# *Haiti Prioritizes* (2018) Back to [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Books Overview|Books Overview]] · [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/BjornLomborg-x-profile|@BjornLomborg]] · Topic: [[Topics/Climate Change Science and Policy Debate/Climate Change Science and Policy Debate|Climate Change Science and Policy Debate]] > **Reference outline for a reader who has read the book.** Full title: ***Haiti Prioritizes: costs and benefits for development solutions***. This is the English popular book of the Copenhagen Consensus Center's **Haïti Priorise** project (2016–17). I did not have the typeset book this run ⚠️. Facts below come from the CCC book and project pages, Amazon product details, lomborg.com/publications, the official **Eminent Panel Findings** PDF (*The Smartest Solutions for Haiti*, 4 pages, letter, created **3 May 2017**, headed Port-au-Prince, May 3 2017), a two-page English brochure PDF (created **18–19 April 2017**), Lomborg's **6 July 2017** HuffPost column, and CCC news posts on the presidential briefing and the RANFOSE fortification launch. A French companion volume, *Haïti Priorise: un plan de développement alternatif* (CCC, 2018), is listed separately on the CCC books page; I did not open it either ⚠️. ## Publication facts - **Authors / editors:** Amazon and AbeBooks list **Bjorn Lomborg** and **Gaelle Prophete** (the project's manager on CCC pages) as authors of the English paperback. lomborg.com and the CCC English book page do not print a second author on the heading. I did not open a title page ⚠️. - **Publisher:** Copenhagen Consensus Center. - **English paperback:** ISBN-13 **978-1-940003-19-1** (ISBN-10 **1940003199**). Amazon: publication date **20 July 2018**, **104** pages, 5.5 × 0.26 × 8.5 in. AbeBooks/Revaluation: 104 pages, 8.46 × 5.43 × 0.43 in. - **What the English book is:** A short popular volume. The CCC/Amazon blurb says each chapter "was written in the first instance as a newspaper article and published in one of Haiti's leading newspapers, *Le Nouvelliste* or *Le National*," then "edited and refined for this book." It is not the 45 research papers (those were posted on the project site). I did not open a table of contents ⚠️. - **French companion, 2018:** *Haïti Priorise: un plan de développement alternatif*, also Copenhagen Consensus Center, 2018. The CCC blurb describes it as a summary of each research report, stressing the Haitian context, the literature, and the costs and benefits. I found no ISBN ⚠️. Head-counts in that blurb ("40 chercheurs," "environ 200 intervenants aux tables rondes," "la moitié sont haïtiens") do not match the English official documents one-for-one ⚠️. - **Project:** **Haïti Priorise**, a national Copenhagen Consensus, funded by the **Government of Canada** (disclaimer on CCC pages: opinions are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada). Project manager: **Gaelle Prophete**. - **Place in his work:** The second national book after [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Bangladesh Priorities|*Bangladesh Priorities*]] (2016/2017), and a sibling of the 2018 academic global volume [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Prioritizing Development|*Prioritizing Development*]]. Later CCC country books on the Center's books page, not yet in this overview queue when it was first drawn up from lomborg.com, include *Rajasthan Priorities*, *Andhra Pradesh Priorities* (2020) and *Ghana Priorities* (2021). ## Thesis Haiti, in CCC's telling, still faced "some of the most acute social and economic development challenges in the world," and "despite an influx of aid in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, growth and progress continue to be minimal, at best" (project page). The book opens with a menu problem: if you could direct a large sum to Haiti's wellbeing, would you start with education, health, water, infrastructure or disaster preparedness — and, inside each, with which specific intervention? "There is little information on the cost of such interventions and even less on the benefits." The panel's question, in the findings PDF, is the usual Copenhagen Consensus one: "To which initiatives should additional resources be spent first?" The results were meant "to be informative not just to the Government of Haiti, but also to NGOs and to international donors." The brochure adds the campaign line used in Bangladesh: "Shifting just 1% of spending could generate billions of gourdes and millions of dollars worth of social, environmental and economic benefits." That 1% claim is not given a single total here, unlike the Tk 3.7 trillion figure in the Bangladesh project ⚠️. The book blurb also asks whether disaster preparedness should "include some sort of armed forces to replace the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)." A "national patrol force" was studied and ranked **#56**. ## How the project was run From the 3 May 2017 findings PDF unless noted: 1. In **2016**, stakeholder meetings with "**nearly 150** individuals" from government, donors, academia, NGOs, think tanks and sector experts; review of the **Plan stratégique de développement d'Haïti** and international reports; two **Reference Groups** (domestic stakeholders and international donors); sector-expert roundtables covering **18** topic areas. 2. "**More than 1,000** responses to national challenges." "**More than 700** representatives" were "invited to assess the best topics for cost-benefit research" (the PDF also opens by saying the project "has worked with more than 700 sector experts"). The April 2017 brochure says "**More than 500** people … identified 85 promising solutions." The English book blurb says "more than **700 economists, experts, and researchers**." These are different tallies of overlapping stages ⚠️. 3. A short-list of "**85** concrete proposals" (PDF opening; brochure) / "**more than 80** specific proposals" (PDF methodology paragraph) / "over 80 solutions" (youth page). The official ranking lists **85** items. 4. **Forty-five** research papers, "peer-reviewed by academics and sector experts," by "**50** economists from Haïti and abroad" (PDF). The project page says those papers were "from economists (**one-third** of them Haitian public servants)." The French book blurb says "**la moitié sont haïtiens**." The brochure says "**More than 40** Haitian and international economists" and "**1,000+** pages of new analyses." I did not recount the papers ⚠️. 5. An **Eminent Panel** at a "**3-day** conference in Port-au-Prince" (brochure). The findings document is dated **3 May 2017**; the presidential-briefing news post is dated **4 May 2017**. A 28 July 2017 CCC post says the panel concluded "**In April**." A youth-forum page says nine youth leaders were invited "**In May 2017** … to kick off our research conference." The brochure file itself is dated **18–19 April 2017** and already speaks of the panel in the past tense. I report the dated PDF and news posts and flag the April/May tension ⚠️. 6. Outreach in *Le Nouvelliste*, *Le National*, Radio Métropole and elsewhere, plus regional youth forums. Each panel member gave a personal ranking; the published order is the **median**. **Ketleen Florestal recused herself from energy-sector proposals** "to avoid potential conflicts of interest" (findings PDF, p. 3 footnote). Rankings of energy items, including the #1 electricity-utility reform, are therefore the median of the other three members. As in Bangladesh, the panel "gave weight both to the institutional preconditions for success and to the demands of ethical or humanitarian importance," so the list is not a sort of the brochure's benefit-cost ratios. ## The Eminent Panel Four members. Names and roles below combine the findings PDF and the CCC findings page; where those two official sources disagree, both are given ⚠️. 1. **Ketleen Florestal** — Advisor to the Executive Director for Haiti at the World Bank Group; represents Haiti at the IMF Board (findings page). Recused on energy. 2. **Philomé Joseph Raymond Magloire** (also "P.J. Raymond Magloire," "Raymond Magloire") — the CCC findings page and Lomborg's HuffPost column call him a **former governor of the Central Bank (BRH)**. The 3 May 2017 PDF's short panel box instead describes him as "**ambassador**, specialist in private sector and industrial economics affiliated with" the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and related associations. I did not independently reconcile the two descriptions ⚠️. 3. **Dr. Kesner Pharel** — economist and RadioTélé Métropole commentator; chairman and CEO of Group Croissance. 4. **Dr. Vernon L. Smith** — 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, for experimental economics; then at Chapman University (Argyros School of Business & Economics and Fowler School of Law / Economic Science Institute). **Advisory Council** (findings PDF): Camille Chalmers (State University of Haiti; coordinator of PAPDA); Dr. Eddy Labossiere (then president, Association of Haitian Economists); Kathleen Dorsainvil; Pierre-Marie Boisson (SOGESOL / SOGEBANK). ## Official ranking (3 May 2017 findings PDF) All **85** proposals were ranked; unlike Bangladesh, the panel did not leave a block of items unranked. It did attach a footnote to **#84 Increase domestic worker wages**: "the specific proposal considered was not sufficiently clear on the net benefits for the target group," while "stress[ing] the importance of increasing wages, especially for women." The panel also warned that a low rank "does not mean that the problem it addresses should be considered unimportant." It singles out **national legal aid (#52)**, the **domestic violence helpline (#67)** and **digitization of government services (#20)** as items whose ranks were affected by "the availability of data" and by doubts that the specific proposals "would adequately resolve important aspects of the challenges." It notes that higher-ranked proposals were expected to help on domestic violence "through financial empowerment of girls and women," and it asks that electronic birth registration (#11) "be not considered in isolation." Benefit-cost ratios in the last column are from the April 2017 brochure's "benefits for every gourde spent," not from the findings PDF ⚠️. I did not re-open the underlying papers. | # | Proposal | Brochure BCR | |---|---|---| | 1 | Reform electricity utility | 22 | | 2 | Wheat flour micronutrient fortification | 24 | | 3 | Early childhood stimulation | 17 | | 4 | Train first responders | 16 | | 5 | Immunization for children 0–1 | 13 | | 6 | Maternal and newborn health | 11 | | 7 | Access to contraception | 18 | | 8 | Skilled assistance at delivery | 8 | | 9 | Expand mobile broadband | 12 | | 10 | Electronic port custom system | 7 | | 11 | Electronic registration of birth certificate | 11 | | 12 | Calcium and micronutrients in pregnancy | 10 | | 13 | Micronutrient powder ½–2 year olds | 8 | | 14 | Girls' retention in school | 4.4 | | 15 | Local child nutrition formula RUTF | 10 | | 16 | Teaching children at the right level | 9 | | 17 | Standard child nutrition formula RUTF | 9 | | 18 | Decentralized government | "up to 10" | | 19 | Distribution grid extension and upgrade | 10 | | 20 | Digitize government processes | 4.7 | | 21 | Shelters for women and children | 14 | | 22 | National power transmission grid | 6 | | 23 | Train teachers | 6 | | 24 | Manage childhood illnesses | 8 | | 25 | Flood early warning system | 7 | | 26 | Cholera 1 dose school vaccination | 6 | | 27 | Conditional cash transfers secondary school | 5 | | 28 | Mobile school clinics | 6 | | 29 | Rural community health centers | 4.0 | | 30 | Flood early warning system and shelters | 4.2 | | 31 | Rural borehole and handpump | 2.2 | | 32 | Vocational training | 2.0 | | 33 | Better agroforestry | 3.0 | | 34 | Cholera 1 dose mass vaccination | 3.5 | | 35 | Digitize land records | 2.6 | | 36 | Rural community led total sanitation | 1.1 | | 37 | Performance pay in public service | 3.6 | | 38 | Diabetes treatment for children | 3.6 | | 39 | Expand urban ambulance network | 8 | | 40 | Expand graduation program | 3.1 | | 41 | Road Gonaives to P-d-P | 2.3 | | 42 | E-voting | 5 | | 43 | Crop transport truck system | 2.6 | | 44 | Private schools subsidies | 2.9 | | 45 | HIV test and treatment | 3.1 | | 46 | Gas power ACC | 2.5 | | 47 | Cholera 2 dose mass vaccination | 2.1 | | 48 | Promote improved cookstoves | 3.9 | | 49 | Civic education for youth | 4.9 | | 50 | Clinics at each school | 3.9 | | 51 | Teach in Creole | 8 | | 52 | National legal aid system | 2.8 | | 53 | Biogas scale-up | 2.2 | | 54 | Establish national ambulance network | 2.8 | | 55 | Coal power | 2.0 | | 56 | National patrol force | 1.9 | | 57 | Free school uniforms | 3.0 | | 58 | Off-grid hydro for village | 1.4 | | 59 | Hypertension campaign and full treatment | 1.7 | | 60 | Off-grid diesel for village | 1.4 | | 61 | Hydro power | 1.5 | | 62 | Expand microcredit program | 1.1 | | 63 | Wind power | 1.4 | | 64 | Introduce crop insurance | 1.9 | | 65 | Switch charcoal cookstoves to gas | 2.2 | | 66 | Packaging and conservation center | 1.2 | | 67 | Domestic violence helpline | 12 | | 68 | Subsidize fertilizer for rice | 3.7 | | 69 | Urban container based sanitation | 1.0 | | 70 | Solar photovoltaic power | 1.0 | | 71 | Bridge Les Anglais | 1.5 | | 72 | Local content procurement | 2.2 | | 73 | Agricultural R&D | 1.3 | | 74 | Pit latrines in urban areas | 0.9 | | 75 | Diesel, solar and battery for village | 1.2 | | 76 | Improved and intensified rice production | 0.8 | | 77 | Switch wood cookstoves to gas | 1.3 | | 78 | Prevent teen dating violence | 1.0 | | 79 | Solar reflective power | 0.5 | | 80 | Vaccinate girls against cervical cancer | 0.8 | | 81 | Carbon pricing infrastructure | 1.3 | | 82 | 20% rice tariff for ten years | 0.8 | | 83 | Increase public service pay 10% | 1.0 | | 84 | Increase domestic worker wages* | 1.0 | | 85 | Paid paternity leave | 1.3 | The panel again did **not** simply follow the BCRs. Wheat-flour fortification has the highest brochure ratio (**24**) but was ranked **#2**, behind electricity reform (**22**). Access to contraception (**18**) is #7. Shelters for women and children (**14**) are #21. The domestic-violence helpline has a brochure ratio of **12** — level with expanding mobile broadband — but was ranked **#67**, with the panel's explicit data/adequacy caveat. "Teach in Creole" (brochure **8**) is #51, below several lower-ratio items. Generation options (gas, coal, hydro, wind, solar) all sit in the middle or lower half, well below reforming the existing utility. ### What the top ten were claimed to do Figures in this subsection are from the findings PDF's "Top 10 policies" blurbs, except where another source is named. - **#1 Reform electricity utility.** Improve the legal and regulatory framework "to create the conditions for an autonomous, accountable and efficient electric utility" and "substantially reduce the losses experienced by Electricité d'Haïti." Cost **2.25 billion gourdes**; benefits **49.2 billion gourdes**. HuffPost (6 July 2017), citing Juan Belt, Bahman Kashi and Jay Mackinnon of Limestone Analytics, describes a two-phase reform (institutional/regulatory changes and cost-reflective tariffs, then further investment if the first phase works), says the project could "eliminate the need for **$200 million** in annual subsidies," and rounds the benefit to **US$723 million (49 billion gourdes)** and "**22** gourdes" per gourde — matching the brochure. Kesner Pharel is quoted there calling electricity reform "indispensible" (as spelled). The 4 May 2017 CCC news post repeats the **$200 million** subsidy figure as "**one-tenth of Haiti's entire budget**." I did not independently check the subsidy or the budget share ⚠️. - **#2 Wheat flour micronutrient fortification.** Add iron and folic acid during milling; spend **331 million gourdes** to fortify **95%** of wheat flour; avert "**140** neural tube defect deaths and more than **250,000** cases of anemia annually"; benefits **7.9 billion gourdes**. A 28 July 2017 CCC post on the RANFOSE launch instead says "**150** newborn deaths and **260,000** cases of anemia" and "**24** gourdes" per gourde (the brochure ratio). I did not reconcile 140/250,000 with 150/260,000 ⚠️. Research credited there to Reina Engle-Stone, Hanqi Luo, Stephen A. Vosti and Christine P. Stewart (UC Davis). - **#3 Early childhood stimulation.** Two years of teacher-led pre-primary education for **516,000** children; cost **7 billion gourdes** annually; benefits **115 billion gourdes** (brochure ratio **17**). - **#4 Train first responders.** "Several days of first-aid training to volunteers across the country"; cost **80 million gourdes**; "save around **700** lives every year." HuffPost, citing R. Christina Daurisca (Ministry of Public Health and Population), gives a ratio of **16** gourdes per gourde, matching the brochure. Magloire is quoted: "In the absence of a Haitian ambulance network, it is eminently sensible to consider what we can achieve with trained volunteers." - **#5 Immunization for children 0–1.** Coverage to **90% by 2020**; cost **2.4 billion gourdes over five years**; "**864,000** additional children" immunized and "**16,000** lives saved" over five years; benefits **32.3 billion gourdes** (brochure **13**). I did not check later coverage ⚠️. - **#6 Maternal and newborn health.** **95%** coverage; cost **11 billion gourdes**; cut the maternal mortality rate by **65%**, "saving the lives of more than **500** mothers and **3,000** newborns" (brochure **11**). - **#7 Access to contraception.** Meet **100%** of unmet need; cost **1,500 million gourdes** annually; "cut under-5 mortality by **70%**, reduce maternal mortality, and create a 'demographic dividend'" (brochure **18**, the third-highest ratio on the sheet). - **#8 Skilled assistance at delivery.** Skilled midwives for normal deliveries, including neonatal resuscitation and "clean postnatal practices"; "avert **1,700** deaths each year" (brochure **8**). The PDF does not state a programme cost here. - **#9 Expand mobile broadband.** Raise mobile-broadband penetration to **50%** over five years and install an undersea cable; cost **56 billion gourdes**; benefits **685 billion gourdes** (brochure **12**). - **#10 Electronic port custom system.** Computerize procedures at the **Port of Cap-Haïtien**; "benefits are worth more than **5 billion gourdes**." HuffPost, citing Yvrose Guerrier (Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation), gives benefits of **5.24 billion gourdes** and **7** gourdes per gourde, matching the brochure. ## Youth forums A CCC page, "Haiti's Youth – 10 Crucial Priorities," says the project held "**9** regional youth forums" with "**500+** youth leaders," and invited **nine** of them to Port-au-Prince "to kick off our research conference" and brief the Eminent Panel. Despite the title, that page does not print the ten-item youth ranking ⚠️. I did not reconstruct one from individual forum pages. ## How the claims have held up - **RANFOSE (fortification).** On **21 July 2017**, at Hotel Montana, Health Minister Marie Greta Roy Clement and U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Brian Shukan launched **RANFOSE**, described by CCC as "the first food fortification project of Haiti," after reviewing the Haïti Priorise nutrition paper. Shukan, as quoted by CCC, said a "study financed by the Canadian Embassy" had "identified food fortification, specifically wheat flour with iron, as one of the most efficient investments in Haiti's development." Lomborg's quoted remark adds that President Jovenel Moïse "agreed and committed to fulfilling that commitment in short order." I did not independently track RANFOSE's later coverage or results ⚠️. - **Electricity reform.** Moïse, at the 4 May 2017 National Palace briefing, "was especially enthused by" EDH reform, according to CCC. I did not track later utility-reform outcomes ⚠️. - **Immunization "by 2020," contraception, and the other health items** remain in the same "best buy" family as later CCC global work. See [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Best Things First|*Best Things First*]], [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - BjornLomborg on Tuberculosis as a Best Buy (2026-09-25)|TB (Sep 25)]] and [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - BjornLomborg on Chronic Disease Policies Saving 1.5 Million Lives (2026-02-12)|chronic disease (Feb 12)]]. I did not check Haiti-specific outcome data against the 2017 targets ⚠️. - **Climate and energy.** Carbon-pricing infrastructure is **#81** (brochure 1.3). New generation (coal, hydro, wind, solar, "solar reflective") ranks well below reforming EDH. That pairing — price or fix the existing system first, be sceptical of a renewables-share target — is consistent with Lomborg's later climate writing, but these are Haiti-specific costings, not a global climate model ⚠️. - **MINUSTAH / a national patrol force.** The mission's replacement is asked in the book blurb; the studied "national patrol force" landed at **#56** (brochure 1.9). I did not open the underlying paper or later security arrangements ⚠️. - **The $200 million subsidy / one-tenth-of-budget figure**, the 1% spending claim, and the 140 vs 150 / 250,000 vs 260,000 nutrition counts were not independently checked ⚠️. - **No DCSD connection.** The Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty episode concerns *The Skeptical Environmentalist* (2001) and does not apply to this book. ## Reception - **3–4 May 2017:** Findings document issued; Nobel laureate Vernon Smith and Lomborg briefed President **Jovenel Moïse** in a private meeting at the National Palace, then formally presented the results to the President, Prime Minister **Jack Guy Lafontant**, Senate President **Youri Latortue**, the finance, commerce and planning ministers, senior officials and donors (CCC news post, 4 May 2017; HuffPost also names Planning Minister Aviol Fleurant). Moïse "welcomed the findings." - **8 June 2017:** *The Economist*, "A possible future for Haiti." CCC later called it a "3-page Economist article." I did not get past the paywall ⚠️. - **6 July 2017:** Lomborg, "Top Priorities for Haiti," HuffPost — the most detailed public column I opened in full. It is the last of a HuffPost series; I did not re-open the earlier posts ⚠️. - **21 July 2017:** RANFOSE launch, with a public nod to the CCC study (see above). - **20 July 2018:** English paperback published, about fourteen months after the panel. ## Links to his X posts and later books - National predecessor: [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Bangladesh Priorities|*Bangladesh Priorities*]]. Same-year global volume: [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Prioritizing Development|*Prioritizing Development*]]. The "pick the best buys" frame is also that of [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/The Nobel Laureates' Guide to the Smartest Targets for the World 2016-2030|*The Nobel Laureates' Guide…*]] and [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Books/Best Things First|*Best Things First*]]. Next in this queue, if it is extended beyond the original lomborg.com list, are the later CCC country books *Rajasthan Priorities*, *Andhra Pradesh Priorities* and *Ghana Priorities*. - Nutrition and child health: [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - BjornLomborg on Agricultural R&D $5.5bn Saving 133 Million from Hunger (2026-05-17)|ag R&D and hunger (May 17)]], [[Authors/@BjornLomborg/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - BjornLomborg on Chronic Disease Policies Saving 1.5 Million Lives (2026-02-12)|chronic disease (Feb 12)]].