7.5.1 Appropriate Technology
Extract from an essay by
Michael Clifford, a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering at the University of Nottingham. Reproduced with permission.
Opinion is divided on the
best route to alleviate poverty, but it is clear that technology has a part to
play. Often, Western attempts to impose solutions on less developed countries
have failed for a variety of reasons. These include lack of training, poor
communication with those who will use the technology, lack of understanding of
the problem, suspicion on the part of the users and poor support – inability to
obtain spare parts for tractors for example. An alternative approach was
proposed by Schumacher. In his ground-breaking book, Small is Beautiful
(Schumacher, 1999), he suggested that the use of technology in any culture
should be appropriate to the needs and resources of the community it is
intended to serve.
The precise definition of
appropriate technology varies from author to author. One definition suggests
some general characteristics that tools and techniques must possess to be in
keeping with Appropriate Technology including that it should be low in capital
costs, use local materials wherever possible, create jobs, employing local
skills and labour, be small enough in scale to be affordable by a small group
of farmers, and can be understood, controlled and maintained by rural dwellers
with agricultural skills and non scientific technological education. The technology should bring people together to
work collectively and bring improvements to local communities, involve
decentralised renewable power resources and be flexible so that it can continue
to be used or adapted to fit changing circumstances. Finally, it should not
involve patents, royalties, consulting fees or import duties (Willoughby,
1990).
Schumacher described such
technology as vastly superior to technology of bygone ages but at the same time
much simpler, cheaper and freer than the super technologies of the rich. He
also called it “self help technology”, “democratic or people’s technology”, or
“intermediate technology” describing the concept as technology to which
everyone can gain admittance and which is not reserved to the rich and
powerful.
Schumacher’s vision has
been interpreted in many ways. Some advocates of developing world interests
have baulked at the idea that appropriate technology might mean denying people
the right to develop, and have seen the philosophy as a convenient device to
perpetuate the rich-poor divide, with some countries locked into an inferior second
division of low productivity and drudgery (Emmanuel, 1982). However, the
concept of appropriate
technology is more about
fostering a responsible attitude to the use of technology than restricting it
to a particular level (Black, 1991).
If technology is to be
used to help to alleviate poverty, it is vital that engineers work closely with
communities where the technology will be used rather than impose Western
solutions without a thorough understanding of the problem and the capabilities
of those using and maintaining any machinery. The appropriate technology
approach ensures a participatory process of consultation, discussion,
implementation and feedback, allowing maximum use to be made of inventiveness
and resourcefulness of village communities and outside engineers.
Clifford [see reference 15]