....In its effort to alleviate poverty and hunger in the developing world, Compatible Technology International (CTI) designs, builds, and distributes affordable post-harvest tools—such as a cool storage shed and food processing grinder—for rural farmers in the developing world. CTI’s devices can help farmers process, store, and sell their crops.
While many organizations are focused on improved seeds, access to fertilizers, and irrigation to improve crop yields, relatively few are focused on post-harvest improvements. But many poor farmers live on yields from a hectare or less of land and getting the maximum benefit from those yields can make up the difference between abject poverty and a livable income.
CTI’s technologies are scaled to fit the needs of small villages, families, coops, and micro-businesses. Extra attention is paid to developing safe, affordable, environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and culturally compatible devices in the hope that they will be more widely adopted and facilitate lasting change in poor farming communities. CTI encourages craftsmen and entrepreneurs in and around these communities to build and sell their devices, reducing dependence on outside assistance once the technology has been adopted.
“We are empowering impoverished communities to free themselves from hunger and poverty,” says CTI Executive Director Roger Salway in the organization’s 2010 annual report. “This is not relief, but development and empowerment,” according to Gabrielle Vincent, Haiti’s Country Director for Sonje Ayiti women’s co-operative—who is using grinders from CTI to process roasted cocoa beans into chocolate.
Go to Empowering Impoverished Communities with Compatible Technologies to read more
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