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Publications
Griffith University and the Department of the Environment, Sport & Territories, 1997
Jan Oliver
EDWORKS
Australia
This workshop explores questions about the application of appropriate technology to development proposals in the South. Many development programmes have been based on the conventional theory that large capital-based schemes will have a 'trickle down effect' on the rest of the economy and benefit all. Recently, the success of small-scale local programmes using available resources to benefit more people has forced a review of economic development projects. This workshop seeks to develop concepts and explore misconceptions about appropriate technology.
The workshop aims to increase participants' understanding of appropriate technology, the impacts of technology on the quality of life and why some technologies can be better than others. Specifically, the workshop promotes:
There are four main activities.
Participants brainstorm about the meaning of technology, and check their answers against a list of definitions. Small groups of participants examine a box of Time Capsules, with items representing various technologies. Then pairs attempt to convince each other of opposing views about 'appropriate technology' concepts before discussing the importance of technology for all.
A mini-lecture provides the basis for discussion using focus questions.
A series of case studies and a co-operative exercise to consider the implementation of projects using various levels of technology, and if such projects meet a set of given criteria about appropriate technology.
Participants evaluate a teaching activity based on a role-play game and suggest the suitability of the activity for their own situation.
Overhead Transparency Masters
OHT 1: Definitions of Technology
OHT 2: Concepts about Alternative Technology
OHT 3: Criteria for Assessing the Use of Appropriate Technology
Resources
Resource 1: The 'Limits to Growth' Perspective
Resource 2: Case Studies of Various Types of Technology
Resource 3: Matrix for Assessing Appropriate Technology
Resource 4: Teaching Activity: Suka-Hollus Game
Activity 1: Time Capsule Items
Each group requires a box or other appropriate container with some of the following items:
Courtenay, P. (1994) Geography and Development, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.
George, S. (1988) A Fate Worse than Debt, Penguin, Melbourne.
Kaplinsky, R. (1990) The Economies of Small, Appropriate Technology in a Changing World, IT Publications, London.
New Internationalist (especially June 1992, Development: A Guide to the Ruins).
Schumacher, E.E. (1974) Small is Beautiful, Sphere Books, London.
Stirling, L., (ed.) (1994) Global Issues, supplement to Interaction, 1(1).
Trainer, T (1994) What is Development?, Geographical Education, 7(2), 9-19.
World Bank (1993) World Development Report 1992, Oxford University Press, New York.
Mini-lecture
No widely accepted quantitative method for choosing between alternative technology development proposals has been developed. However, some criteria are recommended by UNEP (OHT 3).
A. Case Studies
B. Schemes in a Fishbowl
This is a co-operative exercise to consider how best to implement new, small scale developments.
This concluding activity asks participants to evaluate a teaching activity on the use of appropriate technology and suggest how it can be adapted to their areas of teaching.
Which definition matches your feelings about 'technology'?
UNEP criteria for appropriate technology include a preference for:
Source: This reading is a summary of two viewpoints: What is Development?, Geographical Education 7(2),1994, and Technology as a Trojan Horse, New Internationalist, June 1992.
Does Development Depend on Technology?
It is remarkable that the extensive literature on Third World development still shows little sign of having recognised that for resource and environmental reasons, as it is conventionally conceived, development is impossible. It is taken for granted that the goal for development is to rise to the industrialised-affluent-consumer lifestyles characteristic of the rich countries. Since the 1960s, however, a substantial 'limits to growth' literature has emerged, arguing that these lifestyles are unsustainable, indeed that they are the basic cause of the global resource and ecological predicament. For example, if the world's people were to have in 2060 the per capita energy consumption that rich countries average today, world energy supply would have to be ten times its present level. If all people were to aspire to the present rich world levels of GNP per person by 2060, then economic output would have to be 20 times what it is today quite implausible with global ecological resources already under severe stress today. It appears that it is impossible for all to have the living standards the few in rich countries have at present.
What is Appropriate Development?
Its focal concept is the highly economically and socially self-sufficient community, enabling most needs to be met by local people using local resources.
Central to this notion of local self-sufficiency is the permaculture concept of designing settlements to be permanent, low-input, and self maintaining ecological systems based mainly on complex tree plantings (providing food, materials, chemicals and medicines, and local industries).
Unfortunately, many who are critical of conventional development mistakenly see appropriate development in terms of the intermediate technologies and new trade arrangements that might make possible the achievement of development conceived in the same old terms, i.e. a highly industrialised, affluent, capital-intensive, technically sophisticated, high trade, high GNP way of life. Few benefit from this goal. The goal of appropriate development must be a state in which there are very low but adequate material living standards and levels of material production and consumption.
Satisfactory, appropriate development requires only a very modest level of technology and quantities of resources, including capital. Mostly what is needed are things like well-designed aquaculture ponds, dense forest-gardens, co-operatives, good water catchment design, poultry pens, earth-constructed dwellings, communal workshops, community working bees and committees, and good social and political arrangements for analysing problems and making decisions and resolving conflicts. If affluence is rejected, and the emphasis is put upon maximising local household and community self-sufficiency, then satisfactory material and cultural living standards can be achieved. Appropriate development is not based on receiving more money to buy more products. There are so many other factors involved in a high quality of life that have nothing to do with a cash economy. Many local communities just need better social procedures to organise regular community working parties and banks. It is unlikely that the 'trickle down effect' of developing vast commodity and manufacturing export industries in expanding urban areas will benefit the rural masses.
It is therefore of utmost importance to recognise that the development and technology evident in Western affluent countries only represents one of the many forms of development that are possible, and there are quite different forms towards which a nation might choose to develop.
We are racing at accelerating pace down a path towards a range of extremely serious global problems. Nothing will be more important in determining whether we manage to get off that path than recognition of the way conventional economic theory has warped our thinking about development.
Person-to-Person Versus Person-to-Things Relationships
There are two entirely different principles which can shape a society's image of itself. Either a person-to-person or a person-to-things relationship predominates. In the first case, events are examined in the light of their significance with regard to neighbours or relatives, ancestors or gods; whereas, in the second, all circumstances in the life of society are judged according to what they contribute to the acquisition and ownership of things. The use of technology is essential.
Following the Second World War, the Third World countries were perceived for the first time from a material-centred viewpoint. Everywhere one looked, societies were discovered with an appalling lack of useful objects. And the more the developed, materialistically-minded countries looked, the more that the primarily important ideas of relationships with neighbours, ancestors and gods more or less melted into thin air. The popular image was of the have-nots desperately battling for mere survival. Such a concept provided the basis for programmes of global good will. Tools of progress were regarded as guarantors of successful development. The more technology, the better. After all, technology is merely an extension of the simple tools used everywhere.
Technology was powerful too, but also neutral, entirely at the service of the user.
In reality, of course, a model of civilisation follows hot on the heels of modern technology. The introduction of technology in the Third World paved the way for a conquest of society from within. However innocent they appear to be, the products of the modern world only function as long as large parts of society behave according to plan. Both individual will and chance have to be suppressed in this model. Everything has to be co-ordinated and disciplined.
But in developing countries, things often don't work that way. In almost any developing country, you can find unused equipment, rusting machinery and factories working at half their capacity. For the 'technical development' needs many requirements to be fulfilled to set the interconnected systems whirring. This generally means dismantling traditional societies. No society can stay the same; there can be no use of technology without remodelling the whole.
Any technical device is much more than an aid; it is culturally potent. Technologies shape feelings and fashion world views; they leave traces everywhere. Even perceptions are changing: nature is viewed in mechanical terms; space is seen as geometrically homogenous, and time as linear. Technology cannot be laid aside like a simple tool. Technological civilisation has taken the place of the traditional aspirations and ideals.
Yet, the behind-the-scene manipulation of powers are ignored, out of sight. Effect and cause become separated. Technology as seen in a car is exciting, glamorous, and yet the prerequisites of making that car, and the effects it has on the environment, are far from view.
Today, the magic tools of progress dominate the imagination in many developing countries. But the construction of the underpinning systems has got stuck, and may never be completed due to the shortage of resources and environmental pressures. It is this rift between the newly-acquired ideal and the reality lagging behind that will shape the future of developing countries.
1. New Technology in Farming
High yielding varieties new seeds for crops such as rice, maize and wheat have been developed since the 1960s and considerably increase yields. The new seeds require artificial fertilizers and mature quickly, giving 2-3 crops a year. Many of these were developed during 'The Green Revolution'. A new grain, triticale, a cross between wheat and rye, has been genetically engineered and by 1990 was growing well under a variety of conditions in 32 countries. It is susceptible to disease, however, and has not always been accepted by farmers in Africa, who are used to growing traditional crops of wheat or millet.
2. Water Supplies
The Water for Health Organisation in Kenya provides water pumps, and women are trained in maintenance, management and sanitation. Women in the villages look after the daily running of the water supply, using simple trenches and pipes built by the community. Women are in charge of the operation as they are the ones traditionally spending hours every day fetching water (sometimes from 10 kms away).
3. The Narmada Valley Project, India
This project in central west India is one of the largest development projects in the world, and may take 100 years to complete. It involves constructing 3,200 dams, 30 of them major projects, with five producing 2,759 megawatts of electricity, and 19 will supply vast areas with irrigation water in an area of low annual rainfall. The World Bank lent India $450 million for the first two dams, though the total cost for the first stage is $2 billion. The first dam, Narmada Sagar, well-advanced by 1992, had no provision for rescuing native animals, and 40,000 hectares of prime teak and other forests have been drowned by rising waters. Eight communities and their villages have already been relocated, but only the farmers received any compensation some cash and 2 hectares of irrigated land per family. The tribal hunters and gatherers received no compensation. Over 1 million people will have to move eventually and 3,500 square kilometres of farm and grazing land will go under water. The environmental impact statements warned of increasing salinity and water-logging problems, and the area is geologically unstable, with 30 earthquakes since 1790. The Indian government states that 11.5 million local villagers will benefit from electricity and irrigation. There are no large consumers of the electricity. Afforestation projects have been started but with little consultation with the local communities. Local people are working on the dam project but their homes have been flooded. No detailed plans have been announced for improving the supplies of drinking water or for safeguarding the area against water-borne diseases.
4. Women's Mill
The Milebeda Grinding Mill in the Sudan is one of the few in the world run by women. Two hundred women are members of a co-operative which manages the mill and provides the operators, mechanics and clerks all women. The project started in 1993 as an income-generating project and to cut down the women's workloads. Previously, they had to either grind their sorghum and corn by hand, using the traditional stones, or walk kilometres to the next town to use a mill there. The mill uses a variety of bio-fuels or petrol, and now serves seven villages. To be able to organise and run the mill, the women had to be trained. So a literacy class was opened. Seeds from the mill are also given out to women for planting, and for every kilo of seed given out, 2 kilos of grain is returned after harvest as interest payment. Another proposed project is to open co-operative shops. In the first year, the men tried to take over the project, but with the training and feeling of community organisation, the mill has developed as a women's project.
5. Suka-Hollus Technique
In the Lake Titicaca area of Bolivia's upland plain, near La Paz, yields of millet and vegetable crops have been boosted 30% and potato yields have increased more than 200% due to the rediscovery and use of the ancient raised field or 'Suka-Hollus' method. The technique was used by ancient pre-Inca farmers but was lost for more than 1,000 years. In the late 1970s, archaeologists unearthed a series of raised platforms, which were small fields surrounded by canals. With support from Plan International and the Dutch government, fields have been rearranged into plots built on a foundation of large boulders which are then covered with a layer of impenetrable clay and several layers of pebbles topped with compost. Canals surround the fields, which irrigate in dry times and drain water away during heavy rains or floods. During the drought of 1982-83, farmers using Suka-Hollus had ample water. In floods three years later, the canals drained away the water. In addition, the water in the canals acts as a natural air-conditioner. During the day, the water is heated by the strong sunlight. As the temperature drops in the evening, mist forms over the canals, forming a protective blanket against the damaging frosts which can badly affect the potato crop. The farmers are provided with tools and new seeds, and the Suka-Hollus method is expanding to rehabilitate wetlands. For the first time in decades, the area is now self-sufficient in vegetables all year round.
6. Famine Relief
Several local methods of preventing famine as a result of drought in Ethiopia have been developed through the Institute of Agricultural Research. One is the breeding of multi-purpose cows. Farmers have traditionally only used draught oxen to pull their ploughs, but are now sold pairs of pregnant cows which are capable of both producing milk and calves to sell and pulling ploughs. Broad-bed cultivation reduces wind erosion and loss of seed by utilising a double plough. This consists of two traditional ploughs lashed together to make a triangle 1 metre across at the base. The farmer then ties on two metal wings to shape the seed bed and a chain that drags along the ground, smoothing the soil and covering seeds. The whole thing costs about $20 and can be assembled in a few minutes. Alternative methods of removing insect pests (rather than using chemical pesticides) are still being investigated. After years of drought, famine and civil strife, some villages are now self-sufficient in food.
7. Irrigation Pumps
Small 5hp irrigation pumps are being used in South Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. In the floods of the wet season, farmers can pump out excess water. In the dry, they tap into the abundant water table to irrigate crops. More rice, watermelons and corn are now grown. Another community closer to the sea has built a check dam to prevent salt water backing up into the canals used for irrigation in the dry season. Local farmers did the construction.
8. Defence Agreement
In January 1995, India and the United States reached a military agreement, and US companies pledged nearly $5 million in joint projects. In defence, US will help India develop its light combat aircraft, carry out joint exercises with the navy and airforce in the Indian Ocean, and slowly induce India's massive armed forces to change from Soviet and Russian armaments to the American weapons system. The US will thus effectively neutralise India as an independent regional military power. The India-US co-operation will involve telecommunications, power and health services and in time will include insurance and other service industries. Up to now, self-sufficiency programmes have not provided for the more privileged Indians, let alone the poor. For example, in the whole of India, there are only 7 million telephone lines, less than New York City. Waiting time for a new telephone can exceed ten years.
9. Huge Car Market
China is the largest potential market for cars. In 1987, a new Chinese-designed car was launched by the Number One Automobile Works in Changchung. The factory has specialised in 4-tonne Liberation trucks (the workhorses of China) and the immense Red Flag sedans, which are used by China's leaders. By 1995, production of the new car is expected to reach 150,000 , with 300,000 vehicles a year in the future. The cars will be used in taxi fleets, government offices and businesses. China also has a joint venture with Volkswagen to produce over 20,000 Santana cars a year. The development of new materials, fuel-saving devices, increasing use of robots in construction, and other innovations are causing numerous changes to other world car manufacturers, so that the Less Developed Countries have had problems in developing their own car industries.
10. Brick Making
In Botswana, government investigations found that the smaller the brick making facility, the more economic the cost of the bricks produced. However, the traditional methods of slop moulding (where the mixture of clay and water is ladled into wooden moulds, which are upended onto a smooth floor and left to dry for 10-30 days) resulted in numerous failures. A local non-government group introduced brick-presses, where the moulded clay mixture is pressed manually or with power. Pressing produces a more regular shaped brick and uses less water and cement to reinforce the brick and gives far higher production rates. Other attempts to set up joint ventures using continuous extrusion and modern kilns for firing, and individual entrepreneurs, have failed. Using cement-blocks or importing bricks is another expensive alternative. Any really successful innovations so far have been promoted by the non-government organisations.
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The Technique
In the Lake Titicaca area of Bolivia's upland plain, near La Paz, yields of millet and vegetable crops have been boosted 30% and potato yields have increased more than 200% due to the rediscovery and use of the ancient raised field or 'Suka-Hollus' method. The technique was used by ancient pre-Inca farmers but was lost for more than 1,000 years. In the late 1970s, archaeologists unearthed a series of raised platforms, which were small fields surrounded by canals. With support from Plan International and the Dutch government, fields have been rearranged into plots built on a foundation of large boulders which are then covered with a layer of impenetrable clay and several layers of pebbles topped with compost. Canals surround the fields, which irrigate in dry times and drain water away during heavy rains or floods. During the drought of 1982-83, farmers using Suka-Hollus had ample water. In floods three years later, the canals drained away the water. In addition, the water in the canals acts as a natural air-conditioner. During the day, the water is heated by the strong sunlight. As the temperature drops in the evening, mist forms over the canals, forming a protective blanket against the damaging frosts which can badly affect the potato crop. The farmers are provided with tools and new seeds, and the Suka-Hollus method is expanding to rehabilitate wetlands. For the first time in decades, the area is now self-sufficient in vegetables all year round.
The class is divided into three groups. Group A represents a pre-Inca farming group in Bolivia. Group B are to play the modern-times roles of various individuals attempting to improve farming techniques in modern Bolivia. Group C are individual villagers in modern times. The numbers of roles in each group can be altered to suit student numbers in a class.
Group A
The ancient village people of pre-Inca Bolivia who have built a series of stone platforms, lined with clay, surrounded by canals, and fed by mountain streams. Corn, potatoes and a type of cabbage are the major vegetable crops.
Head Villager Pero, hereditary leader of a village on the upland plateau, who can read ancient Inca script
Prince Ramman, land owner of all the land on the upland, benevolent
Kukus, stone mason, leader of the local craft group, landless but skilled
Lucas, his son and labourer, landless
High Priest Mulatee, religious leader, possessed of special powers
Chisto, peasant farm worker
Numant, peasant farm worker
Hulla, his wife, and mother of five living children
Resa, local merchant trader, can read simple Inca script, well-travelled
Group B
Modern day village on the uplands, faced with falling farm yields, a growing population, and some international aid funds from Plan International and the Dutch government to investigate and then implement an irrigation system.
Head Villager Ramos, elected leader of the village, educated to Year 3 high school
Helena, his wife, primary-educated, mother of three sons.
Father Frances, local Catholic priest
Paul Williams, aid worker from Plan International, trained social worker and with a farming background from Australia
Pieter van Dorn, agricultural economist from Holland
Betrand, construction engineer from La Paz
Luca, his labourer assistant
Susanna, widow of Pedro, a peasant farmer, uneducated
Luke, a peasant farmer, owns small plot
Dr Pedro da Suka, archaeologist from La Paz University
Anna Augusto, school teacher
Group C
Local villagers, farmers, shop-keepers, donkey drivers. These people need to be convinced that the Suka-Hollus technique, so recently discovered by da Suka, will work, and that the effort will mean more secure food supplies.
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