Spensy Pimentel
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Porto Alegre – Brazil's biodiesel project, which has been set up to use vegetable oils from crops grown on family farms as an additive, may be an important alternative for resolving some of the economic problems in Haiti. The declaration was made by the Haitian representative, Budry Bayard, at the 2nd Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development which is taking place this week in Porto Alegre. The event is sponsored by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

"We find the Brazilian biodiesel project attractive because it can resolve economic and environmental problems without cutting into food production," explained Bayard.

Haiti is a small, densely populated country (8 million people in 27,000 square kilometers) where people have been destroying forests to heat their food. Jose Graziano, an aide to the Brazilian president, says biodiesel could boost rural development in Haiti and reduce deforestation by providing an alternative energy source.

A Brazilian-led UN Stabilization Mission (Minustah) has been in Haiti since May 2004. Most people agree that it is not troops the country needs. Political stability will only come with development and economic stability. The Brazilian biodiesel project is an economic alternative which could work in Haiti and has also attracted interest in Morocco, Paraguay, the United States, Venezuela and Angola.

Translation: Allen Bennett