Entrepreneurial Opportunities

There are numerous business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Among these are briquetting of paper and ag waste for cooking fuel; and processing fruits into juices for fresh consumption or preserving (canning) for later consumption. More on these later.

 

CONCRETE BUILDING PRODUCTS

There should be a good market for better concrete building products. See:

http://www.parryassociates.com/online-catalogue/title-page.htm

New Dawn has a hand powered concrete mixer:

http://www.newdawnengineering.com/website/brickandtile/mixer/

Small powered block machines can be obtained from:

http://www.blockmachines.com/

While I'm on the subject of concrete, I'll give you my rant on concrete.

Concrete is a well understood material. Concrete is made from gravel, sand, Portland cement, and water. Good quality concrete has several requirements:

Clean sand and gravel, no organic matter. No hard lumps in cement.

Proper proportions of ingredients. 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 are common cement:sand: gravel proportions. Materials should be measured for every batch.

Mixing on the ground produces an inferior concrete. Concrete should be mixed in a mortar box, wheelbarrow, or concrete mixer. A mixing hoe is the preferred tool for hand mixing.

DO NOT USE TOO MUCH WATER IN THE MIX. CONCRETE SHOULD BE MIXED FAIRLY DRY. A SOUPY MIX MAKES WEAK CONCRETE.

AFTER CONCRETE SETS UP, IT SHOULD BE KEPT WET FOR AT LEAST A WEEK. 7 DAYS WET CURED CONCRETE IS ALMOST TWICE AS STRONG AS CONCRETE NOT WET CURED. Wet cured concrete is also less likely to develop cracks.

 

LABOR INTENSIVE MANUFACTURING MACHINERY

New Dawn Engineering in South Africa has numerous labor intensive small scale manufacturing machines.

http://www.newdawnengineering.com/website/

I think many of the wire products would have a ready market in Haiti. See:

http://www.newdawnengineering.com/website/wire/

 

TREADLE PUMPS

There ought to be a market for treadle pumps for watering gardens near rivers. For a design for Haiti see:

http://sites.google.com/site/treadleplans/home

New Dawn has a treadle pump. See their website link above.

Kickstart has a treadle pump, see:

http://www.kickstart.org/products/super-moneymaker/

 

COOKING OIL

Black oil sunflowers (Peredovik is the commonest variety) can be easily grown in the tropics.They are not difficult to hull and can then be pressed for cooking oil. The cake left after pressing can be fed to chickens or other livestock. See:

http://www.journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/oilpress.html

A small hand cranked oil press can be obtained from:

http://www.piteba.com/eng/index_eng.htm

New Dawn has a larger press:

http://www.newdawnengineering.com/website/oilpress/floorpress/

There are other crops which can be grown for their oilseed including sesame, pumpkin, and peanut. See:

http://www.piteba.com/eng/index_eng.htm

There's also egusi-an oilseed watermelon relative. See:

http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/4014/seeds-seeds-seeds-egusi-the-miracle-melon

 

BAMBOO HANDICRAFTS

Bamboo has many uses. In addition to building materials, and fuel it can be used for handicrafts.

There are manuals for woven bamboo handicrafts at:
http://www.eabp.org.et/Publications/guide.html

Their version of Guidelines for Growing Bamboo has some glitches. It is black and white and only 2MB.

There is a better quality 10MB color version of Guidelines for Growing Bamboo at:
http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media/Services/Agro-Industries/FPPCs/AgroSupport/Bamboo%20book%20text.pdf

Bamboo furniture making (and building construction) requires different tools and techniques than wood.

There is a bamboo furniture factory in Marmalade.

 

FRUIT PRESERVATION

 There is a lot of potential for fruit preservation. So much fresh fruit goes to waste. In August 2010 there was a mango processing and canning workshop in Gros Morne, see Gros Morne trip in Haiti Mission Posts. A low cost hand cranked fruit mill moulin fwi (Squeezo/Vitantonio) was used to make a pulp from peeled cut mangoes. The pulp was then put into one quart canning jars and processed by boiling water canning for 5 minutes. The pulp will keep for years. When mixed with an equal quantity of cane water dlo kan, it made a great "juice" drink. A local group bought the mill and plans to use it for making fresh juice for immediate sale. Canning jars are not easy to get in Haiti.

 Other options include drying, pickling, salting, jams/jellies, and candying.

Agromisa has an Agrodok Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables

It is also available in French as: La conservation des fruits et des légumes

 There is a fruit juice factory in Marmalade.