Bibliotheek TU Delft
" lil 111 11 111
Projects and Programs in the Field of Appropriate Technology
Report to the German Research Foundation
Willem Riedijk
2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands Tel. (0)15-783254
by order of:
Discipline Group Appropriate Technology and Development Cooperation
Delft University of Technology Kanaalweg 2b
2628 EB Delft, The Netherlands Tel. (0)15-783749
Cover: Smith apprentice producing rice knives
CIP-DATA KONINKLIJKE BIBLIOTHEEK, THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS ISBN 90-6275-516-X
Copyright © 1988 by Willem Riedijk
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means without written permission from Delft University Press, Delft,
The Netherlands.
1. Reponsability
1.1 The research plan 1.2 2. 3. 3.1 3.2 3.3
Approprlate technology at TUB
Development of a transcultural theory of appropriate technology
The usefulness of the development model of approprlate technology, an analysis
Traditional physicians and the production of her bal drugs in Sri Lanka
Traditional blacksmiths and the production of agricultural tools in Nimba County, Liberia Traditional miliers and water mills in Nepal
4. Transcultural comparison of the cases:
4.1 4.2 5. 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4
Application of the AT -development model
Introduction
The implementation of appropriate technologies
Appropriate technology and the Federal Republic of Germany
Introduction The results Closing remarks
Summary of the research in West-Germany
2 4 5 5 18 31 41 41 41 51 51 51 57 58
6.1 Summary of the criteria for implementation of appropriate technologies 6.2 Conclusions 7. Appendices 7.1 References 7.2 Annexes 7.3 Illustrations 60 61 63 63 68 lOl
1. Responsibility
1.1. The research plan
The methodology chosen for this subject has been laid down in the request of the technical university of Berlin (TUB) to german research foundation (DFG).
The research would be executed in three distinct steps:
Inventory of ongoing projects and programmes in the field of appropriate techno-logy in the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD).
Selection of a smal! number of projects for field research. Field research.
Reality mostly differs from theory: The inventory only offered two realistic possibi-Iities for field research. A third subject was chosen from the research program of the discipline group appropriate technology and development cooperation (A TOS) at Delft University of Technology (DUT) in The Netherlands.
The fina1 research program than, looked as follows:
Development of criteria for evaluation and implementation of development projects of appropriate technology (I) (annex 0). This research proposal was pro-duced during my second stay as a guest professor in BerEn.
A representative (desk)research in the westgerman organizations of development cooperation executed in 1986 during the first half year of the research project funded by DFG (2).
Choice of field research projects and preparation of research plans. In 1986 mem-bers of the discipline group ATOS prepared a research framework for the evalua-tion of small-scale industrial implementaevalua-tion of appropriate technology (3). Three projects we re selected and three research plans were prepared for Sri Lanka (4), Nepal (5) and Liberia (6).
According to these research plans and framework the fieldwork was done in February/March/ April 1986 in Sri Lanka (7), March/ April/May 1986 in Nepal (8) and October/November 1986 in Liberia (9).
Due to internal problems with one of the members of the research team one of the field research reports was only finalized by another team member in 1988. Now, af ter yet another field trip in February, March, April 1988, on production technology of traditional drugs the final stage of the DFG-research project can be produced:
Transcultural comparison of traditional professions and their product ion techno-logies from the viewpoint of the development of a general theory on appropriate technology (10).
In this phase it was decided to add some field research in The Netherlands (11) into the last part of the research program in order to show validity of the theoretical framework for industrialized countries. This will be reported in a later phase of research.
1.2. Appropriate technology at TUB
The invitation for this research resulted from a long standing cooperation between TUB and DUT in the field, but especially from the personal efforts of Professor Knud Caesar. The developments in the field of appropriate technology and development cooperation at TUB have tor many years been centered around his personaJ
capabili-ties and experience.
In 1981 it was decided to undertake an effort to create a framework of courses, research and projects of appropriate technology at TUB (12) (13) (annex I).
Courses
In the summer semesters of 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 courses were given in the department of international agricultural development (FBI5) under the ti tie "appropriate technology in rural areas" , and courses for the technical departments "fundamental aspects of appropriate technology" under various ti ties (Annex II). In 1982 and 1983 these courses were given in close cooperation with IPA T, the
inter-disciplinary projectgroup appropriate technology of TUB.
In 1982, I made a request for an assistent to support further developments in the
field (14) (Annex III). This resulted in a lecturers appointment in 1984 tor the
IPAT-member, who has been assisting since 1982. From th at time onwards the assistence
stopped which hampered the efficiency of my work in Berlin considerably.
Research
Research on appropriate technology in industrialized countries received special attention through a project initiated by one of the senators of West-Berlin (15) (Annex IV) concerning energyconservation in glasshouses (16).
used through cooperation with DUT, where a similar project funded by the ministry of agriculture was finalized in 1985 (J 7).
W orking relations
A number of working relations were created with professors of various departments. Support was given to courses in the department of architecture (FB8 prof. Christians, prof. Krawina) and informaties (FB20 prof. Lutterbeck) (I 8) (Annex V).
Also a researchfellowship was offered by DUT/ATOS to dip!. ing J. Suchantke of TUB/IPA T to study the concepts and evaluation methodology of appropriate techno-logy at DUT and to support theme research into the researchtheme "criteria for the development and implementation of projects and programs in the field of appropriate technology" (J 9).
In the summer semester of 1986 my initiative to start an interdisciplinary university research program (UF-4 decentralized renewable energy systems) (20) resulted in several meetings with professors from II different departments to formulate subpro-jects (Annex vI).
The preparations are still going on, but the appropriate technology part of the origi-nal design has been skipped in the preparatory process. It has become a technieal program practically without reflection on the relevance for development.
The possibilities to integrate ongoing research at DUT into UF-4 in the field of solar refrigeration and ultralight vehicles have failed, although cooperation in these fields has been offered from the Delft side (21) (22).
Finally a letter of intent to establish further cooperation between DUT and TUD has been signed between the chairman of the board of DUT and the president of TUB in 1986.
2. Development of a transcultural theory of appropriate technology
The question of the scientific basis for appropriate technology has been amply dis-cussed in' technology for liberation (23) which was the theoretical basis for the trans-cultural research in Germany, Liberia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and The Netherlands. The conceptual framework developed at DUT and fieldtested at various occasions postulates technology as the result of a synchronious process of individualization, structuralization and technicalization (24).
fig 1: Development processes in technology
Recent theoretical developments in the field have been reported in Darmstadt (25) and in an international symposium on "Appropriate technology, a new relation with technique" in Vienna (26).
If technology is defined as a synchronious process in the spiritual field towards indi-vidualization, in the political field towards structuralization and in the economie field towards technicalization, than a technology will be called appropriate if it gives a person or a group of people more autonomy in daily life and work.
In other words appropriate technology is technology for reliance and self-reliance can be defined in terms of technical (At), organizational (Ao) and spiritual (As) autonomy. If the autonomy equals I, the maximum autonomy has been achieved. In the three dimensional development model for appropriate technology this implies that we may speak of an appropriate technology if At, Ao and As are all equal I (27). In the next chapter the research reports Sri Lanka, Nepal and Liberia will be analy-sed in these terms.
3. The usefuIness of the development model of appropriate technology, an analysis
3.1 Traditional physicians and the production of herbal drugs in Sri Lanka (7)
Ayurveda
The word means science of life. The system has been existing since approximately three thousend years and it still plays a more or less important role in a number of Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangla Desh and Japan.
The indigenous health care system of Sri Lanka contains a wide variety of methods, such as Siddha, Unani and Indian Ayurveda, but they all have common roots in the Sri Lankan culture from Hindu, Muslim to pure Sri Lankan Ayurveda.
There is a special minister for indigenous medici ne in the government of Sri Lanka. Training institutes for physicians at university level exist in Colombo (Borella) and Gampaha, until recently a private institution. The traditional medical system of Sri Lanka is an offficial part of national health care. Although th ere are more than five times as many Ayurveda physicians (16.700) than western doctors and although mil!ions of Sri Lankans stil! refer to Ayurveda, only a smal! percentage of the health budget is spent on this system.
But the infrastructure for Ayurveda can still be called important. There are hospitals all over the country (approx. 25). Borella and Gampaha both have a teaching hospital. There are a great number of dispensaries (more than 3000). No Sri Lankan is ever more than a few miles away from a dispensary. There are a number of factories (cal-led pharmacies) all over the island (approx. 35) and many important vedamahathiya's (traditional physicians) have their proper production facility.
The evening of the Buddhist New Year on April !3th 1988 I saw the Honoroble Minister of Ayurveda Lokubandara appear on television together with one of the most famous Ayurveda doctors of the island, former principal of the Gampaha college dr. Jayasinghe. They lectured to the Sri Lankan people about the importance of Ayurveda for the culture and for health.
fig. 2: The late venerabie Malewana, traditional indigenous practitioner during consultation
There is an Ayurveda research institute headed by dr. Upali Pilapitiya in Nawinna. Here the old Ohla-Ieaves with singhalese and pali texts are studied. There are two wards for clinical research. Medicinal herbs of some 30 varieties are systematically cultivated. But there is not enough money to really develop the institute.
Traditional physicians
The traditional health care system of Sri Lanka is firmly rooted in society. Wolffers (28) in his Ph.D. thesis, "changing traditions in health care in Sri Lanka" distinguishes three stereo types of practitioners of traditional medicine.
traditional indigenous practitioners traditionalspecialists
modern traditional practitioners
The traditional practitioners emphasize that Ayurveda has survived for more than 2000 years, that it is based on the local cultural and physical background, whereas "english" (=western) medicine is alien, young and not based on anything Sri Lankan. Sometimes western allopathie medicine is referred to as one of the many tools of neo-coloniza tion.
Traditionalspecialists base their position on special skills such as therapies for snakebites, arthritis or eye-diseases. The revival of cultural consciousness, also found among minorities of guestworkers from developing countries in industrialized nations, in some cases even results in a good position for traditionalspecialists in urban areas, where normally the allopathie system is dominant.
Modern traditional practitioners have been partially or totally absorbed in the wes-tern system. They prescribe weswes-tern drugs supported by the information received from pharmaceutic representatives, which have a great influence on the practiee of this type of traditional physicians. An important number still prescribe traditional drugs such as for chronie diseases.
It may be clear from a transcultural perspective that the traditional practitioners of Sri Lanka have reacted to the growing influence of western medicine in their own way.
Wolffers (op.cit. p. 186) states that:
traditional indigenous practitioners offer themselves as an alternative for english physicians
traditionalspecialists make either use of their position in rural areas where wes-tern facilities are scarcely spread or they offer themselves in a specific part of the health market
modern traditional practitioners have two ultimate options: absorbtion by allo-pathy or a mixture of Ayurveda and alloallo-pathy depending on the specific complaint of the patient and capability of the physician.
During field trips in 1977, 1978, 1986 and 1988 we interviewed a total of 63 Ayurveda pr acti tioners.
Raw materials
In the Peradiniya botanical gardens close to Kandy in the center of the island approx. 300 medicinal herb varieties are kept and the Hakgala botanical garden also has a medicinal plot. Although before the time of colonization systematic herb cultivation was usual in the neighbourhood of hospitais, the actual situation is rat her deplorable. In Ayurveda drugs regular use is made of around 300 kinds of herbs and a more irre-gular use of 2000 different plant materiais, but there is no systematic cultivation of medicinal plants anymore.
fig.4: Gaboslane, Colombo, a shop for raw materials
A great number of traditional practitioners used to cultivate herbs around their houses on the country side, but many of them, especially the qualified ones, have left these houses and bought a house in an urban area to be able to give their children a "good" school education. These urbanized children of ten loose interest in the Ayur-veda family tradition. The house on the country side is only used in weekends and the cultivation of plants is either forgotten and/or the herbs are stolen.
Authentic plant material both in the genet ic and botanical meaning is becoming more and more a problem of Ayurveda. Especially if one takes into account that a number of 25 different plants in a fresh decoction is quite norm al and that some arishta (fermented decoction) preparations may contain 75 different plant components.
fig. 5: The medicinal plot at Peradeniya botanical gardens
Production technique
Ayurvedic doctor Anuradha Sirisena, research fellow appropriate technology and development cooperation of the Delft University of Technology in 1987/1988 pro-duced the first book on production-technology of Ayurveda drugs (29). He distin-guishes 8 main types of drugs (fig. 6)
'3 (,) IJ &
:
.1
I~,
.,
fig.6: The eight unitprocesses of ayurveda drugs preparation
m
~
,
arishta, fermented decoctions
asawaya, fermented liquids and extracts kalkaya, pastes tailya, oils rasayana, pastes churna, powders guliya, pills kasaya, decoetions.
fig.?: Grinding of Guliya in the Kandy Ayurveda Drugs factory
These drugs are produced with a number of relatively simple unit operations: cutting or milling of hard materials
threshing of leaves
pressing of seeds and leaves grinding or milling
cooking (from 8 to I, from 4 to I or from 8 to 2 volume) filtering or straining sieving fermenting mixing washing drying cooling
The production equipment which has been observed during a number of field trips (1977, 1978, 1986, 1988) (34, 35), does not seem to have changed a lot in the course of time.
In total 24 pharmacies were visited of which Kandy 3x, Ayurveda Drugs Corporation 3x, Gampaha 3x, Bimal 2x and Malewana 2x.
Cutting is either done with knives or machetes in case of larger production units. Milling is done with hammermills or vertical mills in which there is a direct con-tact bet ween the stator and the rotor.
Threshing is done in mort ars. In one case we saw a self-designed threshing-ma-chine consisting of an almost horizontal turning plate with hollow knives.
Pressing is done in simple presses in which the seeds are crushed in a bag which is pressed between two wooden bars by a double screwing construction.
Cooking is done in beautifully shaped copper vessels. Sometimes cilindrical pots are used. And nowadays one finds a lot of stainless steel equipment. The sizes go from liters to some m 3• Heating is mostly done by firewood. Rarely gas is used. In one occasion we saw steam as the heating agent.
Filtering is done through cloth. Filterpresses are rare.
Sieving is done by hand. In two cases we saw mechanical sieves.
fig.8: Arishta fermentation pots in Tata factory
Fermenting is always done in pots. The lid is closed with a mixture of cowgee and clay. The time of fermentation is one month, although 10 days are said to be sufficient. In one case the fermented liquids are allowed to stay one more month before bottling. The fermentation pots differ considerably in size. The big contai-ners are made of wood. The sizes vary between liters and some m 3.
Mixing is done by hand at odd intervals.
Only in one factory drying is done in electric ovens. In other factories drying takes place in the sun.
Except in a case where a simple steam destillation was used and in a distillation unit we have seen cooling by waterfJow. In all other factories cooling means keeping at room temperature.
Because Ayurveda is a holistic medicai system, production technique is seen as just a part of a part: Production of drugs, which in their turn are there to support a way of life.
Not much is known about the place of technology inside Ayurveda. There is no spe-cial education for pharmacists in Ayurveda. It is the ayurvedic practitioner, who ei ther makes the drug or supervises the production.
Not much is also known about auspicious times and dates. Some herbs should be crop-ped at sunset, some at dawn. Some preparations of drugs are related to full moon. This is not amazing because the microcosmos of the human body is understood to be a projection of the macrocosmos.
Appropriate technology and A yurveda
If an attempt is made to find arelation between the conceptual framework of appro-priate technology and Ayurveda, the first fact is that both development models have a holistic approach.
Ayurveda wants to produce the medical tools which give the body and mind a self-reliant Iife integrated within a cosmos which projects itself in every living creature. Appropriate technology postulates self-supply, self-determination and self-develop-ment as the technical, organizational and spiritual means for self-reliance.
Ayurveda postulates that an individual can only be healthy if there is a balance be-tween its activities. The individual acts and reacts materially through eating, drin-king and breathing and immaterially through thindrin-king and feeling. If there is no har-mony, than there is sickness (tridosha-theory). Drugs may only be helpful to re-esta-blish the balance between thinking, feeling and acting.
Appropriate technology is said to result from coherent spiritual, organizational and technical process to produce self-reliance.
Autonomy
Spiritual autonomy in Ayurveda means a pure state of mind in which a pers on tries to prevent:
taking things, which have not been given abusing his/her body,
Iying and
misusing drugs and Iiquors.
Whether physidan or layman, a pure state of mind is important when collecting herbs of producing drugs.
Spiritual autonomy As is however low in Ayurveda if related to the patients. Ayur-veda is a really complicated medical system. lts ideology has Hindu roots and the Buddhist variety of Sri Lanka has integrated Buddhism in the theory. Only af ter a long and devoted study of many, many years one may achieve to be a good physician. For the traditional indigenous physicians, the spiritual autonomy is high, close to or equal to 1.
It cannot be a coincidence that an excellent and famous doctor such as Jayasinghe has created one of the best drugs factories of the island. It is also a fact that tradi-tonal indigenous practitioners such as Jayasinghe and traditional specialists, espe-cially parampara, who learned the profession from fat her or mother, quite of ten c1early state that they have no confidence in "english" drugs, whereas modern tradi-tional practitioners often simply prescribe western pharmaceutics.
A careful estimate is that of the more than 16.000 Ayurveda practitioners about 40% are college graduates. This is not always a prerequisite for thorough understanding of Ayurveda, given the "short" school education.
Wolffers describes that Borella college offers courses in western medical disciplines. Until recently Gampaha college has purposely not done 50 to prevent a mixture be-tween two entirely different paradigms of health and health-care.
Borella physicians speak english, 50 does the elite of Sri Lanka. Many Gampaha stu-dents do not speak or write english and they are often proud of it. Most parampara do not speak or write english. In daily practice they do not need it.
Consequently the part of Ayurveda which has an As close to 1 is invisible for the english speaking foreigner. The part of the system which has as As close to 0 is vi-sible. lt speaks english and prescibes english drugs. As differs from place to place. In urban areas it will of ten below, in rural areas of ten close to 1.
The infrastructural autonomy or political autonomy Ap observed from the outside is high: A minister, a department, teaching hospitais, physidans, a pharmacopea, drug factories, few dispensaries. It would not be wrong, even though the Ayurveda budget is only some fourty millions rupees to say that Ap is close to 1.
A c10ser look reveals that the private sector of Ayurveda drug production, although practically not embedded in the infrastructure, has an Ap which is really close to 1.
15
-Whether the physieians coopera tive factory of Vennapua or the family enterprise of Bima! in Wellampitiya, they both have an excellent name of quality, but nobody checks whether the drugs are produced in accordance with the Ayurveda pharmaco-pea. Some factories may have invested inter ests which result in political dependence from the department or from one of the raw material companies on Gaboslane in Colombo, but the cooperative factory of a number of Gampaha and parampara physi-eians seems to have an Ap close to 1.
As long as the minister of Ayurveda on!y receives approximately 3% of the budget of the minister of health, Ap of Ayurveda drug production in the government sector is low.
Buddhist revival, which is an important cultural process on Sri Lanka, serves to en-large As as weil as Ap.
The political autonomy of Ap of the Ayurveda vil!age practitioners was I some de-cades ago. The village doctor was a quite influential person in the village. He only needed his Ohla leaves with the reeipees in Pali or Sinhalese and his clinic. Food and other essentials were brought to him by the villagers. He never needed to worry about these material things.
Today Ap of the individual practitioner is low indeed. Ap of the organizations of Ayurveda doctors is high, at the mesolevel, but at the national level (macro) the Ap goes down again because the process of westernization keeps the government in the firm grip of the pharmaceutic companies. Neocolonization in this case means denial of the cu!turaJ and medica! significance of Ayurveda.
The technical autonomy At also seems to be quite high. There is only one factory, which is equipped with all kinds of western techniques: the Ayurveda Drugs Coopera-tion, the state production unit in Nawinna.
Some companies, like Morawaka in Pannipi tiya, have a modern bottie filling line, but most techniques can easily be mastered locally, both from the viewpoint of equip-ment and processing.
Theoretically the necessary plant material can be cultivated on the island, although import espeeiaJly from India is quite usual. Systematic cultivation of authentic plant material is rare. Some hospitals with a pharmacy have their own herbal garden, like in KurunegaJla, Haputale and Ratnapura, sometimes the forbidden but essential cannabis herb can be found.
Depending on the range of drugs, the sort of equipment and the cultivation of the required herbs At might be I or close to 1, in some specific cases like in the produc-tion uni t of Matara in an environment rich in her bal vegetaproduc-tion.
In order to be able to give concrete examples the th ree different types of physieians of Wolffers (op.eit) and their production techniques can be described with the
auto-nomy indices.
modern traditional practitioners having an As of lower than 0,5 working with two completely different paradigms, an Ap close to 0 because the pharmaceutical representative has an great influence on their behaviour and an At close to 0 because their drugs are made by the pharmaceutical enterprise.
Research in 1978 brought us to an urban Ayurveda practitioner mixing Ayurveda factory drugs with english drugs!
traditional specialists score close to 1 on all three axis. In 1986 we met a rural village doctor treating diabetes. He prepared his own recipees from hls own Ohla leaves in his own pharmacy from herbs collected in the near environment. He spoke no english and had learned the profession from his father •
traditional indigenous practitioners with their own factory also score close to on all three axis. Research in 1988 made us meet an urban vedamahathiya with his own rural pharmacy not using any english prescription only his own self pre-pared drugs. His 9 children however are 50 urbanized that no one is going to take over his weil kept practice. As stated above approx. 50% of these practitioners have a low autonomy caused by westernization.
Summarizing the autonomy situation for the practitioners looks as follows:
modern traditional 0,5
o
o
special traditional indigenous
0,5 0,5
The dynamics do not look favourable. There is a tendency to a 1055 of autonomy in all three cases under the influence of western medical technology.
The autonomy development at the macro and meso levels looks better because of infrastructural measures Iike the creation of hospitais, the pharmacopea, the government support for Ayurveda, the Ayurveda research institute, the associations of practi tioners and the various colleges.
Appropriate tedmology and Ayurveda drug production
In the case of Ayurveda drug production As' Ap and At can be close to 1 in a number of pharmacies especially the small scale units in ru ral areas.
Recent research by Rovers (31) shows that the efficiency and effectivity can be raised by applying appropriate techniques.
These techniques in the field of milling (Chinese kibbier) threshing (mechanized mortar) cutting (mechanized knife) pressing (simple extrusion) cooking (mechanized
stirring) drying (solar drying) and heating (more efficient burning processes) can easi-ly be improved without destroying employment.
Standardization and quality control of Ayurveda drug product ion cannot be achieved by a pharmacopea.
If the organizational culture, even in a small factory, does not stimulate the worker to raise quality than standardization of equipment is only one small step forward. The organizational culture in the small pharmacy of the siddhayurveda college of Gampaha is very different from the organizational cultural in the big state Ayurveda drug cooperation in Nawinna.
If As' Ap and At are close to I in every individual, if in other words know-how and know-why are weil spread than there is synergismus and a high quality standard may be reached.
From the point of view of development of appropriate technology for Ayurveda a number of measures can be suggested to raise the autonomy and the quality at level of a production unit.
Teach the workers about the cultural roots of Ayurveda and the significance of their specific contribution within the production unit.
Stimulate cooperation with other factories concerning the purchase of raw mate-rials and standardised equipment.
Cultivation of authentic plants and herbs close to the factory. Regiona1 production of standardized equipment.
Regional and national quality control of raw materiaIs and endproducts.
Comparative research in other nations in Sou th Asia into traditional drug produc-tion.
Construction of a pilot plant and model factory with demonstration pur poses. Development of processes and packaging techniques which enable the individual enter prise to compete with western drugs fr om the point of view of outer appea-rance and drug formulation.
fig.9: Veganashini, aMendisdrug against high blood pressure
3.2 Traditional blacksmiths and the production of agrieultural tools in Nimba County, Liberia (9)
Iron technology in Nimba County
The first iron technology stems from the Hittites south of the Black Sea approx. 1700 B.C. They had ovens and burned charcoal to melt iron ore at a reduction tem-perature of 1200-1300 °C, whieh is too low to melt the iron completely, thus porous dumps were formed, fiJled with half melted ore. These dumps were hammered into a more or less homogeneous mass. Subsequently these dumps were heated and ham-mered and slowly purified by this process.
Iron ore of good quality was thus made into high purity iron (99.9%) mixed with a few percent of stone. The iron could not be hardened because of lack of carbon. By packing the iron in charcoal and heating it in a day package carbon diffused into the iron making it possible to harden it by cooling in water.
The blacksmith is one of the few specialized professions in black Africa. He was supposed to posses magie properties. In the eight century B.C. iron was first used in Carthago in Africa. From there it was taken over by the Meruculture and spread over the rest of Africa by Bantu people. (32)
The presence of iron and the meditteranian culture were the main causes for the creation of the middle-age kingdoms of Africa. In these kingdoms the blacksmiths played an important role both for making weapons and for the production of jewelry and other pieces of art.
the blacksmiths within society. The bush schools in which the young men of a tribe are initiated by the blacksmiths still exist in some villages. In many villages the blacksmith is still an important man, but the decline is continuing.
fig. 10: Modern traditional blacksmith with handmade gun
A unique and important effort to revive the blacksmith craft was made by NCRDP-the Nimba County Rural Development Project, a programmatic project of NCRDP-the Ger-man agency for technical development (GtZ). NCRDP has launched a number of acti-vi ties in Nimba County, a proacti-vince of Liberia, with the NCRDP trade-mark "commu-nity-based self-reliance".
The approach is practical and "gründlich" from the German expatriate side and through recognition of the valuable development components on the Liberian side relatively wel! founded in the local culture. (33, 34)
The blacksmith promotion program of NCRDP was a result of this policy. It has taken the existing blacksmith profession as a starting point and mainly through the activities of Mr. Neumann the market relation between the farmers and the black-smiths has been reestablished.
When the program of NCRDP started the blacksmiths profession was dying. There were only a smal! number of blacksmiths left in the province.
Two main causes can be indicated for the decline of the blacksmith profession in Africa in general and in Nimba County in particular.
The process of westernization or maybe more precise of acculturalization of the western way of life in which a blacksmith is seen as something of the past, old-fashioned and, related with it
the process of modernization of agriculture in which much more attention is paid to industrial agriculture with imported tools, than to subsistence agriculture with locally produced implements.
Some ten years ago the economy of Liberia, was still pretty strong due to export of raw materiais, like rubber and iron ore. When the economie situation became less favourable the import of agricultural tools from overseas became difficuIt. In the meantime however the blacksmith profession had practically come to a stagnant and even dying position. The st rong position which was based both on the craft techno-logy and on the many centuries old initiation rites in the bush schools, was heavily underdug because of urbanization and modern education. As a result of this, the local capability to produce agricultural tools was practically lost.
Traditional blacksmiths
During the field trip 34 master blacksmiths in 18 smithies were visited. They be-longed to the Mandingo, Gio and Mano tribes. Like in other traditional crafts the secrets of the profession are transferred from father to son in an ongoing process which lasts from early childhood untill the young man has grown up as a master-blacksmith. It is an all embracing step-by-step process within the family enterprise.
fig. 11: Traditional indigenous smithy with devildancers' robes in the background
The decolonization and liberalization of Africa which started before the second worldwar, had a decisive influence on the position of the blacksmiths, also in Liberia. Liberalization meant easy access to foreign products on the market. Especially in the case of Liberia with a relatively healthy economy it was quite difficult for the black-smiths to compete with the imported agricultural tools, which were massproduced and "modern". Most traditional blacksmiths were used to work for small local mar-kets which implied a higher price. Furthermore supply of raw material, which for-merly was no problem became more and more difficult.
Originally in the time when irontechnology came to Afriea blacksmiths used to pro-duce their own iron from iron ore. Some blacksmiths in the region of research de-scribed how their forefathers used to do that. Especially in Nimba County where iron ore can be found it is no surprise to hear this story. But there is no doubt that this technique has not been applied anymore since more than a century. Since that time the habit was to bring scrap metal or the tooi which had to be repaired to the black-smith and to pay in the form of food.
Just as in the case of the traditional practitioners of Sri Lanka the traditional black-smith played an important soeial role in het vilJage, whieh was primarily based on his leading role as a judge and as a devildancer.
The urbanization and westernization undermined his position and although, as obser-ved, the blacksmith still is a person of high esteem, his sodal status has changed considerably. This has also been caused by the fact that the modern traditional blacksmith has to procure his own raw materiaI, which is problematie. First of all the local culture is not used to any form of calculation and secondly the blacksmith'-priees are 50 marginal that it can hardly be expected that they save any money to purchase raw materiaIs. But if he manages to save some money, he faces the problem as a rural blacksmith to find scrap iron in an urban area. This means tra velling with heavy material whieh is a real problem if publie transportation has to be used. Fur-thermore polieemen quite of ten claim a part of the load for their personal benefit. The general declining situation had its grave consequences. Many blacksmiths stop-ped training their children in the craft. They themselves of ten had to abandon their shops or only exerted their craft as a side job. Some of them leave the village heading for the eities to se ek employment in the modern sector.
When in the seventies the drast ie economie resession of Liberia started, the former blacksmiths returned to their villages, but not all of them were able to return to their former profession. Most of them worked as subsistenee farmers and often if they used their old ski lis it had a direct non-commercial function.
The range of working tools was limited and the production of equipment, mostly agricultural implements, took place in a primitive workshop or at home.
The production activities were of ten restricted to repairs because little raw material was available for new products. Training of apprentices hardly took place. Slowly but surely the smith craft was dying out and parallel to this the rural subsistence farmers faced the problem of diminishing supply of both imported and locally produced agri-cultural tools.
fig. 13: Traditional indigenous blacksmith tools
Three types of blacksmiths may be observed today in general and also in Liberia: Traditional indigenous blacksmiths
Modern traditional blacksmiths Specialized blacksmi ths.
The traditional indigenous blacksmiths work with tools that have not undergone es-sential changes since many centuries. Stone hammer and an anvil made of stone are trademarks. Of ten these blacksmiths will also be devildancers.
The modern traditional blacksmiths have steel hammers often self-produced and a steel anvil. They also process and use modern blacksmith tools. They do not only produce traditional agricultural tools like the hoe, but also smal! household applian-ces like buckets.
Specialized blacksmiths have concentrated themselves on a part of the metal techno-logy like melting of aluminium scrap and the production of pots and pans in moulds or welding and soldering and production of locks and keys.
Raw material
In traditional craft, supply of raw materials usual!y takes place from the direct en-vironment. There are a number of places in Africa where iron ore can be found, which wiJl probably have served as the starting point for the blacksmith profession in the middle age kingdoms of Africa. The Nimba mountains contain iron ore, 50 the precise story of one of the old Mano blacksmiths we interviewed about how his an-cestors used to make raw iron out of iron ore, may weil be true.
In the course of time, once a sufficient number of metal products was available and because the smal! scale production of iron from ore is elaborate, the habit to demand old products as raw material developed. And since the colonization a growing flow of iron products and later on a variety of steels were imported from the industrialized countries. Nowadays scrap iron is readily available in urbanized centers and even in industrialized countries scrap iron is an important part of industrialized production of raw steel.
In the rural areas however the availability of scrap iron is a problem. In Monrovia, the capitalof Liberia, there is enough sc rap metal, but in Nimba County only a few hundred kilometers from Monrovia scrap metal is not readily available.
It was quite an intelligent move that the NCRDP-management showed the black-smiths of Nimba County that cooperation of the blackblack-smiths for joint purchase of industrial scrap metal, for example from the neighbouring LAMCO company, would imply easy access to raw material, comfortable tranportation and a more advanta -geous price. (35, p.17)
It goes without saying that a great variety of steels requires knowledge about the possibilities to melt and hammer these different steels. Soft steel has a lower mel-ting temperature, than the spring steel of a car suspension. This also implies know-ledge about the relation between the type of charcoal and the steel which has to be forged.
Production technique
The case of the blacksmiths of Nimba County gives good examples to show the rela-tions bet ween technology and culture.
Most blacksmiths are Mandingo people. The majority of Nimba tribesmen are Mano and Gio. Mandingo, although living since a few centuries in Nimba, are still seen as foreigners.
The Mandingo people can also be found in the neighbouring countries of Liberia. They are flexible, probably because they move around more easily than the Mano and Gio.
Consequently they seem to be more accessible for technical innovation.
This is an important feature because the money economy of the city has also been absorbed in the rural areas. People donot bring old products and food to the black-smiths anymore. They bring money, which implies that the production technique of the blacksmiths has to be adapted from one-off to series production for stock, which in its turn implies a really revolutionary change in production technique.
The traditional indigenous blacksmiths still produce special good looking knives with worked wooden handles. They are Mano and Gio-people using the traditional country hammer on stone anvils. They do not have a refined knowledge of the different kinds of charcoal and tempering is not a widely known hardening technique, drilling is un-known. Filing is known but the technique is not refined.
The Mandingo blacksmith can be regarded as a modern traditional blacksmith. Their hammers are of steel and of a more precise nature. They have various types of ham-mers for various working prices. The relation bet ween different kinds of steel and charcoal is known. Drilling is a normally applied technique. Some Mandingo black-smiths construct simple guns fr om scrap metaI(!). Filing, woodworking and cutting have a higher degree of development than with the Mano and Gio blacksmiths.
All blacksmiths had in common th at they worked in a kneeling position, hands and feet are used to manupulate the workpiece. A handdriven fan is used to blow the charcoal fire.
The Iimits of production are decided by two factors:
the temperature which can be reached by the combination of charcoal and blower the forgeing strenght of the master blacksmith.
50 coarse forgeing processes are impossible. Heavy agricultural tools to dear maiden farmland can consequently not be produced. The same counts for tough material, although spring steel from leafsprings is generally reshaped to produce cutting tools.
lt was striking to note that the blacksmiths of Nimba County have a holistic ap-proach of their technological problems. Just Iike the Ayurveda physicians have a holistic approach of health.
The tailoristic, analytic way of thinking of the western engineers is quite different and technical communication especially in matters of organization and management is extremely difficult. On the other hand the blacksmiths of Nimba County have a remarkable gift to copy. In one Mandingo workshop we counted more then 50 self-made production tools for drilling, cutting, woodworking and filing.
Fig. 14: Handmade tools of a modern traditional blacksmith
The Mandingo blacksmiths which were interviewed said they were all eager to apply western techniques to improve their production methods. Although given their more
holistic way of thinking, it was clear that the consequences of the implementation of these techniques were not always fully understood.
Technical innovation is said to be important. Technieally skills to construct some-what more complicated agricultural tools are available, but the relation bet ween the available skills and the required tools is not clearly seen by the blacksmiths.
The specialized blacksmiths, a smal! number, are one step closer to the industrial world than the modern traditional blacksmiths. This seems logie as they have specia-lized in a restricted number of technical skil!s like melting and moulding, welding or car repair.
The infrastructure
The infrastructure is not very wel! developed. The roads in Nimba County are
medio-cre, but there is cooperation for the supply of raw material between the modern traditional blacksmiths of Nimba County. There are market places in the different townships in the county. The economie situation has resulted in restrieted imports of tools on the markets. The blacksmiths have reacted by offering a great variety of household- and agricultural tools. The tooI supply system of NCRDP stands at the beginning of this reestablished market relation between blacksmiths - farmers and households. Standardization and quality control were a positive result of the NCRDP-policy. Cost-priee-calculation is slowly finding its place in the management of black-smiths workshops.
Outside Nimba the authorities did not seem to be aware both of the development potentialof the traditional blacksmiths and their significanee for small scale indus-trialization of Nimba. The organizational infrastructure only has alocal and regional character in Nimba. At the national level the understanding of the relevanee of the NCRDP-blacksmith program seems to be scarce or absent.
Appropriate technology and the blacksmith
Originally the blacksmith was a part of the cultural systems in Africa. Blacksmiths performed ritual activities. In his book "Journey without Maps" Graham Greene des-cribes some of these manifestations (36). Furthermore the blacksmith played a socio-political role as a kind of spiritual leader of the village. Finally he played a technical and economic role as a producer of agricultural- and household appliances. AJthough it became clear from the interviews of the traditional indigenous blacksmiths that they have a holistic view on "their" society in which their socio-cultural, sociopoli-tical and technical-economic roles are integrated in them as persons, the modern traditional and the specialized blacksmith do not play such a role in society anymore. In the latter case the holistic model of appropriate technology only helps to under-stand the development processes concerning the blacksmith profession in terms of autonomy and technical innovation.
Autonomy
The spiritual autonomy As of the tradional indigenous blacksmiths is high close to I or 1. He is a part of the traditional culture even though this culture is faJling apart. The spiritual autonomy of the modern traditional blacksmith is much lower, he has to adapt concepts from the industrial cultu~e into his thinking like costprice calculation and materials management. The NCRDP-staff has been of considerable help to place these western concepts within the framework of the local culture, but nonetheless these ideas belong to the western way of thinking and acting.
"Palaver" talking long and carefully about problems can be used to implement new ideas. "Kuu", the traditional self-help group, may be used as a basis for blacksmith group development and "Susu", the traditional savings and credit system, may be used to finance new developments.
The As of the modern traditional blacksmith stands halfway between spiritual auto-nomy and spiritual dependence. In other words As is approx. 0,5.
The specialized blacksmith seems to make use of his inventivity by a combination of his traditional know-how with modern techniques such as making moulds for alumi-nium. His spiritual autonomy thus remains relatively high or As=l or close to 1.
Around the turn of the century the political autonomy Ap of the traditional indi-genous blacksmith was equal to I, both in the methodical-organizational and in the infrastructural sense the village blacksmith was independent.
The politica! and structural autonomy of the modern traditional blacksmith is low. There is no supporting structure neither in the village community nor in the national level, where protective measures such as low taxing of blacksmithproducts or import tax in foreign products, are no policy rule. On the other hand there is a clear ten-dency on the side of the blacksmith to cooperate in purchasing of raw material, and technica! workshops. The market relation between farmers/households and black-smiths can be Iitterally observed on the marketplace in townships. Ap as a resuJt is approximately 0,5.
The specialized blacksmiths have their own way to approach the market. They are less vulnerable for imported products. They do not need this kind of protection. Their Ap approaches I.
The technical autonomy of the traditional indigenous blacksmith is in the concrete meaning equa! to I, because of the autonomy concerning the equipment and the pro-duction. But with reference to the essential raw materials the autonomy was low, because the blacksmiths did not produce raw iron anymore. In practice, however, the traditional indigenous blacksmith requests the client to bring sc rap or the tooi which has to be repaired. The At of the modern traditional blacksmith is lower because of the application of "western" tools and raw materiais.
The At of the specialized blacksmith however, approaches 0, because he produces neither the raw materials nor the spare parts of his equipment. Repair is the only possibiJity in case of a breakdown.
Summarizing the autonomy qualitative figures for the blacksmiths looks as follows:
traditional indigenous modern traditional
0,5 0,5 0,5 specia!ized 1
°
The dynamics of Nimba County's society are favourable for the blacksmiths. There is not much competition from outside. The local mark et shows the tendency to grow because of the importance of the products of blacksmiths for daily life and work and the diminishing imports.
At the micro and meso (county) level these processes can be observed. At the macro (nationaJ) level the blacksmith as a source for small-industrial development does not seem to have been discovered yet.
Appropriate technology and blacksmith tooI production
When the blacksmith promotion project of NCRDP started in 1983 an inventory of tooI production was made, an estimate of the production potential and an indentifi-cat ion of the limiting influences on the prpduction of tools by local blacksmithshops. Than a product was chosen to develop and fieldtest: an adapted hoe for low-Iand rice production.
fig. 15: Modern traditional blacksmith products in Saclepea
The production of this hoe was successfully implemented. The main reason for success was the fact that the technica1 improvement of the existing traditional hoe was a result of the choice of an appropriate technique by a german expatriate which took the existing hoe as a starting point.
The next step was taken in 1984 when a number of tools important for the local sub-sistence farming within the NCRDP-region were chosen for improvement and a 'start was made to reestablish the market relation between farmers and blacksmiths by the NCRDP-toolsupply system (37). The system consisted of standard tools: 4 types of hoe, 2 types of cutlass, 1 file, 1 axe, I wheelbarrow and 1 digger.
Fig. 16: Handproduced file
At the same time workshops on the production of these tools and upgrading of black-smiths technology were organized. Steps were taken to develop and produce new tooIs, a number of blacksmithworkshops were selected to participate in this program and a training program was developed.
This approach was continued in 1985, but in that year also a new item was introdu-ced. An agricultural tooI with rotating parts: the pushed rotary weeder.
Parallel to this Mr. Neumann, an appropriate technology student at the former Tech-nical University of West Berlin, the person who coordinated the whole revival and development of the blacksmith craft in Nimba County, introduced a tooI exchange program to improve the equipment of the workshops.
Finally in 1986, the year of this review he conducted training courses, organized cooperative purchasing of raw materiaIs, introduced simple bookkeeping, taught how to repair other rotating equipment like rice mills and coffee huilers and worked on further mechanization products based on the development of the rotary weeder (38).
Mr. Neumann typically applied the concept of appropriate technology for the deve-lopment of blacksmith tools production. He first of all took all the time necessary to understand the blacksmith and his cultural environment. In the mean time he learned the production techniques and he analyzed the infrastructural context. After asessing and understanding the cultural, socio-political and techno-economical environment he acted all the time with the existing situation as a starting point. He on ce said: "There is no such thing as fast development of indigenous technology" and he acted accordingly.
So the improvement of the country hoe took pI ace based on the existing design, which he first learned how to produce from metalsheet himself and than he was able to improve the construction itself.
The fastening bolt for the fixation of the hoe blade to the helve was made stronger. The production of this bolt belongs to the basic craft of the blacksmith' traditional country hoe.
Basic point of Neumanns policy was to preserve the traditional craft of metal treat-ment and to develop new skills based on this traditional craft. A step by step approach was chosen in which new technical systems were introduced. This introduc-tion is not as simple as it would seem to an engineer who is not used to observe transcultural differences. Traditional blacksmiths work while sitting almost at ground level. This is still quite common in many African countries. Because c1amping and other fixation equipment is unknown, this position enables the craftsman to use his feet to fix the working pieee.
fig. 17: Traditional indigenous blaeksmith at work, note the clamping foot position
Introduction of western industrial equipment like vices would consequently imply a complete reorganization of the traditional blacksmith shop: from sitting to standing working position.
The NCRDP-blacksmith promotion program has raised the confidence and self-reliance of the blacksmiths. Thanks to the tribal relation between the blacksmiths it was possible to form a kind of cooperative working relation. Finally appropriate techniques to innovate the existing eraft enabled the workshops to produce a new range of products and to reestablish market relations with the farmers.
The next step to be taken is to assist the blacksmith in developing a contribution to small-seale industrialization in Nimba County. The base for this process has been laid already through the introduction of a loeally produeed rotary type weeder.
3.3 Traditional millers and water mills in Nepal (I 9)
Watermills in Nepal
Nepal is a traditional developing country. lts society is hierarchial and although offi-cially abolished, the caste system still defines many of the relations espeoffi-cially in the far-away regions.
The dependence of India can be strongly feIt because of its dominance over rail and road with the outer world, especially since Tibet has been taken over by the Chinese (39). In many professions especially trade people from India hold strong positions. This draw-back has however not been observed in the millers profession, but there is indirect influence through the destruction of the forests and the informal trade of wood through India, and direct influence through the ecological damage created by erosion caused by extentive use of firewood from the forests and extension of agri-cultural production. Both change the water-management, which dominates the ownership of water for the mills. The extremely difficult circumstances, most of the vlllages can only be reached by foot, and the weak infrastructure, make technical assistence extremely difficult. This is enhanced by the strong cultural identity and diversity. Development cooperation and especially appropriate technologies are not easily implemented in Nepal.
On the other hand Nepal is a very favourable country for hydropower, especially decentralized hydropower, mills and generators.
But the construction of hydropower installations is extremely difficult. There are only some 5000 km of roads. In a country like The Netherlands 4x smaller there are 90.000 km of roads. In most parts of Nepal transport takes place on the back of an animal or a human being of a special caste or tribe. This implies that every construc-tion has to be dismantled into pieces, which can be carried into the mountain and later can be reconstructed at site.
Machines are expensive, they have to be imported: There is not much industry in Nepal. Industry can be found in a small number of cities. Workshops producing water-turbines and -mills are only present in Kathamandu, the capital, and Butwal, making installation, repair and maintenance in the far e3st and west of the country difficult.
The standard of education and training is not high enough to maintain modern wa-termills and the application of hydropower is difficult because of the differences in watervolume during monsoon and dry season. Furthermore many parts of the country are difficult to visit in monsoon time as the paths become dangerous to cJimb.
Traditionally waterpower is used through Ghattamills of which the estimated number amounts to 25.000. Around the turn of the century the number is said to haven been 60-70.000. Waterwheels are in use as a source of power for woodworking. Ghatta's are also applied as a part of irrigation systems. The many canals and terraces have mainly been connected as a means of irrigation.
The Ghattamills are very simply constructed. Financial resources to improve this technology are practically non-existent.
fig. 18: Modern miller. In the background construction of bank financed mill in progress
The mills were evenly spread around the country 50 the farmers did not have to walk
long distances to get their products like rice and grain milled. In the case of mustard seed longer di stances up to four hours were taken for granted, especially when in a modern mill, with higher efficiency, more yield can be reached.
On the other hand traditional milling by hand for rice (the Dhikki) or for wheat (the Janto) is still a normal procedure in many farmers families. Some families posess an waterdriven version of the Dhikki, the Panidhikki.
The development of watermills with turbines started as early as 1964. Six turbines were installed, but the production of the threedimensionally curved turbineblades was not possible with the Nepalese industrial equipment and the competition with Indian dieselmills proved to be difficult too!
fig. 19: Locally produced rotor of turbinemill
The step towards crossflowturbines was taken by another firm which started produc-tion in 1973. Both types of watermilis were however expensive and they could not possibly be seen as a further development of the Ghatta-technology.
In 1980 the first multy purpose power units (MPPU) were installed. The designers of this multipurpose Ghatta were thinking of the traditional indigenous millers as a target group. Another modern version was developed with the support of UNICEF and a creditsystem of ADBN, the agricultural development bank of Nepal.
fig. 20: Production of MPPU in Patan
This resulted in 1984 in construction kits which were also meant for the traditional indigenous millers, but they had the same disadvantage as the modern version of the multipurpose Ghatta: too expensive for the traditional indigenous miller. GA TE, the German organization for appropriate technology is now trying to make a cheap ver-sion of this construction kit which could also be produced by village craftmen. During the field research in 1986 the eight mil! producing enterprises in Kathmandu
and Butwal were visited. During twenty seven days of field trips 48 mills were visited of which 7 Ghatta's, 3 construction kit mills, 6 MPPU-mills and 6 enginedriven milIs. The questionnaire applied had the same structure as the questionnaire used in Liberia and Sri Lanka (Annex VIII, Questionaire Liberia).
Altogether the number of turbines and MPPU's installed in Nepal was 347 in 1984/85. Given" the production capacity in 1984/85 the total number of these mills would be approx. 600 in 1988.
fig. 21: Cross flow turbine at site
The millers
The investments before installment and the conditions of ADBN for loans are such that only rich Nepali can affort to own a modern mill. Mostly these are highly edu-cated people, whereas the traditional indigenous millers, the Ghatta owners have little or no formal training. Often they do not even know how to read and write. It became clear from information by employees of the millmanufacturers, that future millowners use their membership of higher castes (brahman) to obtain a loan (see also 40 caste system). Although officially impossible according to the rules for credit facilities six of the modern mills belong to a group of proprietors. Fifty per-cent of the millowners give as their main occupation farming.
The typology applied for Ayurveda physicians and blacksmiths cannot be fully main-tained in this case. Ghatta owners can be described as traditional indigenous millers, but most owners of modern mills cannot possibly be defined as modern indigenous millers. The equipment, except for the GATE-construction kit, is not based upon the indigenous Ghatta-technology and most modem mi liers apparently do not descend from a millers family.
traditional indigenous millers (Ghattaowners)
modern traditional millers (owners of improved Ghatta's) modern millers (ADBN-financed mills)
SpeciaJized millers were not found during the field research. Theoretically it would be possible to specialize in heat generation, electricity production, food milling or fertilizerproduction.
Materials and spare parts
As has been stated before any part of a modern millor a construction kit to improve a Ghatta has to be carried into the mountains. This counts for the turbine, the gene-rator, the oil expelIer, rice huIler, the penstockpipe, the bearings, the grain milI, the tools, the spare parts. Although the quality of the Indian machines connected with the turbines can be regarded as moderate, it may be clear that import from India ensures a more regular flow of spare parts.
Only the watermilis are constructed in Nepal. Spare parts of these machines must also be carried to the mi lIs either from Kathamandu or Butwal.
There is little standardization 50 the right spare part must be ordered in case of a breakdown. Especially for the owners of improved Ghatta's the financial consequen-ces of repairs are important. The possibility of repair by local craftsmen is of great importance to them.
The traditional Ghatta can be constructed and maintained locally. The following materials are required for its contruction (41, P.p. 298-306):
1. wooden hollowed pipe or penstock 2. wooden turbine with flat paddies 3. milling stone
4. funnel
5. iron sheet and rod 6. house
fig. 22: Ghatta millhouse near Kathmandu
Local craftsmen may construct a complete Ghatta. The raw materials for the cross-flow turbine must be imported from India. It needs:
1. steel pipe 2. steel sheet 3. steel rods 4. ball bearings
fig. 23: Traditional indigenous miller woman inside the Ghattamill
For the construction of this turbine a number of machinery is needed such as cutting, welding and bending benches, drilling machines and working tools which are found in the norm al equipment of a metal workshop. The same counts for construction kits and the MPPU-mill.
