Concrete Block Producers in the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area: Sector Study

Nina Bernard wrote the study with two assistants to understand the actors and factors in block production and to inform Build Change's REZO initiative, a network of artisanal block producers and foremen trained by Build Change. The study uses a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach and describes Haitian block standards, the value chain, suppliers, categories of producers, final consumers and intermediate clients. It finds that industrial producers meet international construction standards while micro and small enterprises struggle to produce good blocks because of the equipment investment and technical skills required.

Quality control in these enterprises is weak or absent, workers have little technical skill, and customers choose lower prices over quality. The study also reports on the training of 30 foremen and a before-and-after knowledge test of 60 workers, and ends with recommendations for improving quality and growth of the enterprises.