Written by Benny Lee

Photo Courtesy of AIDG

What are appropriate technologies? They are windmills made of recycled car parts and hand crafted alternators. They are biodigesters made of inexpensive plastics that turn animal waste into biogas cooking fuel, simultaneously reducing contamination runoff and decreasing demand on diminishing firewood resources. They are micro-hydroelectric systems powered by turbines cast from recycled aluminum melted in ovens made from brick and washing tubs. They are solar hot water heaters and ram pumps. Appropriate technology is manufactured from locally available materials, by locally trained technicians that can provide sustained maintenance, that are beneficial to the local and global environment, and that are affordable to local people.

Pigs in Cuba

The founder of the AIDG, Peter Haas, likes to tell the story that led to the birth of AIDG. While traveling Cuba with the organization Global Exchange, he witnessed two pig farms. About 20 miles outside of Havana, the two pig farms were about 5 miles apart. The first farm had a biodigester treating and utilizing the pig excrement that was installed by a nephew of a woman running a family farm. The farm was clean, did not smell and had a clean well. The biodigester supplied gas for lighting, a gas stove and gas-fired hot water heater. Further the fertilizer generated from the biodigester bolstered the productive capacity of the soil. The kitchen inside was clean and spotless; the house was cool and shaded from numerous nearby trees.

In Pete's words, "The other farm presented the most direct contrast one could possibly imagine. The place was a sanitation nightmare, it smelled, pig excrement was everywhere and was contaminating the nearby stream, the kitchen was covered with black smoke from inefficient wood fires, for which they had cleared all the surrounding trees. Without the tree cover the house baked in the sun. The farmer was paying significantly for nighttime kerosene lighting. And the thing which really got me was that even if this farmer was aware of the other farm's success, short of convincing this woman's nephew or some NGO to install a biodigester, he had no available recourses for obtaining a biodigester. This experience was one of many that really hammered home to me that there need to be market based providers of appropriate technology, and that the NGO community had failed as the gatekeepers of these solutions. And this is the primary reason AIDG exists, to create the market-based institutions that can provide farmers and others with these technologies and provide the long term maintenance needed for these technologies to succeed."

A Business Model to Create Change

This is the first example in Guatemala of a development strategy that spreads appropriate technology solutions through incubation of small employee-owned businesses. XelaTeco is being formed as a Guatemalan sole proprietorship until it can employ 20 workers, after which time it will become a worker owned cooperative. The AIDG financially supports this business, and trains employees through a series of demonstration projects which the AIDG contracts for orphanages, schools, and local community organizations. Over the course of three years the AIDG will help XelaTeco become self sufficient through these projects and through marketing its products to NGOs and the general pubic. After this time, the AIDG will leave the business in the hands of the employees. In exchange for the incubation services, the cooperative will have a temporary profit-sharing agreement with the AIDG such that 10% of workshop profits will be used to incubate another AIDG sponsored workshop in another developing country. Furthermore, as the AIDG spreads to these other countries some of the employees from XelaTeco will travel with AIDG technicians to train employees in the new AIDG sponsored workshops.

The Goal: Sustainable Development

The volunteers of the AIDG and employees of XelaTeco seek to tread a path towards sustainable development, defined as, "the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems" (Julian Agyeman). The academic literature describes the Sustainability Triangle, where ecological integrity, economic development, and equity meet. This is also referred to as the triple bottom line. Our means towards achieving this goal is through a market-based and capacity building model, by training people in the construction of appropriate technologies, and selling them to other development organizations and community groups in need of infrastructural improvements. It seems like a basic strategy, but it's surprising to note that only a handful of organizations worldwide support such a model.

The Use of the Market, and The Death of Environmentalism

In the last few months, an article, The Death of Environmentalism has been galvanizing the environmental movement. In response to the recent dismantling of environmental policy in the USA, two ardent environmentalists suggest that the green strategy is ineffective in producing effective environmental legislation. Key to their argument is that greens desperately need to embrace the market as a means to create effective change. Top-down `command-and-control' strategies to preserve natural resources and ecological health are ineffectivethe leadership in the USA is notoriously anti-environment. Many environmentalists shy away from terms such as capitalism, market-mechanism, and cost-benefit analysis. Yet, some of the most effective gains for the environmental movement have been utilizing market mechanisms. For example, look at the Chicago Climate Exchange. Each voluntary member of the Exchange commits to reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions, and trades shares of emissions to find the most cost-efficient method of reduction. Those companies that can reduce their emissions to below their quota can then sell their emissions to a company over-quota. As a result, the least amount of GHG's emitted at the lowest cost, maximizing cost-effectiveness. When thinking of how a country or city can be sustainable, especially when financial resources are limited, it is essential to use the market tools to find a solution that is economically viable. AIDG technologies are cheap, and provide such infrastructural solutions that improve health while protecting the environment. We work within (hold your breath) a capitalist model to leverage the maximum positive result.

This is the first example in Guatemala of a development strategy that spreads appropriate technology solutions through incubation of small employee-owned businesses

XelaTeco Employees

Photo Courtesy of AIDG

After interviewing over 50 students and professionals, the AIDG had the impossible task of hiring only nine. The level of technical experience and interest in Xela was astounding. Our employees come from the University of San Carlos, INTECAP (Instituto Técnico de Capacitación), The Escuela Taller Agaton Boj, and the Instituto Technico Industrial. Together, the men and women at XelaTeco speak several local languages, English, and even some French. We selected employees based on electronics, welding, and engineering backgrounds, in addition to leadership experience. In the first few weeks of our workshop, we have been continually impressed by the hard work of our team, and their sheer friendliness and humor (it didn't take long for XelaTeco to be renamed XelaTaco).

XelaTeco Products and Services

Xelateco employees are currently training with AIDG technicians to produce a range of environmentally friendly technologies to be used in development and infrastructure improvement projects. The workshop has a production goal of making kits for certain products available to NGOs and the general pubic at the end of September. Significant efforts are being made to minimize the price of labor and materials to make all of the kits affordable to an individual rural family using a micro-loan. There are currently five technologies the Xelateco workshop is being trained to produce and provide ongoing maintenance and consulting services for: Biodigesters, Micro Hydro Electric Systems, Solar Water Heaters, Water Pumps, and Windmills. For details on the specific technologies please refer to the XelaTeco website: http://www.xelateco.com/products.

Photo Courtesy of AIDG

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are invited to participate in our activities and meet our team. Depending on current needs in the workshop, short and long-term volunteers with various backgrounds can help with everything from building our technologies, painting, translating documents, and writing grants. Some of our employees want to learn English, thus we welcome any volunteers who are willing to teach in the mornings. We also are opening branches in other developing countries, and experienced long-term volunteers are welcome to collaborate. Please send all inquiries to volunteer@aidg.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Benny Lee is a Master's candidate in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University in Massachusetts, USA. He focuses on environmental policy in the built environment, and renewable energy issues in sustainable development. He is writing a thesis on how Xela can be more sustainable through effective urban planning. His email is blee@aidg.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

The article is available online at:

 Entremundos.org