Why appropriate technology

The Jungle Mamas program received iPads in order to assist the Achuar in communicating between their far-flung communities through video. The interactive nature of the iPads allows for the Achuar to film and edit videos on their own, without outside help other than introductory training sessions. Solar-powered chargers allow them to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. The iPads were originally intended to assist the creation of Jungle Mamas training videos to help spread the program to more distant communities who demanded its presence.

The iPads containing the videos would be exchanged on flights already being taking by indigenous elders and community leaders, creating no extra transportation cost. Given the threat of new oil development on their ancestral land, however, the Achuar enthusiastically adopted the iPads to communicate ideas and information about preventing oil development on their territory.

Since their remote communities do not have access to mail systems or the internet, the iPads have helped strengthen their national identity and cohesion as the Achuar people at an incredibly crucial time. The Achuar needed an environmentally friendly way to travel through their rainforest home, and decided that solar-powered canoes would be a good option. To build a solar-powered canoe, solar panels are installed on the roof of the canoe, with charging batteries stored inside the body of the canoe, which powers the motor noiselessly.

The Achuar live in a pristine, bio-diverse region of the Amazon, crisscrossed by rivers, so they do not have, need, or want roads. Solar-powered canoes help them travel to distant communities without damaging or disturbing their natural environment. The noiseless motor does not disrupt their sensitive ecosystem. Solar-powered canoes and boats have a great potential to be replicated around the world. Jungle Mamas also supported a solar-pumped water system for the Achuar community of Kurintsa.

The goal was to bring water to each family without complex plumbing systems, and they were able to do that using solar powered pumps attached to a spigot for each family. At the moment the water is not potable, but Jungle Mamas will educate the community on how to keep streams clean. They also have begun installing compostable toilets there as well, all as part of the clean water program. Oil development in the pristine Amazon rainforest is an example of a development project that is not appropriate technology.

While the ILO Convention requires informed, prior consent for any development projects on indigenous land, that is often not the case. Often, the indigenous people are informed when the project is already beginning, or are told false or misleading information. That in itself disqualifies it as appropriate technology. Another pillar of the movement is environmental soundness, which again disqualifies oil development in the Amazon. The designs are built relatively user friendly making it easier for the uneducated natives to use them.

They are tough, built to be able to handle very rough use and conditions. They are built to, hopefully, last for a very long time. The use of renewable energy sources is also encouraged. This can have significant positive benefits for the local and global environments. The use of renewable sources of energy, with the exception of sustainable supplies of wood, reduces the emission of carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide emissions, which occur when oil and coal are burnt, increases the Greenhouse Effect. An example of this is Karaba, a free-trade coffee co-op in Rwanda, which uses modified bicycles to carry hundreds of pounds of coffee beans for processing. It is clear that the developing world is heavily lacking in proper public sanitation and that solutions as sewerages W or alternatively small-scale treatment systems need to be provided. Ecological sanitation can be viewed as a three-step process dealing with human excreta: 1 Containment, 2 Sanitization W , 3 Recycling.

The objective is to protect human health and the environment while limiting the use of water in sanitation systems for hand and anal washing only and recycling nutrients to help reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers W in agriculture. Skilled, intensive gardening can support an adult from as little as 15 square meters of land [ verification needed ].

Some proven intensive, low-effort food-production systems include urban gardening indoors and outdoors. Indoor cultivation W may be set-up using hydroponics with Grow lights W , while outdoor cultivation may be done using permaculture , forest gardening , no-till farming , Do Nothing Farming W , etc. In order to better control the irrigation outdoors, special irrigation systems may be created as well although this increases costs, and may again open the door to cultivating non-indigenous plants; something which is best avoided.

One such system for the developing world is discussed here. Crop production tools are best kept simple reduces operating difficulty, cost, replacement difficulties and pollution, when compared to motorized equipment. Tools can include scythes , [29] animal-pulled plows W [30] although no-till farming should be preferred , [31] dibbers W , wheeled augers W [32] [33] for planting large trees , kirpis W , hoes W , Greenhouses are also sometimes included see Earthship Biotincture.

According to proponents, Appropriate Technologies can greatly reduce the labor required to prepare food, compared to traditional methods, while being much simpler and cheaper than the processing used in Western countries. This reflects E. Schumacher W 's concept of "intermediate technology," i. Key examples are:. According to the Global Health Council W , rather than the use of professionally schooled doctors, the training of villagers to remedy most maladies in towns in the developing world is most appropriate.

Note that many Appropriate Technologies benefit public health , in particular by providing sanitation and safe drinking water.

Refrigeration may also provide a health benefit. These are discussed in the following paragraphs. ICT4D refers to information and communication technologies for development, and examples include:.

Banks and government and NGO programs lend appropriate amounts of money i. In other systems, people for a Rotating Savings and Credit Association ROSCA to take turns in access to the combined pot of money - this depends on community trust and accountability. Variations are practiced in many societies. Finally, in certain communities usually isolated communities such as small islands or oases gift economies W can be effective due to the small community and the importance of social acceptance.

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Comment: The section Determining a sustainable approach needs to be simplified and reworded. The page is longer than it needs to be, and heavily based on Wikipedia.