Plan Mozambique's team has been discussing ICTs in their work using the distance learning packet that my colleague Mika (at Plan Finland) and I put together with lots of support from Hannah Beardon. This is part of our ICT4D research and training initiative in 8 countries (Senegal, Togo, Mali, Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda) that will conclude near the end of the year. Continue reading....
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Posts
New beginnings
2 months ago
I would like to know more about the irrigation pumps which are very cheap. Please could someone send me details?
ReplyDeleteMy email is pamela.mclean@dadamac.net
Thanking you in advance.
Sure Pamela - let me email my colleagues in Mozambique to see if they can provide some more details on this. thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteHi Pamela, I've got some info for you on the irrigation pump from my colleague:
ReplyDeleteThe money maker irrigation pump was created by a local NGO in Kenya called Approtech (this NGO has since become regional. They also have interesting solutions in the areas of peanut butter extraction; vegetable oil extraction, simple solutions to make blocks and bricks. They also have an office in Mozambique.
Please see:
http://kickstart.org/tech/technologies/micro-irrigation.html
http://www.approtechafrica.com/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=3&linkcategoryid=1&id=36&siteid=1
Box 1. ApproTEC’s MoneyMaker Irrigation Pump
The incomes of Kenya’s many small farmers could be hugely increased by irrigating their land, with as many as four crops per year possible instead of the usual one or two. Electric and petrol-driven pumps are available, but unfortunately few farmers have access to electricity while the smallest petrol pump costs over $400. ApproTEC examined this situation and realised that the introduction of a low cost manually operated irrigation pump could have a huge impact.
Starting with a pump which had been successfully promoted in India, ApproTEC substantially redesigned it to make it more suitable for Kenyan conditions. They developed a full set of mass production tooling and trained four local engineering workshop businesses to manufacture and sell it. With support from DFID, ApproTEC went on to establish a dealership network of over 25 private sector retailers. Priced at $70 each, over 2500 pumps were sold during the first eighteen months of promotion.
cheers, Linda
Has there been any attention to localization (L10n) in the methods discussed (and used) by Plan Mozambique, or is it assumed that all software and content in ICT4D will be in English, French or Portuguese? If L10n has not been considered, or even if so but the group is not sure how to proceed, the time would seem ever more opportune to connect ICT4D with emerging L10n efforts, such as the African Network for Localisation (ANLoc).
ReplyDeleteHi Don and apologies - I just saw your comment now. We're not quite at the point of working on our own localization, but that's a very good point and glad to know that the ANLoc exists. It's tricky given the range of languages in the countries where we work - I believe Cameroon alone hosts over 250 local languages, for example. I look forward to more and more languages being available, as well as tools and software that makes the ICT and web accessible to all.... thanks for your comment.
ReplyDelete