Haiti fighting cholera by recycling human waste into fertilizer

The Guardian describes a program being run by Soil (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) in Haiti, in which human waste is being collected and recycled "into fertile soil, simultaneously helping to fight cholera and deforestation, and revive food production." The newspaper notes, "Haiti is trying to fight what has exploded into the worst cholera epidemic in modern history, with 57 percent of global cholera cases last year concentrated on this tiny half-island." In addition to Soil's program, "[t]he Haitian government recently built several sewage treatment plants that process traditional pit latrine waste in open-air stabilization ponds. [The government] and sewage treatment companies such as Jedco are experimenting with the alchemy of transforming a potentially deadly substance into a rich and much-needed fertilizer," the Guardian writes (Doucet, 3/10).