Full Belly Project: Open Source Appropriate Technology

“The Full Belly Project 501(c)(3) is a non-profit organization that designs and delivers simple agricultural machines to people in developing countries around the world. This project teaches people how to build hand-operated machines with common materials. Our material of choice for sheller parts is concrete because it is inexpensive, widely available, easy to work with and has a very long service life. “

This organization has come a long way from the basic Universal Nut Sheller of Jock Brandis, and over the last three years, this organization remains committed to the idea that machines for sustainable agricultural development are within reach. I remember hearing of youth projects that potentially worked to solve a farm problem, but the efforts of these people were often curtailed by lack of finances. I am very excited that this group is planning to help increase the productivity of the nut shelling business and transform the communities where peanut shelling takes place.

With the introduction of every machine we estimate that it will help feed 1,000 people. Soon we hope to be distributing new technology that will double the capacity of the sheller and may help even more individuals.( Photo Credit: Full Belly Project) The Full Belly Project works on open source appropriate technology (OSAT) for developing countries. I hear open source and am piqued. So is Sustainablog, Agroblogger and (drum roll please!) a site for sharing on OSAT by Agricultural Innovations, Agricultural Innovations proudly hosts Project Permaculture, an online community dedicated to promoting and diffusing the technical details of innovative and sustainable practices in agriculture and natural resource management. The Full Belly Project project site has a few key points that make it hard to ignore and beg my queries. One is that I am at home with the navigability of the site and the welcoming format. hand-operated If you have ever lived in a developing country you know that there is hardly any money to buy a gallon of diesel to run a machine. This bespeaks the fact that most machines I grew up observing had a fuel tank somewhere that never got full, and you got sent on errands every other day that involved going to the petrol station for a jerry-can of diesel. inexpensive If you do not need to pay for this, it brings in more money. If you need to pay for it, I would love to know how much, relative to the income levels of the people in the village, this device costs, and whether there is any way to offset these costs through local rotating credit schemes. widely available How easily available is this device. Can I go to a hardware store and order it? Are there distributors willing to stock the product and keep the price low. I guess I have to ask these questions somewhere. How are people getting to know about it. Is there an indigenous radio station that it would be cheap to advertise the device or community meetings to introduce the product to the community? easy to work with I think that the bulk of the easy to work with category deals with language instructions, use by people with disabilities and who trains them. If I had a wish I would dream of a machine that did not involve flying in a team of experts to teach. I believe that the adaptability of the nut sheller is dependent on training of trainers and implementing a system where the trainers can receive remote education by extension. I think that asking these questions will go a long way towards defining ‘what it is that it is’ (the key) to sustainable agricultural development.

Lessons From Crocheting Women in Zimbabwe

I went to a very lively talk yesterday by Professor Mary Osirim, a Bryn Mawr sociology professor who capped a series of talks on women and the global economy. Naturally, I was piqued by her choice of topic, a report on a study that she conducted among women in Harare and Bulawayo, whose primary bread-winning activity is crocheting and knitting clothing and decorations. I thought her presentation style was pleasantly engaging and I truly think that she is a good spokesperson for the challenges that women face in coping with economic crisis and globalization. I share below a number of striking points that cut across the fabric immensely when it comes to women and their role in the global economy.

Women face the harshest conditions in the midst of ethnic conflicts, civil war and other upheavals that characterize much of sub-Saharan Africa, and indeed much of the developing world. Despite obvious crisis, the women show resilience and resistance in their inventiveness, entrepreneurship and strong commitment to their families. The study was conducted in the last decade of the twentieth century.

In order for the women to survive, they engage in micro-enterprise, using lifelong savings as start-up capital, and creative business development to start their trade for sale. A typical source of savings would be sale of a family asset or the proceeds from a retrenchment plan from a workplace. Inevitably, many of the women seek assistance from their families and their husbands are key players in the initial phases of the business.

After the initial idea, many of these women pay for space in a visible section of the town, where they can attract high end consumers to their wares. The city council collects a fee from these hawkers to have part of the ground outside the town hall, for example. They do not get any protection from the weather though, nor are there sanitation facilities specifically for them. The women take their trade seriously and pick attractive colors and designs for comparative advantage over their competitors. In the latter years of the study, these women moved from crocheting to selling batiks and soapstone carvings. These women represent a growing population of migrant workers to South Africa as many of them traverse the border to expand their home market.

Globalization had a significant impact in sub-Saharan Africa, and in late 1990, Zimbabwe’s decision to implement a Structural Adjustment Program saw the laying off of thousands of public sector employees. The removal of price controls from basic goods saw the skyrocketing of the cost of living in the country. The state pushed micro-enterprise as the alternative to unemployment and the coupled effect of intensive competition and the increased price of commodities caused a surge i n competition among the crocheting women of Zimbabwe. One wonders how these women still cope amid such desperate conditions.

Osirim’s talk offered that the women employed

• Innovation and diversification of sales
• Rotating weekly or monthly credit schemes in the absence of bank loans.
• Involvement in cross-border trading as mentioned above.

Overall, the talk emphasised the fact that the women demonstrate a high level of commitment to the firm. The women harboured serious aspirations and wanted to expand their business. As dynamic innovators, they contributed significantly to the community. Despite setbacks such as competition and inflation; working in a hostile environment and no certain hope, these women exemplify what this blogger hopes to learn along the journey.

Professor Osirim has many publications in these areas and is currently working on three books: Enterprising Women: Identity, Entrepreneurship and Civil Society in Urban Zimbabwe, African Voices on Gender Research and Activism in Africa, co-edited with Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Josephine Beoku-Betts and Wairimu Njambi, and Global Philadelphia: Immigrant Communities, Old and New, co-edited with Ayumi Takenaka.

Standing with VT

Who would have ever imagined that as we go to class, field and laboratory; and struggle with papers and projects, that college students such as ourselves could have lost their lives so senselessly to a lone gunman who lived and studied among their midst.

I do not care who you are, this is real people. Among those who died were students and faculty from all over the world, including a Peruvian national swimmer, a young woman whose family had just emerged last year from the crisis in Beirut and a professor who survived the Holocaust only to lose his life on the day of national Holocaust memorial. Their stories are shared on Facebook and on all the stations and papers in countries all over the world. They are from every part of the world, representing a diverse range of interests.

Web presence by campus students in the United States is a powerful force. Let us use this time to show our support for our fellow college students and their families. Let us urge our colleges and universities to instill extra vigilance in the communities we work and live in. We have the power to surround this terrible tragedy with support for more stringent gun-control.

You have probably seen the stories all over the news, and may know of boards where students are congregating to share information.Host a discussion in your dorm and your campus and reach out to friends and colleagues. Stop focusing on petty issues, because you are meant to do more than focus on trivia. If you are not registered to vote, make the time to do so today. You have a voice to change the way your representatives vote, because without this college population, the vote is not truly representative.

V.T you will not cry alone. We stand with you too.

La Femme Afrique shows topical insights from an African woman living in the United States. Africa content includes the arts, writing, food and people.

ONE and (RED) campaigns

As an introduction, you and I should explore the history of the causes that share the twin goal to fund HIV/AIDS affected communities in Africa. ONE aims at addressing the causes of AIDS, Poverty and Aid. See the issues here.I was intrduced to the one campaign by this kid. Shuqran(Thanks) for that intro.

Here is what the ONE Campaign does
Why ONE percent?

Americans have always been a generous people – just look at the outpouring of support for the victims of the tsunami. Yet, most Americans would be surprised to learn that less than ONE percent of the federal budget is currently marked for fighting AIDS and poverty around the world. Surveys show people think it is over 15%.

ONE percent of the U.S. budget is approximately $25 billion, and redirecting that much more money will take time. Directed to honest governments, private charities and faith-based organizations, this support would provide the tools and resources they need to really make a difference.
What is 1% of your salary?

By directing an additional ONE percent of the U.S. budget toward providing the most basic needs – and fighting the corruption that wastes precious resources –we can help transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries. If the U.S. were to devote an additional ONE percent – one cent more for every dollar spent by the federal government–to helping the world’s poorest people help themselves, America would demonstrate a commitment to the Millennium Goals, an internationally agreed upon effort to halve global poverty by 2015.Imagine if you donated that 1% to someone who may never see it?

One percent is not merely a number on a balance sheet. One percent is the girl who gets to go to school, thanks to you. One percent is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine. One percent is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business. One percent is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a hole.No massive investments in elephant schemes here! Serikali, are you listening? This one percent is digging waterholes to provide clean water. One percent is a new partnership with Africa and the world’s poorest countries, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records.

With an additional ONE percent of our budget we can help prevent 10 million children from becoming AIDS orphans; We can help get 104 million children into grade school; We can help provide water to almost 900 million people around the globe; We can save almost 6.5 million children under 5 from dying of diseases that could be prevented with low-cost measures like vaccination or a well for clean water.

America gives less than one percent now. Were asking for an extra one percent to change the world, to transform millions of lives–but not just that – to also transform the way the world sees us. One percent is national security, enlightened economic self interest, and a better safer world for us all.

As for the (RED) Campaign, shopping is a way that we can do something for this project. I suppose the best things in life are RED!
Let us think about the potential. Today is Black Friday and everybody I know from here to Texas was out buying something. Imagine if these items were RED products… and we were still donating these monies while we indulge our materialism…wouldn’t it make some kind of a change. We are always making the appropriate noises about donating money to Africa, e.g poor NGO infrastructure and the list goes on.

Check out these items

I see (RED)!!!!

BOOK REVIEW Learning To Love Africa: My Journey To Harvard Business School and Back

Author: Monique Maddy
Year of Publication: 2004
Publisher: HarperCollins

This is a story about a unique woman, Monique Maddy, whose heritage, education, experiences and achievements to date are admirable and worth a second look. She leads the reader through a series of life events that call her to look within herself and try everything that she can to succeed. Her trip to the point of Harvard Business school is a witty account of her birth and early childhood in Liberia, English schooling and American collegiate exposure. my dear Uncle, an avid reader, encouraged me to read her story sometime, and I thank him dearly for his advice.

There is more to this lady than just her studies. She illustrates in lucid detail the sacrifices that her family made to ensure that she was a recipient of the best opportunities that life can afford. In her welcoming style, she pays homage to her late father, Emmanuel, whose vision for his children transcended the borders of Sierra Leone, where he was born, and Liberia, where he raised a family. Her story about her father is a doorway to the acumen and sterling business traditions of his ancestors. This insight is reinforced by the description of Ma Kema, Monique’s maternal grandmother who was a stoic example of the strength that people in rural Africa possess in the midst of upheavals and changing culture.

Monique was sent at the age of six to boarding school in England as there was no other British education available, to her father’s specification. Her feeling of alienation is tangible as she navigates the all-white system. Her family returns her and her brother to the fold after a few years, as the separation proves daunting for their normal life together.
Later, however, the same feelings of belonging to Africa prevail in her high school and college studies in the United States of America.

Monique provides us with a familiar backdrop to the developments in Liberia that led it to its present turmoil. Lacking the strong government needed to drive infrastructure development, Liberia arms itself with multinational investment in the form of companies such as LAMCO, a mining company with which her father works. LAMCO is the sole provider of school, hospital, road and job for many of the employees and residents of Yekepa, their small village. The small village echoes the growth of other company towns in Africa and other developing countries. However, tribalism mars co-operation in the village as the growing discontent between the indigenous people and the Americo-Liberian population.

However, by far the most significant role that Monique has played was as the initiator of the ACG Company, later named Adesemi, whose role in defining entrepreneurship in Africa leads the field of developing country investment initiatives in the late 1990s. Monique’s Harvard Business School experience came after five years’ experience in the lower ranks of the United Nations organization. Maddy, who had firmly believed in the development mandate of the organization, becomes disenchanted with its bureaucracy and results, thus she decided to return and obtain a Harvard MBA with her memories of the business needs of the developing world as her eventual emphasis.

Starting a business in Africa is not for the faint hearted. Monique Maddy marshaled some of Harvard’s most brilliant minds and watched them abandon the project midway for safaris. It was only after this mutiny that she linked up with Come Lague as her saving partner in the initiative. His enthusiasm for the project and his commitment spurred a longer commitment, renewed enthusiasm in Monique, and went on to be the beginning of their commitment to ACG and a lifelong friendship. While the project did not last, the lessons of its development from investment to local partnership did. The lessons continue to feature in classrooms at business schools over the world.

Of interest to sports afficionados is that Ms Maddy has actually trained and ran marathons. She trained with some of the great Kenyan runners of the last decade and even credits Paul Tergat, a Kenyan indoor athlete turned marathoner for inspiration.

This is a book not to be missed by any, whether or not you have ever been to Africa.