A Canadian Foundation
The KAMI Foundation, founded in 2009, is located in Ontario and operates exclusively in Haiti. Its goal is to foster the use of alternative cooking fuels and support the technology and agriculture this requires. In so doing KAMI aims to foster small business development, improve the quality of life especially for women, and help protect the environment. In practical terms this centers on the basic human activity of preparing the main family meal.
Haitian woman with KAMI stove
Woman cooking the daily meal with wood in Terrier Rouge
Overview
KAMI stoves are built in Haiti with burners that use kerosene, an inexpensive fuel that is available throughout the country. Haitians build these stoves locally using well constructed precision burners researched and developed in the Philippines. When used in these stoves, kerosene cooks quickly and controllably. This reduces the time that women need to cook the daily meal from 5 to 1 1/2 hours freeing them up to do other things.
Meanwhile, KAMI is working on the cultivation and use of Jatropha, a plant native to tropical countries that produces an oil seed. When extracted from the seed, the oil is an effective fuel in KAMI stoves. The goal is to eventually replace kerosene with this biodiesel fuel.
Jatropha can grow on soil unable to support food crops and can rejuvenate and stabilize denuded hillsides. After the oil is extruded from its seeds the substrate can be composted and used as fertilizer.
December 2015: More than 2000 KAMI stoves have been installed in homes in and around Terrier Rouge. These homes no longer use wood or charcoal as fuel for cooking. Funding is being sought for more stoves. Jatropha planted by two cooperatives is ready for harvest. An oil press and cleaner have been secured and delivered to Haiti. They are now working and ready for use.