerated at the Croix-des-Bouquets station (21.15%) joined The primary charcoal border importation location described with counts from the feeder road at the Thomazeau/Mòn in the literature and identified by multiple informants in Kabrit station (3.39%), which represents a total of 24.54 percent Phase I of the research schedule is Malpasse, just east of Port- of the total volume of charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince. au-Prince. Once a week, multiple small boats debark from the northeastern shore of Lake Azuéi (Saumâtre in the DR), which However, while approximately one-fourth of the charcoal falls almost entirely within the border of Haiti but borders the enters the capital from the east, when determining the amount Dominican Republic on the northeastern side. These boats that originates from due east of the capital, some arithmetic is land and disembark charcoal on the southwestern side of the required: the counts from the Croix-des-Bouquets station lake, and this charcoal is then loaded onto trucks that drive and the feeder road at Thomazeau/Mòn Kabrit require the it toward Port-au-Prince. However, the amount of charcoal subtraction of charcoal that originated from the southeast of entering Haiti at Malpasse on Route National Number 8 during Haiti, and from the Dominican Republic, registered at the both sampling periods was 215.82 metric tons (an amount previous enumeration station near Malpasse.80 equivalent to 1.28 percent of the total charcoal transported into Port-au-Prince during that same period). After these controls are made, the charcoal with origins due east of Port-au-Prince amounts to 2,994.56 metric tons during the Therefore, based on the data included in Table 8 above, the two weeks sampled, or 17.76 percent of the charcoal consumed amount of charcoal entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic in Port-au-Prince during the same period. is equivalent to 2.28 percent of the total amount of charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince. However, it is possible that charcoal may be entering Haiti from Route National Number 6 along the northern coast of Haiti, or through wharfs along the northern Charcoal Entering Haiti coast of Haiti (the only known major entry routes we did not from the Dominican Republic control for), although the transportation of such charcoal would logically be geared toward consumers in nearby Cap Haitian Estimates of Charcoal Entering Haiti (the third largest city in Haiti), rather than incurring time and from the Dominican Republic transport costs to arrive all the way south to Port-au-Prince. Counts from all five enumeration stations controlling for charcoal entering Haiti from the Dominican Republic (DR) Alternative Hypotheses Concerning yielded minimal results. Three of the five stations (Belladere, Charcoal Entering from the Dominican east of Mirebalais; Anse a Pitre, in the southeast; and Wharf Republic of Marigot near Jacmel) registered no observations originating Some readers might be tempted to conclude that the gradual from the DR and therefore are not displayed in Table 7. increase in charcoal production east of Port-au-Prince over the last 40 years (supported by the literature and data) actually 80 represents charcoal arriving clandestinely from the Dominican Seethe subsequent section on charcoal entering from the Dominican Republic and changes in charcoal production over time for more details. Republic through other locations. 30 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 20: Two Similar Wharfs on the Eastern Side of Lake Azuéi (Saumâtre) Left: Malpasse Right: new location Considering that such a scenario might be possible, the Although it is possible, even likely, that some charcoal is passing research team examined multiple satellite images and located from this second wharf identified on the Dominican Republic only one other site on the northeastern (Dominican Republic) side of the lake, only a small percentage of charcoal (1.28 side of Lake Azuéi (also called Lake Saumâtre) that could percent of the amount entering Port-au-Prince) crosses over at possibly represent a charcoal transportation site similar in Malpasse. It would be a large jump to presume that this second capacity to the one at Malpasse (see Figure 20).81 Interestingly, site furbishes the remaining 16.48 percent of the estimated both locations in Figure 20 are technically on the Haiti side of 17.76 percent of charcoal originating due east of the capital. the border, albeit right along the border with the Dominican Such an assumption would also run contrary to several very Republic. different sources of evidence: Both wharfs featured in Figure 20 appear similar in size • All the literature, multiple key informants, and all those (considering the number of boats and structures), but where participating in contextual interviews conducted during Malpasse was paired with one wharf on the western (Haiti) side Phase I indicated Malpasse as the primary cross-border of the lake, the second location appears to possibly be paired charcoal transfer location; with two different wharfs on the western side of the lake (one • There is more profitable contraband to import from area near the end of the road to Thomazeau; and another area the Dominican Republic that would be of higher west of Malpasse near Fond Parisien, on the same road leading interest to boatmen ferrying small loads in tiny boats to Croix-des-Bouquets and onward into Port-au-Prince (Route (e.g. sausage, eggs, cement, etc.). National 8). • A joint publication of the Haitian Ministries for Public Works, Transportation and Communications; Bureau of Mines and Energy; and Electricity in 2005 noted 81 The same commentary made in regard to potential donkey transport applies the area east of Port-au-Prince as a prime location in this case. While within-country transportation of charcoal into Port-au- for ‘energetic forests’ of bayawonn woodlots (Prosopis Prince used to occur with donkeys, those days have largely ended with the introduction of motorcycles. Donkeys are still used in rural areas with poor juliflora). (ESMAP 2005, 18). This is how the area east access to major transportation routes, but people debark charcoal at specific of Port-au-Prince has been described in the literature locations, including wharfs, where larger transport vehicles arrive. Thus, it is highly unlikely that donkeys are making a substantial cross-border transport from the 1970s onward. of charcoal. Even if they were, the propensity to offload beasts of burden for loading onto trucks or boats virtually assures we would have captured such • Recent visits to this area by the research team indicate transport. that these areas are still very much defined by coppicing A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 31 Prosopis trees that are managed along a woodland-to- production east of Port-au-Prince, as research from 1978 woodlot spectrum for charcoal production; onward suggests. According to the literature, charcoal • Multiple historical references, published within a production in the area due east of Port-au-Prince doubled in decade after Haitian independence in 1804, report that the five-year period between 1985 and 1990; for it to double the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (former sugarcane plantations again during the 27 years from 1990 to the present research east of Port-au-Prince) rapidly became overgrown with (2017) seems safely within the realm of possibility. Prosopis juliflora and Haematoxylum campechianum trees (the two most commonly used trees for charcoal production Some of the factors that may be contributing to this reoccurrence in Haiti since the 1920s);82 and of tree cover in the Plaine du Cul du Sac include a decline • This rapid, historical increase of tree cover on former of soil fertility, increased soil salination, increased climatic sugarcane plantations east of Port-au-Prince is not drying, the decline of agricultural export crops, absentee land only noted in the historical literature; it is registered in owners (many plots in this area are unusually large), and a fluctuations of arboreal pollen, weed types, and erosion host of other factors that work together to give incentive to in lake sediment analyses from Lake Miragoâne,83 residents east of Port-au-Prince to return to the production of occurring during the same historical time period.84 charcoal. Whatever the causal factors, the data demonstrate that charcoal entering from the Dominican Republic is much Suffice to say, it would be neither historically unprecedented lower than previously believed. nor unlikely for an extensive and rapid increase in charcoal 82 See Tarter 2015a. 83 While Lake Miragoâne is located on the southern peninsula, Miragoâne was historically an important colonial port city with large plantations extending outward. Thus, the post-independence expansions of tree cover noted for Miragoâne register an event that happened at former plantation sites throughout the country. 84 Brenner and Binford 1988, 94. 32 Charcoal in Haiti IV. Analysis Estimated Annual 438,204 metric tons of charcoal entering the core of P ­ ort-au- Prince, noted in bold in the table, is the most-prevalent scenario Consumption and is used as the standard throughout this report. in Port-au-Prince Column 4 estimates the annual charcoal consumption in Port- To compute annual estimates for Port-au-Prince, the low au-Prince under the scenario of a year with only three months and reconstructed peak weeks were extended to the entire of low and nine months of peak season charcoal production. year.85 The resulting analysis assumes that charcoal trucks This scenario could occur during drought years, or years with enter the capital at full capacity, and Port-au-Prince charcoal other types of unanticipated misfortune that would place poor consumption can be approximated from the total flow of households under additional financial duress. charcoal passing through the core enumeration points and into the city. Finally, column 5 estimates the scenario of a ‘good’ year composed of only three months of a peak charcoal production Table 8 presents the different methods used to estimate weekly season. This case suggests a positive occurrence, for example, and annual charcoal consumption for Port-au-Prince based on a well-targeted and functioning social safety net, or an increase different hypotheses concerning the length of peak and low in farmers’ revenues, contributing to a decreased necessity for periods. The first two columns provide the total amount of charcoal production. weekly charcoal consumption in Port-au-Prince for the peak reconstructed period and the low period weeks.86 These scenarios are particularly useful for future projections, present estimates, and recalculations of past charcoal Column 3 provides the annual estimation charcoal consumption consumption in Haiti, based either on known historical events in Port-au-Prince based on the assumption that the year follows or predictable or anticipated phenomena likely to impact a normal calendar consisting of six peak months and six low seasonal variability in production across the year. months of charcoal production. The annual estimate of TABLE 8: Computation of the Annual Estimates of Charcoal Consumption in Port-au-Prince Week metric Week metric 6 months peak 9 months peak 3 months peak tons peak tons low 6 months low 3 months low 9 months low Low 7,437.75 6,101.25 352,014 369,388.5 334,639.5 Mid 9,256.125 7,597.875 438,204 459,761.25 416,646.75 High 11,074.5 9,094.5 524,394 550,134 498,654 85 Annual estimate = total_Peak * #Peak Weeks + total_Low * #Low Weeks, where total_Peak and total_Low can take three values depending on whether the mid-, low-end, or high-end of the range is used.    For example, to compute the midrange annual estimate of charcoal consumption in Port-au-Prince, if we consider that both peak and low seasons last six months each (i.e., 26 weeks), we calculate: Annual estimate mid = 9,276.375 * 26 + 7,597.875 * 26 = 438,730.5. 86 See Section III for more theoretical and empirical evidence. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 33 Changes in the Regional Despite these challenges and assumptions, both the Count Approach and the Consumption Approach to estimating Supply of Charcoal charcoal in Haiti have tended to make extrapolations to the to Port-au-Prince capital and/or the nation using population estimates, and then forecast into the past or future using estimated population Parsing the changes in charcoal production locations and consumption growth rates. Sometimes future projections are made based quantities over time in Haiti is a challenging endeavor. Many on previous estimated counts and sometimes they are based on previous studies of charcoal production and consumption in previous consumption estimates. Haiti are based on one of two principal approaches: (1)  the Count Approach (typically based on the placement of The results presented here were controlled for all of these enumeration stations around the capital city of Port-au-Prince, challenges by returning to original data tables of earlier research sometimes further out); and (2) the Consumption Approach87 reports89 and disaggregating data to best align locations of (typically based on household surveys of self-reported departments and generalized areas, to recalculate tons using or observed charcoal consumption rates). Both of these a standardized weight of a large charcoal bag (30 kg), and any approaches are confronted with assumptions and challenges, other necessary data standardizations. The data points on the such as: y-axis of Figure 21 represent this data standardization, and the years on the x-axis were adjusted to reflect the year that data • A historical assumption was that the vast majority of from different research reports were collected, or the year that charcoal produced nationally was transported to and estimates were projected to, rather than the year the research consumed in Port-au-Prince; reports were published. In several instances, Figure 21 displays • One particular challenge is that there are many estimates based on both counts and consumption rates that different approaches to measuring charcoal, either in appeared within the same reports. bag counts, in tons, or in mamits.88 Different weights have been ascribed to ‘large’ bags of charcoal, the What is most remarkable is that, despite the differences in range of weights for a large bag vary incredibly, and approaches, both methods trace a close linear progression over few researchers have noted that in different parts of time. In most instances, count approaches have yielded slightly Haiti there are variations on what constitutes a ‘large’ lower estimates than consumption approaches. bag in the first place. The issue is not resolved by smaller, incremental measurements applied in many Table 9 displays regional percentages for charcoal entering Consumption Approach studies. and consumed in Port au Prince, and should not be mistaken • Another challenge is the differential manner in which as overall regional percentages of charcoal production at previous studies have ascribed charcoal production locations the national level. This approach follows the convention of throughout Haiti. In some studies, general areas are previous reports and permits tentative conclusions about named (e.g., ‘the northwest’ or ‘the south’), while in other changes in charcoal production locations over time. The studies such areas are clearly defined as the Northwest ESMAP (2007) study is conspicuously absent because it did not Department or the South Department. Complicating clearly delineate areas of production. matters at the present time is the fact that Haiti went from nine to ten departments in the early 2000s. Several clear, diachronic trends are immediately apparent from Table 9. The northwestern area of Haiti has continued 87 These differences in approach to charcoal estimates in Haiti were first to decline over the last four decades, falling from its former elucidated by Stevenson (1989, 71–72). position of providing 50 percent of the charcoal consumed 88 A ‘mamit’ is the Haitian Creole name for a large tin coffee can, and it is a common though imprecise measurement used in markets throughout Haiti. Port-au-Prince. Likewise, the island of La Gonâve has Anthropologist Sidney Mintz described a ‘gwo mamit’ from nearby Fond-des- continued to decline in the overall percentage supplied to the Negres as the “. . . most important of all solids measures. It is the standard No. 10 can used to pack American foods such as catsup, applesauce, and lard for restaurant and institutional use. It holds five pounds of lard, and has a liquid volume capacity of 110.7 ounces,” rightly noting it as “probably the 89 1976, Voltaire 1979, Grosenick and McGowan 1986, ESMAP 1991, Earl most important measure in Haitian trade.” (Mintz 1961: 28) ESMAP 2007 34 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 21: Two Approaches to Annual Estimates of Charcoal Consumption in Port-au-Prince 500,000 438,204.00 400,000 380,000.00 300,000 275,548.00 200,000.00 200,000 135,000.00 100,000 83,000.00 115,000.00 84,249.00 14,000.00 80,525.64 27,300.00 0 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 –100,000 –200,000 Year Count approach Consumption approach Linear (count approach) Linear (consumption approach) TABLE 9: Changes to origin of charcoal entering and consumed in Port-au-Prince Location90 1978 198591 199092 201693 (our data) Northwest 50% 34.2% 21% 1% Island of La Gonâve 10% 7% 5% 3.4% Artibonite 5% 4.8% 13% 9.7% Central N/A 2.3% 13% 20.3% East of Port-au-Prince 5% 5.6% 11% 18% Southern Peninsula 30% 35.8% 30% 41% (west of Mariani/Gressier + Wharf Jérémie) Southeast N/A 10.3% 3% 4.2% South (Kenscoff/Furcy) N/A N/A N/A 0.1% North (department) N/A N/A 4% N/A Dominican Republic (Malpasse) N/A N/A N/A 2.3% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% capital. The reverse is true of the Central Plateau area and The southern peninsula has remained surprisingly constant, the area east of Port-au-Prince, which yield increases in the continuing to provide at least one-third of the charcoal percentage of charcoal consumed in the capital. consumed in the capital over the last 40 years. Together, three areas (the Central Plateau area, the area east of Port- 90 General location, not Department. au-Prince, and the southern peninsula) supply approximately  91 Several percentages reported by Grosenick and McGowan (1986) were 80 percent of the charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince. The strangely aggregated (for example, their ‘Central’ category, reported as 12.7%, encompassed Croix-des-Bouquets, Hinche, and St. Marc. But St. Marc is in the Artibonite, and Croix-des-Bouquets is east of Port-au-Prince. So we returned to their original data tables displaying counts of charcoal bags, to disaggregate 93  These figures are different from Figure 11, which displays percentages of their percentages and make estimates to adhere to the categories in our table. charcoal at the points of entry into the ‘core’ of Port-au-Prince from different 92  Estimated by disaggregation from their original tables (ESMAP 1991, pp. 13 general directions. The percentages displayed in Table 9 are further disaggregated and 99) and estimates. regionally, by using data from the ‘periphery’ stations (see Figure 1). A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 35 area southeast of the capital and the Artibonite areas show less TABLE 10: Per Capita Charcoal Consumption Estimate apparent linear trends. Other areas included (south and the for Port-au-Prince Dominican Republic) were not reported across all categories Individual quantity and so no comparisons can be made over time. of charcoal, Range of Annual (in kg metric tons/ metric tons metric ton person/year Estimated Annual Consumption Low Mid 352,014 438,204 0.134 metric tons 0.167 metric tons at the National Level High 524,394 0.200 metric tons Using the midrange estimate of 438,204 metric tons of charcoal entering Port-au-Prince annually, a ratio of the annual Table 10 extends this approach to also create ratios for the low tons of charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince per person (a and high end of the range. tons-to-population ratio) can be extended to the entire urban population of the nation. Proceeding with the hypothesis that charcoal consumption in Port-au-Prince is equivalent across all urban areas in Haiti, we The metropolitan population of Port-au-Prince, which can estimate the total urban consumption of charcoal in Haiti encompasses all areas included in the ‘core’,94 was estimated by to 946,504 metric tons as a midrange. This calculation is based the Haitian Government’s IHSI95 in 2015 at 2,618,894 people.96 on 5,667,686 people living in urban areas nationwide97 and the 0.167 metric tons estimate of charcoal consumed per person However, the official number of urban dwellers in the country annually in Port-au-Prince. has been questioned. A 2017 World Bank publication “Haitian Cities: Actions for Today with an Eye on Tomorrow” undertook These estimates are based on the 2015 urban population a thorough analysis to answer the question: What is urban? It uses numbers from the L’Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d’Informatique satellite imagery to analyze population densities and produces (IHSI). Using the World Bank 2017 report on Haitian cities, an urban and nonurban classification at a high resolution. the number of urban dwellers increases from 52 percent of Results from this study show that the urban population in the population to a more likely 64 percent of the population, Haiti is likely much higher than official statistics. This analysis with an estimated urban population of over six million people. suggests that over six million people, or 64 percent of the total Using official Haitian government population data has yielded population of Haiti is urban, compared to an official statistic a conservative estimate of national charcoal consumption. of 52 percent from the IHSI. It also suggests that each year as many as 133,000 Haitians become city dwellers. Economic Value Subsequent calculations use the official number for urban dwellers, but given emerging research on the definition of of the Charcoal Market urban, these estimates should be considered conservative. To explore the scale of the charcoal market in Port-au-Prince and nationwide, the study team commissioned a micro-assessment Dividing the midrange annual estimates of metric tons of to collect current charcoal prices in August 2018. A field agent charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince by the population of from the J/P Haitian Relief Organization “Haiti Takes Root” Port-au-Prince yields a tons-to-population ratio of approximately Initiative98 collected prices for large sacks of charcoal at markets 438,204 metric tons to 2,618,894 people, or 0.16 metric tons in Port-au-Prince. The field agent visited a total of five locations of charcoal consumed by person per year in Port-au-Prince. across the city and asked people working in the charcoal trade (n = 60) the sale price of a large sack of charcoal. Questions were posed to determine both the current price (August 2018), 94 The communes of Port-au-Prince, Delmas, Cite Soleil, Tabarre, Carrefour, and Pétion-Ville. 97 Ibid. 95 L’Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d’Informatique. 98 Haiti Takes Root is a Government of Haiti-led multi-actor initiative focused 96 IHSI 2015. on reforestation and climate resilience in Haiti. 36 Charcoal in Haiti and to have respondents recall the price from the preceding Example of mamits month (July 2018). The mode and the average for both months is approximately 80099 Haitian Gourdes100 per large sack. The total volumes of the Port-au-Prince and national charcoal markets and price per 30 kg sack yielded price estimates of the value of the charcoal market. The results are compelling: the total turnover in the Port-au- Prince charcoal market is approximately US$182 million per year. At the national level, total charcoal sales are an estimated US$392 million per year. These figures are presented in Tables 11 and 12, alongside similar estimates from other studies conducted over the past 15 years. TABLE 12: Total Value of the National Charcoal Market, in 2018 USD105 The estimates of the total value of the national and Port-au- Total sales Prince charcoal markets are based on prices per large sack of per year Year of data Source charcoal, whereas a large but unknown percentage of urban $ 90,420,000106 2003 Angelier 2005 charcoal consumers purchase their charcoal supplies in smaller $143,190,000107 2005 ESMAP 2007 units known as mamits, which are more affordable in the short $392,026,140108 2017 (charcoal Present study counts) & 2018 term but have higher per unit prices than large sacks. (charcoal sack prices) TABLE 11: Total Value of the Port-au-Prince Charcoal Market, in 2018 USD101 As a result, urban charcoal sellers make a considerable profit Total sales by dividing up a large sack of charcoal and selling it in smaller per year Year of data Source units. The estimate of the total value of the charcoal market $67,815,000102 2003 Angelier 2005 is thus conservative—extending only the price of charcoal $106,637,076103 2005 ESMAP 2007 sold by the sack to the national level likely underestimates in $181,496,774104 2017 (charcoal Present study this respect, as it does not include the markup for the practice (2017 USD) quantities) & 2018 (charcoal sack of incremental charcoal sales. Nevertheless, these estimates prices) provide a compelling sense of the enormity of the charcoal sector in Haiti. Even assuming a mid-point between these new 99 Mode = 800 Haitian Gourdes; Mean = 801.25 Haitian Gourdes. calculations and findings from previous studies, it is clear that 100 The average 2017 exchange rate for Haitian Gourdes to USD dollars charcoal is one of the largest agricultural sectors in the country. (63.51223) was used when converting this figure to dollars in Tables 12 and 13. 101 Adjusted to 2018 USD, based on cumulative annual inflation rates (per https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/, accessed on August 30, 2018). 102 Authors’ calculation is based on the estimated value of the national market Charcoal as Compared to GDP ($66,000,000 USD 2003) (Angelier 2005, 25) * Port-au-Prince’s contribution of ¾ of the total market (Angelier 2005, 21). The economic significance of the charcoal industry can be put 103 Authors’ calculation is based on original ESMAP 2007 data not ESMAP into context by comparing it to national GDP in Haiti. Based calculations: Since the ESMAP 2007 report uses figures that were rounded at several stages in their annual calculation to yield its calculation of 300,000 tons per year for Port-au-Prince, the authors returned to the original ESMAP data 105  Ibid 119. tables to extract the exact tonnage they observed before extrapolating the total 106  Originalestimate from Angelier 2005, 25. Port-au-Prince market using their original counts (275,548). This figure was  107 Authors’ calculation is based on the midrange of ESMAP 2007’s stated then multiplied by the $300/ton figure stated in study (ESMAP 2007, 4, 67). national annual tonnage (370,000–380,000) * $300/ton figure stated in study. 104 Based on the midrange estimate of 438,204 tons * estimate of 33.333 bags 108 Based on midrange national estimate of 946,504 tons * 33.333 bags per ton per ton (based on estimated average bag size of 30kg) * 800 Haitian Gourdes (based on estimated average bag size of 30 kg) * 800 Haitian Gourdes per bag/ per bag/average exchange rate bid price for Haitian Gourdes to the US Dollar average exchange rate bid price for Haitian Gourdes to the US Dollars during during Q1 2018 (64.38309) (Oanda.com, accessed on 08.26.2018). Q1 2018 (64.38309) (Oanda.com, accessed on 08.26.2018). A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 37 on 2017 GDP figures of US$8.408 billion,109 charcoal represents has risen precipitously in recent years, from a relatively stable 4.66% of GDP. In 2017, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors figure of approximately $150 million per year between 2 ­ 000– represented 17.6 percent of GDP.110 Given the above estimates of 2006, to nearly $502 million in 2016; this surprising finding the total national value of the charcoal value chain ($392 million), merits further investigation. the value of charcoal is 26 percent of total combined contribution of agriculture, forestry, and fishing to Haiti’s GDP. Charcoal’s importance to the Haitian economy is even more pronounced when compared with export values for key Haitian export crops. According to data from the FAO,113 Haiti’s Charcoal Related to Other Commodities total official exports of crops and livestock products (adjusted The charcoal sector’s outsized influence on Haiti’s economy to 2018 USD) were valued at $62,479,200.114 The national is also evidenced by its size relative to other agricultural charcoal market is thus over six times larger than all of the commodities. Table 13 examines Haiti’s top 15 agricultural country’s other agricultural exports combined. commodities according to gross production values in 2016. When compared to the charcoal figures above, the data Table 14 shows export values for the top ten crop and livestock highlight that charcoal is the second largest ag-related value exports in 2016, highlighting yet again the scale of the national chain in the country, dwarfing most other traditional pillars of charcoal market, which is over 15 times larger than the top the Haitian rural economy, such as bananas, beans, avocados, export product (essential oils). This fact is all the more striking coffee, sugarcane, and corn. given the substantial development assistance efforts undertaken over the past decades to support a number of these export The only commodity that approaches charcoal’s total value is crops, and the near complete lack of concomitant investments mangoes. Interestingly, the total value of mango production in charcoal. TABLE 13: Gross Production Value by Commodity in 2016111 The enormity of the charcoal sector translates into employment opportunities for large swaths of the rural population. As Value Product (2018 USD)112 highlighted in previous research, charcoal is an extremely labor- intensive endeavor, with multiple actors intervening across the Mangoes, mangosteens, guavas 502,460,072 value chain; a recent study suggests that between four and eight Meat indigenous, cattle 157,017,480 people may be employed, between the private landowner that Yams 131,082,701 decides to harvest charcoal in a woodlot, to the final retailer Bananas 93,124,205 in Port-au-Prince. (Tarter 2015a, 140–141) According to the Beans, dry 84,131,622 ESMAP 2007 study, charcoal was responsible for 16 percent of Avocados 80,730,687 combined rural incomes in Haiti. And a recent study by UNEP Pigeon peas 76,389,616 to map charcoal value chains in the south of Haiti noted that Cassava 64,187,185 in the South department (one of the top sources of national Meat indigenous, pig 63,394,243 charcoal production flows into Port-au-Prince) “approximately Plantains and others 63,075,404 half of the rural population relies on charcoal and firewood Sweet potatoes 61,399,264 production as either a primary or secondary source of income” Sugarcane 60,449,294 (UNEP 2016, 20). Coffee, green 55,381,818 Maize 53,829,298 Rice, paddy 48,890,674 109 Data.worldbank.org, accessed on August 25, 2018. 110 “Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)” from data. worldbank.org 111 FAOSTAT database. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home 113 FAOSTAT database. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home 112 Adjusted to 2018 USD, using original dataset in 2004–2006 international 114 Authors’ calculation using FAOSTAT dataset with the export value of all dollars, and converting to 2018 USD using cumulative inflation rates. listed crop and livestock products. 38 Charcoal in Haiti TABLE 14: Top 10 Crop and Livestock Products, by Export Value (2016)115 Employment in the Charcoal Value Market Product (2018 USD)116 In terms of total jobs created, previously cited estimates have Product Total value placed national charcoal employment at 67,000 individuals,117 Oil, essentials $25,510,800 which would represent 0.268 people per ton of charcoal Cocoa, beans $13,249,950 produced, using the same study’s nationwide estimates of tons Mangoes, mangosteens, guavas $9,188,550 of charcoal produced in 2003. Additional economic analyses Oil, citronella $3,605,700 are needed to ground-truth this ratio and its continued validity Beverages, distilled alcoholic $2,261,700 for today’s charcoal sector, particularly given the variability Beer of barley $2,067,450 in charcoal production systems around the country. However, Crude materials $1,340,850 applying this rough calculation to the research results above Fruit, prepared $1,338,750 yields an estimated total of 253,663118 individuals working in Coffee, green $611,100 the national charcoal value chain. Vegetables, fresh or dried products $593,250 115 FAOSTAT database. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home 116 Adjusted to 2018 USD, using original dataset in 2004–2006 international 117 Angelier 2005. dollars, and converting to 2018 USD using cumulative inflation rates. 118 Estimates of 946,504 tons per year * 0.268 people employed per ton. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 39 V. Impact of Matthew on Charcoal Production Disasters are caused or amplified by social, political, and flows of charcoal coming from the southern peninsula into the natural events. Disasters sometimes offer a unique window into capital some ten months after the passage of the storm (when the robustness and resilience of linked social and ecological data from the first sampling period were collected) despite systems under duress. As an example, we present data from an incredibly large surge in available woodfuel and charcoal post-hurricane Matthew. production, and an increase in farmgate prices by one-third across all sites. One would expect to see the percentage of charcoal entering Port-au-Prince from the southern peninsula Hurricane Matthew to spike the enumeration counts at Mariani, due to the windfall of wood from Hurricane Matthew. Instead, this research shows Hurricane Matthew served as a natural experiment that the volume supplying virtually the same relative percentage tested the robustness of the charcoal production system in to the capital as reported over the last 40 years. Furthermore, Haiti. The Global Forest Watch’s data analysis platform for the Global Forest Watch’s Haiti data confirms that after the Haiti119 demonstrates the sheer magnitude of tree cover loss hurricane’s passage in 2016, tree cover losses normalized in in one of the most tree-covered locations in Haiti, during the 2017 to pre-storm levels.121 These findings also point to a high 2016 passage of Hurricane Matthew over the Grand Anse of level of resiliency in Haiti’s charcoal supply system. Haiti.120 These and other disasters122 have tested the robustness and In 2016 the World Bank conducted an assessment to look at resilience of the charcoal production system in Haiti. Matthew the number of trees affected by the passage of Hurricane damaged the natural resource base of charcoal production Matthew (see Box 1 and Annex 5). Perhaps one of the most systems, but the system survived and continues to provide interesting findings from this research includes the fact that charcoal throughout areas of Haiti. Hurricane Matthew did not appear to dramatically alter the 121 https://www.globalforestwatch.org/country/HTI 122 The internal, urban-to-rural migration after the earthquake of 2010 (when 119 https://www.globalforestwatch.org/country/HTI rural populations temporarily swelled by some 10%), and the U.S. embargo on 120https://www.globalforestwatch.org/HTI?category=forest-change& Haiti in the 1990s (Tanguay 1995) both provided tests of the robustness of the widget=treeLoss#treeLoss Haitian charcoal production system at the national level. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 41 BOX 1. World Bank Arboreal Assessment Study In 2015 Hurricane Matthew passed over Haiti, creating snapped branches, to partial or total loss of foliage. However, widespread damage and thrusting an estimated 800,000 it proved difficult to decipher satellite imagery for damaged, to 1.55  million Haitians into a state of food insecurity, broken trees, or standing dead trees versus standing live trees, with approximately 280,000 categorized as severely food- and due to this the full impact of the storm on tree resources insecure. The storm adversely affected crops, trees, and was not fully known. physical infrastructure, and an estimated 2 out of 3 farmers lost approximately 75 percent of their animal livestock As such, the World Bank team undertook a Post-Hurricane (FAO  2017; UN World Food Program 2017). Agricultural Matthew arboreal assessment of the Grand Anse and damage assessments ranged from $573.5 million (the Haitian Sud Departments (composing the lion’s share of an area Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation) to $604 colloquially referred to as the ‘Grand Sud’) of Haiti—the million (the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, World Bank, areas hardest hit by the storm. The study was conducted and FAO) (FAO 2017). Total damages from the storm, from approximately 10 months and two agricultural seasons an estimation based on Haiti’s 2015 GDP, were reported after the passage of Hurricane Matthew. The time that from to US$2.8 billion (approximately one-third of Haiti’s passed since the phenomena of interest permitted trees to GNP) (World Bank 2017) to US$8.88 billion (suggesting that recover, ensured that answers to questions more accurately Matthew destroyed the equivalent of 11.4% of the country’s reflected final outcomes for trees, permitted tree-based total production of goods and services). markets to stabilize, and allowed for a better understanding of how farmers used newly opened lands in the subsequent The government-led Damage and Loss Assessment (DALA) agricultural season. conducted immediately following the storm used satellite imagery, interviews, and key conversations to determine The main results of the study demonstrated the types of losses across the country. In the agriculture sector, calculations trees fallen across the sample region and the uses of these included estimations of the value of crops lost, as well as trees by the farmers, with strong implications for the charcoal damaged and lost trees. It was clear from this analysis that market. Fallen coconut, breadfruit, and mango trees together Hurricane Matthew’s passage over the southern Tiburon represented 52 percent of all of the fallen trees. Farmers Peninsula resulted in massive damage to arboreal systems, who owned the plots of land where sample transects took including: Haiti’s remaining forests; fragmented tree stands; place were asked about their primary use of trees knocked and a multitude of individual trees found on farms, in over during the storm. Across the samples from all regions, courtyards, on steep slopes, in deep ravines, along riverbanks, Haitian farmers overwhelmingly produced charcoal from delineating property boundaries, lining roadsides, and in other trees felled during Hurricane Matthew. isolated locations. The storm’s damage to trees ranged from See a full summary in Annex 5. complete felling, to snapping of trunks at various heights, to 42 Charcoal in Haiti VI. Conclusion Research Questions approximately 438,204 metric tons per year. This midrange estimate for Port-au-Prince is consistent with other historical The research presented in this report was conducted over studies that used either consumption-based or count-based two years, commencing in 2016 with literature reviews, key approaches. informant interviews, and regional scouting trips in Port- au-Prince and across Haiti to identify the best locations for The estimated national charcoal consumption range per year charcoal truck and charcoal boat enumeration stations. These for Haiti is based on the tons-to-population ratio developed using stages were followed by three different sampling periods in Port-au-Prince—by far the largest city and largest consumer 2017 (August, October, and December) that amounted to of charcoal in the country. The tons-to-population ratio was a total of 384 hours of enumerations, registering 10,404 applied to the entire urban population of Haiti (inclusive of unique observations by 69 enumerators at 23 different stations Port-au-Prince) as last reported by the Haitian government controlling multiple intersections of roads or maritime wharfs (IHSI 2015), yielding a range between 759,470 and 1,133,537 leading into Port-au-Prince from every direction of the country. metric tons, with an estimated midpoint of 946,504 metric tons The following brief summaries address the research questions per year. introduced in Section II. R2, R3, and R4: Geographical Origins and Trends (R1) How much charcoal is consumed annually in the of Charcoal Consumed in the Capital capital city of Port-au-Prince? Many of the predictions about the charcoal trade in Haiti (R2) Which geographical regions produce the charcoal made by Karl Voltaire nearly 40 years ago have come true consumed in the capital? (Voltaire 1979). For example, charcoal produced to supply the (R3) How do these production areas variably supply capital has indeed shifted dramatically into the Central Plateau charcoal to the capital? area (+ ~20%) and declined in the northwestern peninsula (R4) In what ways have these trends changed over the (– ~49%) and the island of La Gonâve (– ~5%). However, last 40 years? regions of Haiti that Voltaire implied might become exhausted (R5) What percentage of charcoal consumed in of woodfuel reserves have instead increased their supply of the capital is originating from the bordering charcoal to Port-au-Prince, including the Artibonite region Dominican Republic? (+ ~5%) and the area east of the capital (+ ~15%). R1: Charcoal Consumed Annually in the Capital Other geographical areas that Voltaire did not note as charcoal City of Port-au-Prince production zones nor predict as future charcoal supply regions The annual charcoal consumption range for Port-au-Prince is to the capital include the Dominican Republic (~2%) and based on 24/7 counts at six key enumeration stations accounting the southeast region of Haiti (~4%). Voltaire estimated that for the largest known charcoal entry points into the capital. the southern peninsula supplied approximately one-third of Assuming six months of charcoal production high season and the charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince in 1979, and that six months of charcoal production low season across a typical estimate has remained stable across two subsequent studies year, an estimated 352,014 to 524,394 metric tons of charcoal conducted in 1985 and 1990 (the present research reported enter Port-au-Prince annually, with a midrange estimate of 41 percent in 2017). A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 43 Table 9 in the main body of this report notes all of these or incorrect data, extrapolation errors, and the lack of proper changes and lists the current percentages of charcoal that contextualization. different regions are believed to be supplying to the capital city of Port-au-Prince in 2016: northwest (1%); Island of La R5: Percentage of Charcoal Imported Gonâve (3.4%); Artibonite: (9.7%); central (20.3%); east of from the Dominican Republic Port-au-Prince (18%); the southern peninsula (41%); southeast The last major study to examine charcoal crossing over into Haiti (4.2%); due south of Port-au-Prince/Kenscoff/Furcy (.1%); from the Dominican Republic was undertaken in 2005, which and the Dominican Republic (2.3%). estimated some 5,475 tons enter at Malpasse per year (ESMAP 2007, 21). When the ESMAP figure is disaggregated back to It should be noted that all these figures represent changes the original figure from a week-long sampling period, it yields in the relative supply of charcoal to the capital, not the a flow of some 105.7 metric tons of charcoal per week (5,475 overall supply originating from a given region—a crucially tons ÷ 52 weeks/year). In 2017, the enumeration station at important point. Grosenick and McGowan (1986) first made Malpasse counted a highly congruent figure during both weeks this important distinction between relative production versus of sampling (215.81 metric tons; ~107 tons/week), an amount overall production of charcoal in relation to the findings of equivalent to 1.3 percent of the total charcoal consumed in their research. Presuming Voltaire’s (1979) assessments of the Port-au-Prince during that same period. Across all five different geography of charcoal production in Haiti were correct, while enumeration stations controlling for charcoal entering Haiti the supply of charcoal from the northwest had fallen from from the Dominican Republic during that period, the total 50 percent to 34.2 percent of all charcoal consumed in Port- amount of charcoal observed in the research presented in this au-Prince by 1985, Grosenick and McGowan suggest that the report is equivalent to 2.28 percent of the amount consumed amount of charcoal consumed in Port-au-Prince had more than in Port-au-Prince. In summary, contrary to popular belief, the doubled (1986). Thus, between 1978 and 1985, overall charcoal data show that a negligible amount of the charcoal consumed production had actually increased in every existing charcoal in Haiti originates in the Dominican Republic. zone: by 45 percent in the Northwest; by 50 percent on La Gônave; by 100 percent in the south; and by 170 percent in the Data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Central Plateau (Grosenick and McGowan 1986, 6). Extending Observatory of Economic Complexity (MIT OEC) shows a this trend to the present research, the annual estimate for Port- shifting trend in official charcoal exports from the Dominican au-Prince in 2018 is at least five times that of Grosenick and Republic. In 2001, Haiti received over 50 percent of official McGowan for 1985, suggesting that overall charcoal production Dominican Republic charcoal exports, which were valued at has likely increased in virtually every area sampled, including only US$4k. By 2011, official exports of charcoal to Haiti those that show a decline in the relative percent of charcoal were down to 17 percent, while the 2012 value of Dominican supplied to Port-au-Prince. Republic charcoal exports had grown to between US$500 k– US$1.2 m, with no official exports destined to Haiti (by 2012, Thus, Haitians are not only still meeting their woodfuel needs, exports were exclusively to the U.S., Europe and the Middle contrary to Voltaire’s predictions of an eventual exhaustion East).123 The simultaneous shift away from official exportation of supplies and the potential for a subsequent environmental of charcoal to Haiti and the increase in the value of the collapse; Haitians are continuing to meet their woodfuel charcoal market in the Dominican Republic indicate new demands from most of the same regions, and at much higher charcoal markets of higher value were found elsewhere. volumes of production. If charcoal was no longer being legally imported into Haiti by In attempting to address this seeming contradiction of a 2012, perhaps it was still being smuggled clandestinely over the Haiti with a significant cover of trees and shrubs, continuing border, as some have suggested. Even if the new markets for over time to increase production of charcoal, a common but Dominican Republic–produced charcoal did not exist, leaving misguided assumption is that a large portion of charcoal consumed in Haiti originates in the neighboring Dominican 123 https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/dom/ Republic. This theory is propagated by a combination of old show/4402/2016/ 44 Charcoal in Haiti Haiti as the only viable market, there still are much more annual rate of decline of aboveground woody biomass profitable contraband items that are smuggled into Haiti from the predicted in complex environmental modeling of Haiti’s Dominican Republic than charcoal. To underscore this reality, woodfuel situation:128 consider that the Associated Press reported in August of 2018 that Dominican and Haitian authorities exchanged gunfire, wounding 1. Haiti was not as devoid of tree cover as initially believed. three Haitian soldiers and one Dominican soldier, over the smuggling of cement into Haiti near Belladère,124 one of the five High-resolution satellite imagery has only recently become border regions controlled for charcoal enumeration in the present widely available. Previously, estimates of tree cover in Haiti study. The event solicited official responses from the President of relied on (1) assessments from aerial flyovers—often from Haiti and Dominican officials. Since 2015, the Haitian Ministry commercial airlines with a flight trajectory over some of Haiti’s of Economy and Finance (MEF) has banned at least 23 different most denuded areas; and (2) field site visits by researchers that products from importation into Haiti from the neighboring were limited in travel to areas of Haiti that were accessible by Dominican Republic—with many of these products far exceeding vehicles, which are paradoxically the same areas most likely to charcoal in value relative to transport and import costs—in an be denuded due to such area’s equal accessibility to markets.129 effort to crack down on revenues lost from cross-border smuggling. 2. The creation of over 1,000 new kilometers of roads opened up New, more profitable overseas markets for Dominican- previously remote areas of Haiti to charcoal production and reduced produced charcoal, the low profitability of smuggling charcoal pressure on existing charcoal-producing areas. into Haiti relative to other in-demand contraband, the costs and time associated with transportation and importation of According to Voltaire the main obstacle for reaching the charcoal, and other risks along the border, likely all contribute remaining wood stores in Haiti to meet demand until the turn to the decreasing and now negligible flows of charcoal from the of the new millennium was transportation. (Voltaire 1979, 21) Dominican Republic into Haiti observed since 2005 (ESMAP The groundwork for the eventual decentralization of charcoal 2007) and observed in the present research. production in Haiti was prepared by the U.S. Marine invasion and occupation (1919–1934) with an emphasis, among Yet the question remains—how have Haitians been able other things, on shoring up existing and establishing new to continue to meet their increasing charcoal consumption transportation infrastructure, including roads, railways, and demands if not through supplemental imports from the maritime wharfs. neighboring Dominican Republic? Later, Harmonisation de l’Action des Communautes Haitiennes Organisees (HACHO), a community-based organization, constructed a network of 600 kilometers of new unpaved roads Explaining Increases in the northwest of Haiti between 1968 and 1982 (Brinkerhoff in Production et al. 1983, 4–5, 17). Three hundred kilometers of ‘jeep roads’ were added to the island of La Gonâve, starting in the late Several plausible hypotheses have been suggested125 to rectify 1960s, and although there was virtually no vehicular traffic on how on the one hand, the Haitian landscape has experienced incredible overall increases (100–200%) in charcoal production 128 Ghilardi et al. 2018: The authors concluded that “under a business-as-usual between 1978 and 1985,126 and commensurate increases in scenario, the simulated regenerative capacity of woody biomass is insufficient subsequent years (see Figure 21), while on the other hand, to meet Haiti’s increasing demand for wood energy and, as a result, between 2017 and 2027 stocks of aboveground (woody) biomass could decline by 4% multiple, recent analyses indicate a much higher tree cover for ± 1%” (Ghilardi et al. 2018, 1), and note that “simulations show that under a Haiti than previously believed127 and a lower-than-expected reasonable set of assumptions about woody biomass growth and harvest, Haiti will likely experience levels of fNRB (fraction of Non-Renewable Biomass) that are much lower than other assessments report. These results support 124 https://www.apnews.com/da3808d6ce384bf0b4adbc4deee6a79b recent analyses that argue for a less alarmist view of the relationship between 125 Tarter2015a; Tarter 2016; Tarter et al. 2016, 24–26. deforestation and woodfuel demand in Haiti” (Ghilardi et al. 2018, 1, 6–7). 126 Grosenick and McGowan 1986. 129 Since agricultural clearing is the principal driver of deforestation in the 127 Álvarez-Berríos et al. 2013; Churches et al. 2012; White et al. 2013; and current era, accessibility to agricultural markets incentivizes larger settlements USAID 2016. and increased production. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 45 the island, these roads were used by beasts of burden (Smucker Feeder Roads et al. 1979, 55) capable of transporting charcoal to maritime Smaller feeder roads and departmental roads—analogous wharfs on the coast. Soon, the price of transporting charcoal to tributaries of a river that eventually join the national from the island was half the price of the transporting charcoal highway system in Haiti—registered a volume of charcoal from the northwest to the capital (Smucker 1981, 30), and equivalent to approximately 30 percent of the amount by 1986, transportation costs were comparable to those from consumed in Port-au-Prince during the same time. Many Ganthier and Thomazeau in the Cul-de-sac plain due east of of these feeder roads and departmental roads are the very Port-au-Prince (McGowan 1986, 5). Elsewhere throughout routes established since the 1960s discussed at length above. rural Haiti, new road projects were initiated by local community councils or by missionary groups starting around the 1970s, financed by ‘food for work’ programs (Smucker et al. 1979). Periphery Stations The USAID Agricultural Feeder Roads Project commenced A volume of charcoal equivalent to one-half the amount in April 1976 and constructed 317 kilometers of new roads in consumed in Port-au-Prince during both sampling Haiti by December 1982 (USAID 1983, 2). periods was enumerated at the farthest, most remote enumeration stations from the capital, demonstrating Considering only the contributions from HACHO, USAID, that charcoal production occurs at high levels in the far and the additions to the island of La Gonâve, at least 1,200 new reaches of the country. Such a phenomenon would be roads were established in Haiti from the late 1960s to the highly unlikely if a sufficient system of roads did not early 1980s. The addition these new roads, many built off of extend from these furthest periphery stations. existing arterial highways initially established or shored up by U.S. Marines, opened up previously remote, inaccessible areas Changes in Transportation of Haiti to charcoal production and distribution.130 The historical literature indicated that boats and trucks transport charcoal in similar quantities. Voltaire stated By 1985, charcoal production in Haiti was already considerably that transportation to Port-au-Prince from the Northwest less concentrated.131 When 148 charcoal producers from six (then supplying an estimated 50 percent of charcoal different locations in Haiti were surveyed, only 56 percent consumed in the capital) was equally shared between responded they had been making charcoal in 1980, providing trucks and maritime vessels.132 The research presented more evidence that charcoal truck drivers were going farther here shows that the volume of charcoal being transported distances to collect charcoal (McGowan 1986, 14) as a reflection by maritime routes appears to have diminished of the decentralizing effect of additional roads. significantly, likely due to the addition, penetration, and improvement of road systems.133 With the historical increase in roads, not just a few traditional and easily accessible areas of Haiti were targeted for intensive The Rise of Charcoal Woodlots charcoal production. Original charcoal-producing zones were under less pressure than before, permitting their recovery from Charcoal woodlots arose across Haiti in an historical overexploitation of wood resources. New roads, decentralization response to deforestation, climatic drying, decreasing of production, and the recovery of original areas contributed agricultural yields, and a large urban migration that to the historical shift of major charcoal supply zones noted increased demand for rurally produced charcoal. in this report, and to differential increases or decreases in the percentages supplied to the capital. Evidence for this causal The historical deforestation of Haiti has been well explanation can be seen in the data collected for the present documented to have mainly occurred before the advent report: of charcoal production in that country, due to clearing for the plantation model of agricultural production 132 Voltaire1979, 8. 130 Voltaire 1979; Smucker et al. 1979, 1981; Cohen 1984; Stevenson 1989. 133 Another possible explanation is that seasonal changes in offshore ocean 131 McGowan 1986, 14. currents dictate boat transportation. 46 Charcoal in Haiti during the colonial period, the lucrative timber late 1700s.137 This rapid spread of trees and shrubs in extractive strategy of the colony, and subsequent timber Haiti is not only supported in the historical literature; it concessions authorized by the new Haitian government is also supported by fluctuations in arboreal pollen, weed to pay off a large war indemnity to France.134 Some types, and erosion from sediment cores in Haiti’s largest deforestation continued to occur through ongoing freshwater lake. These lake sediment core analyses agricultural clearing, but the extent of forest cover that suggest a “temporary reestablishment of local forests remained in Haiti when the charcoal trade roared to life and reduction of soil loss”138 that correlates with land- in the 1920s is not well established. use changes at the beginning of the 19th Century; after Haitian independence in 1804, large colonial plantations Deforestation in Haiti not only resulted in the removal of were destroyed and abandoned, and Haitians fanned out hardwood trees; it also depleted many of the soil profiles across the country and established smaller agricultural necessary for the regeneration of original hardwood tree settlements, frequently at higher elevations. Brenner and species. Deforestation rapidly accelerated a drying trend Binford’s research suggests that the correlated changes on the island of Hispaniola that began as early as the in sediment and pollen levels reflect this period history middle of the Holocene epoch (Higuera-Gundy et al. (1988). 1999). Few ecological zones now represent the original characteristics outlined by Holdridge in the life-zone The two exotic tree species that now dominate much classification system he created for Haiti,135 which is still of the rural landscape of Haiti (Prosopis juliflora and used as a standard forest classification system throughout Haematoxylum campechianum) are highly adapted to poor the world. soils, low moisture, and prolonged drought. These tree species are prolific seeders, propagate in a variety The loss of forests and topsoil, and the subsequent of novel ways, rapidly encroach into new territory, exposure of underlying and more uniform soil profiles, and are protected from foraging animals by thorny coupled with ongoing climatic drying and less predictable trunks and branches. Prosopis juliflora and Haematoxylum season rains, has made the absence or presence of campechianum coppice aggressively when cut at the stump; moisture the new de facto determinant of ecological zones while original hardwoods disappeared when cut, these in Haiti. This is most evident in the spread of Prosopis rapidly spreading exotic trees continue to return through juliflora, an exotic tree species, well beyond the lower coppicing and permit their ongoing propagation across elevation zones where it initially established in Haiti; the landscape. ongoing climatic drying increased the habitat of this and other drought-tolerant, invasive tree species. By 1991, The first known mention of charcoal production in the World Bank reported that natural Prosopis juliflora Haiti in the historical literature mentions only one stands in Haiti dominate ‘approximately 300,000 ha. of tree, Prosopis juliflora, and notes that it is “used a great degraded, semiarid, public, and private forest land,’136 or deal for fuel, some of it as charcoal.”139 Since around approximately 11 percent of the land surface of Haiti. the middle of the 20th century, Prosopis juliflora has been named consistently as the tree most utilized for charcoal Thus, while most of Haiti’s original hardwood forests and soil profiles are gone, much of the land is now covered by 137 de Saint-Mery 1797, 128–129; Wallez 1826, 72; Frankline 1828, 286; a combination of such trees and woody shrubs in a well- Mackenzie 1830, 39–40, 62, 199, 195; Johnson 1909, 648; Woodring et al. documented historical process starting as early as the 1924, 57–59, 61, 63, 485; Gill 1931, 138–141; Wetmore and Swales 1931, 28; Klein 1945, 8; Curtis 1947, 3–4; Wood 1963, 14, 113; Palmer 1976: 29). See Hatzenberger 2000, Bellande 2015, and Tarter 2015a for extensive ecological histories documenting these changes to Haitian forests; and Tarter 2015a for a history of the rapid encroachment of Prosopis juliflora and Haematoxylum campechianum across Haiti, and their shaping by Haitian farmers into what would become the managed woodlots now supplying the vast majority of 134 Bellande2015; Tarter et al. 2016. Haiti’s charcoal needs. 135 Ehrlichet al. 1985. 138 Brenner and Binford 1988, 94. 136 World Bank 1991, 86–87. 139 Woodring et al. 1924, 63. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 47 production in Haiti,140 and Haematoxylum campechianum increasing charcoal production to respond to growing urban has consistently been named as the second-most utilized demands. tree species for charcoal production.141 Both of these tree species have been reported growing in association From the standpoint of human needs, research suggests that in multiple locations across Haiti since shortly after the management techniques within these woodlots represent the Haitian revolution.142 most labor-efficient, highest yielding, and animal resistant methods of wood cultivation for charcoal production.145 ­ nfluences— These forces are likely acting in tandem with other i such as the increase in remittances sent to Haiti by the large From an ecological standpoint, coppice woodlots dominated by diaspora abroad—that explain the high level of tree and a few invasive species and harvested every 3–7 years will never shrub coverage in Haiti as one component of understanding approach the ecological richness of the long-felled primordial how Haitians have continued to meet increasing charcoal forests and original life zones of Haiti and invariably results demands over time. The other major answer to the question in an indeterminate level of land degradation. However, one is attributable to Haitians themselves—namely the efforts of major, unexpected result of the USAID-financed Agroforestry rural Haitian farmers to shift from a wood extraction paradigm Outreach Project of the 1980s and 1990s was that many of toward a paradigm of wood management for energy needs, the woodlots established through project-planted exotic trees discussed subsequently. created sufficient conditions for the natural regeneration of native tree species.146 While further research is needed to determine if the present species composition of woodlots may offer the same ecological possibilities, at least two known The Sustainability of Haitian interim ecological benefits occur from the widespread tree coverage of Prosopis juliflora and Haematoxylum campechianum Charcoal Woodlot Systems trees across Haiti: the soil nitrogen-fixing quality of both trees, and the fact that woodlots provide more protection against the Social and Ecological Sustainability elements (sun, wind, and rain) for remaining topsoil than tilled Recent research has provided strong evidence that over agricultural plots or barren land. time Haitian farmers slowly shifted from the practice of overextracting a range of natural arboreal regrowth on public land to the management of specific wood-energy tree species143 Improving Existing Woodlot Systems (Prosopis juliflora and Haematoxylum campechianum) on private land. If Haitian farmer-managed charcoal woodlots are already From a theoretical standpoint, Haiti is thus shifting from an balancing ecological needs and human needs as best as possible energy extractive model of wood fuel procurement toward a considering the unique case of Haiti, one of the most logical domestication of energy model, first described and predicted interventions to promote an increase in the volume of charcoal by the anthropologist-architect of the largest and longest produced would be to graft different accessions from more lasting national tree-planting project in Haiti.144 This in situ productive varieties onto the trunks, stumps, or branches of phenomenon has led to the eventual rise in prominence of existing tree species within the system. Haitian farmer-managed woodlots, which mitigate decreasing rural soil fertility and declining agricultural yields with The vast inter-species diversity, and diversity of intra-species genetic and morphological expressions of Prosopis point to an equally vast menu for cultivating ecologically, climatically, 140 Gayak (Guaiacum spp.) was historically the preferred species for charcoal production throughout Haiti (Voltaire 1979; Smucker 1981; Murray 1981; and socially appropriate woodlot trees in Haiti. The choice Conway 1979), but the gayak tree grows very slowly (Francis 1993), which is of accession would depend on the social needs and the likely the reason it did not persist to eventually become managed in woodlot systems. Voltaire claimed that gayak disappeared due to the 50-year period environmental circumstances of different areas in Haiti. required for complete regeneration of the tree after cutting (1979, 9). 141 See Tarter 2015a. 142 Mackenzie 1830, 39–40, 62, 195, 199; Woodring 1924, 58–59, 61–63, 485. 143 Tarter 2015a. 145 Tarter 2015a. 144 Murray 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991. 146 Smucker and Timyan 1995. 48 Charcoal in Haiti As an illustrative example, both Prosopis juliflora and Haematoxylum the pods of most Prosopis in Haiti are unpalatable,152 pointing campechianum, the most commonly used trees for charcoal to yet another way in which tree improvement through grafting production in Haiti, have thorns that protect the trees against could lead to the possible cultivation of Prosopis in Haiti for browsing animals. However, Haitians also frequently mention both animal and human consumption. These options for these thorns as negative, dangerous aspects of harvesting wood varied improvement of woodlot trees may also be possible with and producing charcoal, despite the value the thorns provide the similar Haematoxylum campechianum, although the species has by protecting trees from foraging animals. The grafting of a received less research and attention in the literature. thornless, non-browsed accession could be a vast improvement to the labor and safety component of the Haitian coppice Finally, many of the woodlots that cover much of Haiti are woodlot management system. In promising tests conducted in in fact agroforestry systems. After harvesting a woodlot for Haiti, thornless varieties of Prosopis from Peru that were grafted charcoal, a farmer may procure two or three crop rotations onto Haiti Prosopis trunks yielded some accessions that were not before newly emerging coppice from trunks left carefully in place browsed by goats,147 pointing to possibilities of improving some will form a low canopy, which will prevent further food crops features of charcoal woodlot tree species without diminishing from growing here until the next time charcoal is harvested. other valuable features. In this sense, the system may be viewed as a woodlot or as lengthy arboreal fallow period, which simultaneously provides There are also Prosopis species known for their ability to thrive for occasional charcoal production. These findings suggest that in highly alkaline and saline soils.148 The utilization of such charcoal production at this point in Haiti’s history is more of Prosopis accessions in charcoal woodlots may be useful for a solution than a problem to some of Haiti’s economic and charcoal production in certain highly degraded locations in environmental challenges. Haiti that suffer from soil salinity, such as former plantation lowlands. Incorporation of such Prosopis would likely require The continuity and growth of the charcoal trade in Haiti since new planting, because in this instance the grafting of new the 1920s, the systems of woodlots and their sustainability ascensions would unlikely result in the growth of alkaline and factors, the passage of Hurricane Matthew as a test of the saline resistant root structures. robustness of the system, and the possibilities for improving woodlot tree species for increased production, safety, and Some Prosopis species and varieties are highly valued for their establishment in inhospitable soils all show that the charcoal seedpods, which represent important sources of protein and production system in Haiti has value, is durable and sustainable, sugars for animals.149 Humans have chewed or eaten Prosopis and cannot be discounted.153 The economic and employment as early as 6,500 bc, and in times of severe need.150 Prosopis contributions of Haiti’s charcoal production systems are was traditionally made into flour and bread in parts of South highlighted in the context of policy implications in the closing America, and in parts of India the pods are eaten as vegetables, chapter of this report. and bark is mixed with flour in times of famine.151 However, 147 Lee et al. 1992. 148 Pasiecznik et al. 2001. 152 Felker,personal communication. 149 Pasiecznik et al. 2001. 153 See subsequent section on the passage of Hurricane Matthew as a natural 150 Fagg and Stewart 1994, 949. experiment that tested the robustness of these woodlot systems in an area of 151 Ibid 950. Haiti that produces large volumes of charcoal. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 49 VII. Policy Implications This study and the innovative charcoal rapid-assessment The value of this sector in the context of the Haitian economy methodology present important new steps in growing efforts demands action. It is of such a magnitude that it should not be to understand the charcoal sector in Haiti. Indeed, the data ignored in national policy considerations. shed additional light on this poorly understood commodity and its multifaceted and far-reaching impacts on Haiti’s economy and environment. To help inform policy and programming in Haiti’s environment, agriculture, and energy sectors, four Implication of Charcoal key takeaways for Government of Haiti (GoH) policy makers, donors, and development organizations are discussed below. Production Stigma on Policies An inaccurate discourse and a persistent stigma surrounding charcoal impede rational policy making and investments in the sector. Despite the economic significance of charcoal The Charcoal Industry noted in the previous section, over the previous five decades, in the National Economy the primary policy attention that charcoal has received has come in the form of unenforceable bans and uncollected tax The results of this study vividly underscore that, in Haiti, levies. This phenomenon is attributable at least in part to the charcoal is big business. Based on initial calculations presented, fact that much of the long-dominant discourse on charcoal is charcoal is one of the largest on-farm- and natural resource– incomplete or inaccurate. The supposed original sin of charcoal related value chains in the country. The total value of the Port- production—its leading role in the loss of Haiti’s primordial au-Prince charcoal market is approximately US$182 million forests—has been conclusively rebutted but continues to per year, the national level is approximately US$392 million capture the popular imagination as a compellingly simple per year, at 4.7 percent of GDP. (although inaccurate) explanation of a complex problem. Instead, an array of historical economic and political factors These findings reinforce a growing body of research over the is now known to have been responsible for the vast majority of past several decades, which has repeatedly provided evidence this original deforestation (Bellande, 2015). Similarly, despite of a large and increasing charcoal sector in varied parts of the oft-repeated forecasts of impending ecological disaster from country. Such conclusions should not be entirely surprising to ongoing charcoal production in Haiti and across the border careful observers of national trends within Haiti; the topic is in the Dominican Republic, a substantial body of research frequently discussed, as evidenced in a recent article from the referenced throughout this report points to a charcoal industry country’s largest newspaper that references the ‘millionaires that is more sustainably produced within Haiti and less tied of the charcoal trade’.154 Rather, the conclusions support to cross-border production in the Dominican Republic than the anecdotal observations of many Haitians and add to the commonly believed. growing chorus of experts who have pointed to charcoal’s importance. Nevertheless, charcoal’s negative reputation continues to drive much of the policy debate surrounding the industry. 154 Its stigmatization as a dirty, destructive, and informal sector “Charbon de bois: qui sont les millionnaires de ce commerce?” Le Nouvelliste, April 17, 2018. Port-au-Prince. Accessed on August 25, 2018 at fuel source tends to lead to unrealistic calls for controls on https://lenouvelliste.com/article/186177/charbon-de-bois-qui-sont-les- production, or for the prohibitively expensive replacement millionnaires-de-ce-commerce A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 51 of charcoal with other sources of cooking fuels. The result is implementers are still plagued by a profound lack of detailed skewed policy making that prevents the consistent, coordinated and up-to-date data on the highly dispersed and constantly action necessary to capitalize on the economic, environmental, evolving charcoal sector. These gaps in the existing knowledge and energy policy opportunities offered by charcoal. base extend to all aspects of the charcoal industry, including: the characteristics of value chain and its many actors; price The positive aspects of the charcoal industry in Haiti include behaviors and trends; agronomic analyses of current wood the ability of sustainably managed charcoal woodlots to energy production techniques by peasant farmers; measures provide much-needed sources of income as important of sustainability and the renewability of charcoal production contributors to rural economies, as ecological buffers in and under different conditions and in different settings; and around environmentally fragile zones and protected areas,155 consumption habits and preferences. Without these additional and as a key contributor to a greener and more independent pieces of the puzzle, even with a newfound openness toward national energy strategy. In the face of the dominant discourse engaging in and improving the sector, effective policy making prejudiced against charcoal, however, there are very few efforts will remain elusive. to optimize the industry’s true potential. Interestingly, this absence of sufficient data is partly due to the Equally unfortunate, this dearth of informed, pragmatic general lack of human and financial resources in Haiti needed policy making also forestalls efforts to grapple with the for better policy making and programming, regardless of the very real problems that are attributable to charcoal. These sector. But it is also intimately linked to the stigma surrounding include ongoing charcoal production in ecologically fragile charcoal, which has tended to reduce interest in and funding areas (including mangroves and upland forests), ecological for research on the topic. Better data will hopefully have the deterioration, and loss of woody biomass in unsustainably follow-on effect of helping combat the unhelpful stigmas harvested zones, as well as the serious health impacts of around the sector. household charcoal consumption. Yet all of these challenges could be pragmatically mitigated through improvements to charcoal in Haiti through solutions like woodlots, and improved charcoal kilns, etc. Policy Designs Inhibited by a Lack of Data on Charcoal Sector Even with the converging consensus of historical and recent research discussed above, policy makers, donors, and 155 See UNEP 2016 for a more detailed discussion of policy recommendations for use of woodlots to help protect mangroves and upland forests. 52 Charcoal in Haiti VIII. Areas of Additional Research This study concludes with several key areas of additional work • Exploration of up-to-date household fuel consumption for policy makers, donors, and project implementers to consider habits, including comparisons of frequency of use of in order to more adequately engage with the challenges and large sacks versus mamits of charcoal. opportunities posed by charcoal and its central role in Haiti’s society, environment, and economy. Transportation trends: • Since the present research identified a decline in maritime routes, further research into truck routes156 Undertake Additional is merited. Research on Key Facets • The present research also identified a second wharf of comparable size to the Malpasse Wharf, on the of the Charcoal Sector Dominican side of Lake Azuéi (Saumâtre in the D.R.) (see Figure 20 in main body of this report). Future research In order to help guide future decisions regarding the sector, could determine if and how much charcoal makes additional information is needed on several key fronts, passage over this second wharf into Haiti. including: economic and commercial dynamics, value chain mapping, agricultural practices, and ecological and Agricultural practices: sustainability considerations. A multi-organizational effort, in close coordination with the Government of Haiti (GoH), to systematically collect, organize, and disseminate this data • Examination of recent innovations by farmers in the management of charcoal woodlots, and the would help fill existing knowledge gaps and verify or update intercropping of wood energy and food species knowledge from previous studies. Data gaps are listed below, (agroforestry systems).157 grouped by sector. • Agronomic research on different genetic varieties of endemic or original and imported tree and shrub Commercial and economic dynamics: species that are most suitable for expanded wood • Detailed analyses of each stage of the value chain— • energy cultivation. Research on the gendered division of labor and the from charcoal producers (farmers and professional gendered health effects around charcoal production, charcoal producers), to transporters wholesalers, transportation, marketing, and consumption. retailers, and final consumers—in order to understand cost structures, inefficiencies, and market trends. • Socioeconomic studies of the value chain participants, in terms of gender, poverty levels, and employment. • Ongoing monitoring of wholesale and retail price variability—including an investigation of price drivers. This would allow for further exploration of several 156 For example, authors of the report are currently developing a methodology intriguing findings in the research above related to using cell phone GPS data to track exact tributaries of the entire charcoal transportation network. lack of price impacts of Hurricane Matthew, and for 157 See Tarter 2015a as an example of a year-long study on these topics, in one predictions about the effects of future tropical storms. area of Haiti. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 53 Ecological impacts and prospects for sustainability: possibly supplemented with surveys concerning cross- border charcoal transport. The study is still in the • Examination of prospects for long-term sustainability research design phase. These studies, alongside the of different charcoal cultivation and harvest methods, research presented in this report, will provide conclusive in terms of soil nutrients and ground cover. findings to answer the five research questions posed • Acknowledge the serious health impacts of household herein—for now. For as this research has demonstrated, charcoal use, and investigate cleaner stoves and the regions supplying charcoal to Port-au-Prince have cooking practices using charcoal, which would be both shifted before, and may do so again; likewise, events economically feasible and culturally acceptable within such as the earthquake, hurricanes, and embargoes are the Haitian context. likely to affect the charcoal sector in the future. Armed with these refined and up-to-date data, the government and its partners could undertake more nuanced analyses, Undertake Additional Work leading to better-informed policies and high-impact, evidence- based investments in the sector. in the Policy Space Additional work is needed to assess and map the charcoal policy Fortuitously, two subsequent studies funded by the U.S. Forest space. Currently, oversight of the sector is fragmented across Service (USFS) to inform the U.S. Agency for International a number of different GoH institutions. The lack of policy Development may help fill some of these gaps and resolve coordination in the charcoal sector has serious consequences, lingering questions concerning the research presented here. including the absence of a recognized forum for sharing of lessons learned, and little space for debate and coordination on • The first study, currently under way, will repeat the institutional and policy questions. The resulting government same overall methodology presented in this report, policy confusion is reflected in misaligned donor and using Cap Haïtien, located in the north of Haiti, nongovernmental organization (NGO) programming, which as the core city. This new study will determine how all too often dismisses or misunderstands the key role that Cap Haïtien is differentially supplied with charcoal charcoal plays in the communities and economies that they from various locations in the north, and what, if any, seek to support. As a next step, work should be undertaken to additional volumes of charcoal are coming over from fully map the policy space, benchmark against other countries, the Dominican Republic. The Cap Haïtian study and develop a series of recommendations for the government will likewise employ the methodology applied in this of Haiti. study of extrapolating to other cities in Haiti, using a tons-to-population ratio that is based on counts rather Haiti’s development partners could support additional research, than on consumption rates. Finally, the counts from the policy coordination, and on-the-ground programming to core of Cap Haïtien will test the accuracy of the tons- facilitate the paradigm shift already under way. to-population ratio used in this study, when applied specifically to the population of Cap Haïtien; likewise, The methodology presented in the body of this research report the Cap Haïtien data can be used to test the accuracy could be replicated and tailored to benefit other countries of predicting the Port-au-Prince figures. Since the Cap where informal charcoal trade predominates. 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Annexes Annex 1—Fieldwork Phase II—High Season Sampling (August 2017): Timeframe Phases • Entire enumeration team meeting: Fieldwork was planned in three sequential phases: ºº Establish teams for each zone; and ºº Train enumerators in research protocol and safety Phase I—Preliminary Studies (2016–2017): protocol. • Sampling • Identify and visit important urban charcoal receiving Due to a counting error made by the newly contracted firm, enumerators and wholesale locations in the capital: were sent home one day early during the first sampling period. To compensate ºº Conduct contextual interviews; for hours missed during Phase II, a third sampling period of 67 hours ºº Develop typology of charcoal transport trucks; and (Phase IV) was added to the research design. ºº Repeat weighing of charcoal bags to establish average vehicle weights per category in the tripartite truck typology. Phase III—Low Season Sampling (October 2017): • Identify and visit maritime wharfs in/around the capital: • Entire enumeration team meeting: ºº Conduct contextual interviews; ºº Review/revise teams for each zone; and ºº Develop typology of charcoal transport boats; and ºº Review research and safety protocol. ºº Repeat weighing of charcoal bags to establish • Sampling average vessel weights per category in boat typology. • Scouting trips to five regional areas: Phase IV—Addendum High Season Sampling (December 2017): ºº Conduct contextual interviews; ºº Affirm appropriate location of roadside enumeration stations; • Entire enumeration team meeting: ºº Establish room-and-board arrangements near ºº Review/revise teams for each zone; and enumeration stations for week-long stays by ºº Review research and safety protocol. enumeration teams; and • Sampling ºº Address security concerns at each station by meeting with the local kazèk (magistrate). Annex 2—Logistical Details After the completion of Phase I and the day before the commencement of about the Survey Phase II (planned for early September 2016), the initial firm that was contracted to collect data pulled out of the study, citing lack of capacity. Enumerator Workshop and Training Phase III (planned for October of 2016) was disrupted by the passage Prior to deploying enumeration teams to the field, the Research of Hurricane Matthew.158 Missing the major high and low charcoal Team Leader (fifth author) facilitated a one-day training production seasons in 2016, the research was delayed until 2017, which in Port-au-Prince that provided an overview of the study also permitted the stabilization of charcoal markets after the hurricane. rationale, methodology, location of the enumeration stations, a survey schedule, and communication and security plans. 158 See Tarter et al. 2018. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 59 A major component of the training was to describe the survey name for pre-created ‘WhatsApp’159 groups. All enumerators methodology. Enumerators learned about the different types were added to two different WhatsApp groups, which served of transportation mediums (including the categories of trucks different functions: and boats) that they would be counting. The training used photos to provide examples of the different kinds of trucks the Group 1 enumerators should look for and how to classify them using the The first group was used to track work shifts. Whenever tripartite typology. someone started their shift, the team had to send a text that confirmed who was coming on-shift and who was Enumerators also learned about the different types of going off-shift. The required message format was as enumeration stations (e.g., intersections, principal roads, and follows: wharfs) to be used in the study. At intersections, enumerators were instructed to record the type of vehicle, the direction it Kenson + Richard + (James)—Pa Gade Solèy/JER was traveling from, and the time of the observation. On the James + (Richard + Kenson)—Pa Gade Solèy/JER principal roads and intersections, the enumerators had only to record the category of the truck and time of passage. At In the above example, the text provides the name of wharfs, enumerators counted both the number of charcoal the three team members. The person(s) whose name(s) bags coming into the port off boats and recorded where the appears in parenthesis are off-duty, while the other boats originated. Enumerators also recorded the type of person(s) are on-duty. The team name appears after truck and direction of travel for trucks leaving wharfs full their names (Pa Gade Soley) followed by the specific of charcoal. Each enumeration station was assigned a team of enumeration station (JER, or Jérémie). WhatsApp adds three enumerators. All night shifts were required to have two time stamps automatically. enumerators present as a security measure. Wharf teams only did day shifts because all the wharfs close at night. Group 2 The training emphasized the idea that this was a team activity Enumerators utilized the second WhatsApp group to rather than an individual activity. In order for stations to post pictures of every truck that passed during daylight be successful, each person had to participate and follow the hours. No photographs were taken during nighttime cooperatively developed schedules to meet the data collection hours due to security concerns (blinding drivers with requirements. flash, identifying enumerator locations, etc.). Given the large geographic scope of the study, the research Sharing photographs of trucks with all enumerators team wanted to have a system in place to ensure accountability alerted the next station down the line that a truck (e.g., people are at their stations at the required times), reliability should be coming and facilitated tracking trucks from (enumerators are properly classifying trucks), and data backup one station to the next. This group chat was also used (classifications matched with time stamps based on locations). to disseminate any pertinent information that should be shared with the larger team (e.g., weather conditions, security concerns, etc.). The format of each text would Logic for, and Creation of, Enumerator include the picture, location of origin, size, followed by ‘WhatsApp’ Groups the specific enumerator team name, and station (e.g., Given the large geographic scope of the study, the research Large/RD  102/Pa Gade Solèy/JER). WhatsApp adds team wanted to have a system in place to ensure accountability time stamps automatically. (e.g., people are at their stations at the required times), reliability (enumerators are properly classifying trucks), and 159 WhatsApp is the most popular and widely used, free, chat application for data backup (classifications matched with time stamps based phones in the world. It allows users to share messages and images, and time on locations). Thus, each group was also asked to select a group stamps both. 60 Charcoal in Haiti The WhatsApp groups had the added benefit of promoting particularly during the night. Teams also exchanged phone coordination and communication among enumerations teams, numbers with police officers to have a local emergency contact. fostering a spirit of healthy competition, and boosting overall morale. In addition, each team engaged two local motorcycle taxi drivers (e.g., prepaying services for the week) to have on call for transportation in case of emergency or to facilitate travel to/ Field Visits from the enumeration station and nearby hotels. The Research Team Leader (fifth author) made a series of surprise enumeration site visits, taking a team photograph with Other precautions included requiring two people on night shifts people present at the station and posting it to the WhatsApp and utilizing WhatsApp group chats at night. When possible, group. This provided motivation for teams to stay engaged and enumeration stations were in proximity to police stations and at their station in case they would receive a surprise visit. It also some teams were actually able to conduct night shifts within turned into a fun, team-building activity. People did not know the boundaries of roadside police stations. In places where when or where the Research Team Leader would show up and police stations were not conveniently located, the enumerators would try to track or anticipate his sporadic movements. would arrange to work from the front porch or rooftop of a private home during the nighttime hours. Each enumeration station received at least one surprise site visit during the course of the study, although this was not achieved One of the wharfs (Wharf Jérémie, located in Port-au-Prince) in one sampling period alone. None of the field visits were was flagged as a potential security risk due to its proximity to announced to the enumerator teams ahead of time to promote Cité Soleil, an area notorious for previous gang and kidnapping accountability/engagement. Given the geographic scope of activity.160 The Research Team Leader visited the team there the study, JP/HRO provided two interns who also conducted and made contact with local gang leaders to introduce the study more frequent field visits to the core stations controlling the and explain who would be working there. None of the team entrance of charcoal to Port-au-Prince. This helped to alleviate members had any issues at the wharf after this introduction the workload/travel burden of the Research Team Leader. and communication with the local gang leaders. There were several sites where no or very few trucks passed, which caused some frustration for these enumeration teams. Adaptations in the Field These sites were along the border with the Dominican Republic The Morne Cabrit station had an unforeseen security (e.g., Cerca la Source, Belladère, Anse-à-Pitres, Kenscoff). The concern. Multiple crimes had previously been reported Research Team Leader visited all of these sites to talk to the at that intersection, and when the team presented their team members and to explain to them that noting the absence letter of introduction to the local police, the police strongly of passing trucks is a form of data, and not to feel discouraged. recommended that the team not conduct night shifts at the site. Once this concern was raised, the Research Team Leader traveled to the station to assess the situation. As a compromise, Security Issues the night shift location was moved to the police station some There were no major security incidents during the study 500 yards from the intersection. The Research Team Leader period, although some enumerators raised concerns about confirmed that the alternate night location still permitted safety during night shifts. Every team was provided a letter of the team to record the same data from the intersection (truck introduction to take to the local police station upon their initial categories and origin). arrival, to ensure that authorities were aware of the study and knew about the work the teams would be conducting, 160 Reports differ on the current state of security in and around Cité Soleil. A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 61 Annex 3—Possible Sources • Data entry error: of Errors and Adopted Data were cross-checked with original enumeration sheets as well Mitigation Measures as through the WhatsApp Group photos—which record the date and time of the event. In some instances enumerators improperly The following list includes known potential sources of error noted ‘pm’ after midnight had passed, but this is an easily and explains the steps taken to mitigate these possibilities: recognizable and correctable error. In the few instances where data were missing, we returned to the sheets to see if the issue • Enumeration stations were placed on the wrong roads, was one of transcription. If not, the mode value (small, medium, intersections and/or wharfs: or large) for a given area during the same sampling period, day and time was applied. In the few instances at intersections where Phase I of the research (see above) was explicitly designed to visit all enumerators failed to record the direction of a truck’s origin, areas of the country that would be surveyed, and through observations the ratio for the given intersection was applied randomly to any and contextual interviews with a range of different individuals, to missing values. Such instances occurred only a handful of times properly identify through observations and contextual interviews across all data sets from the three different sampling periods. with a range of different individuals, which roads, intersections, and wharfs were the most-utilized by charcoal transporters within Haiti and across the border from the Dominican Republic.161 The • Political unrest or extreme weather events disrupt charcoal transportation flows: possibility exists that routes and ports shifted in the period of time between Phase I and data collection, but this is unlikely, as new roads and new port are detectable by satellite imagery. The first firm contracted in 2016 pulled out due to a lack of capacity to execute the study. When we tried in October to sample, we were delayed due to the passage of Hurricane Matthew. • Enumerator falls asleep; However, there were no political unrest or extreme weather events • Enumerator misses a truck; during any of the three sampling periods of 2017. • Enumerator fabricates counts; and/or • Enumerator abandons the station. • Skewing of numbers by the passage of Hurricane Matthew: These possible sources of error were mitigated in multiple ways that address each concern. First, all stations were overseen by three different enumerators, 24-hours per day,162 reducing the This represents the largest potential source of error in the data set, but it is mitigated in four ways. First, the figures coming out likelihood of any individual enumerator errors occurring. Second, all of the southern peninsula can be cross-checked in reference to enumerators were instructed to take pictures of passing vehicles with figures from the United Nations Environment Program’s charcoal their phones, and to share the photographs (using the WhatsApp surveys conducted in the same areas affected by the hurricane, Groups described above) with all the other enumerators, which just before the passage of the storm (UNEP 2016). Second, served as a cross-check for the above concerns. Third, the Research the percentage of charcoal coming out of the southern peninsula Team Leader (fourth author of this report) had daily, periodic phone can be cross-checked with percentages reported since 1985, check-ins, and executed ongoing surprise visits to the enumeration controlling for gradual increases over time. Third, ten months stations, to ensure they were being properly managed as instructed had passed after the hurricane before and before the first sampling during the training period discussed above. Not one enumerator period, which allowed the charcoal market to stabilize. Finally, abandoned station during any of the three sampling periods. arboreal changes to the area where Hurricane Matthew passed 161 were detailed extensively through separate World Bank research While charcoal entrance into Port-au-Prince used to occur by donkey transport as well, those days have ended with the introduction of motorcycles. (See Box 1 in main body of report and Annex 5). These efforts Donkeys are still used in rural areas with poor access to major transportation all represent opportunities to catch and control for any spike or routes, but they debark charcoal at locations where motorcycles or trucks arrive, rather than make the trip into Port-au-Prince. Likewise, motorcycles decline in charcoal production from the South since the passage of transport charcoal to/from truck loading locations, but not directly into Port- Hurricane Matthew. au-Prince as a primary mode of transportation 162 Except wharfs, which close at night since boats do not dock or unload in the dark. 62 Charcoal in Haiti Annex 4—Complementary Analysis FIGURE 22: Hourly Flows of Charcoal Entering PaP, Day by Day Sunday Monday 200 200 150 150 100 100 50 50 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 Tuesday Wednesday 200 200 150 150 100 100 50 50 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 Thursday Friday 200 200 150 150 100 100 50 50 0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 Saturday 200 150 100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11121314151617181920212223 Peak Low Annex 5—Post-Hurricane hit by the storm.164 The study was conducted approximately ten months and two agricultural seasons after the passage of Matthew Arboreal Assessment Hurricane Matthew. The time passed since the phenomena In 2015 Hurricane Matthew passed over Haiti, creating widespread of interest permitted trees to recover, ensured that answers to damage and thrusting an estimated 800,000 to 1.55  million questions more accurately reflected final outcomes for trees, Haitians in a state of food insecurity, with approximately 280,000 permitted tree-based markets to stabilize, and allowed for a categorized as severely food-insecure. The storm adversely better understanding of how farmers used newly opened lands affected crops, trees, and physical infrastructure. An estimated in the subsequent agricultural season. two out of three farmers lost approximately 75 percent of their animal livestock (FAO 2017; UN World Food Program 2017). The pertinent conclusions of the full report are summarized Agricultural damage assessments ranged from $573.5 million below, and are derived from the combined findings of (the Haitian Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation) to land-based transects (n=298) and tree surveys (n=1,682) $604 million (the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, World Bank, administered by a research team that visited six different and FAO) (FAO 2017). Total damages from the storm, from an locations along the broad path of Hurricane Matthew (see estimation based on Haiti’s 2015 GDP, were reported from to Figure 23). The transects were designed to directly observe 2.8 billion USD (approximately one-third of Haiti’s GNP) (World the species and quantities of trees that fell or were damaged Bank et  al. 2017) to $8.88 billion163 (suggesting that Matthew during the hurricane, and to discover what farmers did with destroyed the equivalent of 11.4 percent of the country’s total such trees (green points, Figure 23). The surveys were targeted production of goods and services). toward individuals in urban or peri-urban areas that directly observed the processing, marketing, and transportation of The Haitian government-led Damage and Loss Assessment (DALA) trees, charcoal, and planks in volumes far surpassing those of conducted immediately following the storm used satellite more isolated rural landowners (blue points, Figure 23). imagery, interviews, and key conversations to determine losses across the country. In the agriculture sector, calculations The main results of the study demonstrate the types of trees included estimations of the value of crops lost, as well as fallen across the sample region and the uses of these trees by damaged and lost trees. It was clear from this analysis that farmers, with strong implications for the charcoal market. Fallen Hurricane Matthew’s passage over the southern Tiburon coconut, breadfruit, and mango trees together represented 52 Peninsula resulted in massive damage to arboreal systems, percent of all of the fallen trees. Farmers who owned the plots including: Haiti’s remaining forests; fragmented tree stands; and of land where sample transects took place were asked about a multitude of individual trees found on farms, in courtyards, their primary use of trees knocked over during the storm. Across on steep slopes, in deep ravines, along riverbanks, delineating the samples from all regions, Haitian farmers overwhelmingly property boundaries, lining roadsides, and in other isolated produced charcoal from trees felled during Hurricane Matthew. locations. The storm’s damage to trees ranged from complete felling, snapping of trunks at various heights, snapped branches, Some 14 percent of respondents from transects across all regions and partial or total loss of foliage. However, it proved difficult to (see Figure 23) indicated they let fallen trees remain where they decipher satellite imagery for damaged, broken trees or standing were, 6 percent transformed their fallen trees into planks, and dead trees versus standing live trees, and due to this, the full only 1 percent used their fallen trees for construction purposes impact of the storm on tree resources was not fully known. (Figure 24). As such, the World Bank team undertook a Post-Hurricane The research showed that the number of bags of charcoal Matthew arboreal assessment of the Grand Anse and Sud produced by landowners sampled in transects ranged widely, Departments (composing the lion’s share of an area colloquially with a 15,724 bag total from 261 responding landowners, an referred to as the ‘Grand Sud’) of Haiti—the areas hardest 164 Other areas that were indirectly impacted include the Nippes department, 163 http://www.businessinsider.com/haiti-hurricane-matthew-economic- the large offshore island of La Gonâve, the southwestern and northwestern impact-2016-10 portions of the Artibonite department, and the Nord-Ouest department. 64 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 23: Approximate Locations of Transects and Surveys Relative to the Path of Matthew The red line represents the pathway of Hurricane Matthew. FIGURE 24: Primary Use of Downed Trees across All Regions 1.07% 6.43% 13.93% Charcoal Nothing 78.57% Planks Construction A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 65 FIGURE 25: Changes to the Price of Charcoal 250 217 13.51% 209 209 13.01% 13.01% 194 200 12.08% 184 180 11.21% 11.46% 150 Count 100 89 79 5.54% 66 4.92% 4.11% 57 51 3.55% 3.18% 50 34 2.12% 15 Price 10 6 4 0.93% Increase 0.62% 1 1 0.37% 0.25% Decrease 0.06% 0.06% 0 No change Abricots Camp- Dame- Les Cayes Jérémie Portà Perrin Marie Piment Region average of approximately sixty bags per transect, with four of this range. These findings suggest that transportation costs different landowners reportedly producing approximately half to Port-au-Prince dictates charcoal prices. of all the charcoal bags across all samples. When asked about a post-hurricane correction of market With an influx of charcoal in the market, the widespread prices, the vast majority of respondents across the samples hypothesis was that prices of charcoal would fall. This research (92.82%) believed the price of charcoal would continue to demonstrated otherwise. Across all samples, 74.28 percent rise, while a small minority believed prices would return to responded that the price had increased since the passage of pre-hurricane prices (6.56%), and even fewer still believed that Hurricane Matthew (Figure 25). The majority of respondents prices would remain at their current rates (0.62%). When survey in each region also responded, although there were very slight respondents were asked why they thought the price of charcoal regional differences. would continue to rise, many concluded that prices would be dictated by supply—trees were significantly diminished in the Across all samples, whether considering the mode or the mean, area as a result of the hurricane. the price for a large sack of charcoal increased by 80–100 Haitian Gourdes (~1.25–1.55 USD) after the passage of the Respondents reported that charcoal trucks came more storm (Figure 26). frequently to the Grand Sud region after the passage of Hurricane Matthew, likely a prospective response to an increase The mode price for charcoal in the most remote locations in supply. Across all samples, 62.33 percent of respondents (Dame-Marie and Abricots) was the lowest before and after indicated charcoal trucks came more frequently; 32.23 percent the storm; conversely, those locations closest to the national reported that trucks came less frequently; and 5.45 percent highway (Les Cayes and nearby Camp-Perrin) had the highest responded that trucks came with the same frequency as before before and after prices. Jérémie, with a well-established albeit the storm (Figure 27). slower maritime route to Port-au-Prince, occupies the middle 66 Charcoal in Haiti FIGURE 26: Mode Price Change for Large Sack of Charcoal 600 600 500 400 400 400 300 300 300 Mode 300 250 250 200 200 200 150 150 100 Before After 0 Abricots Camp- Dame- Jérémie Les Cayes Port à Perrin Marie Piment Region FIGURE 27: Frequency of Charcoal Truck Visits after Hurricane Matthew 200 172 174 11.43% 162 11.56% 158 155 10.76% 10.50% 10.30% 150 117 7.77% 94 Count 100 6.25% 83 80 82 5.51% 5.45% 71 75 5.32% 4.72% 4.98% 50 23 18 18 Frquency of visits 1.53% 1.20% 9 8 1.20% 6 Same 0.60% 0.53% 0.40% Less often 0 More often Abricots Camp- Dame- Jérémie Les Cayes Port à Perrin Marie Piment Region A National Assessment of Charcoal Production and Consumption Trends 67 These results can be interpreted by considering demand for Charcoal production overall is not considered to be a charcoal, planks, and construction. Urban demand for charcoal woman’s occupation, but women are sometimes involved in Haiti is high and constant, the demand for lumber is lower to varying degrees. In areas of greater concentration of on both counts. While lumber fetches a higher price as a wood- charcoal production, women tend to be more extensively derived product, it often does not sell quickly, thus even those involved; poorer women are more active in charcoal farmers that may have been able to pay plank sawyers up front, making than those better off. Women rarely make nevertheless hedged their bets on charcoal, given their need for charcoal independently of men. Where men and women immediate cash after the storm. That many people reported a work jointly at charcoal making, women’s activities are lack of capital to pay plank sawyers suggests that remuneration usually centered around raking out coals and sacking is requested immediately by sawyers, rather than sought out charcoal. Men predominate in the wholesaling of after planks eventually sell, providing further evidence of charcoal although some women are active wholesalers. a lower overall market demand for planks. The opposite is Retail sale of charcoal is handled almost exclusively by sometimes true of charcoal—some participants in the charcoal women (J. Smucker 1981, 35). value chain may not be remunerated until charcoal is finally purchased. Increased women’s participation in charcoal production in the area east of Port-au-Prince was noted as a deviation from One possible explanation emerges for the anomalous post- an historical norm (Conway 1979, 13–14), but it is not clear hurricane increase in charcoal prices commensurate with whether this deviation was widespread or continued as a trend. an increase in charcoal production. Charcoal trucks came Most recent research presents a gendered division of labor more frequently to the Grand Sud region after the passage of around charcoal production and consumption in a manner Hurricane Matthew—perhaps an initial response by prospective similarly described above. purchasers to an increase in supply. Across all samples, 62.33 percent of respondents indicated charcoal trucks came more Beyond the gendered division of labor related to charcoal frequently after the storm. An initial increase in charcoal production and consumption, there are also differential health trucks may have precipitated a jump in the commodity price, concerns affecting women, men, and children. While charcoal or sparked a gold rush for charcoal. produces less smoke than traditional firewood, women and children are still disproportionately and adversely affected by smoke during the preparation of meals with charcoal (Murray and Alvarez 1973). Men are typically more adversely affected Annex 6—The Gendered by smoke and the inhalation of charcoal particulate matter Aspects of Charcoal during the kilning, coal raking, and bagging tasks of charcoal production. Men are also more subject to inhaling harmful Production charcoal particulate matter during the transport of charcoal from rural to urban areas, while women are subject to the same Historically, women and children were responsible for the dangers at presumably higher levels during charcoal retailing collection of firewood for rural, domestic consumption in in urban areas. Haiti (Murray and Alvarez 1973). While the conclusions from the most comprehensive review on the gendered aspects of charcoal production in Haiti is dated, it remains remarkably accurate some 40 years later: 68 Charcoal in Haiti