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Success
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Innovative pits establish mangoes |
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Ideally, mangoes
require a good rainfall that is reliable for most of the year. But
even with poor rainfall they will survive and produce if they are
given the chance to establish on the ground. A farmer in Kenya has
found a way to get the trees established. A report from Charles
Mburu.
The Mwingi district, some 200 kilometers to the east
of the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi, has an annual
rainfall of between 200 and 500mm, but in four years out of ten
the rains could be less than 200mm. So the area is primarily used
to grow quick maturing varieties of millet, sorghum, cowpeas,
pigeon peas, dolichos lablab, and soybeans. Locally bred cattle,
goats, sheep and donkeys survive fairly well.
Mwingi is home to a mango farmer, Mr. Musili Buluu who spent most
of his life in the Kenyan capital City Nairobi engaged in horse
race gambling. In 1990, at the age of 65, he decided to leave the
city and begin farming.
Mr. Musili's land
is well drained and has sandy-clay-loam that is ordinarily
compacted and has the characteristic surface capping that is found
with soils of the semi arid lands of Kenya. He started by growing
traditional crops and tried fruit trees such as mango, citrus,
guava, loquat, etc. They all did poorly except mango, though
there were problems in establishing them.
Military service:
Musili Buluu began his working life in the army and served in
Somalia during the Second World War. His pecial duty was to
manage the military probation farm, which was irrigated with water
drawn from the Juba River. Working on the farm were two Italian
prisoners of war who had experience of growing trees in harsh
climates. Musili learnt from them and drew on this experience when
he moved to his own farm some 40years later. He tried the
technology. It worked very well. And now he is a proud owner of a
mango plantation of more than three hundred trees.
His initial
source of fruit tree seedlings was the Soil and Water Conservation
Programme tree nurs- eries of the Government of Kenya. But he
later established his own nursery and today he is an effective
supplier of mango seedlings to a lot of farmers some who are up to
60 kilometers away from his farm.
Planting
holes (the innovation):
Musili Buluu prepares small planting holes, which are dug about
one foot in diameter and one and a half feet in depth. They are
partly (three-quarters) refilled with very fine sand that is
available near his farm. The final top quarter is left for
trapping/keeping harvested or irrigation water. Mango seedlings
are planted in these planting pits/holes, and then watered at the
rate of two liters every second or third day for about two to
three months in the dry season until the seasonal rain falls. The
water application is stopped after the rain falls and the seedling
is left to survive on natural rainfall thereafter. To help the
seedling survive Musili makes water-harvesting micro-catch- ments
structures around the seedling to increase moisture availability
to the root zone. The common structures he uses are V-shaped or
semi-circular earth bunds.
The compact walls
of the pit serve as a water conservation container while the fine
sand acts as a sponge to retain water in the rooting zone when the
seedling establishes more roots.
Supplementary
water
supplies/
availability
Musili Buluu has introduced several other measures/supportive
innovations to ensure that his farm has a better water supply and
the seedlings are wellwatered. He has dug a shallow well into
the bed of an ephemeral/seasonal river about two kilometers
away from his farm. He uses four donkeys to collect this water for
irrigating his tree nursery and the transplanted seedlings. The
donkeys are also used to take his mangoes to the market.
To make the
digging of planting pits/hole easier Musili has improvised a steel
crow bar, 600mm (2ft.) long and 30mm (1.2 in.) in diameter.
To protect his
seedlings from termites, Musili mixes finely chopped Aloe vera
leaves with the fine sand that he partly feels the planting hole
with at the rate of one handful of chopped leaves for three holes.
Results:
Musili has been able to establish over 300 mango trees on his
farm, with half of them now mature. He harvests about 200 mango
fruits from each mature tree, which gives him some 30,000 fruit to
take to market each year.
He sells them all
in the local market at an average price of Ksh.lO, ($ 0.25). So
his annual income is about $ 3,750 per year.
Musili has received training from extension officers from the
Ministry ofAgriculture on grafting and now he does it himself at
his tree nursery. He has also been to other mango growing
districts to learn about other mango varieties and effective
production technologies. For example he has learnt how to change
undesirable mature mango varieties to desirable varieties by
top-working them.
Why farmer Innovator?
After the world summit on environment management that took place
at Rio-de-Janeiro in 1992, the Global
Convention to
Combat Desertification stipulated that promotion of land user
initiatives/innovations would help to reverse the process of
desertification. In 1998 Kenya began the Promoting of Farmer
Innovation (PFI) programme. The hope was that the land users, who
have techniques/innovations that work in food production and/or
environment management could be encouraged to help other land
users to improve food security, reverse land degradation and
desertification.
When a farmer has
been chosen for his innovation he/she helps to train other land
users to use that idea and at the same time to pick-up new ideas
from other land users and thereby broaden their use. Due to peer
influ- ence the farmer-to-farmer extension approach has been found
to work faster than in the case of conventional extension
(extension agent to farmer).
The PFI programme
has taken over 750 farmers to Mr. Musili's farm to learn about his
innovation, and about 500 of them, who live in a similar climatic
zone, have adopted the planting method and are growing mangoes.
Some of these
adopter farmers have tried larger pits made according to
recommendations from the depart-ment of agriculture extension. The
larger pits, two feet wide and two feet deep, have worked but
require more labour to make and more water for irrigation and do
not show any clear advantage over Musili's smaller hole. Water
availability is a major constraint and the smaller pit is the best
compromise.
All in all, mango
growing in Mwingi has become very popular. The farmers' next major
problem will be marketing and this is being addressed through
training. The verified inno- vator farmers of Mwingi district who
number over 50 have formed a co- operative that has been linked to
food processing industries in Thika town. One of the factories has
requested that the mango fruit be delivered in large loads of at
least four tonnes. Thika, the nearest industrial town to Mwingi,
is about 130 kilometers away. The Mwingi farmers need assistance
in setting up their own factory for processing mango jam and
juice. This would ease the transportation cost and create
employment around Mwingi.
Gender
consideration
Musili's wife of his first marriage died necessitating him to have
a second marriage with a much younger wife. He and his second wife
have four very young children under the age of eight. Since he is
now over 80 years of age he feels he doesn't have a lot of time
left to live with his new family. He therefore trains his wife in
everything he does so that she can take over from him when
necessity arises. In addition he has allocated a certain number of
known mango trees to each of his children for inheritance. The
remaining lot automatically belongs to his wife.
For more information contact
Charles N. Mburu: National Coordinator
: Promoting Farmer Innovation,
P.O. Box 1582, Nyeri
10100, Kenya.
E-mail:mburucnd@yahoo. com
Reproduced From Approriate Technology
( Volume 32 / issue 2(2005) pages 18-19
Website:www.appropriatetechonology.com |
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Cheaper filters to remove arsenic |
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Drinking water in
the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh is naturally
contaminated with arsenic. This means millions of people are
suffering from arsenic poisoning (arsenicosis). Matthew Waterkeyn,
Engineers WithoutBorders
(EWB), has recently been in India and Bangladesh to help design
low-cost filters for removing the arsenic. 
Chronic arsenicosis causes speckled
skin and leads to crusty wart-like appearances, known as keratosis.
he skin becomes brittle and risks cracking open and becoming
infected. There is growing evidence that arsenic effects the
development of infants, particularly in cases where the child is
also malnourished. The final stage of arsenic - cosis is
when cancers of the skin, lung and liver develop.
The problem arose when surface
water became more and more polluted from agriculture, industry and
water - borne diseases. Wells were dug to provide clean ground
water, but this source was contaminated by naturally occurring
arsenic.
Arsenic
mitigation
Arsenic poisoning is treatable in the early stages by
switching to clean water and eating a healthy diet. Recent hair
and nail tests have suggested that children, due to their faster
metabolism, absorb arsenic more readily. There are several options
for making water safe to drink:
-Filtering the water from the
shallow aquifer tube wells
-Filtering and disinfecting surface and hand-dug well water
-Establishing alternative sources of clean water
 In West Bengal, the Bengal Engineering
College (BEG) has favoured using Activated Alumina (AA), a white,
porous, granular mate-rial to absorb and filter out arsenic, but
it soon clogs up and has to be regener-ated. In Bangladesh,
granular ferrous hydroxide (GFH) is popular.
Unfortunately, iron is often found
with arsenic. It is not a health hazard but has an unpleasant
taste and forms a red precipitate on contact with air. Arsenic
on the other hand is tasteless, odourless and colourless and so it
is a common misinterpretation that iron is the source of the
poisoning. This means that iron iltration should be carried out
as well. Removing iron also helps to extend the life ofAA, since
the precipi- tated iron oxides clogs up the pores.
Domestic
filter
 Three variations of domestic filter, all using AA, have been
developed by BEG, and sponsored by UNICEF since 1999. The first
was made with a steel casing and used around three kg ofAA
(costing Rs.100/kg or &1.20), but the second reduced this to one
kg because it had a special porous candle (tripura), which
removes the iron prior to arsenic filtration. The candle is made
locally by baking clay, sand and rice husk in a mould then
leaving it to cure over a period of about twenty days. The second
filter was cheaper because it has a ferro cement casing, but this
makes it heavier - 35 kg. It is also necessary to backwash or blow
air
back through the candle to displace
the iron oxide sediment. This can be a health risk.
The third filter, developed in
September 2003 by S. Smithers and J. Arnold for BEG, has
fine-tuned the second design to make it cheaper, more user
friendly, durable and hygienically sound, while reducing the
overall weight by about five kg.
The
community filter
A community filter (AMAL) developed by BEC works on the same
principle as that of the domestic filter, but instead of a
tripura candle, the raw influent is sprayed onto the top of the
cylinder through a shower rose. This aeration process oxidises the
iron, which precip- itates out of solution, and then collects in
the pore-space of the AA. Once a day, the flow is reversed or
backwashed. This pushes the iron up and out into a sand filter
where it forms a sludge. The sludge that forms is peri- odically
scraped away and mixed with cement to make concrete slabs for
latrines. Monthly tests monitor arsenic levels and when they reach
the permis- sible limit of 0.05 mg/l, the AA is regenerated.
AMAL cost
about Rs 75,000 (&1000) and most are paid for by foreign aid. The
community pays the maintenance costs, with each family paying Rs
l0/month. A local committee, with at least three women
members, manages the filter and employs a care taker/plumber to
operate the pump during specified opening hours and carry out a
daily backwash. A health worker, usually a woman, spends a few
hours per week making home visits explaining the dangers of
arsenic and discussing other issues like nutrition and hygiene.
Modifications
The AMAL filter could remove iron
more efficiently if the water was better aerated by using a fine
shower rose and spraying the water over a wider area or from a
greater height. Using more AA and a porous membrane would filter
off more iron. The large cost of AMAL means installation is often
delayed. The domestic filter on the other hand can be obtained
immediately, but even they cost Rs. 450 which is nearly half the
monthly income for many families.
Public
awareness
Word of mouth is the main way for making people aware of the
problem. Health awareness campaigns use leaflets and dramas
to spread the message but as it is such a huge problem these programmes are strug- gling to make an impact. With millions of
people at risk, these campaigns are simply not happening fast
enough. It needs a progressive and repetitious learning programme.
Learning programmes can be set up by using Community Health Clubs
(CHCs). Family representatives attend these to discuss health
issues and learn about the arsenic problem, as well as other
matters that affect the family like AIDS. The CHCs should be as
much social clubs as they are educational with plenty of
interaction. In Zimbabwe, I have seen a brilliant example of how
community health clubs can improve the well-being of the
community. They have been established by an NGO called 'ZimAHEAD'
(Zimbabwe Applied Health Education And Development). The programme
was initially aimed at basic hygiene education, attended
predominantly by women, but now covers nutrition, AIDS awareness
and income-generating proj- ects that have made the health clubs
self-sustaining financially. The homes of each member are
spotlessly clean and orchards, herb and vegetable gardens have
been established.
Cheap
filter
In my study I proposed some designs that can filter arsenic
for under Rs. 80.00 (&1) when assembled in bulk. Small amounts
ofAA are used, but as the amount of arsenic that can be absorbed
is limited by the surface area of AA, regeneration will have to
take place more often. The next consideration is how fast and how
uniform the water flows through the AA - the flow rate has to be
slow enough to ensure that there is sufficient time for the
arsenic to be absorbed.
The new filter is similar to the third
domestic filter developed by BEC/LTNICEF, in that water is
poured into the top chamber, and flows through a bed of AA into
the bottom chamber.
The parts can be purchased in the
market for Rs. 70.00, and the AA costs Rs. 30.00. This puts the
filter above the aimed limit of Rs. 80; however, all the parts
were purchased individually, so if they were to be obtained in
bulk, the cost would be dramatically reduced. Water flow is slowed
by putting more AA or sand in the funnel.
Using a tripura type membrane to
remove the iron will prolong the life of the AA. This could be
done by mass- producing cheap thin disposable pots made with the
tripura mix. The raw water is poured into the pot before drip-
ping into the funnel. The pot is either replaced or cleaned once
it is clogged
up with iron. This use of the tripura
mix would be more practical on a domestic filter then on a
community rig since access is less of a problem. For filters
without this feature, the tripura pot can remove iron on its own
when suspended above a bucket.
A perforated splash plate placed
on top of the funnel or tripura pot will help to aerate the raw
water and removal of iron. A circular disk with a few holes
punched through it, cut from a sheet of stiff plastic is more than
adequate for the job.
Pipe
filter
 This design cuts the filter down to
the with AA and at both ends two plastic soft-drink bottles, with
holes cut in, are forced on. Fine gauze across the pipe ends keeps
the AA in place. Water flows down the pipe from the top bottle,
but there are problems with trapped air in the bottom bottle and
the partial vacuum created in the top. This can be overcome by
connecting the two bottles with a straw to reverse the airflow but
this punctures the gauze.
A better way is to force the water
through the AA by squeezing the top bottle, which on recovery,
sucks air back through the pipe. Additionally, as the air flows
back it oxidizes the iron and acts as an automatic back washing
mechanism. Another way is simply to use an open system, i.e. a
bucket/funnel attached to the top of the pipe, which is then
suspended over a lower bucket. If the flow is too rapid, a
valve/sand restriction can be fitted or the length of pipe
increased. The pipe filter and AA can cost less than Rs. 15.00.
Magic wand filter
This filter simply involves stirring a cage filled with AA in
a bucket of raw water. The cage should only be about half -full of
Ac\ so that water flows through the media quite freely.
Vigorous stirring creates bubbles in the water which helps to
remove iron. The oxidised iron settles on the bottom of the bucket
and the purified water is removed with a ladle from the surface.
The amount of arsenic removed from the
water is proportional to the contact time, so the volume of AA and
duration of stirring, determines the filter's effectiveness. A
card with a table comparing contact time with bucket size should
be made available with the filter.
The cost of making a cage which
holds 0.15kg of AA and the other components cost about Rs. 35.00.
If a suitable cage cannot be found, a vacuum moulded polymer cage
(with a screw on cap to access the AA) could be developed, and if
mass produced, may well prove to be a more economical alternative
to buying individual parts.
Personal
water container
Another simple idea is to everyone with a small bag of AA that can
be put into a bottle. After filling the bottle with contaminated
well water, it is then shaken for a few minutes, and then left to
settle, before decanting the purified water for drinking. A card
relating the contact time with the bottle size should be available
with the AA. The main problem with this design is the possibility
of ingesting AA, which will have absorbed some arsenic. A fine
mesh incorporated into the cap could minimize this risk, or
distributing the AA in sealed, loosely packed, fine mesh bags that
are put into the container. These precautions could make this form
of arsenic filtration the cheapest and most convenient way to
provide widespread arsenic free water. Preparation, sales,
regeneration and recycling
· This is an emergency programme and
a good communication network is needed. Community Health Clubs
are the best way to achieve this.
· A team of health advisors needs to be trained so that the health
clubs can be established quickly.
· Widespread media coverage should
urge people to attend the health clubs.
· The health clubs should train the
owners on how to use and maintain the filters.
· If possible, funding should be
provided for the manufacture of the filters, with recipients
paying small deposits on the container and the 'AA. When the AA
needs regenera- tion, they return to the healthzzclub and
receive part of their deposit back, the balance paying for regen-
eration. The idea of paying a deposit is very important, not
only for the maintenance of the filter, but also environmentally,
since the components won't be discarded if a clean water supply is
implemented.
· For this programme to be self
sustaining, the health advisor for the area could set-up health
clubs at several villages, with one village being a central
regeneration point.
· For spent AA regeneration to
compete economically, large ated at once, for example at a
community centre or local shops.
Long-term
developments
The long-term advantage of the arsenic
mitigation programme is the way the community becomes organised so
that if an alternative water supply does arrive the community is
capable of managing and maintaining it.
Low cost arsenic filtration is only an
interim stage in the mitigation process but it lays down the
foundations for a more sustainable programme.
More
information from Matthew Waterkeyn, 6 Roslyn Rd, Redland, Bristol
BS6 6NN, UK.
E-mail:
matthewwaterkeyn@hotmail.com
Bengal
Engineering College,
Shibpur, Howrah 711103, West Bengal, India. Web site:
www.becs.ac.in
Engineers
Without Borders, 29
Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2
leA, UK.Far: 01223 765625;
e-mail:enquiries@ewb-uk.org;
web site:http://www.ewb-uk,org
Africa AHEAD, 215 Lomugundi St.,vondale,
Harare, Zimbabwe.
Website:http:~www.
africaahead.com
Reproduced From Approriate Technology
( Volume 32 / issue 2(2005) pages 32-35
Website:www.appropriatetechonology.com |
SUSTAINING LIVELIHOODS
THROUGH WATERSHED INITIATIVES:
A success story from Hyderabad |
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Padmamma belongs to Raghavendra Nagar, a small village in
Mahaboob nagar district of Andhra Pradesh. She owns 4 acres of land
of which approximately 75% is left barren owing to the degraded
soil and depleted moisture conditions. With the land unproductive
and no alternative jobs available in the village she was
struggling to make both ends meet.
Hoping to get water she took loan after pledging her land
documents. But unfortunately due to depleting water tables in the
village the newly dug well remained dry. Desperate, she planned to
migrate to the city to seek livelihood.
It was during this time that Youth For Action (YFA) began their
activities in the village. During the community interaction soil
erosion was identified as the major factor for decreasing
productivity in the village. The village women now formed into
women sangams decided to take up water harvesting technique with
the help of YFA on a war footing. Check-darns, pit digging, minor
irrigation works, contourbunding, sharing of water resources by
the rich landlords with the poor etc. were taken up. Visible
results of these activities were seen within a year. The soil
erosion was arrested, water retention capacity of the soil
increased, and with higher input efficiency there was better
yield. According to Padmamma "when hitherto we were getting a
bag of ground nut, today we are able to reap 3 - 4 bags. The soil
and water conservation measure have had doubling and at times
tripling effects on yields".
From food crops, Padmamma shifted to cash crops because there was
more water in the well. To reduce cost and to improve productivity
bio-pesticides as well as vermiculture were introduced. She also
began to cultivate vegetables in the area hitherto left barren.
The village took up regeneration of fallow lands and social
forestry. The purpose of social forestry was to conserve both soil
and rain water and also to procure fodder, fruits, fuel and
bio-mass.
Increased cultivation and yields provided food security to
padmamma and her fellow villagers. From mere Jowar and millets
they began to consume pulses, rice and vegetables. The backyard
poultry also provided sufficient eggs for Padmamma's family.
Padmamma was able to repay the loan taken for digging the well and
recovered her land documents. She procured a sewing machine for
her daughter, motivated the second
daughter to be come health worker in the village. Padmamma is no
longer a women in despair; she is full of confidence, enthusiasm
and hope, having traveled a long journey from despondency to
optimism.
Contributed by Youth For Action (YFA)
Hyderabad Email:yfa@hdl.vsnl.net.in
Source: Catalyst. 1(2);
October 2000, Pp.4
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Water Mills in Nepal
Throughout the Himalayas, much of the
remote population uses water-powered mills on a seasonal basis
to grind wheat, corn, millet,
 and other grains into flour. It
is estimated that there are 25,000 water mills operating in
Nepal (referred to as ghattas), over 200,000 in India
(referred to as gharats or panchakis), and many more in the
mountainous regions of China, Pakistan, and Turkey. Each
traditional mill has a power output of 200 to 500 W.
Himalayan water mill technology is centuries old. It continues
to be built and maintained using local materials. Although
each mill is unique to some degree, all share fundamental
similarities. Water is diverted from a stream or river and
flows down a chute towards the mill's turbine. The vertical
shaft of the turbine runs up through the floor of the mill
house and turns a rectangular metal "key". The key
supports and turns the top stone of a pair of grinding stones.
There is also a lever extending from below the turbine into
the mill house that enables the mill owner to raise or lower
the top grinding stone as he sees fit. It can be raised up
high enough to spin very quickly without touching the bottom
grinding stone.
Much of these mountainous regions remain unelectrified despite
the interest in, and demand for, basic electricity. The aim is
to create an opportunity for an individual entrepreneur to
provide electricity to his immediate community by leveraging
part of his indigenous infrastructure: the water mill.
Electricity Generation
For most Himalayan homes, kerosene is the only available
source of light after sunset. Houses are rarely well
ventilated, and kerosene inhalation poses a real health
threat. New lighting technology can completely replace the use
of kerosene for lighting. Both Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)
and the more exotic white LED lights are available today in
the local market. There is enough power in the traditional
water mill to power these kinds of lighting systems as well as
other small household appliances or even small incandescent
lighting systems. Extending the mill's functionality to
include electricity generation also has the added benefit of
providing an entrepreneurial mill owner with an additional
source of income.
Battery Charging
Just as in developed countries, entrepreneurship can be an
excellent way to quickly introduce and disseminate technology
in developing nations. When engineering a product for the
individual entrepreneur in the Himalayan region, low cost
becomes the main criterion. For a mill owner, expensive
induction generators and transmission lines are simply out of
the question. A battery charger is a much more viable
solution. The mill owner bears the cost of the inexpensive
charging system, while the individual households bear the cost
of batteries, as they are able to do so. Even the more remote
and isolated homes are able to participate in this scheme, as
long as they are within walking distance of a mill. Although
issues of transportation and disposal remain, battery usage
seems the quickest and most economical path to bring basic
electrical lighting to the mountains.
Batteries simply can go where a transmission grid cannot.
Indeed, the precedent has already been established; villagers
in parts of eastern Nepal are currently carrying 12-V car
batteries into grid-connected towns for recharging. A
battery-charging extension to the mill could both alleviate
the need for these long trips and make such a strategy
available to other, more remote areas of the mountains.
The mill is also an ideal site for a battery-charger. During
much of the year, a steady stream of people arrive at their
local mill with grain and leave with flour, as has been done
for centuries. It will not be a dramatic change of routine for
rural villagers to bring their batteries to the mill as well.
They can have a battery charged and their grain ground in the
same trip. The battery charger extension can also be operated
during the unutilized time of the mill, which varies by
season. The availability of a battery-powered light also
allows the mill to operate at night, either for grinding or
battery charging.
An inexpensive battery charger can be made using a car
alternator, a bicycle rim, a belt, and a mill "key".
The key sits on the rotating turbine shaft and supports the
top grinding stone. By attaching a small square post to its
top, the turbine shaft can effectively be extended. The
bicycle rim has a square pipe welded to its axle that can be
slipped over the square post. The turbine thus drives the
bicycle rim, and the rim in turn drives the smaller alternator
pulley using the long car v-belt. With the top stone raised
up, the water mill's energy is not used for grinding, but for
powering the alternator.
A car alternator is an excellent choice for a battery charger
as it has been specifically engineered to provide a regulated
voltage ideal for recharging 12-V batteries. It can supply up
to 500 W of power, which is conveniently the maximum estimated
power output of most traditional water mills. Although the
alternator needs a fairly high rpm to generate electricity, it
can be run below car idle speeds. The bicycle rim and
alternator pulley provide enough of a ratio to allow the
alternator to produce power at water mill speeds (60-90 rpm).
Costs
For the rural regions of Nepal and surrounding countries,
the cost of an alternator may still seem prohibitively high.
Although it does account for much of the total cost (USS 50),
there is evidence that this is affordable. Nepal's Center for
Rural Technology has successfully launched a program to sell
higher efficiency mill turbines for approximately US$ 80 to
rural water mill owners. Over 600 new turbines have already
been purchased and installed; sales are currently averaging
over 250/year. There should be a considerable market for a
battery charger in a similar cost range.
The initial low cost of the battery charger is not the only
advantage of the simple design. With the device's removable
shaft, the mill owner can quickly switch between battery
charging and traditional grinding operation. With the bicycle
wheel removed, the mill looks and operates exactly as it
always has for centuries. The only permanent modification to
the mill itself is the addition of the small square post on
its key. This post does not interfere with grain being fed in
between the grinding stones, and is completely out of sight.
The most significant advantage to using an inexpensive mill
add-on to bring electricity to the mountains is sustainable
maintenance. The Himalayan water mill, however, has been built
and repaired locally by the mill owner and his family for
centuries. They are already the technical experts for most of
the battery charging system. The mill owner cannot repair the
electrical portion - the alternator, but any auto garage shop
in the country can repair it. All parts in the system come
from locally available, off-the-shelf components.
Renewable energy projects can be costly in developing parts of
the world. A considerable amount of time and capital is needed
to create local expertise and manufacture parts. The
technology infrastructure already exists in the Himalayan
region to support basic power generation. (
Courtesy: A study conducted by Nathan Eagle to engineer a way
to harness the rotational mill and transform a ghatta into a
community battery charging station. Further details on this
study are available at- http://www.nathaneagle.com/ghatta).
(Note: Winrock International India
(WII) has carried out a similar case study on "Water
mills in India" (refer Wll's REPSOVision Vol 12
newsletter). For details, please contact Dr. Koshy Cherail at
<winrock@vsnl.com>
(Source: Resource. 6; Oct. 2000, Pp.4 -5) |
Solar Basket Fund in India
Rural women are
interested in renewable energy technologies that improve
their quality of life, reduce their workload, and/or
provide them with opportunities to increase their income.
This does not necessarily mean, however, that women
 have
to work on energy project as technologies alone. Women
have had, and continue to have, various roles in RET
projects. Women have proven themselves capable of
undertaking projects when provided with appropriate
training and support.
Several houses in Pavur, a tribal village on the border of
the states of Karnataka and Kerala in India, are connected
to the grid but have no power! Their only source of
lighting is kerosene. The primary breadearners are women
who spend their late evening hours weaving baskets.
Don Bosco, a charitable institution in Karnataka, India,
approached Winrock India in 1998 for financial support to
provide lighting systems to this tribal village. Systems
were bought
and "loaned" to the tribals. Don Bosco then set
up a revolving fund whereby beneficiaries return payments
that are revolved and lent out again to other tribals who
need PV systems.
These solar lighting systems have proved to be a real boon
to these poor, uneducated, much-exploited tribals in many
ways. They have replaced the poor-quality kerosene
lighting systems, have given them more time to weave their
baskets, reduced their expenses (on lamps and kerosene),
thus increasing their incomes and savings for the month.
Maintenance costs are also met from the money collected.
- Income generation
:
The tribals who earn their living from basket making
have to go to the forest far away and spend the whole
day to collect raw material. But with the solar lights
they can now do some preparation work so that they can
weave their baskets early the next morning. They now
finish their work by early noon and then take them to
the market, which gives them half a day extra for other
work.
- Education of children
:
With the help of solar lights, after they return from
school, they play for a while and then do their home
work.
- Improvement of their
self image
:
These tribals were always looked down upon as the lowest
of castes. Now these people are the only ones with
lights in their houses. This, together with better
incomes and houses, enhances their self image. Now two
tribal young men are standing for the forthcoming
elections - for the Gram Panchayat and the Block
Panchayat.
Merchants buy baskets
from the village itself or in Majeshwar, the nearest small
town, or in Mangalore, the nearest city, depending on the
distance they have to walk and the time on hand. The
further they go, the better the rate. With the extra
income earned, new houses are being built and the rest is
used for better food, more decent clothing etc.
Don Bosco is now considering starting a cooperative for
them, managed by themselves. Their baskets will be
collected, they'll be given the standard price and then
the baskets will be transported to Mangalore or Bangalore
to get higher rates. The extra money earned will be
distributed to the basket weavers after deducting the
expenses incurred for transportation, etc.
( Don Bosco themselves
have installed a 2 kWp PVsystem at their Bangalore
institute and have been active in urban and rural
community development activities since 1979. For further
information, please contact: Fr Thomas Myladoor Sdb,
Email:
dbpvr@satyam.net.in)
(Source: Resource. 6; Oct 2000, Pp.6)
|
Biogas Plant Dissemination : Success story of Sirsi, India
By
P R Bhat, H N Chanakya and N H Ravindranath
Abstract: Dissemination
of alternative energy technologies such as biogas in various
parts of the world has rarely led to a success rate of 90%.
This study in Sirsi block, Karnataka, south India, revealed
that 43% of rural households (HH) had dung resources to
operate biogas plants and 65% of them had already built biogas
plants. I00% of the plants built were functioning
satisfactorily and 85% of HH with biogas plants met all their
cooking energy needs with biogas, improving the quality of
life of women. The presence of multiple agencies in the
dissemination network, participation of entrepreneurs
competing to assist households in all aspects of biogas plant
construction, commissioning, procuring subsidy, guaranteed
performance and free servicing contributed to the high rate of
success (of 100% of biogas plants being functional). Most
biogas plants built had excess plant capacity, with cost
implications. An observed shift in the design choice from mild
steel floating drum design to fibre reinforced plastic-based
floating drum design and then to a less expensive fired dome
model shows that rural households respond quickly to
technological developments. The paper discusses the roles of
various factors and their implications for future
dissemination programmes.
1. Introduction
India, like many other
developing countries, has a limited conventional energy supply
and is therefore forced to look for alternative and renewable
energy routes to foster its development programmes, especially
in rural India where more than 70% of the population lives.
Currently fuel-wood is the, dominant energy source for
cooking. Scarcity of fuelwood is very well recognised. Cooking
with fuel-wood and other solid biomass fuels is associated
with low efficiency of use in the traditional stoves, drudgery
in gathering the fuels, health hazards from smoke and
resultant low quality of life. Cooking accounts for 60% of the
overall energy and 80% of the non-commercial energy in rural
India. [Ravindranath and Chanakya, 1986; Ravindranath et al.,
1994; Ravindranath and Hall, 1995]. There has been a
realization of the need to provide clean gaseous fuel for
cooking to rural households to promote the quality of life.
Biogas is one of the environmentally sound options to provide
quality fuel in a sustainable way. Thus, the National
Programme on Biogas Development (NPBD) was launched with this
objective in 1982. At the time of its initiation, it was
envisaged that a majority of rural households could meet their
cooking energy requirements through the biogas route. This
then required disseminating and popularizing family-size
biogas plants(c. 2-4 m3 gas/day) which use bovine
dung as the major feedstock (generated by the family bovine
stock). Biogas programmes have been launched in over 50
countries, those in China and India being the largest. The
success levels achieved in many countries have been low owing
several technical and non-technical factors and there is a
perception that biogas dissemination programmes are largely a
failure.[BORDA, 1990; Ni and Nyns, 1995].
Today over 3 million biogas plants [MNES, 1999] have been
built against an estimated potential of between 12 and 17
million (based on bovine dung availability) [Ravindranath and
Hall, 1995; Khandelwal, 1990; MNES, 1999]. In the
dissemination programme, there is a wide variation in
performance levels between different regions in India. A
number of studies have examined the causes for failures in
different parts of India where 40-70% of plants disseminated
have found acceptance [Chand and Murthy, 1988; Moulik and
Mehta, 1991; Kalia and Kanwar, 1991; Ravindranath et al.,
1992].
The causes of failure (low dissemination rates and
performance) largely arise from factors that are [Chand and
Murthy, 1988; Moulik and Mehta, 1991; Kalia and Kanwar, 1991]:
- technology and skill related
- poor construction techniques or unsatisfactory technology,
inadequate maintenance and repairs;
- resource related
- inadequate attention to details about dung resource
availability and consequent gas insufficiency for meeting
cooking needs; or
- dissemination approach and policy related
- a target driven dissemination leading to plants built
faultily for poorly motivated families, who are unlikely to
use such biogas plants, and inadequate follow-up services.
There are only
a few instances of a very high level of success in
dissemination and functioning of biogas plants [Ravindranath
et al., 1992; Ravindranath and Hall, 1995]. One such case is
that found in Sirsi block of Uttara Kannada (UK) district of
Karnataka state in south India. The case of Sirsi was
discussed to a limited extent earlier [Ravindranath and Hall,
1995]. However, with additional data and a deeper analysis,
the present study attempts to examine factors that have led to
a high success rate of biogas plants. This study analyses the
field data gathered in 8 villages of Sirsi region in south
India to understand the factors contributing to the success of
the biogas programme. It is envisaged that this
"success" model could provide lessons to promote
biogas programmes in other regions.
Such a study is
important for the new non-dung biomass-based biogas plants now
being developed and disseminated [Chanakya et al., 1995;
Jagadish et al., 1997]. These new biomass biogas plants are
expected to overcome the problem of a limited dung supply. As
these new plants will enjoy the advantage of similar factors
for their successful dissemination, a study of the causes of
success will enable development and implementation of a more
successful: dissemination programme for the new generation
multi-feed biomass-based biogas plants.
2. Methods
This study was conducted in Sirsi block of
Karnataka state in south India, situated in the hilly Western
Ghat forest region, where the biogas programme has been
intensively implemented. Primary data on the number of biogas
plants built on a yearly basis was collected from the records
at the District Office, the KVIC regional office in Bangalore
and the State Planning Department. Small discrepancies (a few
months) were observed between the date of construction (stated
by the household), date of commissioning and the date entered
in the records. To overcome these discrepancies brought in by
accounting needs, the yearly construction rates are plotted as
moving averages (of 3 consecutive years). The study villages
were selected by the following procedure. From among the list
of the top 25 villages (i.e., largest number of biogas plants
installed), a total of 8 villages were selected on the basis
of accessibility (Figure 1, Table 1, data source Block
Development Office). In these villages out of a total of 250
biogas plants owning households (HH), 187 HH (plants built
before 1996) were chosen for detailed study. Information about
livestock ownership size, land-holding, family size, biogas
plant details and plant performance was collected, using a
questionnaire, by visiting all the 187 HH.
A more detailed physical
survey was carried out in three of the eight selected
villages. Data on the quantity of dung available (per family,
per bovine, per individual), the volume of gas produced daily,
etc., was obtained in the following manner. The biogas
production rates of these plants were determined by measuring
the rise of the gas holders (24-48 hours) and the volume of
gas produced daily was computed from this data (gas-holder
rise multiplied by cross-section area). The total quantity of
dung collected per bovine per day was determined by physically
weighing the dung collected in the stall for a 48-hour period
in each HH of these villages. Information on gas sufficiency,
etc., was obtained through an interview with the HH,
especially the women.
A total of 10 biogas
entrepreneurs (8 civil contractors, 2 gas-holder fabricators)
were interviewed to obtain primary data on the employment
generated, guarantees and maintenance back-up provided and
other services
rendered. Data on the number
and types of biogas plant built in the block, the
infrastructure available, the subsidy and administration
requirements, etc., was collected from the offices of the
Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Block Development Office (BDO), the
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and the areca
plantation growers' societies. Detailed personal interviews
were carried out with a few key actors in these organizations
associated with the programme during the rapid dissemination
phase (1983-1996).
3. Results
We have attempted to study the performance
of the dissemination programme and strategy, the extent of
potential tapped and the performance of the biogas plants
measured as ability to meet cooking energy needs and continued
trouble-free operation. The various factors contributing to
the observed level of dissemination and performance in terms
of feedstock resource, technology choice and its
appropriateness, etc., have also been examined for this study
area.
3.1 Dissemination, use and success
3.1.1. Biogas
technology dissemination in the region:
The large number of biogas plants built in Uttara Kannada (UK)
district, Sirsi block and the study villages (Tables 2 and 3)
by itself establishes their popularity in this region. The
biogas plants built in the Sirsi block account for 21% of the
total number of biogas plants built annually in the 11 blocks
of UK district. These annual rates of biogas plants built and
their total indicate a high level of dissemination among rural
HH of this region. UK district has 168,000 rural households
with a net dissemination of 108 plants/ 1000 HH built at a
rate of 8 plants/ 1000 HH/ year. Sirsi block has 15,000 HH
with a net dissemination of 248 plants/ 1000 HH disseminated
at an average of 20 plants/ 1000 HH/ yr. The study villages,
with 756 HH, have a dissemination level of 330 biogas plants/
1000 HH. A very high dissemination rate is seen at all levels
in the district of Uttara Kannada compared with the national
average of 24 biogas plants/ 1000 rural households.
3.1.2. Performance
of biogas plants: In
the 8 study villages, all the 187 biogas plants built were in
use and none of the biogas plants have been abandoned. This is
not the case in several other regions of India [Chand and
Murthy, 1988; Kandpal et al., 1991; Moulik and Mehta, 1991]
where the percentage of biogas plants operational is low. The
total extent of biogas plant dissemination as well as use
rates in the study villages are high (Figure 2, Table 2; 14
and 8 times higher than the national average of 24 plants/
1000 HH and 2.6 plants/ 1000 HH/ year, respectively). All
these suggest that biogas plants are popular and about 15 new
plants are built in the 8 study villages every year. This high
rate of dissemination began from 1984 and continues.
3.1.3.
Dissemination infrastructure and mode: There
are three biogas technology promoting institutions, the BDO,
the KVIC and growers' societies. There are two types of
financing institutions, the local banks and growers'
societies, that provide credit for installation of biogas
plants. The biogas plants are built by private entrepreneurs
who are normally civil contractors also trained to build
biogas plants. From the data gathered (Table 4) from the BDO
and KVIC it was found that Sirsi block and UK district have 15
and 60 trained builder-entrepreneurs, respectively, employing
1-3 biogas construction teams each. These teams comprise 1-2
masons and 2-4 skilled and 2-4 semi-skilled workers. It was
estimated that about 30 plants/year could be built per
builder-entrepreneurs with the existing manpower and
infrastructure (total 450 plants/year in Sirsi block). From
interviews with these builders, it was found that there was
scope for building biogas plants only for 6-8 months in a
year, because of heavy rains during the remaining months.
Results computed from interview data also show the same (Table
4).
3.1.4. Role, incentives and effectiveness of
dissemination: The biogas dissemination strategy adopted
in this region is similar to that followed in the rest of
India, with the following exceptions. In addition to the roles
in promotion, provision of credit and construction of various
actors mentioned above, the BDOs (who usually administer only
the subsidies) assign builders to households that have applied
for biogas plants. Most of the HH that have biogas plants had
individually filed applications for them, indicating a high
level of awareness and interest among users. There are usually
a greater number of applicants than targets assigned for
subsidy. The programme thus is largely demand-driven.
Once applicants are selected for subsidy, the entrepreneurs
help in reducing the time-lag between sanctioning and
construction. They facilitate the expediting of several
clearances and the sanction of subsidies. They often build
plants in spite of delays in release of finance from the
credit agencies, provide a six-month guarantee on the plants
built and a three-year warranty for repairs and maintenance
(free follow-up services). These factors as well as the
presence of an additional credit and promotional agency (the
growers' society) have led to creating sustained demand and
meeting such demand effectively.
3.2. Feedstock resource and biogas potential
tapped :
3.2.1 Insufficient
dung availability (cattle number) and/ or competitive uses for
dung have often resulted in the disseminated biogas plants
being quickly abandoned because of their inability to meet
cooking energy needs. We examined, village-wise, the
availability of dung resource for determining the feasible
level of dissemination and the extent to which the available
(I) potential is tapped, (2) dung is used for biogas
production and (3) gas is sufficient to meet the family's
cooking energy needs. 3.2.1. Extent of village-wise biogas
potential tapped Three of the 8 villages were studied
intensively to collect the above statistics ( Table 3).
Between 52 and 8295 of the HH with potential to use biogas
plants have already built biogas plants. Households are
considered to have biogas plant potential if they have at
least one bovine per capita. Further, the bovine:human ratio
is a measure of dung resource availability which for the
biogas-using HH is slightly <1, indicating that the dung
availability (about 5kg/ capita/ day) is nearly adequate to
meet the daily biogas requirement. The remaining 36% of
households with biogas potential, which still do not have a
biogas plant, may opt for biogas plants in the future.
3.2.2. The per capita
gas availability: Gas production
rates were measured for the biogas plants. It can be observed
from Figure 3 that biogas production in the majority of the HH
was over 200 litres (l)/capita/ day. On the other hand, over
85% of the HH reported that all their normal daily cooking
energy needs were met through biogas. Among the remaining, 11%
reported meeting 75% of cooking needs and only 4% indicated
<50% of energy needs met from biogas. The discrepancy
between the measured and reported values is attributed to a
daily gas requirement of less than the expected 175 1/ capita/
day arising from a higher cooking efficiency.
3.2.3. Gas
production, dung use and conversion efficiency
More than 40% of the total population in the study villages
currently depends on biogas plants for its daily cooking
energy needs (Table 3). Field observations revealed that all
the available dung is fed to biogas plants at an average of
nearly 5 kg dung/ capita/ day. This translates into a biogas
potential of <175 1 gas/ capita/ day. Yet gas sufficiency
is reported at the household level. This gas sufficiency can
be achieved only when (1) all available dung in the family is
used for biogas production and (2) there is high dung-to-gas
conversion efficiency (0.035m3/kg of fresh dung [Ravindranath
et al, 19941]. Field observations suggest that both these
factors are responsible for observed gas sufficiency.
3.3. Technology-related
factors:
Sustained use of biogas plants built in a
dissemination programme requires reliable designs (technology)
and their being built appropriately (according to the dung
resource and family size). We examine these factors in this
section.
3.3.1. Choice of
biogas plant designs :The floating
drum biogas plant designs have been the most popular (Figure
2) and less than 3% of the total number of biogas plants built
(before 1992) were of the fixed dome design. A few fixed cover
designs disseminated in the past failed because of poor
quality of work-manship and appear to be the possible reason
for their rejection in this area. All the three floating drum
designs, gas holders made using mild steel (MS), ferro-cement
(FC) and fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) were disseminated
initially. Over the years, the MS and FC versions were
gradually displaced by the FRP design. This demonstrates the
households' preference for FRP gas holders, which are least
affected by corrosion and require very little
post-installation maintenance. Once the biogas plants became
popular and the fixed dome plants were supported by sufficient
guarantees, the fixed dome design (Deenabandhu model)
gradually gained acceptance. The fixed dome plants cost about
60% as much as the floating drum models.
3.3.2. Cost of biogas plants: The actual cost of
biogas plants, the cost as approved by the Ministry of
Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) and the subsidy
component for the period 1993-95 are shown in Table 5. It can
be observed that HH spent 20 to 40% more than the MNES-approved
rates. The subsidy component increased with the size of the
biogas plants. It is interesting to note that the actual cost
to the HH (after deducting the subsidy) did not vary much
within the range of 3-6 m3/day capacity plants.
There was nearly a 30% increase in the cost of biogas plants
between 3 m3/day and 8 m3/day plants.
The cost of a 6 m3/day biogas plant is in the range
of Rs. 10,400 to Rs. 13,400 (1US$ =Rs. 45.5 at the time of
writing).
3.3.3. Plant size in relation to the number of
bovines and family size: It is possible to determine the
optimum size of a biogas plant, depending on the ownership of
bovines, assuming a dung yield of 5 kg/ animal/ day for this
region, a 35 days' retention time of dung in the biogas plant
and a gas yield of 0.035 m3/ kg dung. Determining
appropriate plant sizes for dissemination is based on similar
recommendations. When the average size of biogas plant built
for each level of bovine holding is examined (Figure 4), it
becomes clear that all plants have been built with an excess
capacity of 4 m3 gas/ day. Over 55% of these rural
families hold between 6 and 8 bovines/ HH and the optimum
plant size would be about 2 m3 gas/ day. However,
over 85% of the biogas plants built had been in the 6-8 m3
gas/day size range. Thus, the biogas plants built seem to be
of larger capacity than required.
4. Discussion
4.1. Higher dissemination rate:
The spread of biogas plants in Sirsi area is nearly 8 to 10
times as high as the national average of 24 plants/ 1000 HH.
All the biogas plants built are in use, meeting full cooking
energy needs of over 85% of plant-owning HH. It is interesting
to note that 75% of the geographic area of Uttara Kannada
district is under forests. Thus, even though there is no
fuelwood scarcity, the HH have spent Rs.10,000 to Rs. 14,000
for the biogas plant. This is a large investment when compared
with a rural schoolteacher's salary of Rs. 4,200 per month or
a daily wage rate of Rs. 80 to Rs. 100 per day during the peak
season. The potential reasons for the higher rate of
dissemination in the Sirsi region are presented here.
- Most farmers grow arecanut (a high-income perennial cash
crop) (74%) as well as rice in these villages, leading to
higher and assured income (no assessment
of income made during the study).
- Rural HH realize the need for gaseous fuel for cooking.
- Rural HH have no access to LPG.
- There has been intensive implementation of forest
conservation and afforestation programmes in the Western
Ghat forest region.
- The subsidy for biogas plants is higher for forest and
hilly districts than for plains areas, so as to conserve
forests.
- Intensive attempts have been made by the government
(Block Development Office) to disseminate biomass
conservation programmes such as biogas and improved
stoves.
- Sirsi area has a high literacy of 74%, compared with 56%
at Karnataka state level (according to the 1991 census).
- There is easy access to credit from multiple agencies.
- Co-operative credit and marketing societies and growers'
societies have provided finance to HH for biogas plants,
in addition to financing offered by commercial banks.
- Builder-entrepreneurs' livelihood is linked to income
generated from biogas plant construction activity. A
biogas entrepreneur (including team members), who built
about 30 biogas plants per year, could earn about Rs.
105,000 over a period of 6 to 7 months in a year (compared
with a schoolteacher's monthly salary of Rs. 4,200).
Further, the entrepreneur receives Rs. 500 per biogas
plant commissioned as incentive from the government.
- High-quality manure for arecanut orchards is obtained
from the slurry output of biogas plants.
4.2. High rate of success: The
performance of biogas is not intensively monitored by
independent agencies at the national level in India. The
success rate, of 100% of plants operating and meeting full
cooking energy needs of 85% of HHs, achieved in the Sirsi area
is the highest ever reported in India [Ravindranath
et al., 2000]. It is not easy to
attribute the success to any one or two specific reasons.
However, some of the features unique to Sirsi region, compared
with the programme in the rest of India, are presented here.
- Relatively large cattle holdings, which means more dung
and adequate biogas for meeting all cooking energy needs
of households.
- Guarantees and warranties (follow-up) offered by the
entrepreneurs, free of cost, ensuring high performance.
- Intermediate finance agencies, such as growers'
societies, through which the entrepreneurs operate, also
ensuring that any technical problems are rectified.
- Relatively high income (due to arecanut- and rice
farming) and high literacy rate, contributing to a
realization among rural HH of the need to shift to quality
fuels for cooking. This leads to not only creating a
demand for a biogas plant but also its successful
operation and maintenance, even though there is no
fuelwood scarcity in the region.
Thus, multiple reasons have contributed to
the success of the biogas programme. Elsewhere in India, the
absence of (1) proper screening for adequacy of dung resource
with HH and (2) reliable follow-up services have led to low
levels of performance and acceptance of the biogas programme
and of easy access to credit for it [Chand
and Murthy, 1988; Moulik and Mehta, 1991; Kalia and Kanwar,
1991; NCAER, 1989].
4.3. Biogas plant design and technological factors
The gradual increase in popularity of FRP-based floating drum
design (1984-1992) in spite of its higher first cost clearly
indicates the role of reliability as well as a dislike for
higher maintenance needs while choosing biogas plant designs.
Only when sufficiently proven has the lower-cost fixed dome
Deenabandhu model biogas plant been accepted. The lower cost
of the design has contributed to the increasing popularity of
the fixed dome model. HH tend to opt for a larger plant to
ensure that there is additional capacity or biogas production
for meeting their needs if a few guests have to be entertained
and for arecanut plantation workers (about 2 to 4), for whom
food is cooked for about 200 days per year. Feeding larger
capacity biogas plants well below the daily feed rates
required increases the biogas yield due to increased residence
time and surface area. However, there is a need to ensure
optimum size to save costs for the HH.
5. Conclnsions
Biogas technology dissemination has achieved a very high
level of success in this region of India (Uttara Kannada
district, Sirsi block), largely facilitated by the following:
- Realization among rural HH, in particular among women,
in this high-rainfall and highly-forested region of the
need for high-quality fuel for cooking.
- Efficient collection and use of cattle dung resource the
family, leading to gas sufficiency even at <5 kg bovine
dung availability/ capita/ day.
- A high stake for quality manure in agricultural
activities, particularly for areca orchards.
- Entrepreneurs' dependence on biogas plant construction
for a livelihood.
- A well-functioning dissemination network involving
multiple agencies - private enterprise, promoters,
catalysers and users' interest groups - with sufficient
for everyone involved.
- Adequate and quality follow-up services.
End-users have had larger plants built with full knowledge
of their excess capacity and higher cost. The high rate spread
of biogas plants in Sirsi, even though there is shortage of
fuelwood (with 80% of geographic area under forests), is a
clear indication of the awareness among households of the
importance of quality fuel for cooking for an improved quality
of life of women. The role played by entrepreneurs also
appears critical to the highest of success recorded for the
biogas programme in India. [Ravindranath
et al., 2000]. There is competition
among builders, encouraging good construction and regular
follow-up services. Entrepreneurs also assist HH in overcoming
procedural difficulties to obtain subsidy. The main policy
message for the large national programme biogas development is
to train a large number of entrepreneurs to provide
infrastructure support, enable sustainable livelihoods and
launch an awareness programme.
The awareness programme should also ensure that
"optimum" sizes of biogas plants are built.
( The authors can be contacted at: E-mail.-
ravi@ces.iisc.ernet.in
)
( Source: Energy for Sustainable Development. 5(1). Mar
2001. Pp.39-46)
Village Banks in Mali: A Successful Project
Of Self-Help Promotion
by Matthias Adler
The 11 million people of the Republic of Mali are among the
poorest in the world. Life expectancy is only 54 years, and
the infant mortality rate at 144 deaths per 1,000 live births
is correspondingly high. The average annual per capita income
is DM 530 (about US$ 250 ). The majority of the poor people
(86 per cent) live in rural areas, and the agricultural
sector, mainly cotton and rice growing, accounts for 47 per
cent of Mali's Gross Domestic Product.
The remote Dogon country in North-eastern Mali, one of the
three project regions, is also affected by great poverty.
Diseases due to poor hygiene are pandemic, and the level of
education is extremely low. The inhabitants, mostly
smallholders, live from onion and millet crops and livestock
breeding. As the region often suffers from drought and plagues
of locusts, the farmers' yields are scarcely enough to ensure
them a living.
Before the project got underway, the villagers had only two
options if they needed larger sums of money for purchases or
emergency spending, such as in cases of sickness. They could
turn only to traditional savings and loan associations, whose
credit volumes are usually limited, or to private
moneylenders, who charge usurious interest rates of up to 120
per cent. In addition, the modest amounts smallholders were
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