Rural Innovation and South-South Collaboration
My interest in rural innovation has been shaped by my experiences traveling to and working in rural areas. During my travel to various parts of Nepal and India in the last 14 years, I have been inspired by — and learned from — the ingenuity and resourcefulness of local communities.
Several stories demonstrate this, but one stands out. On my way to Palpa in western Nepal more than eight years ago, I encountered a local ginger farmer who had come up with interesting local technology to move up the production value chain.
Ginger farming is widely popular in the mid-hills of Nepal. However, most farmers struggle to sell anything other than fresh ginger. This is because machines that allow farmers to climb up the value chain are not readily available, either because the market access point is too far away and/or the devices are too expensive for a small-scale farmer to afford. As a result, 75% of traded ginger in Nepal is fresh ginger. However, even a little climb up the value chain (peeled ginger vs. fresh ginger) can substantially increase the price farmers earn for their produce.
This farmer I met was using a ginger peeler that used locally available materials (a metal frame + a metal drum with abrasive openings attached to a crank) that allowed a significant amount of ginger to be peeled.
This simple piece of technology costs no more than $50, compared to the $900+ cost of a professional-grade ginger peeler and washer.
This is just one example that highlights why local people should be encouraged and supported to design solutions to issues in their communities: they have unique insights/expertise to come up with practical solutions, and more importantly, they deserve the agency to dictate the future of the community they live in.
Bunker Roy, through his Barefoot College, and Prof. Anil Gupta, through his HoneyBee Network, are doing fantastic work creating institutions to validate the talent and contributions of rural innovators. I have had the privilege of meeting them both and seeing their work first-hand; it is their inspiration – and my real-life exposure to grassroots innovators – that I have carried with me in my work helping foster rural innovation. See below for a sample of my work in this space, including experiments and consulting work.
Consultant to Oxfam Novib: Supporting the creation of Rural Hubs in Bangladesh in Pakistan
Experimenting with Innovation hubs in rural Nepal: Peace Innovation Lab, Rural Technology Lab
Prototyping Low-Cost Ginger Processor