The evolution of appropriate technology.
Naomi Antony
Assistant news editor, SciDev.Net
It’s day one of Tech4Dev 2012, and the question on everyone’s lips is - “What is an appropriate technology?”
I sat in on some fascinating presentations that aimed to answer this question by looking at water management technologies in India and Africa.
The one that provided the most food for thought was a talk by Ravinder Malik from the New Delhi branch of the International Water Management Institute.
Presenting research on the use of treadle pumps in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, Malik broke the question down and asked “Who are technologies appropriate for, the promoters or the users?”
Treadle pumps use body weight and leg muscles to lift water from a depth of up to eight metres for use in irrigation. They were introduced in Bangladesh to great success in 1985, boosting crop productivity and helping to lift…
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