people and technology: transforming lives

People and Technology: transforming lives

People and Technology: transforming livesPractical Action Group Strategy 2007-2012

2 Changing lives through inspiration and innovation


In the heady 1960s a small group of inspiredpeople led by EF Schumacher set up theIntermediate Technology Development Group, orPractical Action as it is now called, to help findappropriate solutions to poverty. Schumacherintroduced a simple, but at the same timerevolutionary idea – find out what people aredoing and help them to do it better. It seems soobvious now but at the time it really was out ofthe ordinary. Poor people in the third worldknowing what to do? Surely not. Don’t they needour help, our expertise, our ways of doing things?What Schumacher did was to challenge thesearrogant assumptions, to listen to those whosevoices would be drowned out by the rush towardsmodernity and materialism. Since then, thisorganisation has gone from strength to strength,pioneering technology development at anappropriate level, and working with poorcommunities in Africa, Asia and Latin America tooffer practical answers to their problems.

Another idea Schumacher developed 40 yearsago was also ahead of its time. He argued thatthe earth has finite resources. If we did notlook after the earth and develop within ourmeans then we would all be in peril. Thus wasborn the concept of sustainable development.If only the world had listened. Maybe if we hadwe would not be confronted today with everincreasing emissions of greenhouse gases; evermore unpredictable weather pattern s; evermore dire warnings of shrinking glaciers. Whileat the same time we witness ever greater levelsof inequalities in poverty and social injusticeacross the world.

Today it seems to me that the world is evenmore deeply divided and fragile than it was inSchumacher’s time. Schumacher saw a way toa world free of poverty and injustice wheretechnology works for all. This vision and thesevalues are as relevant today as they were 40years ago. But, while we reaffirm the valuesand principles which inspire the foundations of

our organisation, we also have to reach out tothe next generation of supporter. WhatPractical Action has to offer is of crucial andurgent importance.

Practical Action continues tirelessly to find abalance between the simple, traditional waysof doing things and the best of the modern.That is the wisdom for which all of us need tostrive if we are to achieve a truly sustainableworld, free from poverty and injustice, inwhich technology is used to the benefit of all.

HRH The Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB,Patron

This is an extract from HRH The Prince of Wales’s messageon Practical Action’s 40th Anniversary.

Changing lives through inspiration and innovation

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Where we work

“The new wheel is like a magic lamp which has changed our lives within months.” Selina Rani Pal

Selina’s ability to support her family was transformed when Practical Action trained her to use a different type of potter’swheel. Easier to use than the traditional Bangladesh wheel, it is also more culturally acceptable for women to use.

Where we work 5

United Kingdom

Ecuador

Sudan

Kenya

Zambia

ZimbabweMozambique

Sri Lanka

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India

Peru

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6 Our mission Technology matters 7


In the developed world it is easy to take for grantedthe technological advances that improve our lives.

In the developing world, there is little to takefor granted.

Poor people are excluded by cost, distance orlack of political clout from accessing essentialservices and the technologies that couldpromote their wellbeing, improve theirlivelihoods and help them cope with theimpact of climate change. Scientific researchand technological innovation are more attunedto the self-interest of rich and powerful elites,rather than public interest and conditions inthe developing world.

We want to change this.

In the right environment, technologicaladvance can be an effective lever out ofpoverty. That’s why our definition of technologyincludes not just gadgets, machinery orphysical infrastructure but ideas, skills and

services and the capacity to organise and useall of these in a way which helps the poor, too.

Poor people need access to new technologiessuitable to their circumstances, a choice oftechnologies and a say in what and howtechnologies are developed. We help themachieve this through adapting traditionaltechnologies, testing and introducing new onesand challenging the barriers that get in the way.

We and our partners work for a sustainablesociety which acknowledges that existingpatterns of resource consumption by richcountries are in themselves unsustainable andalso cannot ever be scaled up to the whole ofthe world's population.

Where we think that a change in technologycould harm the environment or people’s health,we will take action to control or prevent it. In ourprogrammes, we are committed to waste as littleas possible, recycle wherever we can andpromote renewable energies wherever possible.

Our mission Technology matters

To use technology to challenge poverty, working with poorpeople to:

• build their capabilities,

• improve their access to technical options and knowledge and

• help them influence the social, economic and institutionalsystems for innovation and use of technology.

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8 Practical technology in action

People and Technology: transforming livesPeople and Technology: transforming lives

Practical technology in action

From floating gardens and animal husbandry ...

... to renewable energy ... ... practical technology in action, changing lives.

... to flood protection, transport and food processing ...

Practical technology in action 9

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10 Determined to make a difference


Our ambition

We have gone from strength to strength as anorganisation. Following a period of rapid growthand organisational change, we are eager and readyto step up our ambition for the period to 2012. Overthe next five years we will make a difference:

• We will work with over three million poorwomen and men in 13 countries, usingtechnology to change people’s lives forthe better.

• Our work will help provide stablelivelihoods and food security, increaseincomes through enhanced productivityand interaction with markets, andimprove people’s lives through access tobasic services such as water andsanitation, energy, waste management,housing and transport.

• We will help poor communities adapt tothe impacts of climate change,developing models of excellence,sharing learning and ‘scaling up’ impact.All of our work will be ‘climate proofed’and we will reduce the carbon footprintof our own organisation.

• We will push for government and donorpolicies which benefit poor people andprovide more community control overthe technologies which affect people’slives. Working locally, nationally andinternationally, this work will delivergreater access to basic services, marketswhich work better for the poor, theintegration of principles of disasterpreparedness into planning and positionthe needs of poor communities at theheart of climate change agreements.

• Reaching out beyond our own projects wewill actively share our experience andknowledge and that of our partners so thatothers can benefit – multiplying theimpact of our work and touching the livesof millions more people. We’ll do this, forexample, by expanding our technicalenquiry service, publishing books andjournals through Practical ActionPublishing and by providing servicesthrough Practical Action Consulting.Through our work in schools in the UKwe will encourage young people tounderstand the interrelation betweentechnology and poverty, developing alifelong commitment to a sustainable

world in which technology is used to thebenefit of all.

• To finance this, we will grow our annualincome by 50% to £31m by 2012.

To achieve this ambition our programme workwill focus on five main areas:

• Coping with environment and conflict• Making markets work• Getting a decent service• Closing the new technology gap• Tackling climate change

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“During the monsoonseasons, I would stay upnights for fear that astorm will destroy myhouse and leave mehomeless. I don’t havethat fear anymore.”

Shakina, new owner offlood resistant house,Gaibanda, Bangladesh



Coping with environment and conflict

Shakhina lived with her husband, Moslem, andyoung daughter in a series of temporary houseson the sides of flood embankments inBangladesh. Before he was married Moslem hadlost his family home, land, cattle and crops inone night when floods destroyed his village.Moslem earned a subsistence wage throughagricultural labour work, often having to leavehis wife and child alone for weeks at a time.

All that changed when Shakhina was grantedownership of a new home in an innovative‘cluster village’ where housing and servicessuch as water and sanitation have all beenprotected from future floods. Although theyhave no farm land, Moslem and Shakhina arenow able to grow food for themselves and alittle extra for market. This is because they areusing new agricultural techniques which allowpreviously barren sand banks to be broughtinto cultivation in the dry season and floatingvegetable gardens to be used in the monsoon.Through the introduction of simple changes in technology for housing, services and foodproduction, Moslem and Shakhina have notonly regained a home, but also security overtheir livelihoods and food supply.

In Marasabit, Kenya, John Godana faced adifferent challenge. A gradual change in theclimate over the past few years has seendrought occurring more severely and morefrequently. John’s way of life as a pastoralist,relying entirely on the products of his livestockfor a livelihood, is now under threat. Ethnicconflict in the northern region of Kenya and agrowing population has made life even moredifficult by cutting off access to traditionalpastures and watering areas. Together withPractical Action, local communities haveworked to try to reverse this trend.

Communities with a record of hostility to oneanother have been brought together to work onthe construction of dams and boreholes,creating both new watering places and arationale for peace. Training has been providedon veterinary techniques to improve animalhealth. Further training has been provided todiversify sources of income to reduce relianceon cattle.

Now he has trained as a para-vet and beenprovided with a kit of equipment and drugs,John has found both a new livelihood and away in which he can help fellow pastoralists.

Poor people tend to live in unsafeenvironments susceptible to floods, landslidesand drought. Their situation is often madeworse by political marginalisation, inequitablepolicies, and unsustainable developmentplanning. People are particularly vulnerablewhen they lack the assets to protectthemselves or the options of alternativelivelihoods to enable them to cope withdisasters and recover afterwards. Each shockdrives them deeper into poverty and makes itless likely they will ever be able to recover.

Disasters are not always inevitable. Workingwith communities to identify their needs,Practical Action and its partners help peopleto manage the risks they face, adapt toenvironmental changes and have the resourcesand knowledge to build a more sustainableand secure future.

In the next five years we will have:

• Helped people living in fragile ruralenvironments in 10 countries to createsustainable livelihoods and achieve foodsecurity through innovative agriculturaltechniques and improved naturalresource management.

• Worked in at least 9 countries to helppoor communities, local governmentsand service providers to plan andprepare for potential risks, so that theycan better withstand man-made andnatural disasters.

• Worked nationally and internationally toadvocate for poor communities to have astronger voice in planning processes andpolicies, and to highlight how technologycan help people in fragile environmentsbetter protect their means of livelihoodfrom disasters, environmental changeand conflict.

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People and Technology: transforming livesPeople and Technology: transforming lives

Hibiscus, known in Sudan as karkadeh, is usedlargely in herbal teas and is one of Sudan’s majorexport crops. As growing conditions there areideal, it should be a reliable income earner.However, the price Sudanese karkadeh fetcheson export is falling, partly due to internationalcompetition, but also because of problems withfarmer efficiency, product quality and local taxregulations. Poor small scale producers, largelywomen, are particularly affected.

Practical Action is working with 40,000 smallscale hibiscus farmers in Darfur and Kordafanstates to change this. We’re introducingtechnologies for picking, drying and storing theflower to improve quality; building associationsof small growers to be able to better negotiateprices; and addressing weaknesses in themarket chain between producer and exporterwhere regulation or existing practice is causing problems.

People living in rural areas across thedeveloping world struggle to make a livingbecause the odds are stacked against them.They lack capital, receive little technical ormarketing support and often work in isolation.External factors such as customs, tax andother local and national regulations, along with the power and behaviour of other peoplein the market chain between producers andconsumers, can create barriers to small ruralproducers engaging profitably with national or export markets. The problems are evenworse for the most disadvantaged people orthose emerging from conflict, disaster oreconomic crises.

Practical Action works with marginalised ruralproducers to increase their productivity andincome, improve access to resources andinfrastructure, and to help them understandand influence the markets they operate in. We do this through training, introducing newtechnologies and building links with other rural businesses.


• Helped poor farmers, fishermen andlivestock producers in at least 11countries raise household incomes andbecome more resilient to changes in themarkets. We will achieve this by workingwith farmers to improve productivity,introduce better processingtechnologies, and organise for influenceand more effective interaction with localmarkets. In at least 4 countries we willprioritise people living in areas that areemerging from long term conflict,disaster or economic crises.

• Worked to influence appropriategovernment departments and othersinvolved to consider changes to subsidypolicies, regulatory bottlenecks andother policies or practices which putpoor people at a disadvantage whenengaging with market systems.

Making markets work


New technologies and ways of working introduced by Practical Action are enabling small-scalekarkadeh farmers in Sudan to earn a better income.


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In Dhading District in Nepal, transporting goodssuch as kerosene, fertiliser and rice to thevillage of Janagaun used to mean for villagerslike Pawan Dhakal a four-hour walk up a steepwinding trail with a 50kg load on their back.Taking cash crops down from the village to sellwas the same in reverse. But Practical Action hasnow worked with local communities to install anaerial ropeway, powered by gravity alone, whichdramatically cuts the time to just 90 seconds.Apart from the huge savings in time and effort,the damage that would normally occur toproducts like tomatoes during transport is nowmuch less and the value of Janagaun’s producehas increased.

In Kenya, informal, unplanned settlementswithout any formal water services are home tomore than 60 percent of Nairobi’s population.Residents rely on small water-sellingenterprises operating from kiosks, stand pipes,or bicycle deliveries, and are often charged veryhigh prices, especially when supplies are short.

One of the reasons for shortages is the hugeamount of leakage from the system, partlycaused by these informal enterprises illegallyconnecting to the mains pipes.

To help improve the quality of water and makethe supply cheaper and more reliable, aninnovative solution is being trialled. This wasdeveloped following research and negotiationsconducted by Practical Action over severalyears. The water company will provide acontrol meter chamber close to the informalsettlements. The small enterprises will becomerecognised entities, reducing the amount ofharassment they face from the water company.The kiosk owners are responsible for layingpipes into the settlement and are billed by the water company, providing an incentive for them to use better materials and reduce leakages.

Everyone’s a winner. The residents enjoy better access to more reliable and cheapwater. Some can run successful businessesthrough supplying water. And the watercompany receives more of the income forthe water it supplies.

In rural and urban settings throughout thedeveloping world, billions of poor people live in inadequate shelter, excluded from essentialservices most of us take for granted, such aswater and sanitation, transport and electricity.

As well as impacting on health and well being,access to basic services often has a knock-oneconomic effect. The opening of a road canmean better access to markets for farmers,while electricity can provide the energy sourceneeded to allow small businesses to start up,for example. Community managed servicesalso offer opportunities for poor people toimprove their income levels through beinginvolved in the provision of the service itself.


• Helped improve the accessibility, health,well being and productivity of poor ruralcommunities in 12 countries, through arange of services – such as better energysupplies (small scale hydroelectricity,bio gas, LPG supply, bio fuels, solarenergy and fuel efficient cookingstoves); improved transport (small feederroads, bridges and ropeways); safe waterand sanitation; housing; waste disposaland recycling.

• Assisted communities in urban slums in 9 countries to enjoy a better andhealthier living environment, and gainaccess to income earning opportunitiesthrough being involved in the provisionof services such as waste disposal andrecycling, water and sanitation and energy.

• Pressed nationally and internationally for the needs of poor people to beincluded in planning for services,and for smaller-scale, locally-managedservices to be supported by policymakers. For example, for small scalelocal power generation options forisolated rural communities to beincluded in national energy investmentplans; and for reconstruction agencies to rebuild in more participatory waysfollowing disasters.

Getting a decent service


“Life is easier now. Manypeople from my villageare growing and sellingvegetables that can betransported using theropeway and then sold in Kathmandu. Mycommunity therefore hasmore money now.”

Pawan Dhakal, Nepal

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One of our projects in Peru uses podcasting to get important agricultural information toremote farmers.

Programmes covering subjects such as cattle-raising, dairy production and grape growing aresent twice a month to eight telecentres, manyof them run on solar power, where they areautomatically downloaded onto CDs fordistribution and rebroadcast on local radiostations. Farmers listen to the information they need in their own dialects.

New technologies such as information andcommunication technology, biotechnology andnanotechnology have the power to transformour lives. But scientific and technologicalresearch is dominated by the demands of richconsumers rather than the needs of the poor.

We need to change this so that all forms oftechnology, old and new, work in harmony to combat poverty.

We work with poor people to enhance theirknowledge of new technologies so that theycan better assess the opportunities and threatsto their livelihoods.

In Zimbabwe, for example, Practical Actionhas brought scientists involved in thedevelopment of new types of water filter using nanotechnology together with two poorcommunities to discuss the potential for usingsuch technology to provide clean drinkingwater. The event was also an opportunity forthe scientists to understand what typical ruralcommunities expectations would be in relationto the cost, operation and benefits from this technology.


• Helped develop ways in which the rural poor people in three countries can access modern informationcommunications technology.

• Worked in those countries on ways to create interaction between poorcommunities and scientists, so that therisks and opportunities posed to poorpeople by new technologies can bebetter understood and acted on.

• Promoted nationally and internationallymore dialogue between scientists,communities, governments and othersinvolved in development to understandhow innovation in science-ledtechnology can better address humanneeds rather than just market wants.

Closing the new technology gap


Podcasts containing important agricultural information are broadcast from rural radio stations. Farmers in the Peruvian Andean highlands have been trained to use camcorders so they canshare the knowledge more widely.

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Determined to make a difference 2120 Determined to make a difference

People and Technology: transforming lives People and Technology: transforming livesPeople and Technology: transforming lives

Climate change is no longer just a threat, it is a reality. It is already affecting many people allover the world, including those whom PracticalAction works with.

The impact of climate change is one of thegreatest injustices of our time. The world’spoorest people have contributed least to ourchanging climate yet they are hardest hit bythe devastating effects.

Efforts to tackle poverty are being underminedby climate change. A change in rainfall patterncan mean that farmers’ crops fail to matureand communities go hungry. Increasinglysevere floods and storms are devastatingfamilies’ homes and livelihoods year after year.Poor communities who are already strugglingwith the burden of poverty have to cope withmore frequent extreme weather events.According to the World Health Organisation, an extra five million serious illnesses and150,000 deaths globally each year are causedby climate change.

Around the world, Practical Action is workingtogether with people to help them adapt to theeffects of climate change. In Gwanda, a semi-arid area in western Zimbabwe, for example,

we have worked with rural people to developmethods for capturing scarce rain. Byconstructing ridges of soil along the contoursof fields, rainfall is held back from running offthe hard-baked soils too quickly, so that cropshave enough water to grow. Even when rainfall levels are low, families can harvestenough food.

Tackling climate change

Over the coming five years Practical Action will:

• Run a programme of work which helpspoor people adapt to the effects ofclimate change and allows us to developmodels of excellence in adaptation.

• Ensure all of our project work is ‘climateproofed’. And through the experiencegained in our own programme work, useour experience and knowledge toinfluence others to ensure alldevelopment work is ‘climate proofed’.

• Persuade decision makers to adopturgently more ambitious targets to prevent future catastrophic climatechange and give more support to helppoor women and men adapt.

• Reduce the carbon footprint of our own organisation.In Gwanda, Zimbabwe

Practical Action works withrural people to make bestuse of scarce rainwater. S

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22 Pressing for change


Leading the debate

We continually learn with and from the poorpeople and partner organisations we work with.We aim to punch above our weight and seek tostimulate ideas and drive debate. We will belevering the experience of our offices andpartners around the world to lead a public policydebate on the role technology plays in povertyeradication and what needs to be in place toensure technology innovation occurs in a waywhich is pro-poor.

Sharing our expertise

We also share project experience within andbetween countries so that others can benefitfrom the sustainable technologies we knowcan have a significant impact on poverty. Thisdissemination of best practice and technicalknowledge extends beyond our programmeactivities and will play an increasinglyimportant role over the coming years.

Our technical enquiry service, PracticalAnswers, will respond to at least 4,000requests a year for information and guidanceon a wide range of technical issues. And weaim for our technical briefs to be downloaded

from our website at least a quarter of a milliontimes a year.

Practical Action Consulting will offer aconsulting service to produce a ripple ofimpact way beyond our programme andcountry boundaries. Its mission will be totake best practice and innovation from our own work and embed it in the work of otherorganisations in other places.

Working with authors and developmentagencies, Practical Action Publishing willpublish books, journals and newsletters,bringing together a wide range of differentexperience on and around the subject oftechnology and development. It will increasethe proportion of material available in digitalform and will make more of its materialaffordable and accessible to developingcountry practitioners.

By influencing education policy makers andteachers and providing a range of learningmaterials, we will encourage young people tounderstand technology and poverty and developa lifelong commitment to the world’s poor.

Poor people taking control

Poverty eradication requires a fundamentalshift in national and international policymaking and technological development. But it also requires poor people to have a more powerful say in what happens to them.

All our programme work will have twin aims –to achieve practical, appropriate andsustainable answers to the problems poorpeople face daily in their struggle to survive;and to put poor people in the driving seat.

We will help poor communities develop theconfidence and capacity to be more involvedin the decisions that affect them. A lack offormal education, single-minded focus onsheer day-to-day survival, and a belief that bigdecisions can only be made by governments orothers too often conspire to hold poor peopleback from demanding their rights and seeingwhat they can achieve together.

So, for instance, we will call for theparticipation of poor people in planningprocesses that affect slum dwellers in towns in Kenya, Uganda, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan,

Bolivia and Peru. And we will promotenationally and internationally the concept of community management of decentralisedbasic services such as water and energysupplies, waste collection and disposal.

Conclusion

The world needs to change. We believe thattechnology has a role to play in reducingpoverty. But the challenge is great and urgent,as expressed so eloquently by our founder, EF Schumacher:

“And what is my case? Simply thatour most important task is to get offour present collision course. Andwho is there to tackle such a task?I think every one of us, whether oldor young, powerful or powerless, richor poor, influential or uninfluential.To talk about the future is useful onlyif it leads to action now.”

Pressing for change

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Registered officeThe Schumacher Centre for Technology andDevelopment, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby,Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ, UK

Website www.practicalaction.org

Telephone00 44 (0)1926 634400

Company Reg. No. 871954, England Reg. Charity No. 247257 VAT No. 880 9924 76

All our stories are true but names may have been changed to protect the identity of individuals.

Practical Action is the working name of Intermediate Technology Development Group Ltd

Patron HRH The Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB

front cover photoGeorgina Cranston The Namurupth Bio Aloe Women’s Group display the soap they have learnt to produceusing simple technology. With Practical Action’s help, they have been trained in eachstep of the process. The group sell the soap in the local market, generating new income.

Printed using an environmental waterless offset process on Revive Silk 75% recycledunbleached post-consumer waste.

Published June 2007

Practical Action officesUK Head [email protected]

Bangladesh [email protected]

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Our approach is simple.Find out what people are doing and help them do it better.

people and technology: transforming lives

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