Transforming Lives
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Our approach is simple. People and Technology: Find out what people are doing and help them do it better. Transforming Lives Contact details UK HEAD OFFICE Practical Action The Schumacher Centre for Technology & Development Bourton on Dunsmore Rugby, CV23 9QZ, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 1926 634400 Fax: +44 (0) 1926 634401 E-mail: [email protected] Press enquiries: +44 (0) 1926 634510 [email protected] Website: www.practicalaction.org NEPAL OFFICE Practical Action Pandol Marga, Lazimpat P O Box 15135, Kathmandu, Nepal Telephone: +00 977 1 444 6015, 4434482 Fax: +00 977 1 444 5995 E-mail: [email protected] Practical Action, Chitwan Office Bikram Marg, Chhetrapur, Bharatpur – 2 Chitwan, Nepal Telephone: +00 56 532741 STRATEGIC PLAN 2007-2012 Practical Action, Nepalgunj Office National Trading Marg, House No. 8 Nepalgunj 13, Banke, Nepal Telephone: +00 81 524171 Cover page: A beneficiary woman in Banke watering her leased land using treadle pump (Photo/Sujana U) Small pictures from left: 1. A chepang farmer transporitng his tomatoes to the market (Photo/Rakesh S) 2. Two happy girls by a spur in Chitwan (Photo/Peter C) 3. Local farmer from Gorkha working in his vegetable garden (Photo/Rakesh S) 4. A local farmer ploughing his land in Banke (Photo/Sujana U) Back page: Children from the wind installation site at Phakhel (Photo/Sujana U) Practical Action is the working name of Intermediate Technology Development Group Ltd PRACTICAL ACTION IN NEPAL Registered charity number 247257 CONTENTS Changing lives through 1 inspiration and innovation 2 Our vision, mission and core principles 3 Practical Action Technology matters around the world Founded in 1966 by the economist, E.F. Schumacher, author of ‘Small is Beautiful’, Practical Action has gone 5 from strength to strength as an organisation. Following a Determined to make a difference period of rapid growth and organisational change, we are eager and ready to step up our ambition for the period to 2012. Over the next five years we will make a difference: We will work with over 3 million poor men and women in 13 countries, using technology to change people’s lives Becoming a leading authority 9 for the better. on technology and development Our work will help provide stable livelihoods and food security, increase incomes, improve people’s access to basic services such as water and sanitation, energy, waste management, housing and transport. 11 We will help poor communities adapt to the impacts of Sharing knowledge climate change, developing models of excellence, sharing learning and ‘scaling up’ impact. All of our work will be ‘climate proofed’ and we will reduce the carbon footprint of our own organisation. 13 We will push for government and donor policies which benefit poor people and provide more community control Pressing for change over the technologies that effect people’s lives. Reaching out beyond our own projects we will actively share our experience and knowledge and that of our partners so others can benefit, multiplying the impact of 15 our work and touching the lives of millions more people. To achieve this ambition our programme work will focus Geographical coverage on five main areas: - Coping with environment and conflict - Making markets work - Getting a decent service 15 - Closing the new technology gap - Tackling climate change. Working approach Changing lives through inspiration and innovation ractical Action was founded in 1966, as the geography and topography, urban biased economic Intermediate Technology Development Group development and inadequate exposure to alternative P(ITDG), by the renowned economist Dr. E.F. sources of knowledge and information have all helped Schumacher. The main inspiration behind it was to prove exaggerate the income gap and economic disparity among that his philosophy of “Small is Beautiful” could bring the “haves and have nots”. In Nepal, Practical Action has real and sustainable improvements to people’s lives. Now, been working to address these issues with the core aim of Practical Action with its Head Office in the UK, works reducing poverty and improving the lives of the poor, through its country and regional offices in Bangladesh, particularly in the rural areas where poverty is wide-scale Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Zimbabwe and the needs of the most marginalised are often covering four regions of the developing world - East ignored. Africa, South Africa, Latin America and South Asia. The last strategic period has been a period of learning In Nepal, Practical Action started working in 1979, mainly and diversification for Practical Action, both in Nepal and focusing on the microhydro sector. In 1998, Practical internationally. In the coming strategic period we are now Action formally established its country office in Nepal, looking forward to making more positive changes in and diversified its activities from the microhydro sector people’s lives through the use of new knowledge and into the development and promotion of other forms of technologies, and by improving and building on renewable energy and two new programme areas – traditional ones. We will continue to work in four broad agroprocessing and rural transport. Since 2003, Practical priority areas – reducing vulnerability; markets and Action has been working in the areas of food security, livelihoods; improving access to useful services, systems climate change, disaster management, markets and and structures; and responding to new technologies. We livelihoods, renewable energy, complementary means of will participate more actively in global debates and transport, urban environment and indoor smoke advocate for policy changes in areas of oraganisational reduction. expertise to bring about globally positive changes in areas such as climate change, the impact of indoor air pollution Practical Action is committed to poverty reduction. It and the role of renewable energy sources. supports the efforts of poor and marginalised communities to improve their livelihoods by providing In everything we do at Practical Action we are focused on appropriate technology options and capacity building bringing positive and lasting change to people’s lives. Our activities to allow communities to manage these on their aim in the coming years is to continue doing so - with own. The people centred approach of Practical Action added confidence and more proven technologies and respects local knowledge and skills, which ensures wider ideas, we believe we are more capable of delivering adoption and replication, as does its emphasis on people focused programmes and projects that bring sustainability, basic human rights, and the creation of positive changes among some of the poorest communities strategic partnerships. in the country. Nepal is constantly facing challenges, both in the form of Achyut Luitel natural calamities and political unrest. The varied Country Director PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY: TRANSFORMING LIVES 1 Vision Mission Core principles A sustainable world free of To use technology to challenge poverty, working People first poverty and injustice in with poor people to: Working in partnership which technology is used for build their capabilities, A concern for future generations the benefit of all. improve their access to technical options and Respect for diversity knowledge, and help them influence the social, economic and institutional systems for innovation and use of technology. Happy children posing for camera at Practical Action wind farming demostration site. Photo/Rakesh S 2 PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY: TRANSFORMING LIVES Technology matters epal, apart from being culturally diverse, independently. A few examples of these can be taken posseses an abundance of indigenous from our work in setting up of early warning towers and Ntechnologies, local innovations and adaptable gravity goods ropeways. We improved existing local practices. People from different regions and geographical Machans1 as early warning towers, with sirens and loud settings have varying needs and ways of life, which has speakers fitted, while similarly, we introduced gravity led to a range of different innovations to meet specific goods ropeways, a completely new technology in the needs. The fact remains however that the varied terrain context of Nepal, which are now being successfully also causes difficulties, with increasing exposure to managed by communities without external assistance. diverse natural hazards, that can aggravate vulnerability and poverty. This situation heightens the need for new We believe that the right idea – however small – can technologies and the adaptation and improvement of change peoples lives positively. It can create jobs, improve indigenous ones. health and livelihoods, and help people lead better lives. This inspires us further to continue working with poor The main aim of Practical Action, in Nepal and globally, people to develop the skills and technology that will is to help reduce poverty and improve the lives of people enable them to build a better future. We focus not just on through the use of technologies that they can use, modify machinery and physical infrastructure, but also on ideas, and maintain on their own. Practical Action plans to skills, services and the capacity to organise and use all of continue doing so primarily in two ways. Firstly, by these in a way which helps the poor. identifying locally used and created ideas and supporting in improving them through the incorporation of new In a country like