Homegrown Technology – Affordable, Sustainable, Ingenious
I’ve mentioned the Kenyan based AfriGadget blog before, but I just can’t get enough of it. This week the tractor tire has the starring role. An old tractor tire can be turned into a handy bucket, a cattle salt lick, as well as a water trough for goats and sheep. These innovative ideas come from Maasai communities in Kitengela and Olerai, just north of Nairobi. Communities don’t always have the money to spend on more “modern” technology, but just as important is the fact that they don’t have to, when tractor tires work so well.
Another recent blog post introduces the fuel saving Sufuria. It’s a simple idea, designed to boil water and cook breakfast more efficiently. As many of you are aware, cooking fuel — be it gas, propane or charcoal, constitutes a major household expense in Africa. Charcoal is also particularly costly for the environment and a major player in deforestation throughout the continent. Hats off then to Dominic Wanjihia for this great invention. Hopefully his Sufuria will prove to be an instant success in the market place.
I wish more development projects used homegrown African solutions to everyday problems. If it breaks, it can be fixed using local parts and labor. And if a local person has come up with a good solution to a problem, it’s surely not so hard to convince the community of its benefits.
Image of a Tractor Tire Bucket – © AfriGadget
Homegrown Technology – Affordable, Sustainable, Ingenious originally appeared on About.com Africa Travel on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 17:27:22.
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Suggested Reading:
Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters: And on the Eastern Coast of Africa. Narrative of Five Years' Experience in (Cass Library of African Studies: Travels and Narratives)A useful guide to the state of the slave trade in 1850 and how the trade increased from then until 1873 when up to three times the amount of slaves were being traded. First published in 1873.
