We are currently looking into ways that our services can best be accessed by partnering individuals and organizations in Haiti.  There is an abundance of information on ECHO's website.  With this web page, we want to direct attention to specific articles and resources we feel are most applicable to Haiti in light of the earthquake. 

Although ECHO does not specialize in relief, we anticipate that our resources will play a significant role in dealing with longer-term problems that will remain after initial search and rescue efforts are completed.  Water purification, urban gardening, and fuelwood for cooking are just a few of the areas that we can provide input on. 

If you would like to donate to ECHO, to help us continue providing services (e.g. publications and seeds) to those working in Haiti and elsewhere, follow this link to our online donation page.

Below are links to articles and publications ECHO staff have identified as being particularly relevant to those serving in Haiti in light of the earthquake there.

Urban and Above-Ground Gardening: Is it possible to grow food on flat sections of rubble, cement slabs, tin roofs or other areas where fertile topsoil is scarce? Since 1982, ECHO has experimented with ways to garden under these conditions.

• Click here to access a 40-page booklet or a narrated PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Martin Price describing principles and techniques for rooftop and urban gardening.

Water filtration:

• Water filter from Sawyer Products
  • Click here for information on the SP180 kit from Sawyer Products that can be purchased on ECHO's behalf (click here for info on how to purchase kits from Sawyer Products that they will then ship to ECHO).
  • Click here for a 5.84 megabyte PDF doc with instructions on how to install the above-mentioned kit.
• Biosand filter information
• Use of moringa seeds to purify water: Crush Moringa oleifera seed kernals (left after outer seed coat is removed), mix with dirty water, let impurities bound to seed particles settle to the bottom, and then pour off clean water. Click here for a pdf publication.
• Click here for information on SODIS, a simple technique for purifying water using sunlight.

Food Preparation/Cooking

• Many Haitians use firewood or charcoal to cook their food with; however, if electricity or propane are not available due to loss of infrastructure, there could be even more demand for fuelwood and thus pressure to cut down existing trees in more rural areas. There are fast-growing nitrogen-fixing tree species that can be grown in small woodlots to supply firewood. Leucaena leucocephala, for instance, grows quickly and can be coppiced (a tree that coppices well will quickly produce regrowth after being cut back). This species has a reputation for being weedy, but varieties at ECHO produce fewer seeds than the "common leucaena". Click here for a tech note entitled 'Agroforestry Principles', which explains how to utilize trees in farming systems.
• Here are some documents describing other innovations related to cooking.
  
  • Click here for a pdf document on sawdust cookstoves.
  • Rocket stoves are another fuel-efficient approach. Here are two external links to information: Build a Stove and CCAT Rocket Stove
  • Click here for a pdf document on biogas digesters.

What crops grow well in Haiti?

• Staples include maize, "pitimi" (Kreyol for sorghum), "pwa kongo" (Kreyol for pigeon pea). Seeds can often be found in local markets, especially in rural areas.
• Vegetatively propagated crops commonly seen in Haiti include banana, sweet potato and cassava. Again, farmers in rural areas are often willing to sell starts/cuttings of these. There are local varieties of these although farmers in one area may not have the same varieties as those five or ten miles away. Agristarts in Florida is a good source of tissue cultured bananas.
• Moringa, most-requested seed from ECHO, grows well in Haiti. Kreyol words for moringa are "Doliv" or "Benzoliv". Leaves of this fast-growing tree are incredibly nutritious and can be dried and converted to powder (by pounding in a mortar/pestle and passed through a "paswa"/sieve or screen). Click here for a pdf doc on moringa.
• Chaya, a perennial shrub produces an abundance of leaves that can be boiled 5-15 minutes and eaten after discarding the water (as with other tropical plants like cassava, there are anti-nutritional compounds in uncooked leaves that, if they were eaten in large quantities, could be of concern; however, boiling alleviates the problem). The leaves can be considered as a warm-weather spinach. It is easy to propagate from cuttings and very drought resistant. Click here for a pdf document on chaya.
• Haitian basketvine, also known as "hoop vine" and present in Haiti, is another perennial green that grows as a shrub. With perennial greens like moringa, chaya and basketvine one can "plant once and harvest for years."
• Other vegetables that grow well include eggplant, okra, roma tomatoes (beefsteak types often fail as high temperatures inhibit pollination; even roma varieties should be planted in cooler times of the year such as early October), and kale. Local varieties of squash and watermelon exist.
• The entire 418-page book of Bwa Yo: Important Trees of Haiti is available from the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) and can be accessed by following this link: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACA072.pdf.

Farming practices, techniques and systems: Click here for access to the 100th of ECHO Development Notes (EDN). EDN 100 briefly summarizes a number of the most successful innovations covered in the first 99 issues of EDN.

Materials in Kreyol:

• Click here for a pdf document by Road to Life Yard (project led by Mark Hare) on making moringa leaf powder.
• Click here for a web page showing plant names in Kreyol
• Materials by Wayne Niles
  • Rabbit Production
  • Chicken Production
  • Making a PVC Pump

Seed Systems Under Stress -- Seed Aid for Seed Security Practice Briefs

These Briefs offer advice on how to sustain and strengthen seed systems during disaster response and recovery periods. Up-to-date technical information addresses issues such as introducing new varieties, protecting agrobiodiversity, and exploiting market opportunities during periods of acute and chronic stress. Specific aid-response tools are also offered, including methods for assessing seed system security, guidelines for learning-focused evaluations, and checklists to ensure quality in seed-aid proposal development. The briefs were prepared by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), with CARE–Norway (CN).

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