pathways out of poverty - inclusive innovation hub · ramon l. fernan iii lilac c. florentino ......

PathwaysOut of Poverty:Innovating with the BOPin Southeast Asia

PathwaysOut of Poverty:Innovating with the BoPin Southeast Asia

iBoP Asia is a project of the Ateneo School of Government, supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre.

Editorial Team

Senior EditorsJessica Dator-BercillaDr. Antonio G.M. La ViñaAtty. Brenda Jay Angeles-MendozaDr. Ellie OsirMary Grace P. Santos

Graphic Design and LayoutJulie Barcenas

ContributorsMarkus DietrichJoanne C. DulceRamon L. Fernan IIILilac C. FlorentinoJames L. KhoDr. Segundo E. RomeroMary Grace P. SantosKristian Paolo D. TorresLance Andrew D. Viado

iBoP Asia Secretariat

2007-2011Director

Co-Director Communications and

Networking Coordinator Grants Administrator

Web & SystemsAdministrators

Project Assistant

2011 - presentUNIID-SEA TEAM

DirectorProject Manager

Research AssociateProject Associate

Intern

Dr. Antonio G.M. La Viña

Mary Jean A. Caleda

Mary Grace P. Santos

Lorenzo V. Cordova, Jr.

Broderick SapnuMark Aethen Agana

Marien N. Fulo

Segundo E. Romero, PhD

Mary Grace P. Santos

Lilac C. Florentino

Kristian Paolo D. Torres

Lance Andrew D. Viado

Pathways Out of Poverty: Innovating with the BOPin Southeast Asia

Copyrights © 2012

Ateneo School of Government (ASoG)All rights reserved.

ISBN No. 978 - 971 - 8597 - 15 - 6

Produced by iBoP Asia

A project of the

Ateneo School of Government

supported by Canada’s International

Development Research Centre

(IDRC-CRDI)

Published by

Ateneo School of Government

Pacifico Ortiz Hall,

Social Development Complex

Ateneo de Manila University

Katipunan Ave., Loyola Heights

1108 Quezon City PHILIPPINES

URL: http://www.asg.ateneo.edu

This publication was produced with the

aid of a grant from Canada’s International

Development Research Centre

(www.idrc.ca).

No part of this book or the book in

its entirety may be reproduced and

distributed in any form by any means

(electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording) without a written permission

from the authors or the publisher.

Table of Contents

List of Acronyms

Part One:Innovation & Development

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Evolving Concept of the BOP

Chapter 3: Patterns in Innovation at the BOP in Southeast Asia

■ Patterns in Acquiring, Applying, and Sustaining Innovations

■ Patterns in Engaging BoP Communities and Sectors

■ Patterns in Innovation Intermediation

Chapter 4: What it Takes to Innovate at the BOP

Part Two:Pathways Out Of Poverty: Innovation Stories

Innovation stories in Water and Sanitation, Health, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Business

Chapter 1: Innovation in Water and Sanitation Chapter 2: Innovation in Health Chapter 3: Innovation in ICT and Business

Innovation stories in Energy, Agriculture and Food, and Climate Change Adaptation

Chapter 4: Innovation in Energy

Chapter 5: Innovation in Food and Agriculture Chapter 6: Innovation in Climate Change Adaptation

ReferencesList of FiguresList of Tables

iv

1

3

8

20

22

27

33

45

57

58

86

96

132

164

180

194197197

iv

ADLAERAMCHA-MCPC

ASDSWASEAN

ASoGBAPBEMHaS

BIFA

BoPBSFBSMCAPS

CARD

CLTSCPUDADENR

DepEdDILG

DOCHSEI

DOHDOLE

DRNDSWD

DTIEco-Agri

EcosanECPAdDU EERC

EFREMHaSEWBFAOFIN

FOSSGILAS

GTHGTZ

iBoP Asia

IBC

ICRC

ICT

IDE

IDRC

IHMINMIPIPED IBON

IPMIPSARD

ISSIITITBITDI-DOST

KATAKUS

LIST OF ACRONYMS

Activities of the daily lifeAction for Economic ReformsAtlas Mining Community

Handicapped Association Multipurpose Cooperative

A Single Drop for Safe WaterAssociation of Southeast Asian

NationsAteneo School of GovernmentBusiness Advisory ProgramBale-Endah E-Multiple

Handicapped SystemBanaba Integrated Farmers

AssociationBase of the PyramidBio-Sand FilterBasic Science and MathematicsCenter for Advanced Philippine

StudiesCenter for Agriculture and Rural

DevelopmentCommunity-led total sanitationComputer Professionals’ UnionDepartment of AgricultureDepartment of Environment and

Natural ResourcesDepartment of EducationDepartment of Interior and Local

GovernmentDavao Oriental Coco Husk Social

Enterprise, Inc.Department of HealthDepartment of Labor and

EmploymentDewan Riset NasionalDepartment of Social Welfare and

DevelopmentDepartment of Trade and IndustryEcological and Agricultural

Development Foundation, Inc.Ecological SanitationEcosan Club PhilippinesAteneo de Davao University’s

Energy and Environment Resource Center

Emergency Food ReserveE-Multiple Handicapped SystemEngineers Without BordersFood and Agriculture OrganizationFishBase Information and Research

Group, Inc.Free and Open-Source SoftwareGearing up Internet and Access for

StudentsGifts, Toys and HousewareGesellschaft für Technische

Zusammenarbeit GmbHScience and Technology

Innovations for the Base of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia

Interdependence-based model of collaboration

International Committee for the Red Cross

Information and communications technology

International Development Enterprises

International Development Research Centre

Integrated hatchery machineIntegrated nutrient managementIndigenous PeoplesPartnership in Education for

DevelopmentIntegrated pest managementInstitute of Policy and Strategy

for Agriculture and Rural Development

Institute for Small Scale IndustriesInformation technologyInstitute Technology BandungIndustrial Technology

Development Institute - Department of Science and Technology

Kababayen-an Alang sa Teknolohiya nga Haum sa Kinaiyahan ug Kauswagan

Pathways Out of Poverty:INNOVATING WITH THE BASE OF THE PYRAMID

IN SOUTHEAST ASIAv

LIST O

F ACR

ON

YMS

LAKAS

LBPLGULLEE

MANCOR

MCD

MFIMHPMNCMOUMRDMSMEs

MVINASA

NFCWPD

NGONOxNTFPOTCPAGASA

PBSP

PDCC

PhilRice – SAIV

POCPODS

PT PLN

R&DrpmRWH

SETARASNASnT/S&TSRPTIMSS

TNO

TRICOM

UDDTUNUNICEF

UNIDO

UP-NISMED

VAVAWTSVietnet-ICT

WAND

WARECOD

WASHWBDWHOYBMU

Lubos na Alyansa ng mga Katutubong Ayta ng Sambales

Landbank of the PhilippinesLocal Government UnitLive & Learn Environmental

EducationMindanao Agri Network

CorporationCentre for Marine Life

Conservation and Community Development

Micro-finance institutionMultiple handicapped personMultinational corporationMemorandum of UnderstandingMekong River DeltaMicro, small, and medium-scale

enterprisesMicroVentures, Inc.National Aeronautics and Space

AdministrationNational Federation of

Cooperatives for Persons With Disability

Non-governmental organizationNitrogen oxidesNon-Timber Forest ProductOver-the-counter Philippine Atmospheric,

Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration

Philippine Business for Social Progress

Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council

Philippine Rice Research Institute – Social and Agro Industrial Ventures

Point of Care People Offering Deliverable

ServicesPerusahaan Terbuka Perusahaan

Listrik NegaraResearch and developmentRevolutions per minuteRainwater harvesting

Sejahtera Semesta RakyatSenator Ninoy Aquino Science and TechnologySuggested Retail PricesTrends in International

Mathematics and Science Study

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research

Tri-People Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao, Inc.

Urine diverting dehydration toiletsUnited NationsUnited Nations Children’s

Emergency FundUnited Nations Industrial

Development OrganizationUniversity of the Philippines –

National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

Volunteer AdvisersVertical axis wind turbinesVietnet Information Technology

and Communication CentreWater, Agroforestry, Nutrition and

Development Center for Water Resources

Conservation and DevelopmentWater, Sanitation, and HygieneWater Borne DiseaseWorld Health OrganizationYayasan Bhakti Mitra Utama


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This section presents a discussion of the Base of the

Pyramid (BoP) concept and the BoP approach to

development, and how it can be integrated in science

and technology (S&T) innovation to help address

specific problems and needs.

Innovation & Development

PART 1


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Dr. Antonio G.m. La Viña

For three years now, the Ateneo School of Government, with Canada’s

International Development Research Centre, has been working to promote

and support pro-poor innovation in the field of science and technology (S&T)

through the flagship project, Science and Technology Innovations for the Base

of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia, more popularly known as iBoP Asia. This

project ran from 2008 to 2011.

iBoP Asia’s aim is to foster science and technology (S&T) innovations in order to contribute to

the development of affordable solutions to unmet needs, increase productivity and incomes,

and facilitate the integration of the poor and excluded in the formal economy.

In the context of this project, “S&T” refers to the full range of social, natural, medical and life

sciences, as well as the physical and engineering disciplines, while “innovation” is defined as

the use of new ideas, technologies or ways of doing things, in a place where, or by people for

whom, they have not been used before.1

Why focus on S&T? Scientific achievements and technological advancements have greatly

improved the quality of life and social well-being of millions across the globe. However, many

innovations in S&T are mainly targeting the demands of well-off consumers, and are too high-

tech or too specialized that it limits those who can afford them and, more so, benefit from

them. S&T innovations in energy-saving systems, healthcare facilities and water delivery,

among others, have a huge potential to have positive impacts on the lives of the poor when

harnessed to respond to their needs and budgets.

3

1 Spence, R. (2008). Research Councils and Support Organizations in Southeast Asia: Institutions, Issues and Collaboration: A

Report on Science, Technology and Innovation Systems in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Introduction

Chapter 1

4

The project drew lessons from the evolving

concepts, approaches and work at and with the

base of the pyramid (BoP), the socio-economic

segment comprised of billions of people living

below US$ 2 a day.

iBoP Asia, via its Small Grants Program,

partnered with 25 organizations in 6 countries

in Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Indonesia,

Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam

- to undertake innovation research and help

find solutions to specific issues and problems

of those at the BoP in the region. The initiative

looks into the engagement among government,

business, civil society and those at the BoP to

develop innovative approaches and products

that are not only affordable but also acceptable

to those at the BoP. Of particular interest to

the project is how the various actors utilize

BoP approaches to encourage and harness S&T

innovation for social development.

Most of the innovation projects carried out by

our grant partners are exploratory in nature.

Yet, from them we gain significant lessons on

pathways to S&T innovation not only for but also

with and by those at the BoP.

Going around Southeast Asia

and interacting with people from

different sectors - innovators

and local communities, most

importantly - yielded valuable

insights on how pro-poor and

inclusive innovation works and is

being practiced.


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Objectives this book

Pathways Out of Poverty: Innovating with the BoP in Southeast Asia is a collection of innovation stories and lessons from the research done by our 26 grant partners. These stories attempt to uncover how organizations, institutions and poor communities work together to develop, adopt or adapt, and disseminate technologies and approaches to create solutions for poverty issues and needs in Southeast Asia. The areas covered were: water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and food, climate change, and the cross-cutting areas of information and communications technology (ICT) and microfinance.

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By doing so, the book also hopes to

■ Contribute a distinctly Southeast Asian perspective to the literature on the application of BoP principles and approaches in S&T innovation;

■ Be a ready reference for practitioners seeking new leads for new innovation initiatives;

■ Provide a robust set of case studies that can be used for systematically

teaching courses in innovation at the base of the pyramid, or innovation

for inclusive development; and

■ Help inspire and guide further research that will help generate more

initiatives and collaboration on innovation at the base of the pyramid.

This book aims to capture how the principles of working for and with those at the BoP are used in S&T innovation or how they enhance the innovation process.

6

The stories featured in this book show the S&T innovation work done by the iBoP Asia grantees and their partner communities from 2008 to 2010. These stories highlight key ideas, insights and possible directions for pro-poor S&T innovation.

The book does not only cover actual innovation attempts but also efforts to enhance

capacities through research and the application of BoP

principles and approaches in S&T innovation.

The reader is advised to consider that the stories, as presented in their abridged versions, were developed based on our partners’ documentation of their respective projects, as they attempted to innovate for and with the BoP. iBoP Asia worked with a pool of writers to articulate the innovation stories of our partners based primarily on their project reports and on information gathered via informal interviews and other means of correspondence with our partner organizations.

Part One discusses in detail the concept of the ‘base of the pyramid’ and how it has evolved over time, not simply as an economic market concept but also as a development and innovation approach. It also explores how BoP approaches are being used to guide development and innovation in the field of S&T, and how S&T can be harnessed to address BoP needs and issues in various areas.

Part One also presents the key insights that emerged from the innovation stories of our grant partners. These insights focus on what it takes to innovate at the BoP and the general movement to make development more inclusive. Also discussed is how iBoP Asia hopes to take this effort further by working with key innovation actors such as educators and students in universities, research councils and entrepreneurs.

In the next chapter, Chapter Two, iBoP Asia aims to generate a better understanding of the BoP as a concept and as a development approach that can be applied to S&T innovation to improve the quality of life of those at the base of the pyramid. In Chapter Three, iBoP Asia gleans from the stories patterns on how organizations and communities in Southeast Asia used BoP principles, approaches and strategies to uncover or produce S&T innovations. In Chapter Four, we explore some of the factors and conditions for effective innovation at the BoP in the Southeast Asian context. From the reflections and lessons learned, we present recommendations on ways towards better uptake of S&T innovations for

Scope and Limitations Overview of the Book


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■ Risks, Problems, and Barriers • What were the challenges encountered in

researching, creating, launching or introducing the innovation?

• How were these challenges overcome or, conversely, unable to be resolved?

■ Benefits, Outcomes, or Reach • How did individuals, local communities, local

or national government and other partners/ stakeholders contribute to and benefit from the initiative?

• What are the perceived, felt, or tangible outcomes of the initiative?

■ Lessons Learned• Regarded as one of the most important

components of the project, what was learned from the experience – the innovation process, implementation, difficulties encountered, and gaps/shortcomings/errors made, if any?

■ The Future• Where is the innovation and the initiative

likely to head? • What are the post-grant plans, if any?

In the process of innovating at the BoP, poor communities themselves and their take on the innovation are of primary importance. A deeper understanding of the plight and needs of BoP communities and their involvement and participation in all stages of the innovation process are critical to the overall success of these efforts.

the poor, and enhance the participation of key stakeholders, especially of poor communities, in addressing poverty issues through innovation.

Part Two summarizes the case studies into readable stories. These stories do not intend to provide all the instrumental details of the cases, only to engage the reader in the discovery of how innovations can create pathways out of poverty. The Final Technical Reports of the 26 case studies from these stories are based are available in full at the new project website of UNIID-SEA, www.uniid-asia.net.

The innovation stories answer the following questions:

■ Project Brief• What is the BoP problem or issue that the

project would like to address and what is the proposed S&T innovation to help solve this problem or issue?

• Who is the target community? • Is the innovation a distinct initiative of the

organization, or is it tied to, related with or part of an existing innovation?

• In which domain or thematic area does this innovation belong?

■ Process • What led to the creation of the innovation? • At what stage is the innovation currently

in (e.g. research, laboratory development/ prototyping, piloting, business model, organizational or enterprise development, scaling up)?

• What is still needed to take the innovation further?

Markus Dietrich & Jessica Dator-Bercilla

The term “base of the pyramid” or BoP is primarily used to refer to the

socio-economic base of the income distribution pyramid. The concept

has grown across time and used in various approaches. Of interest

to this section is how the BoP is viewed by these approaches and the

subsequent discussion looks into various thoughts on the BoP.

8

C.K. Prahalad, a business and management guru from the University of Michigan in the United States, puts forward that “the distribution of wealth and the capacity to generate income in the world [that] can be captured in the form of an economic pyramid.” More than four billion people live at the BoP on less than $2 per day.2

Prahalad and colleague Stuart Hart, another leading authority in business strategy and the implications of poverty and environment in business, took this idea further and made it the core of a business strategy in providing

products and services to the huge untapped population of the BoP. This line of thinking draws attention to the lowest socio-economic segment of society as a market opportunity rather than as recipients of government or philanthropic aid.3

Prahalad and Hart cemented the foundation of the BoP concept by asserting that multinational corporations’ (MNCs) investment at the BoP represents the biggest potential market opportunity in the history of commerce.4 This idea ushered a paradigm shift from viewing the poor as beneficiaries to the poor as customers. The opportunity was estimated to be a multi-million market, with billions of people at the BoP.

The BoP as a Market Opportunity

2 Prahalad, C.K. (2005). The Fortune at the Bottom of the

Pyramid. Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Publishing

3 United Nations Global Compact (2009). www.

unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/.

4 Prahalad C.K. and Hart, S.L. (2002). The Fortune at the

Bottom of the Pyramid. Strategy + Business Issue 26, 1-14

The Evolving Concept of the BOP

Chapter 2


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5 Prahalad, C.K. and Hammond A. (2002). Serving the World’s Poor - Profitably. Harvard Business Review, September Issue, 48-57

Prahalad, in another piece co-authored with Allen Hammond, further elaborated on the BoP concept and stressed three important advantages of serving the poor: “a new source of revenue growth; [it] contributes to greater efficiency; and [allows] access to innovation.” 5 In this follow-up work, Prahalad provided some strategies for companies to effectively tap into the BoP market, which included changing the attitudes and practices of executives, doing structural changes, and involving external partners such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Prahalad and Hart’s business model focused on MNCs as prime actors in the model because of their managerial and technological resources and capacities, which few local entrepreneurs have.

Apart from these resources, MNCs also

have an established knowledge base, have

the capacity to bring the necessary people required

for certain operations, and the ability to push

innovations in the market.

The Commercial Infrastructure at the Bottom of the Pyramid

CreatingBuying Power

ShapingAspirations

TailoringLocal

Solutions

Improving Access

■ Targeted product development

■ Bottom-up innovation

■ Distribution systems

■ Communications link

■ Consumer education

■ Sustainable development

■ Access to credit■ Income

generation

figure 1: The Original Business Models Prahalad and Hart (2002)

10

6 Prahalad, C.K. (2002). Strategies for the Bottom of the Economic Pyramid: India as a Source of Innovation. Reflections Vol. 3 No. 4, 6-17

Prahalad and Hart point out that the “high cost economy of the poor” (also called BoP penalty) where the BoP customer pays higher prices for basic goods and services, results from local monopolies, lack of or inefficient access/distribution channels and traditional intermediaries. This provides an opportunity for larger and more efficient companies to fill in the gaps and serve this market at profitable margins.

figure 2: Prahalad and Hammond’s Pyramid (2002)

Population (in millions)

> $20,000

> $2,000 - 20,000

< $2,000 - 20,000

Purchasing Power Parity (in U.S. Dollars)

4,000

2,000

100

In a separate article on economic development in India, Prahalad underscored the importance of reaching scale as one of four basic conditions for BoP solutions. The other three are price-performance relationship, environmentally sustainable models, and harmonizing the most advanced technologies and local conditions.6 The authors introduce additional case studies, such as that of the Aravind Hospitals in India, in which a system of eye-care features paying patients from the top tier of the pyramid subsidizing services for patients from the middle and bottom tier.

In 2002, Hart and Clayton Christensen further argued that working for the growth of the company and helping to lift the poor out of poverty should not be mutually exclusive undertakings; in fact, they are mutually reinforcing. As an example, they mentioned Grameen Telecom’s Village Phone venture, a profitable wireless phone service in Bangladesh for the rural poor. Their paper also introduced the term ‘base’ in lieu of ’bottom’ under which the current BoP concept is known to avoid any connotation of inferiority of the BoP.


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7 Prahalad, C.K. (2005). The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Publishing

figure 3: Hart and Christensen’s Pyramid (2002)

In the past, major waves of growth have been created by innovations that have had an impact only on the bottom of developed markets. Disruptive innovations at the base of the pyramid - home to billions of the aspiring poor - have much greater potential than those that begin and end in developed markets

Disrupting the Pyramid

the Base of the Pyramid

the Base at the Top of the Pyramid

Business + Innovation and development opportunities at the BoP

The BoP concept gained greater public awareness when Prahalad released his book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, in 2005, which expounded on his original article by building upon studies of best practice in BoP strategy.7

In this book, Prahalad critically unpacked a number of mainstream assumptions about the poor --having no money, unable to be accessed profitably, not valuing brands, disconnected from information networks and not accepting of or open to new technology. He refuted these assumptions by means of case studies supported the argument that the poor represent a huge and growing market for corporations who initiate appropriate changes in their business models, innovation practices, and products and services.

At the core of this BoP business model development is innovation, which shapes key processes such as: a) price performance; b) scalability; c) ecological sustainability and d) product, process and communication innovation. This BoP model, according to Prahalad, focuses on small unit packages, low

12

Hart and Ted London later introduced the concept of native capabilities, which puts a premium on local community knowledge and capacities as key to doing business at the BoP.8 To achieve success at the BoP, MNCs have to become “embedded” in that ecosystem and unlearn existing practices or, in other words, move away from employing their own logic to understand the BoP.

A case study that exemplifies such an approach is that of Honey Care Africa, which formed non-traditional partnerships with NGOs and the local community to become the largest producer of high quality honey in East Africa.

margins per unit, high volume and high return on capital employed. He further noted that transaction governance capacity-building (i.e. the guarantee of transparency and enforcement of contracts) would be needed for feasible private sector involvement and development.

These new insights promote the premise of the BoP as a global market and of poverty alleviation as a business development goal. The expected outcome was identified as a social and economic transformation that would ultimately lead to “the morphing of the pyramid into a diamond” with the middle class making up the largest part of society.

the Very Poor the Middle Class

figure 4: Prahalad: From Pyramid to Diamond

8 Hart, S.L. and London, T. (2005). Developing Native Capability. Stanford Social Innovation Review, June 2005, 28–33.


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9 Budinich, V. (2005). Market Based Strategies Serving Low Income Populations. http://www.caseplace.org/d.asp?d=1434.

The first framework based on models for BoP market-based strategies was developed by Valeria Budinich.9 Placing a strong emphasis on citizen sector organizations, who, according to Budinich, have “more experience in delivering products and services to low-income consumers and small producers”, the framework stressed the importance of partnership between the business and the social sectors in hybrid value chains.

Budinich identified nine (9) business models based on case studies and placed particular importance on the emergence of community as an important factor that influences business models.

figure 5: Business Models at the BoPaccording to Budinich (2005)

“World Class Quality at Affordable Price”

David Green Health (Global)

“Multi-Tiered Pricing Model”

Rebecca Villalobos Health (Costa Rica)

“Shared Purchasing”

Grameen Telecom ICT (Bangladesh)

“Combining Retail & Financing”

Casas Bahia (Brazil) Consumer Goods

“Group Micro-Lending & Demand Aggregation”

Prof. Muhammad Yunus Financial Services (Global)

“Transforming economies of Small Producers”

Dr. Verghese Kurien Dairy (India)

“Acquiring Technology through Micro-Leasing”

Fabio Rosa Energy (Brazil)

“Save and Built Assets Now”

CEMEX/Patrimonio Hoy Housing (Mexico)

“Leveraging Social Networks”

ICICI and CSO’s Financial Services (India)

Factors/ Principles

Limited purchasing

of individual clients

High volume business based on small (even tiny) individual

transactions

Poor understanding of the human and

social capitals of low income communities

Change radically the logic behind your business model

Leverage the power of communities as both consumers and producers

Design products & services that tap into the wealth of poor

Mosaic of Market-based strategies benefiting low-income populations. Examples from citizen-sector organizations and businesses.

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A new generation BoP concept, which was called “BoP 2.0” based on the notion of creating mutual value as opposed to selling to the poor, was proposed by Hart in 2007.10 The following year, BoP Protocol 2.0 was produced by Hart and Erik Simanis, which was anchored on a co-

creation logic that encourages close personal partnership with the BoP, dialogue instead of just listening to concerns of those at the BoP, and mutual sharing and learning in order to foster a shared commitment.

BoP 2.0: The Poor as a Co-Inventors & Co-Creators

10 Hart, S.L. (2007). Capitalism at its Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth and Humanity (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Wharton

School Publishing

11 Hart, S.L. (2011). Writing the Unfinished Symphony at the Base of the Pyramid. http://stuartlhart.com/blog/2011/05/writing-the-unfinished-

symphony-at-the-base-of-the-pyramid.html

table 1: The Difference between the First and Second Generation BoP Concept, adapted from Simanis & Hart (2008) and Hart (2007)

BOP 1.0 BOP 2.0BOP as a consumer BOP as a business partner

Deep listening Deep dialogue

Low cost production Build local capacity

“SELLING to the POOR” “BUSINESS CO-VENTURING”

Extended distribution Embedded processes

Reduced price point Expand imagination (bringing new life into business ideas and models)

Redesigning packaging Marry capabilities and build shared commitment

Arms length relationship via NGOs

Direct, personal relationship facilitated by NGOs

After years of study on the business potential of the BoP, Hart and Ted London, came to the conclusion that there is no “fortune at the bottom of the pyramid” waiting to be discovered, contrary to earlier assumptions and propositions. The new realization is that the [real] challenge for companies is to learn how to “create a fortune with the base of the pyramid”11.


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Michael Porter and Mark Kramer recently published a paper on creating shared value that examines the reinvention of capitalism to unleash a wave of innovation and growth. This work proposes that business and society have been pitted against each other for so long that it may be useful to look further into connections between societal development and economic progress.

Their framework goes beyond the concept of sharing an economic value created by business (i.e. redistribution) and seeks to expand social and economic values by showing policies and practices that not only guarantee profit and

competitiveness in business but also improve the economic and social conditions of the communities where these businesses are located. Re-conceiving products and markets, examining how productivity is maximized in the value chain, and the creation of industry clusters in the locale of the companies are among the pathways identified to effectively create shared values.12

Sensitivity to the needs of communities is vital to this approach. Hence, though Porter and Kramer did not explicitly refer to the BoP, they further provide ways by which the BoP takes on a critical and a more active role in the creation of products, processes and systems that facilitate innovation and growth.

Another notable development is that of the concept of collaborative interdependence that builds on the second-generation BoP strategies of co-creation and suggests a partnering strategy that seeks ways on how various stakeholders can be of help to each other. The framework was developed by Ted London and Ravi Anupindi, after examining how food security and nutrition investments can be better directed for both profit and poverty alleviation. 13

This encourages shifts and changes in roles, capabilities, metrics and investments. Again,

New Developments: BoP as a stakeholder and collaborator in developing shared value and poverty alleviation

12 Porter, M. and Kramer, M. (2011). Creating Shared Value. Harvard Business Review, January-February 2011

13 London, T. and Anupindi, R. (2011). Using the base-of-the pyramid perspective to catalyze interdependence-based collaborations. http://

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1013626108

16

this new way of looking at engagement with the BoP requires collaboration with non-traditional partners, embracing socially-oriented metrics, supporting local capacity building, enabling enterprise capabilities, and creating more attractive market opportunities. Collaboration will be imperative in the design, implementation and sustainability of engagements under this framework.

Thus, a new interdependence-based model of collaboration (IBC) is introduced with the following strategies:

1. Catalyzing investment to encourage more enterprises to seek opportunities in designing initiatives that engage the BoP -- in this study, London and Anupindi refer to small-holder farmers;

2. Balancing metrics and aligning incentives in order to enhance the ability of enterprises to pilot and scale viable business models that are responsive to the needs of the BoP;

3. Creating flexible mechanisms that facilitate experiments in the stages of design and implementation, aiming to support business models that serve the BoP in more sustainable ways;

The long and arduous search for solutions to poverty has led many to the realization of the limitations of the wisdom of and approaches used by governments, corporations, and traditional development agencies and organizations, leading to an increasing recognition of the important role that the poor can take on in developing new, creative and life-changing ideas and technologies.

Understanding and creating values desired by different

stakeholders is at the heart of collaborative interdependence.

4. Enabling competitive advantage in order to improve opportunities for enterprises to become more sustainable; and

5. Ensuring skill transfer to develop capabilities to scale engagements into new market contexts.


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14 Market based Innovations Pro-poor Solutions. (2012). BoP Innovation Center. http://www.bopinc.org/images/documents/flyer-

bop%20inc.pdf

15 Miedema, M. (2009). Science, technology and innovation for sustainable povery reduction. The Netherlands: TNO. http://siteresources.

worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1099079877269/5476641099079975330/Mathilde_Miedema_Science_Innovation.pdf

The BoP Innovation Center, an independent foundation in Europe that employs a multi-stakeholder approach to developing sustainable innovations for BoP markets, used such strategies in developing alternative energy sources.14

In recent years, notable attempts have been made to develop new products using pro-poor innovation strategies.

To guarantee successful pro-poor innovation, Miedema proposed that attention should be given to these to types of innovations 15:

However, Mathilde Miedema of The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) looked into the value of the BoP in science and technology and found the following hurdles: (1) inadequate identification of BoP demands and matching potential for a business case; (2) insufficient co-creation initiatives; (3) gap in investments for research and development particularly for new, disruptive innovation; and (4) missing innovation management, among others.

■ Technical innovations. Development of sustainable and affordable

products and technologies;

■ Social innovations. New partnerships and ways of interaction;

■ Management innovations. Novel ways of product development,

marketing, purchasing investment; and

■ Value-chain innovations. Exploring new relationships and arrangements

with suppliers and retailers alongside new financing schemes.

18

16 Oosterlaken, I., van den Hoven, J., Kandachar P., Mani, M. (2009). Technology and Human Development – A Capability

Approach. Bangalore: Indian Institute of Science

There are those that question the

application of the BoP approach to

innovation in S&T. Oosterlaken et.al,

for instance, point to the insufficient

attention given to BoP involvement in

the engineering and design phases, and

to innovation that takes into account

local contexts. They encourage more

participatory approaches to innovation

in order to expand human capabilities

rather than just aiming to raise incomes

to address poverty. 16


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Finally, we note the new concept of inclusive innovation, a term recently introduced by Dr. R.A. Mahelkar and is being supported by the World Bank to “deliver high performance products, processes and services at an ultra-low price for resource-poor people by harnessing sophisticated science and technology know-how to invent, design, produce and market high performance products and services at prices that can be afforded [by the poor].” On top of this is the call for the inclusion of the BoP in innovation processes to “co-create and co-innovate inclusive solutions”. 17

The process of inextricably linking innovation as an instrument for development for, with and by those at the BoP brings us further to the emerging concept of innovation for inclusive development. An important idea is that innovation must support a pace of development of the BoP that outstrips the pace of the rest of society in order to close the inequality gap. Without an equitable sharing and staking of claims to the benefits of development, it is and will not be inclusive. iBoP Asia’s search for the key to unlock this dramatic development potential of the BoP has led to the discovery of technical, social, managerial and value-chain innovations that can bring communities out of the BoP.

17 Office of Science and Technology Policy (2010), More from Less for More: The Imperative for Inclusive Innovation, http://

scienceofsciencepolicy.net/event/more-less-more-imperative-inclusive-innovation.

Segundo Romero, Mary Grace Santos, Lilac Florentino, Kristian Paolo Torres, Lance Andrew Viado

20

Therefore, these cases, as a set, can be considered to represent small-scale initiatives to respond to pressing social concerns in BOP communities and sectors that experts considered particularly technically feasible and had significant technical, financial, socio-cultural, and political sustainability.

Taken as a purposive sample of S&T innovations at the BoP, the cases can be characterized along the following variables:

■ As research projects, how much time and resources were required to generate the project outputs? What does this say about the level and

range of effort required to produce significant S&T innovations in BoP communities and sectors?

■ What were the various types of innovation outputs and outcomes of the projects – products, processes, prototypes, information, knowledge, capabilities, partnerships, and collaboration networks?

■ How were the projects distributed in terms of their acquisition, application, adaptation, adoption and scaling of the innovations? The research projects applied themselves to different points and ranges along the continuum

Overview

Patterns in Innovation at the BoP in Southeast Asia

Chapter 3

This chapter provides some of the relevant patterns that characterize

the 26 innovation stories. As previously mentioned, these stories were

the result of a Southeast Asia-wide call for research proposals on the

application of S&T innovations at the base of the pyramid.


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atterns in Innovation at the BoP

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of entry to exit or mainstreaming of the innovation. Some projects attempted to create new product or process innovations while others took existing products and processes and applied them in new settings. Some projects focused on the acquisition of appropriate innovations to respond to identified needs.

■ To what extent were the target beneficiary-partner communities or sectors engaged in the research projects? What was the depth and breadth of their participation? How were the communities represented by formal or informal leaders?

■ Which development actors and intermediaries played a role and contributed to the project? What were the similarities and differences in the participation of government (national and local), private sector, and civil society organizations (academe, NGOs)?

■ What sustainability concerns – technical, financial, socio-cultural, and political) were raised and addressed in the project? What follow-on activities were designed or implemented?

These are the patterns that this chapter explores.

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Patterns in Acquiring, Applying, and Sustaining Innovations

Innovating from scratch is not really a requirement in order to address a social problem. Existing innovations from different regions and created within different contexts can be introduced into similar or analogous problem situations. The real requirement for innovation is to analyze a social problem situation and do a wide search of the available (extant and feasible) innovations that can possible address it. If found, a suitable or appropriate innovation is acquired and applied. If no suitable innovation is found, then it has to be created.

Acquiring the innovation and introducing it into a specific social situation may take the form of a purchase, transfer via grant, or manufacture or construction.

There are many circumstances under which innovations are introduced into a BoP community or sector. It is always assumed and usually established that there is a strong felt need by the target community to resolve a particular social problem. It is, however, harder to establish how

the innovators themselves came out with the idea for the innovation proposal.

From among the innovation stories, two peculiar circumstances are notable. In the small-size wind turbine case (Innovation Story 20), the researchers candidly admit that when they started conceptualizing the project, nobody from the research team knew how to develop a generator. They were thus overwhelmed with an inordinate amount of queries to sort out: the position of the generator when coupled with the turbine; the availability of materials, locally as well as abroad; and even the “confidence of the research team members to deal with the unknowns”.

In the project on Agri-based commerce (Innovation Story 22), the researcher recounts how they purposively searched for an appropriate innovation in a global forum on agri-business solutions held in Egypt at the time they were designing their project:

This section provides an overview of the process by which innovations are introduced to solve pressing social problems of communities and sectors at the BoP in various countries of Southeast Asia.

The first part of the section characterizes the cases in terms of their location on the stages/ phases of the innovation process. The second section presents the sustainability challenges, factors and mechanisms highlighted in the cases.

How are Innovations Identified and Acquired?


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“The participation of the delegation from the Philippine Department of Agriculture

to the Conference on the Sharing of Agribusiness Solutions: From Farm to Markets,

Providing Know How and Finance (November 2008, Cairo, Egypt) was the opportunity

to learn about a wide range of agribusiness development models all over the world.

With the objectives of the iBoP project at hand, the proponent was on the look [out]

for an innovative solution that optimizes science and technology innovations to enable

marginalized agricultural communities to participate in the global supply chain.

Among the solutions that were presented in the Conference, the Egyptian Traceability

Center for Agro Industrial Exports (E Trace), was the best solution identified.” 18

Boru Dothwaite provides us with a diagram of the stages and milestones in the innovation process19:

figure 6: Stages in the Innovation Process

Stages and milestones in the invention, innovation and diffusion process

DIFFUSION

INNOVATIONINVENTION

Research in a similar area begins

First commercial

sale

Research on new (to

system) technique

begins

Wider diffusion begins

Buildings of first concept

prototype

Use of new technology becomes routine

Pre-Development Development

Development in the laboratory

Field/market materials

Adoption by innovators, then early adopters

Adoption by early majority

Adoption by late majority and laggards

Start-Up Adaptation Expansion Disappearance

18 Alfon, H., Rodolfo-Sawit, M., Scholten, P. (2010). Bridging the Base of Pyramid (BoP) to Mainstream Commerce: An action research among

Southeast Asian Countries on policies and enabling factors for the BoP to effectively participate in the R&D and trade of value-added agriculture-based commodities. iBoP Asia Grants Program Technical Report No.22

19 Dothwaite, B. (2002). Enabling Innovation: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Fostering Technological Change. Zed Books. London, UK.

24

Using this schema, the 26 research projects undertaken by the iBoP Asia grant partners appear to fall under the following categories, based on the Final Technical Reports submitted:

STAGE Case Illustration

[1] PRE-DEVELOPMENTResearch in a similar area begins

[5] EXPANSIONWider diffusion begins (Adoption by early majority)

[6] DISAPPEARANCEUse of new technology becomes routine (Adoption by late majority and laggards)

[2] DEVELOPMENTResearch on new (system) begins (Development in the laboratory)

[3] START-UPBuilding of first concept prototype (Field/ market trials)

[4] ADAPTATIONFirst commercial sale (Adoption by innovators, then early adopters)

N/A

N/A

N/A

10 Cases:Community-led water services (Innovation Story 4)Household finance management (Innovation Story 13)Socio-econ impact of biofuels (Innovation Story 17)Bioethanol value chain (Innovation Story 18)Agri-based commerce (Innovation Story 22)Emergency food reserves (Innovation Story 23)Livelihoods under climate change (Innovation Story 24)Rainwater catchment systems (Innovation Story 25)Disaster resilient food crops (Innovation Story 26)

8 Cases:Clean water from Red River (Innovation Story 1)Drinking water solutions (Innovation Story 2)Rural water system design (Innovation Story 3)Multiplex diagnostic test (Innovation Story 7)SnT in a Box (Innovation Story 11)Multiple handicap e-system (Innovation Story 12)Business development service (Innovation Story 14) Solar powered poultry hatchery (Innovation Story 19)Small-size wind turbines (Innovation Story 20)Teaching farmers rice quality (Innovation Story 21)

7 Cases:Sanitation in floating villages (Innovation Story 5)Eco-sanitation with food production (Innovation Story 6)Medicine for communities (Innovation Story 8)Ecolife village Cafe (Innovation Story 9)Mobile phones for fish data (Innovation Story 10)Waste cooking oil into jeepney fuel (Innovation Story 15)Waste into biogas and fertilizer (Innovation Story 16)

table 2: Milestones in the invention, innovation and diffusion process


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Cases at the Pre-Development Stage

It appears that none of the 26 cases fall into this category. This suggests that the researchers and proponents of the innovation projects already undertook what would be considered pre-development work that preceded the project that was funded by iBoP Asia. In other words, the projects were merely phases in a continuing process.

Some of the projects, conceivably, could have been pre-developmental, except that the researchers, as in the small-size wind turbines case (Innovation Story 22), went on to learn the basics while designing the proposed innovations.

Cases at the Development Stage

There are ten (10) cases at the development stage. At this stage, the innovation effort is focused primarily on understanding how the technology being considered can be developed into an appropriate and adequate response to the problem and the particular BoP context/ condition at hand.

Some of these cases tried to understand physical, chemical, and biological cause-and-effect relationships, many of them dealing with water and sanitation, and food and energy production.

A very simple but powerful innovation project

that focused on the application of earth science principles was that of the rainwater catchment systems project (Innovation Story 25). The power of this project derives from the indigenous knowledge embedded in the use of existing rainwater catchment systems in the Tigum-Aganan Watershed in the province of Iloilo in the Philippines. The project systematically documented and classified these systems according to specific characteristics and mirrored back to the BoP community this systematized classification in such a way that can be used by farmers in deciding whether or which rainwater catchment system is appropriate for their needs. While drawn from the experience of a particular region in the Philippines, the range of rainwater catchment systems (7 types, 39 systems) are applicable to other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Other cases tried to understand the influence of social and behavioral factors (or attributes of proposed social and behavioral systems), including entrepreneurial solutions.

The research on household finance management (Innovation Story 13) attempted to uncover how poor households in rural Philippines and India cope with unstable income flows and manage their meager resources. Understanding how poor people earn, save, invest and spend their income, and looking at how the development of an innovative payment strategy can help them manage their finances are relevant to a systematic attempt to alleviate poverty.

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Cases at the Start-Up stage

Eight (8) cases fall in the start-up stage, where the projects developed a prototype and/or conducted field and market trials.

The sanitation for floating villages project (Innovation Story 5) sought to demonstrate to floating villages on the TonLe Sap lake in Cambodia a comprehensive waste management solution. In doing this, the project accomplished the following tasks:

1) field trials of latrine options; 2) identification of potential waste/ recycling markets; 3) construction and operation of a floating waste management barge; 4) demonstration and gathering of initial data on the use of appropriate sanitation systems in floating communities; and 5) documentation of the lessons learned.

Another case that illustrates the start-up phase is the waste cooking oil as jeepney fuel study (Innovation Story 15), which examined the financial viability and technical acceptability of waste cooking oil as an alternative fuel for jeepneys. It also looked at the most appropriate business model for the adoption of the technology. In order to achieve the identified objectives the project 1) formed a multi stakeholder

coalition involving groups from the transport sector, local government, academe, business to support the adoption of waste cooking oil as fuel for jeepneys; 2) tested and evaluated the technical, environmental and economic viability of the various modes of utilizing waste cooking oil in jeepneys; 3) formulated a waste cooking oil collection strategy, processing technology and business model that will ensure maximum benefits to the jeepney sector; and 4) documented and disseminated the study results for possible replication.

Cases at the Adaptation and Disappearance Stages

There were no cases at the adaptation and disappearance stages. The project duration was too short to enable the innovation to advance to these stages. It is clear, however, that for many of of the projects, a follow-up phase -- scaling-up the innovation vertically (combination with other elements) as well as horizontally (implementation in other communities) such as the Hapinoy Healthcare Hub (Innovation Story 8) – was in the works. Updates on these projects may well show progress along the continuum of the innovation process. The documentation of the cases, however, did not cover details of these follow-up phase.


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Acquiring the BoP Perspective

Several development perspectives have been introduced to better understand and address different dimensions of poverty. What sets the BoP approach apart is the premium that it gives on the engagement of poor communities in

the process of identifying and understanding key issues and problems, and working on the best possible solutions for them. As such, poor communities are now considered as “benepartners” (beneficiary-partners) and major stakeholders in innovation and development.

As discussed in Chapter Two, there has been the movement from BoP 1.0 to BoP 2.0, which regards the poor as an active partner in the development process.

We again present the presentation of the first and second generation conception of the BoP approach by Simanis and Hart:

BOP 1.0BOP as a consumerDeep listening

Low cost productionExtended distribution

Reduced price point

Redesigning packaging

Arms length relationship via NGOs “SELLING to the POOR”

BOP 2.0BOP as a business partner

Deep dialogue

Build local capacityEmbedded processes

Expand imagination (bringing new life into business ideas and models)

Marry capabilities and build shared commitment

Direct, personal relationship facilitated by NGOs

“BUSINESS CO-VENTURING”

Patterns in Engaging BoP Communities and Sectors

table 1: The Difference between the First and Second Generation BoP Concept, adapted from Simanis &

Hart (2008) and Hart (2007)

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Using this community engagement framework as an assessment tool, we ask: how engaged are the community partner-beneficiaries in our 26 cases? Is it possible to identify factors and conditions that influenced the level of participation in each case?

The value of community participation in development initiatives has been discussed and documented by scholars and practitioners alike. Hashagen outlined six (6) levels of community engagement20:

20 Hashagen, S. (2002). Models of community engagement. Scottish Community Development Centre.

TYPE OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Role of Community

Passive

Proactive ‘community participation’

Community mobilization

Reactive ‘community consultation’

Entrusted community control

Interactive

Community is informed about what has been decided.

Community influences the priorities in the project, resource use and service provision.

Community participates by taking initiatives to improve the system. Community takes role in networking for resources and technical advice that they need, retains control over resources.

Community is consulted about issues but the process does not equate to share in decision-making. Project implementer is under no obligation to take on the view of the community.

Community has same role with community mobilization including the control of public budget allocation.

Community engages in joint analysis, development of action plans and empowerment of local groups. Community and project implementer decide on how resources will be used.

table 3: Six Levels of Community engagement


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The table below classifies the 26 innovation stories according to the level of community partner-beneficiaries engagement:

Type of Community Engagement

Illustrations

Passive:

Reactive ‘community consultation’

Proactive ‘community participation’

Interactive

Community mobilization

Community is informed about what has been decided.

Community is consulted about issues but the process does not equate to share in decision-making. Project implementer is under no obligation to take on the view of the community.

Community influences the priorities in the project, resource use and service provision.

Community engages in joint analysis, development of action plans and empowerment of local groups. Community and project implementer decide on how resources will be used.

Community participates by taking initiatives to improve the system. Community takes role in networking for resources and technical advice that they need, retains control over resources.

Drinking water solutions (Innovation Story 2)Community-led water services (Innovation Story 4)Multiple handicap e-system (Innovation Story 12)Household finance management (Innovation Story 13)Socio-economic impact of biofuels (Innovation Story 17)Bioethanol value chain (Innovation Story 18)Small-size wind turbines (Innovation Story 20)Agri-based Commerce (Innovation Story 22)

Clean water from Red River (Innovation Story 1)Multiplex diagnostic test (Innovation Story 7)Business development service (Innovation Story 14)Emergency food reserves (Innovation Story 23)Livelihoods under climate change (Innovation Story 24)Rainwater catchment systems (Innovation Story 25)Disaster -resilient food crops (Innovation Story 26)

Rural water system design (Innovation Story 3)Mobile phones for fish data (Innovation Story 10)

Medicine for communities (Innovation Story 8)SnT in a Box (Innovation Story 11)Waste cooking oil into jeepney fuel (Innovation Story 15)Solar-powered poultry hatchery (Innovation Story 19)Teaching farmers rice quality (Innovation Story 21)

Sanitation in floating villages (Innovation Story 5)Eco-sanitation with food production (Innovation Story 6)Ecolife Village Cafe (Innovation Story 9) Waste into biogas and fertilizer (Innovation Story 16)

table 4: Level of Community Engagement in the 26 innovation stories

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Factors affecting the level of community engagement

■ Purposive embedding of participation in the project designThe project designs of a number of our grant partners facilitated community engagement in the innovation process by providing venues for collective sharing, deliberation and learning among community members and project partners. In the sanitation in floating villages project (Innovation Story 5) in Cambodia, Live & Learn, in partnership with Engineers without Borders (EWB)-Australia, conducted a series of consultation workshops and meetings aimed at eliciting inputs from the community on existing sanitation practices and the preferred waste collection methods. Community members were also tapped to be part of the project team, to help identify locally available materials for and take part in the construction of the floating waste management barge/ station.

The project on teaching farmers rice quality (Innovation Story 21), the Sub Plant Protection Department (SPPD) of An Giang province in Vietnam tackled the problem of the transfer of agricultural technologies to rural farmers. SPPD observed that despite several legislations from the national government and attempts to expose local farmers to the use of new farming methods and alternative

rice varieties, the farmers still keep to the traditional ways and rice varieties that yield poor harvest. Thus, SPPD strategically shifted to a more participatory and practical approach of reaching out to local farmers through lengthier and deeper dialogues (from the usual 2-hour workshops to 4-month training sessions) and actual field demonstrations and trials that effectively improved the learning process and encouraged the practical application of learnings so that by the end of the training sessions, the farmers already observed an increase in rice yield and more effective pest management.

The purpose of the project also dictates the level of engagement that is necessary. The project of the Philippine Business for Social Progress on business development service for the BoP (Innovation Story 14) is mainly to assess the impact of the low-cost Business Advisory Program (BAP) services that they offered to small and microenterprises (SMEs). As such, the engagement with their clients was limited to key informant interviews for data gathering.

■ Technical skills needed in innovationThere are cases wherein community engagement was limited because of the high technical skills that were required in developing the innovation. This was true for the project of Aqueous Solutions (Innovation


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Story 2), which primarily focused on identifying and testing indigenous materials as potential carbon filters and how traditional mud kilns can be enhanced to produce such charcoals. This mostly required laboratorary analysis of samples and the re-engineering of kilns that can only be performed by technical experts.

■ Consideration of the risks and change in mindsets involved in innovationBoP communities and those at the base of the pyramid, in general, are risk-averse as they try to protect and hold onto the scarce resources that they have. Engaging poor communities in innovation entails certain adjustments and disruptions in daily life that

can be perceived as risks (e.g. time spent in meetings, workshops is time lost for livelihood activities, hence, loss of income). Hence, the initial hesitation by community members to participate in project activities. This was seen in the case of the waste cooking oil for fuel project (Innovation Story 15) and the project on teaching farmers rice quality (Innovation Story 21),

Facilitating community understanding and appreciation of the innovation process and of the value of the innovation itself also takes time as these may go against certain norms and perceptions held by the community. This is shown in the story of WAND Foundation, Inc.’s effort to promote ecological sanitation (EcoSan) practices in rural communities, which required the handling, storage and treatment of human waste. The thought of “reusing” human excreta as organic fertilizer for backyard vegetable farms did not sit well with community members at the onset; thus, the project team spent some time sensitizing their partner communites to the concept and to the benefits of this waste management approach. Efforts to clearly and effectively communicate innovation goals and outcomes to the community generate better buy-in of the initiative and serve as a foundation for an effective working partnership with the community.

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■ Use of indigenous knowledge and capacities in innovationLearning from poor communities themselves is deemed key to innovation at the BoP. An understanding of existing local knowledge, practices and behavioral and social patterns in a BoP community are invaluable to ensuring innovation success. The rate of adoption/ adaption of the innovation is made higher when an innovator takes into consideration local capacities and knowledge in designing/ tailor-fitting the technology or process for a BoP community.

The Live & Learn project in Tonle Sap (Innovation Story 5) harnessed community know-how on the local materials and skills available for the construction of the floating waste management station/ barge. The same is true for the Kahublagan project (Innovation Story 25), where the research team took note of existing rainwater harvesting facilities used and practices by farmers, and made easy-to-use guides on how the farmers can properly use or maximize the use of these facilities. Other projects such as that of SPPD (Innovation Story 21), Aqueous Solutions (Innovation Story 2) and ITDI-DOST (Innovation Story 23) built on and enhanced existing community technologies and practices in order to make them work more effectively or efficiently.

■ Engagement of community leadersThe initial engagement, at least, between the innovator and the community were facilitated by a recognized and trusted community leader in all cases. All our grant partners sought permission from and coordinated with local authorities as they worked on their respective projects. The community leader may be an elected official (i.e. barangay chairman) or simply a member of the community who has significant influence within the community who can help articulate the needs and wants of the community, identify community members who can and will be able to assist in or participant in the project, rally support for the initiative, and identify ways towards an innovation’s sustainability in his/ her locality.

Local authorities were instrumental in identifying the research areas and informants in the project of IPSARD in Vietnam (Innovation Story 24), in organizing community members for the operation and management of the Ecolife Village Cafe (Innovation Story 9), and in providing an official memorandum supporting the reuse and conversion of waste cooking oil into fuel in Los Baños, Laguna (Innovation Story 15).


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Patterns in Innovation Intermediation

It is important to note that because many of the cases were still at the developmental and start-up stage, community engagement in the innovation process has not been fully utilized and maximized. However, a considerable number of cases show the valuable contribution that poor communities can make to innovation, as partners more than just being beneficiaries.

Innovation studies, over time, has shown that innovation is a complex, dynamic and continuing process driven by the collective action and interaction of various agents engaged in creation, learning and negotiation, with the end-goal of not just bringing about new ideas, perspectives and technologies but more so meaningful social identities, arrangements and relationships. Integral to innovation is the successful combination of new technical devices and practices (hardware), new knowledge and modes of thinking (software) and new social institutions and forms of organization (orgware).21

Innovation intermediaries are key to facilitating this integration and the interaction of various actors in the process of innovation. Initially denoting ‘third parties’, ‘bridgers’ and ‘brokers’

between two or more parties, its definition has since evolved to more broader definitions pertaining to “organizations or groups within organizations that work to enable innovation, either directly by enabling the innovativeness of one or more firms, or indirectly by enhancing the innovative capacity of regions, nations, or sectors. To the extent that an organization’s or organizational unit’s purpose is to enable innovation, it may be considered an innovation intermediary”.22 Our case stories illustrate the engagement of five (5) sectoral agents – civil society organizations, the academe, local governments, national government agencies and private enterprises – in innovation at the BoP, and the intermediary roles and functions that they played in the process.

21 Smits, R. (2011). Innovatie in de universiteit. Inaugurele rede. Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht. 2000, and Aarts, N. and Leeuwis, C. Rethinking

Communication in Innovation Processes: Creating Space for Change in Complex Systems. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension Vol. 17, No. 1, 21 36

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Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

The role of intermediation is perhaps best embodied by non-governmental organizations or NGOs, who in the democratic discourse are recognized as bridging agents between the people and the state that facilitate public participation in needs assessment, decision-making processes and action-oriented programs in order to satisfy basic needs; increase levels of political participation and social empowerment of particular sectors and groups, especially of the poor and dispossessed, women, ethnic groups and other marginalized groups; and increase access to resources needed for the delivery of development programs and operations.23

Fourteen (14) of our grant partners are NGOs. Table 5 shows the types of non-governmental organizations that we’ve engaged as project implementers, the intermediary roles that they played and the collaborators in their respective projects:

Project Implementer, Researcher, Community Organizing/Engagement, Capacity-Building/Training

Project Implementer, Network Brokering/Relationship Building, Capacity Building/Training, Community Organizing/Engagement

Institute for Small-Scale Industries of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, local governments of partner communities

Ministry of Rural Development, Engineers Without Borders-Australia, Resource Development Institute-Cambodia, Royal University of Phnom Penh, local leaders of Phat Sanday community

Innovation Story 4:Community-led water servicesA Single Drop for Safe WaterInnovation Story 5:Sanitation in floating villagesLive & Learn Environmental Foundation

Project/ Implementer

Intermediary Roles

Collaborators

Project Implementer, Technical Support, Network Brokering/Relationship Building

North Carolina State University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Pun-pun Sustainability Learning Center, Sarabuvi Wood Energy Research Center

Innovation Story 2:Drinking water solutionsAqueous Solutions

Non-profit Service Providers

22 Dalziel, M. (2010). Why do innovation intermediaries exist? Paper presented at the DRUID Summer Conference, London. June 15–18

23 Novy, A. and Leubolt, B. (2005). Participatory Budgeting in Porto Alegre: Social Innovation and the Dialectical Relationship of State and

Civil Society. Routledge, Urban Studies, Vol. 42, No. 11, 2023–2036, and Office of Development Effectiveness-AusAID (2009). Civil Society Engagement Evaluation


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Researcher, Policy Recommendation

Project Implementer, Product Development

N/A*

GILAS(Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students)Project, Green Grants Fund of Earth Island Institute

Innovation Story 17:Socio-economic impact of biofuelsAction for Economic Reforms

Innovation Story 11:Snt-in-a-BoxComputer Professionals’ Union

Project Implementer, Design/Product Development/Testing, Technical Support, Capacity Building/Training, Community Organizing/Engagement

Project Implementer, Design/Product Development/Testing, Technical Support

Project Implementer, Relationship Building Community Organizing/ Engagement, Capacity Building/Training

Project Implementer, Information and Data Management, Capacity Building/Training

Project Implementer, Network Brokering/Relationship Building, Community Organizing/Engagement, Capacity Building/Training

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, formerly GTZ), Xavier University, Live & Learn Environmental Foundation, Center for Advanced Philippine Studies, City Environment and Natural Resources Office of San Fernando, La Union

People’s Organizations in Negros Occidental -- Jovita Garcia-Yogore Residential Association, Inc. (JGYRA, Inc.), Malvar Organic Farmers Association (MOFA), Dancalan Waterworks Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Cana-an Small Farmers Association (CFA), Quintin Remo Farmers Association, Naturay Irrigators Association (NAI), Humayan Ministry; local government units of Ilog, Moises Padilla and San Carlos City in Negros Occidental and Municipality of Argao in Cebu

Vietnam National University, local authorities of Thuy An Village

Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD), Ecolife Ltd., local authorities and community groups of Giao Xuan commune

Bio-ethanol producers in Central Kalimantan and Banten, local authorities in partner communities, consultants from Martha Tilaar Foundation, Banten Institute for Social Transformation (Baist)

Innovation Story 6:Eco-sanitation with food productionWater, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development

Innovation Story 16:Waste into biogas and fertilizerEcological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc.

Innovation Story 1:Clean water from Red RiverCenter for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD)

Innovation Story 9:Ecolife Village Café Vietnet Information Technology and Communication Centre (Vietnet-ICT)

Innovation Story 18:Bioethanol value chainSejahtera Semesta Rakyat (SETARA) Foundation / NTFP Indonesia

Advocacy Groups


Intermediary Roles Collaborators

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Many innovation experts consider the ability to innovate as an inherent trait of non-government organizations because of their greater flexibility and openness to risk-taking given their more informal structure and culture, non-profit nature, and broader network of associations.24

The projects involving NGO grant partners, as shown above, engaged the widest range of actors – local communities, local government units, international development orgs, private companies, national government agencies/ bodies, universities, research institutes, people’s orgs.

Our NGO partners also took on the widest range of intermediary functions, from demand articulation (scanning, foresight, diagnosis), network brokering (identifying, selecting, linking and forming

24 Bogacz-Wojtanowska, E. (2011). Innovative public services as a result of cooperation of public and non-government

organisations. Contemporary Management Quarterly

Project Implementer, Technical Support/Quality Management, Information and Data Management, Capacity-Building/Training

Project Implementer, Network Brokering/Relationship Building

Project Implementer, Community Organizing/ Engagement, Network Brokering/Relationship Building

Researcher, Community Organizing/Engagement

Bantay Dagat of San Juan, Batangas

N/A*

College of Engineering and Architecture, Ateneo de Davao University

N/A*

Innovation Story 10:Mobile phones for fish dataWorldFish Center

Innovation Story 14:Business advisory servicesPhilippine Business for Social Progress

Innovation Story 20:Small-sized wind turbinesTri-People Concern for Peace, Progress, and Development of Mindanao (TRICOM)

Innovation Story 13:Household finance assessment and managementEmerging Futures Lab

Corporate Foundation

Think Tanks

*No other organizations or groups were involved in the project.table 5: Types of NGOs engaged in the 26 innovation stories


Intermediary Roles Collaborators


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partnerships among collaborators), knowledge/ technology brokering (dissemination, communication/ demonstration, matching demand with supply) to innovation management (project implementation, process monitoring, mediating relationships, providing interactive spaces for learning), capacity building (skills training, standards development, organizational development), and institutional support (linking policy to practice, providing platforms for policy advocacy, working for institutional change). NGOs were engaged in efforts in 5 out of the 7 work areas of iBoP Asia (water and sanitation, ICT, microfinance, energy and climate change adaptation).

Creativity and innovation thrive in an open, participatory and interactive environment, which NGOs and other civil society groups champion. As such, the leadership and experience of NGOs not just in creating open spaces for change but also in establishing trust with local communities are critical to innovation at the BoP. However, NGO work, being project/ activity-based and donor-driven, continues to pose capacity limits and makes the sustainability of efforts a challenge.

The Academe

Higher education institutions (HEIs) such as universities and colleges are seedbeds for innovation given their extensive and multidisciplinary knowledge base, their capacity to generate and apply new knowledge in research, and the ability to test new approaches and validate theoretical assumptions through practical application to real-world settings and interaction with external actors and communities via their extension services. In what has been called as the “learning economy”, innovation based on new knowledge or on fresh research has always been at the core of all economic and social initiatives, and learning becomes an important, continuing social process.25

Eleven (11) projects engaged academic institutions at different stages of the innovation process but primarily in demand articulation (scanning, diagnosis), knowledge/ technology development and brokering (matching with demand, dissemination/ transfer, communication), and technology assessment. Most of our grant partners engaged university/ college departments or units to develop research methodologies and tools; conduct laboratory testing; and develop and test innovation prototypes. Table 6 shows the universities/ colleges that were engaged in these types of supporting intermediary roles:

25 Lundvall B.A. and Johnson, B. (1994). The Learning Economy. Published in Journal of Industry Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2

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We have cases where university departments/units themselves were the project implementers, where apart from demand articulation and knowledge/ technology brokering, they were also engaged in innovation management (execution and monitoring), network brokering (linking and coordinating with collaborators), and capacity-building (community development and training).


University Intermediary/

Partner

Intermediary roles

Vietnam National University

Royal University of Phnom Penh

North Carolina State University and University of Colorado-Boulder

College of Engineering and Architecture, Ateneo de Davao University

Design/Product Development/Testing

Researcher/Laboratory Testing/Analysis

Researcher/Laboratory Testing/Analysis

Researcher, Design/Product Development/Testing

Innovation Story 1:Clean water from Red RiverCenter for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD)

Innovation Story 5:Sanitation in floating villagesLive & Learn Environmental Foundation

Innovation Story 4:Community-led water servicesA Single Drop for Safe Water

Innovation Story 20:Small-sized wind turbinesTri-People Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao, Inc. (TRICOM)

table 6: Universities and colleges engaged in the 26 innovation stories


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In the project on rural water system design (Innovation Story 3), the Department of Engineering Physics of the University of Gadjah Mada in Indonesia designed a community-based research project to enable experiential learning of students via a 2-month immersion with a rural community.

The Health Research Unit of the Faculty of Medicine-University of Padjadjaran, also in Indonesia (Innovation Story 7), facilitated the development of a diagnostic test kit and antigens with other universities -- Diponegoro University and Institut Teknologi Bandung -- and the West Java Provincial Referral Laboratory, and partnered with a private enteprise, Pakar Biomedika Indonesia, for the reproduction of the test kit.

Apart from technology engineering and deployment, the Department of Electrical Engineering of Universitas Indonesia (Innovation Story 19) assisted in the formation and training of a youth business association that will manage the community operation and maintenance of a solar-powered hatchery machine.

The innovation project that best demonstrates the breadth of a university/ college’s potential as an innovation intermediary is that of the Center for Research and Training of Don Bosco Technical College-Mandaluyong (Innovation Story 15). Don Bosco, apart from coordinating and monitoring the feasibility testing of waste cooking oil (WCO) as engine fuel, managed to establish partnerships with the local jeepney drivers association of Los Baños, a private techno-enterprise, local fast-food chain outlets and the municipal government of Los Baños to create a sustainable value chain model that involves multi-sectoral cooperation and collaboration. Figure 7 illustrates this model.

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A successful integration of teaching, research and extension thrusts and activities in HEIs is ideal in the process of coming up with acceptable, scalable and sustainable BoP innovations. This, however, has yet to be realized given the disciplinal and administrative boundaries, and diverse research interests within HEIs. Notwithstanding, the cases highlighted above show that universities and colleges can harness their institutional resources and capacities to do meaningful innovation at the BoP.

INTERMEDIARYCENTER FOR RESEARCH AND

TRAINING, DON BOSCO TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Project coordinator, technical support to SNODLOB, convenor

and facilitator of stakeholder agreements and interactions.

FINANCIAL AND NETWORK

SUPPORTiBoP ASIA

Project funder, progress monitoring

and evaluation, network-building

with other iBoP Asia partners in SEA

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

BIODRIVE INC.Supplied oil preheating

retrofit kit and provided maintenance and repair support for the test unit running on 100% preheated waste cooking oil.

WCO SUPPLIER

LOCAL OUTLETS OF JOLLIBEE AND

CHOWKING Supplied bulk of WCO at a discounted price

of PhP10.00/liter

LEGISLATIVE SUPPORTMUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

OF LOS BANOSIssued an Ordinance banning the re-use of WCO for animal feeds and by food vendors; provided permit

for field testing.

BENEPARTNERSNODLOB JEEPNEY DRIVERS COOPERATIVE

Identified cooperative members that took part in the project, coordinated data gathering from

drivers, managed WCO processing, collection, sale.

figure 7: Multi-sectoral collaboration of intermediaries in Innovation Story 15


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Local Government

The decentralization of governance has increasingly been adopted in various countries around the world in an attempt to devolve technical and administrative governance functions, provide greater access to central government resources by citizens, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the allocation and delivery of goods and services. Local authorities (which may be elected like barangay captains, councilors, mayors, governors; appointed like local planning officers, civil servants in local bureaus or offices, heads of formal associations; or non-elected such as village elders, religious leaders, heads of informal community groups) are mandated to promote, respond to, and protect the development interests and needs of their communities.

Almost all of our grant partners conducted project briefings with and sought permission from the local authorities of the communities that they chose to engage with for their projects, with the exception of those who engaged autonomous local organizations like in the case of Aqueous Solutions (Innovation Story 2) that worked with independently-run centers in the community.

Local leaders were particularly instrumental in the process of identifying project participants from among the members of the community (Innovation Story 1 on “Clean water from Red River”; Innovation Story 5 on “Sanitation

in floating villages”; Innovation Story 24 on “Livelihoods under climate change”), serving as technical consultants or informants on key issues (Innovation Story 18 on “Bioethanol value chain”; Innovation Story 23 on “Emergency food reserves”; Innovation Story 25 on “Rainwater catchment systems”) and drafting policy measures to support the innovation (Innovation Story 15 on “Waste cooking oil into jeepney fuel”).

A number of projects engaged local authorities in the entire innovation process, from the articulation of the problem and the formulation of the solution to project implementation and evaluation such as the project on “Teaching farmers rice quality” (Innovation Story 21) where the Sub-Plant Protection Department of An Giang Province conducted consultation workshops, trainings and evaluation sessions with local farmers to assess the viability of shifting to a higher yielding rice variety.

Another project in Vietnam, the “Ecolife Village Café” (Innovation Story 9), was guided by the Community-based Eco-tourism Management Board of the Giao Xuan commune on the development, oversight and management of the Café and the organization of community groups to run various Café services. In Cambodia project on “Sanitation in floating villages” (Innovation Story 5), Live & Learn Environmental Foundation engaged local authorities in a series of meetings with the community of Phat Sanday to collectively

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discuss concerns regarding water access and sanitation, and together design, build and pilot test a floating waste management station, which was blessed by local monks and turned over to the community upon completion.

Although there was no case that had a local government unit as project implementer, the involvement of local authorities in the projects did not only facilitate the active engagement of the community in such initiatives but, moreover, the building of trust among the community, the innovators and the network of partners formed to support the innovation. In turn, the exposure of local governments to such innovation efforts brings in a fresh perspective to local development and ways by which to harness indigenous resources and skills to bring about positive and meaningful change in their respective communities.

National Government

Innovation literature has emphasized the need for national governments to work with the private and public sectors in catalyzing innovation for global competitiveness and economic

development.26 The alignment of societal purpose and entrepreneurial energies from the various sectors are critical, which is where the national government plays its role in agenda and direction setting to guide policy development, research and analysis.27

All the action-research projects that involved government research institutes or field units of national agencies as project implementers such as the “Agri-based commerce “ (Innovation Story 22) and “Emergency food reserves” (Innovation Story 23) aimed to develop policy recommendations. A process of engagement between national government agencies with local governments, private sector and academe was observed in these cases, as it is key to confirming the soundness of the proposed policy recommendations.

The engagement of the national government with the local community is through its linkages with local peoples’ committees, as was the case in the projects “Livelihoods under climate change” (Innovation Story 24) and “Rainwater catchment systems” (Innovation Story22). These cases show how policy can support the formulation of innovative solutions to BoP needs in agricultural economies and contribute to national efforts to

26 Bai, Junhong, and Jing Li. (2011). Regional Innovation Efficiency in China: The Role of Local Government. Innovation: Management, Policy &

Practice 13.2

27 Jacknis, N. (2011). Government’s Role In Facilitating An Innovative Economy. International Journal of Innovation Science 3.3


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make communities more resilient to climate change. Table 7 shows national government agencies that were involved in project implementation:

Project National Government Agency

Implementer

Intermediary Roles

Philippine Rice Research Institute - Social and Agro-Industrial Venture Unit, KPMFI

Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development - Division of Strategy and Policy Research

Industrial Technology Development Institute-Department of Science and Technology

Policy Recommendation, Technical Support/Quality management, Researcher, Capacity-Building/Training, Project Implementer

Policy recommendation, Knowledge Brokering, Capacity building/Training, Project Implementer

Policy Recommendation, Community Organizing/Engagement, Capacity Building, Network Brokering/Relationship Building, Project Implementer

Innovation Story 22:Agri-based commerce

Innovation Story 24:Livelihoods under climate change

Innovation Story 23:Emergency food reserves

“Project Saklolo” (Innovation Story 23) led by the Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) of the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines illustrates the power of a national government agency as a systems integrator. The ITDI created Project Saklolo to create local sustainable sources of food that can be packaged, stored and utilized in the event of disasters and food shortages. Other government agencies such as the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture, local government units, as well as

private companies and local community leaders were plugged into a system for the generation of food buffer stocks, with the ITDI monitoring the system and raising funds for the program.

Innovation in public services necessitates a culture of cooperation, with trust as its foundation.28 Thus is the challenge for national government agencies in the pursuit of more active multi-sectoral engagement in planning, developing and implementing national development policies and programs.

28 Bogacz-Wojtanowska, E. (2011) Innovative public services as a result of cooperation of public and non-government organisations.

Contemporary Management Quarterly

table 7: National Government Agencies involved in project implementation of the innovation stories

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Private Sector

Two (2) private enterprises, Microventures, Inc. and Kahublagan Sang Panimalay Foundation Inc. led the projects on “Medicine for communities” (Innovation Story 8) and “Rainwater catchment systems” (Innovation Story 25), respectively (Table 8):

Project Implementer Intermediary Roles

MicroVentures, Inc.

Kahublagan Sang Panimalay Foundation, Inc.

Technical support/Quality management, Capacity-building/training, Network brokering/ relationship-building

Technical support/Quality management, Network brokering/ relationship-building

Innovation Story 8:Medicine for communities

Innovation Story 23:Rainwater catchment systems

Between the two, it was Microventures Inc. that demonstrated a successful collaboration among private sector agents and sari-sari (small, local convenience store) store owners and how co-creation in innovation can work for the BoP. Microventures is notable for its role as an intermediary between Hapinoy sari-sari store owners and pharmaceutical companies such as United Laboratories Inc. and Generika in order to bring generic over-the-counter medicines to local communities. Microventures was able to pilot the “Hapinoy Botika Corner” in seven partner communities and because of its successful run, they are now set to roll out the Botika Corner to all 150 communities where they operate.

Central to this approach is not only a deeper understanding the consumer behavior of those at the BoP but also proper education and training of

the nanays (mothers/ store owners) on how to responsibly dispense medicines. A private consultancy firm, the Asian Social Enterprise Incubator, Inc. (ASEI), was also involved in the project primarily in the development of the business model together with the nanays.

The value of the private sector is really in its capacity for scaling up and distribution, which are actually the missing ingredients in most innovation efforts that in effect confines to use of an innovation (and in effect its benefits) to only a number of communities. Issues such as intellectual property and profit-sharing have also been raised, and these issues need to be addressed in order to ensure equity and trust between private enterprises and local communities.

table 8: Private Sector involved in project implementation of the innovation stories


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T // Chapter Four: W

hat it Takes to Innovate at the BoP

A conscious effort to include the poor and the marginalized in decision-making and development processes is already being done by a number of institutions and organizations, especially those that are engaged in on-the-ground or grassroots development. “Inclusion” can already be observed in various forms: in participatory action researches that allow people to have a say in how solutions to community issues are crafted; in the development of approaches that ensure co-benefits; in the introduction of co-creation schemes; and in advocacy work that calls for the opening of spaces for participation in development.

The innovation stories of our partner organizations provided opportunities for reflection on what makes inclusive innovation possible.

Overview

What it Takes to Innovate at the BoP

Chapter 4

Renowned inventor and entrepreneur Paul Polak says “the best way to

satisfy my curiosity about poverty is to have long conversations with poor

people in the places where they live and work and dream, and to listen to

what they have to say.” 29

29 Polak, Paul (2008). Out of Poverty: What Works when Traditional

Approaches Fail. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

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Factors for successful innovation at the Base of the Pyramid

Drive to Innovate

For so long as there are felt needs, there will always be the impulse to innovate. This seems to be a “reflex” action for those whose ideas, standards and traditional ways of seeing and doing things, more so survival, are challenged. Hence, to a given extent, the capacity to innovate is not only exclusive to those who are educated and trained. A number of our innovation stories show that those at the BoP are also capable of innovating and practicing “citizen science” -- scientific work in which volunteers, many of whom may have no specific scientific training, perform or manage research-related tasks.30

30 Elloran, K., Bailly, N., Luna, S., Sampang, A. (2010). Isda.mobi: a mobile phone interface for small-scale fishers to access fisheries-related

information. iBoP Asia Grants Program Technical Report No.10

31 Chaminade, C., Joseph, KJ., Lundvall, B., Vang, J. (2009). Bridging Innovation System Research and Development Studies: challenges and

research opportunities. Paper submitted for the 7th Globelics Conference, Senegal. October 6-8.

32 Lorentzen, J., Mohamed, R. (2009) …to each according to his (or her) needs: Where are the poor in innovation studies?. Paper submitted for the

7th Globelics Conference, Senegal. October 6-8.

Concern over poverty and increasing inequality

Evidence suggests that social and development issues hardly receive high priority among key policy and decision-makers responsible for shaping the configurations of innovation systems in developing countries.31 These issues also tend to be ignored in equal measure by innovation researchers, as pointed out by Lorentzen and Mohamed (2009): “the large majority of innovation research focuses on how to make high-income economies keep their place in the sun and how to make middle-income economies know them off it.”32 But what are the main reasons for this apparent

neglect by policymakers and researchers?

First, current innovation policies tend to focus almost exclusively on science, technology and innovation (STI) modes of learning and, consequently, on formal training and research and development (R&D) as the main drivers of innovation. But since innovation in poor countries are largely based on informal modes of learning and doing, such activities remain unnoticed by researchers.

As such, a second but somewhat related reason is that researchers are still poorly equipped to analyze and understand informal innovations


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that dominate the landscape in developing countries. Since such innovations are not accounted for in official statistics, they have been described as occurring “below the radar”.33

Third, some researchers have argued that “innovation systems” simply do not exist in poor countries. A less extreme view is that these systems do exist but they are better conceptualized in an evolutionary perspective; in other words, they should be understood as immature or emerging systems in which only some of the building blocks are present and the linkages are still in formation.34 Indeed, the key features of developing country innovation systems include weak interactions among the actors that, in turn, lead to limited ability to engage in interactive learning processes.35

The innovation trajectory that has engendered rapid economic growth in middle income Asian countries has tended to lead to greater inequality both within and among nations, and, in turn, has exacerbated marginalization and poverty. While the formal sector is better positioned to accumulate knowledge and innovation capabilities, the informal system that poor people depend on for their livelihoods and the social challenges they face are simply

ignored. Not only does inequality undermine development, it has also led to social and political unrest in some Asian countries. Thus, a number of authors have argued in favor of re-orienting innovation policies towards pressing social problems such as hunger and lack of access to basic necessities such as health care, water and sanitation, housing, education and Internet services. Innovation, they argue, should be harnessed to tackle specific challenges facing poor countries such as food insecurity, emerging infectious diseases, the negative effects of climate change and other natural disasters. One way of achieving this goal is to link innovation policy to social policies which already enjoy a high degree of legitimacy.36 Likewise, the “New Manifesto” released in 2010 by the Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability (STEPS) calls for innovation policy to be directly linked to key human developmental challenges such as poverty alleviation.37

Building global and national shared commitments

The BoP has significantly evolved over time from being considered an untapped market to becoming a critical development agent. This is true in the field of business, as well as in S&T research and innovation.

33 Lorentzen and Mohamed (2009)

34 Chaminade, C., Joseph, KJ., Lundvall, B., Vang, J. (2009). Bridging Innovation System Research and Development Studies: challenges and

research opportunities. Paper submitted for the 7th Globelics Conference, Senegal. October 6-8.

35 Szogs, A., Cummings, C., and Chaminade, C. (2009). Building systems of innovation in less developed countries: the role of intermediate

organizations. CIRCLE Paper No. 2009/01

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36 Arocena, R., Sutz, J.(2005) Science, technology and innovation in developing countries: some elements for defining policies and assigning

resources. United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

37 Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability. (2010). Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto.

STEPS Centre.

iBoP Asia’s attempt to promote and facilitate the adoption of the BoP approach in S&T innovation across Southeast Asia uncovers a similar progression, finding varying levels of appreciation among our partners of the value of engagement with poor communities. There is a notable movement from the BoP 1.0 concept of Prahalad to the BoP 2.0 approach of co-creating and implementing innovative products and systems with the poor.

The Millennium Development Goals, with its global and national targets, have virtually forced governments and societies to be innovative in their approaches, otherwise the various targets cannot be met. The MDGs and similar UN-led campaigns to combat poverty, disease, adverse effects of climate change, and conflict throughout the world, are riding on a shared commitment to dramatically improve the way we tackle global social and economic problems. Building a similar commitment to greater inclusion in innovation and development at the national ang global levels is critical to further support efforts to raise awareness, build capacities and sustain/ scale-up such initiatives.

Innovative learning and knowledge management

The lack of recognition and understanding of informal learning platforms and mechanisms are hurdles to innovation; each individual, organization and community has its particular way of seeing things, thinking and learning that affects the level and capacity to innovate. This is a limitation that was reflected in our innovation stories. In majority of the projects, the target partner-beneficiary communities were actively engaged only in the field-testing phase of the innovation process.

There are, however, alternative modes of community engagement that better facilitate learning and innovation among poor communities. When people are put in a comfortable setting that allows them, as co-equals, to discuss the innovation and communicate their ideas, thoughts and concerns, they gain more confidence and learn to share knowledge and opinions more freely and more effectively. In this kind of setting, trust between the innovators and the community is established more easily, with the community engaging more freely and actively in the process.


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Ensuring the responsiveness of an innovation to the needs of the poor demands that equity and equality in opportunities to participate, decide and innovate be achieved between the innovators and the poor communities they intend to serve. A conscious integration effort to shift to pro-poor approaches to development, and on a bigger scale, a deliberate establishment of inclusive innovation systems should be facilitated by individuals and institutions and backed by policy action.

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Movement towards Inclusive Innovation

The second cluster of factors for innovation to happen at the base of the pyramid is the movement toward inclusive innovation. The BoP 2.0 concept evolved out of the realization that co-creation with communities is key to the success of enterprise-based poverty alleviation approaches, as put forth by Simanis and Hart.38 The application of this concept and its components have found their way in the process of S&T innovation.

The innovation stories of our grant partners provided opportunities for reflection on what makes inclusive innovation possible.

Deepening community and network engagement

In the desire to jump in quickly and provide a solution to a problem, innovation efforts tend to be led mainly by the experts and professionals from formal institutions such as government agencies, development organizations and NGOs. Inclusive innovation warrants a more deliberate effort to provide spaces for the participation of highly challenged and vulnerable populations. A number of our grant partners was able to effectively integrate community participation in their respective projects. However, the limited fund and time alloted for project completion (6

- 12 months) were not enough to enable a fuller and more meaningful engagement with the parner communities.

Establishing a common commitment to an undertaking and, moreover, a commitment between partners are essential for collaborative innovation to flourish. Dialogue is vital to this process, as it provides opportunities for partners to level-off regarding target objectives, expected outcomes and specific roles and contributions of each to the project, and enables innovators to better understand the needs of the target community and tailor-fit the innovation according to the specific setting and available resources. Likewise, dialogue facilitates greater understanding among community members of the issue or need, and how addressing this through innovation can improve life in the community. Trust is built through continuous dialogue between the innovator and the community, which results to greater commitment and involvement, and ownership of the innovation by the community. As shown by our cases, working with people from the community on innovation development (from design to piloting) and harnessing community volunteers and members to become part of the project team proved to be an effective way to integrate innovation in the life of the community. This, we gather, takes community involvement a step further than the usual engagement as

38 Simanis, E., & Hart, S. L. (2008). The Base of the Pyramid protocol: Toward Next Generation BoP Strategy (2nd ed.). Retrieved June 20, 2009

from http://www.BoP-protocol.org/docs/


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mere respondents and participants in consultations, immersions and key informant interviews.

Acknowledging the value of indigenous knowledge

Finally, a key component in the movement towards inclusive innovation is the acknowledgment of the efficacy of indigenous knowledge in the innovation process. Taking into consideration and learning from indigenous knowledge – knowledge handed down across generations, cultural practices – can better facilitate the acquisition, application, adaptation, sustainability of an innovation in a BoP community.

What makes indigenous knowledge easy to neglect is that it is mostly oral rather than written knowledge, which makes it difficult to store, share and use widely. It does not mean that the knowledge does not exist – there is simply the need to convert it from tacit to explicit knowledge for the benefit of the target beneficiary partner community/sector, and of other similar groups.

Catalysts for Transformation

The mobilization of innovation intermediaries is key to making innovation happen at the BoP.

As our innovation stories show, academic institutions, government agencies, NGOs and people’s organizations (POs) and private enterprises serve as catalysts for

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innovation. Becoming a catalyst for inclusive innovation, however, requires a shift in mindsets, structures and approaches both at the individual and organizational levels. This will require seeing poverty and poverty issues/ problems in a different light; greater openness to adopting new strategies that work best in the context of the BoP (limited incomes, inefficient delivery channels for basic goods and services, very little or no access to utilities); and more importantly, going to and learning from the BoP – allotting considerable time and effort in understanding their specific needs and the contexts they operate in. Inclusive innovation can happen when individuals, groups and institutions recognize that: a) they do not have the monopoly of innovation knowledge; b) they can and should innovate with others, especially with the poor; and c) there are a number of means and ways that can be taken to respond to a particular development challenge.

Building new business models and strategies

The BoP approach was born out of a new business model and strategy for companies and from there has evolved into a viable approach not only for increasing profits but also for addressing social problems and needs. A number of our projects show that collective entrepreneurship – seeking to inspire joint exploration and venturing into viable business

opportunities and approaches to enable access to quality products at the BoP – can be facilitated to form sustainable partnerships and enhance the business processes of small enterprises (as in the case of the Hapinoy Botika Corner, Innovation Story 18, and the Business Advisory Program, Innovation Story 14). We now see that the development of BoP business models, strategies and partnerships are key to scaling up and sustainability of an innovation.

Forming supporting innovation systems and networks

Crucial to growing catalysts for transformation is the formation of supporting systems and networks. The creation of habits of collaboration among intermediaries to reach a point where they have a “plug-and-play” interoperability can be fostered within such systems and networks to quicken the pace of innovation at the BoP and to attain greater, large-scale impact.

A system of innovation can be defined as a set of functioning organizations (or actors) and institutions (e.g., social norms, standards, laws, regulations and policy regimes) which interact constructively in the pursuit of a set of social and economic goals and objectives, and which use the introduction of innovations as the key promoter of change.39 Institutions are crucial to inclusive innovation because they serve as

39 Steven, J., (2010). Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. Riverhead Hardcover.


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gatekeepers – determining the extent to which the excluded people participate in and share the benefits of innovation processes.

iBoP Asia hopes to continue to connect to and provide spaces for collaboration and partnership among key innovation actors: academic and research institutions, NGOs, national and local government agencies, and private enterprises. The potential of these intermediaries for innovation at the BoP remains untapped or underutilized at the moment. Being facilitators, convenors and brokers, building interoperability among innovation intermediaries is important to create the necessary synergies for innovation. This is not easy to achieve, however, because each organization has its own culture and norms, structures and rules, and standards for practice. Working across organizations to build and exercise teamwork will not happen automatically; it should be cultivated and nurtured overtime.

iBoP Asia is currently working to enable learning and capacity building for inclusive innovation in universities in Southeast Asia that will complement country strategies for improving the quality of life of those at the BoP. Universities play a pivotal role in the production and diffusion of knowledge through teaching, research and outreach, and by working with academic units

within universities, we hope to be able to help develop the potential of universities to become centers for innovation at the BoP. Tapping the creative energies of educators and students from various disciplines -- social sciences, engineering, business management and public policy -- has the immense potential to produce appropriate and effective innovations that can help curb poverty in their respective countries and, ultimately, in the region.

Supportive Policy Environment

To achieve large-scale impact (country-, region-wide) and sustainability, strong policy support is critical to create an enabling environment for inclusive innovation. It is important to engage and pull into the effort key decision- and policymakers who shape national development and innovation agendas. Research councils and policymakers play important roles in promoting relevant S&T research and in crafting new strategies for development in their respective countries. iBoP Asia is also currently working to establish partnerships with national research councils and policymakers in Southeast Asia to push for inclusive innovation in the region.

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New Reform Policies Creating specific reform programs and policies is a critical foundation to the development of this enabling policy environment. The project on waste cooking oil as jeepney fuel (Innovation Story 15) suggests that getting the local government to provide policy support to an innovation initiative is key its long-term sustainability. The project was successful in getting a local ordinance passed by the municipal government that bans the re-sale of waste cooking oil in the local markets to direct the supply for conversion into fuel for local jeepneys. In the project on ensuring emergency food reserves (Innovation Story 23), focused not only policy advocacy but also in providing scientific evidence to back policy development in disaster-preparedness.

Reorienting public management: Funding results, not activitiesAnother factor that can help build a supportive policy environment for innovation at the BoP is the current movement by government and by public and private sectors to shift priorities to achieving concrete results from development programs and initiatives. In the Philippines, this trend is evidenced by the increasing adoption of performance management frameworks in government (e.g. the Organizational Performance Indicator Framework at the national level, and the Local Government Performance Management System at the local level). Government, most especially, must realize the need to quicken the pace of inclusive development for the BoP to catch up with the rest of society. Better monitoring and measurement of poverty and social welfare (access to basic services, disease, vulnerability maps and happiness index, as introduced by Bhutan). Having these metrics will help mobilize and direct public awareness and resources to targeted development objectives and demand better results from development programs supported by government. Identifying benchmarks not just for organization and project performance but also for impact is important. The assessment done by the Philippine Business for Social Progress of their Business Advisory Program for SMEs (Innovation Story 14) surfaced gaps and needs in program design and implementation, and addressing these will be crucial to make such programs more effective and sustainable.


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PATHWAYS OUT OF POVERTY:

Innovation Stories

This section presents the innovation stories of iBoP

Asia’s partner organizations in Cambodia, Indonesia,

the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

This volume contains stories that tell our partners’

experiences and the lessons gathered from conducting

research and technology development at the base

of the pyramid in the areas of water and sanitation,

health and the cross-cutting areas of information and

communications technology (ICT) and business.

At the heart of iBoP Asia is this attempt to document and support the

implementation of innovation projects that target the needs and capacities

of the poor and have the potential to make large-scale positive impacts

on living conditions at the BoP. It is our hope that these stories provide

critical insights on the approaches and key elements to innovation at the

BoP, and considerable evidence to support future policy development,

capacity-building and collaborative efforts towards more responsive and

inclusive development.

PART 2

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It is well known that water and sanitation are essential for human

health. However, access to drinking water and sanitation continues to be

inadequate in many parts of the world.

Approximately, 4,400 people die each day from water-borne diseases and many more toil to meet their everyday need for water or pay for this supposedly abundant and free resource that has become a high-priced commodity. Around 1.2 billion individuals worldwide lack access to safe drinking water and a third of them are at the BoP living on less than USD 2 a day. Out of the 2.6 billion people without access to basic sanitation, half live below the poverty line. Asia shares a large proportion of the world’s poor and more than half of those with no access to improved sanitation and with inadequate access to safe water are in this region. 40

This condition is not only a mark of poverty but it also perpetuates poverty. For instance, poor people who need to travel a long way to collect buckets from distant water sources waste time, energy and productivity. Many of them who get sick due to drinking unclean water lose precious time for work. Children suffer from water-related diseases and miss school. One study found that reaching the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDG) target for water and sanitation services could significantly increase school attendance exclusively as a result of reduced diarrheal disease episodes.41

This chapter illustrates our grant partners’ efforts to address water and sanitation concerns through initiatives that study, develop and introduce innovative products and services aimed at improving water and sanitation conditions at the BoP.

In Vietnam, the Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD), in coordination with Vietnam National University and a local community, developed a water

40 Baudry, A. (2009). Innovations and Cross-Section Partnerships: A recipe for improving water and sanitation access in the Philippines

and Southeast Asia. Final Draft In-House Research Paper for iBoP Asia. Citing the 2008 iBoP Asia Inception Paper, the UN Millennium Project (2005), and ADB’s Water Brief (2008).

41 Ibid. Citing Lau (2007) and Asia Society (2009)

Innovation in Water & Sanitation

Chapter 1

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purifying system that can be fitted in typical boats that serve as homes to those in the floating communities along Vietnam’s polluted Red River. Aqueous Solutions in Thailand evaluated traditional water treatment systems -- the novel application of varied indigenous charcoal materials -- as low-cost and locally-derived alternatives to modern industrial ways of removing pesticides from drinking water. In Indonesia, students from Gadjah Mada University assisted a rural community in developing a solar-powered water pump. We will also see how A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW) took on a different, non-technological track in innovation and focused on building a community-centered mechanism for sustainable water delivery in BoP communities in the Philippines.

Live & Learn’s story describes how the project team, together with Engineers Without Borders and other partners and the floating community of Tonle Sap, Cambodia, designed and built the commune’s Floating Waste Management Station that serves as a repository of human waste that will be treated and reused for agricultural purposes. In a similar vein, the story of the Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition, and Development (WAND) Foundation provides an interesting account of their development of “ecosan” toilets for poor communities in remote mountainous areas and coastal areas, and how human waste can be used as fertilizer.

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Clean Water for Fishing Villages along the Red River“An innovation on clean water supply for fishing village along the Red River, Vietnam,” a project of the Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD)

Innovation Story 1

The firshing and floating communities along the Red River in Vietnam are dependent on the river and the water it provides not only for income from fishing but also for bathing, household cleaning, cooking and dwelling. Access to clean water, however, is one of the many challenges these communities face. Sewage from on-land households, and chemicals and pesticides from intensive production activities pollute the river, thereby adversely affecting their everyday lives. Water-sharing—the taking water out of wells belonging to on-land households--has somehow addressed the problem but because of the long distance that one needs to travel to get to the water source and back, people from the communities opt to use the water from the river, though unclean. Filtration systems and facilities are too expensive for them to acquire as these are normally powered by electricity, which is not available in the area.

This challenge motivated a Vietnamese non-profit organization, the Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD), to develop a suitable stand-alone water purifying system for these floating communities.

After seeking permission and support from local authorities, a research team led by WARECOD conducted field investigations that allowed them to have a deeper understanding of the living conditions, activities, water demand and difficulties encountered in accessing clean water by fishing communities in Thuy An village.

Project Brief

the Process


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The initial project concept was presented to the communities who in turn provided comments and feedback that proved to be of great help to the project team as they designed and developed the manually operated water filtration system.

on the boat’s tail and the container was placed on the opposite side, eventually achieving impressive boat balance and stability. Families were oriented on how to operate and maintain the facility, and monitoring was conducted by the team every ten days. The model was continuously modified after several observations and two more units of the adjusted model were installed in the community.

This prototype of the water filtration system has been tested in boats located in varying areas – in static water, in low-lying land, in open river and in a tributary where the water has a high contamination level due to industry and agricultural activities.

Training activities were conducted further to raise awareness among community members on the use and maintenance of the system, and the importance of good water and sanitation practice.

This system, which can be fitted onto a typical boat-house, can filter 300 liters of water per hour. The filtration system is composed of quartz-sand composite, an activated charcoal composite, a 0.5 micrometer (μm) filter, a 0.2 μm filter and a UF filter, all attached to a solid steel frame that is mounted on a bicycle. The bicycle also serves as the transmission system together with a water pump and a portable linkage, all easy to assemble. A valve system was also connected to a pipe that enables the operation line to take water from the river that will go through a treatment system.

A fishing household in Thuy An village was selected for the project’s pilot testing of the prototype. After discussions with household members as well as observations made by the team, the system was redesigned to achieve boat balance and stability when used. The two separate composite cylinders were placed on either side of the boat, while the filtration system was placed

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This innovation proved to be a success but a dissemination plan and a business model for future production and sale have yet to be developed by WARECOD. Project partners at this stage focused only on the technical development of the system.

Risks, Problems and Barriers

WARECOD recognizes that the sustainability of the project will ultimately depend on the demand of communities as they try to raise awareness on the importance of clean water and the facilities that local communities can use.

Benefits, Outcomes and Reach

WARECOD in partnership with Vietnam National University and the Thuy An village community, succeeded in establishing a water treatment system model that is suitable for a floating community. Filter systems that were available in the market were used and entire model was built with a size and weight that was appropriate for moving boats. Its impact on the balance and movement of the boat was also considered as well as ease of use.

Its water purifying capacity varies from 80 to 120 liters of water per hour, which is enough to meet the daily activities of a family of 5-7 members. The water produced by the system was tested and tests revealed that the quality of the water met the national standards for drinking and cooking water, except for the micro-organism parameter--which registered at 2 MPN/100ml (higher than the Vietnamese standard of 0 MPN/100ml). The project team, therefore, advised the families to still boil the purified water for drinking.

The community, in the process, gained more knowledge on the importance of having clean water and the use of water purifying facilities. This will enable them to engage more actively in future campaigns, and in other projects related to water resource management.


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WARECOD’s project proved that given the venue for continuing dialogue and the necessary technical and financial assistance at the onset, poor people living in floating communities are willing to try out technologies that can help them have clean water for drinking and household use. The active participation of community members in the project was a crucial element in the development, installation, implementation and modification of the water filtration system prototype. Through training and information dissemination, the local villagers of Thuy An understood and appreciated better the importance of clean water, water cleaning facilities, sanitation and the health impacts of using unclean water.

The participatory approach used by WARECOD contributed much to the project’s success. The project enabled the development of a system that is appropriate for boat-houses in floating communities. Moreover, the project was able to call the attention of local authorities on the water and sanitation needs of these types of communities, which will hopefully create more opportunities for the participation of the poor in similar activities. WARECOD also noted that the project also set a good example for other agencies and for local officials in Vietnam to take greater interest in doing research on technologies for vulnerable and marginalized social groups.

With this project’s success, WARECOD hopes that local government authorities and other organizations, even private groups, can learn from their experience and start development projects geared towards helping other poor communities.

Lessons Learned

The project team hopes to further develop the prototype of this water filtration system and eventually provide a sustainable water supply model for floating communities. It is expected that the system will be replicated and used by other floating communities along the Red River and in other river systems with similar water characteristics. In the long run, this effort aims to contribute towards building the capacity of floating communities to conserve and manage the use of natural resources, leading to improved health and living conditions.

the Future

PARTNER ORGANIZATION

Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development (WARECOD) www.warecod.org.vn

WARECOD is a non-profit organization that promotes the sustainable use of Vietnam’s water resources. It was established on September 7, 2006 under the auspices of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association (VUSTA). Their mission is to protect Vietnam’s water resources to ensure the well-being of river ecosystems, to sustain the richness of biodiversity, and to ensure the livelihoods of communities dependent upon these resources.

Mailing Address: Suite 801 HACISCO BuildingNo. 15 Lane 107, Nguyen Chi Thanh, Hanoi, Vietnam

Contact number: +84 43 7730828 (Telephone)+84 43 7739491 (Fax)

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Advancing Sustainable Drinking Water Solutions “Carbon Filtration Drinking Water Systems,” a project of Aqueous Solutions (Thailand)

Innovation Story 2

The UN Millenium Development Goals and many international aid agencies have launched efforts to address access to clean water problems of billions of people worldwide. However, these efforts focus exclusively on eradicating biological agents of waterborne diseases to provide safe drinking water. To date, no appropriate methods have been developed to address chemical contamination from toxic substances using locally available resources. In developing countries, the majority of pesticides used are chemicals that had been banned or heavily restricted in developed countries due to their damaging ecological and human health effects.

Adsorption by activated carbon is widely recognized in the industrialized world as an effective technology for removing hazardous organic substances, including pesticides from drinking water. This technology, however, is not yet available in rural, remote, and lesser-industrialized regions, exposing a large number of the population to elevated concentrations of harmful agrichemicals through their drinking water. On the other hand, indigenous cultures have long practiced charcoal water filtration. This Aqueous Solutions research project, a segment of a larger and long-term initiative, builds upon this traditional water filter system as a sustainable, low-cost and locally-derived alternative to modern industrial activated carbons for the removal of hazardous organic chemicals from drinking water.

Project Brief


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The first phase, completed in August 2009, focused on research that assessed the potential of selected indigenous charcoal as low-cost adsorbents of agrichemicals. The charcoal materials were collected throughout Southeast Asia. It was found that indigenous charcoals produced under certain conditions might be effective for removing pesticides from drinking water; however, the feedstock material used to produce the charcoal, as well as the thermal treatment conditions, strongly influenced its effectiveness. The research suggested a strong potential for the project’s success given further investigation into the existing range of indigenous charcoal materials, facilities and processes by which charcoal is manufactured in poor communities.

The second phase of the research was initiated with the support of the IBoP Asia grant. The inquiry delved deeper in the assessment of charcoal samples collected in the field. Charcoal was also manufactured in the laboratory with field feedstock under a range of conditions typical to indigenous charcoal production systems. This phase of the research was able to do the following: a) determine the conditions typical for indigenous charcoal production so that the charcoal produced could be reliably employed in drinking water filtration applications targeting pesticides, and b) evaluate the potential for optimizing traditional charcoaling processes to produce enhanced adsorptive carbons. The grant from iBoP Asia also enabled the project team to continue monitoring the microbiological quality of the water produced

the Process

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by the prototype charcoal filter systems installed by Aqueous Solutions in Pun Pun Sustainability Learning Center in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.

The team conducted in-depth observations of thermal treatment regimes typical of traditional indigenous charcoal-making (pyrolysing biomass or heating it in the absence of oxygen strongly influences the molecular character of the charcoal and, thus, its adsorption capacity and characteristics). An ongoing partnership with the Pun Pun Sustainability Learning Center facilitated the observation of charcoal production using one of the simplest methods commonly employed in BoP communities -- the single drum kiln method. Several runs of charcoaling established a baseline for typical thermal treatment parameters. Important relationships among feedstock aging, peak temperature and heating rate were also observed.

The project also partnered with the Wood Energy Research Centre to facilitate observation of traditional charcoal-making at a medium-scale using typical BoP village kiln designs.

This allowed the project team to take the next steps in evaluating the performance of selected charcoal and clearly identify the charcoaling conditions that will allow the reliable production of highly effective water treatment materials in a BoP community setting. Seven months were spent on planning experiments, acquiring materials and reagents, and designing and constructing a BoP community-style test kiln for charcoal production in order to carry out the research and development component of the project.

The next phase involved monitoring and training activities to disseminate project findings. It also publicized the production of enhanced indigenous charcoal materials as well as the implementation of traditionally designed, robust and inexpensive household filter systems specifically targeting harmful agrichemicals.

Analysis of data and findings and field research provided critical insight into the range of quality of indigenous charcoal, and their potential for targeting agrichemicals during water filtration.


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One important result of this research project is the monitoring study on charcoal manufacturing. There are no existing published studies and in-depth analyses of thermal regimes during indigenous charcoal manufacturing. The monitoring study alone represents a significant contribution to the scientific literature related to biomass pyrolysis. The monitoring study revealed a novel charcoal kiln operator technique already in use locally in Thailand, where a small electric fan is employed to increase airflow to the kiln

for specific short periods during kiln firing. The net effect of such enhanced aeration is a rapid and dramatic increase in temperatures within the kiln over short periods of time.

It is hoped that future developments in the project will further the potential of indigenous charcoal materials as low-cost analogs that can be used and produced by poor communities for their water treatment systems.

and operation are key to the sustainability of an innovation. The project team saw that there are many existing indigenous solutions that meet the needs of the BoP. However, in order to make these solutions replicable, sophisticated analytical methods, laboratory instrumentations and high-level scientific expertise are still required. For example, the characterization of indigenous charcoal and the assessment of the influence of different charcoal production conditions on the charcoal’s capacity to remove water contaminants require high-tech equipment and knowledge.

Josh Kearns, principal investigator of Aqueous Solutions, observed that one of the barriers to innovation at the BoP is a “disconnect” between the kinds of technologies that can really service the BoP and the research done by advanced institutions in the developed world. Aqueous Solutions’ approach of actively connecting with local areas and communities seeks to fill the gaps in scientific research and practical engineering, with the guiding philosophy that BoP ownership


Benefits, Outcomes and Reach

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The realization of the value of collaborating with local institutions is a key lesson derived from this project. Working with the Pun Pun Sustainability Learning Center and the Wood Energy Research Centre, among others, significantly provided opportunities for direct observation of traditional charcoal making techniques, and for in-depth exploration of various local operator techniques and their influence on the charcoal products through operator surveys and anecdotal evidence. This collaboration also allowed the project team to establish important connections with local charcoalers who are expected to best facilitate the dissemination of the research findings and the adoption of the process once ready.

The project is still in its preliminary stages. The ongoing testing and monitoring of indigenous charcoal production methods and kiln operations are expected to yield more significant results. Once the viability of these techniques is established, it is expected that millions around the world, especially those at the BoP, would be able to harness this technology.

Lessons Learned the Future


Aqueous Solutions www.aqsolutions.org

Aqueous Solutions is a U.S. based non-profit organization that aims to address the drinking-water needs of marginalized communities worldwide through the development and implementation of appropriate technologies that foster local self-reliance. Their systems engender communities’ participation and empowerment through the process of design, implementation and upkeep of appropriate technologies in water purification.

Mailing Address: 329 Wilson Ct, Huntington, West Virginia, 25701 USA

Contact number: +001 774 270 2591 (Telephone)


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Project Brief

A Student-Community Partnership for Clean Water

Innovation Story 3

The program was initiated in 2008 through a community-based research project involving the students of Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. Students were dispatched to a rural community near Yogyakarta, with an objective of discovering the needs of communities to develop a sustainable community project that the university will spearhead. At the end of a two-month immersion and through the approval of community leaders and academic supervisors, the students recommended that clean water is the most pressing need that should be addressed immediately. In their experience, access to water required walking long distances; in addition, there was no assurance that the water was safe to drink.

A solar-powered water pump was then developed by the University from 2008 to 2009. Building on the trust established in their previous immersion phase, the students participated in introducing these pumps to the community, took part in weekly community meetings which assured that the project continued to be owned by the community.

Support from iBoP Asia in January 2010 continued the solar-powered water pump program. After an evaluation of the solar-powered water pump system, it was discovered that the water that came from the deep well was not clean; thus, a water filter system was needed. The project was then furthered with the development and installation of water filters. To meet water standards, the project team decided to use charcoal filters which are readily available in the market. The research on locally produced ceramic filters was continued.

In the course of project implementation, however, the research team realized that despite the presence of the solar-powered pumps, the supply and distribution of water to the community remains a continuing concern. The main reservoir resulting from the construction of the solar-powered pumping system was intended to be distributed to six different reservoirs which were placed in strategic areas. Four reservoirs had been built in their previous project, but water

the Process

“Development of an Appropriate Water Filter for Clean Water Supply in Rural Areas,” a project of the Department of Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia

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adopted by the community. However, the scientific need for a water filter was less obvious to some of the villagers and was not appreciated as much. The students tried to overcome this challenge by distributing information leaflets to the community. They also installed a water filter system in the house of a community leader who then talked about the benefits of water filtration during the monthly meetings with community members.

distribution was still a problem. Hence, in July and August 2010, the students immersed themselves in an attempt to discover the issues on improving water quality and the appropriate distribution of water. Water filters were installed in three houses as a prototype.

Several villagers, however, did not immediately appreciate the new filters as they had not experienced problems using water without the filtering system. The implementation was stopped and a series of educational workshops were conducted to explain to the villagers the need for water filters.

The laboratory research on ceramic filters did not yet result, at the time of grant completion, in a final model that satisfied the flux requirements of the village water system. This research needs to be continued to incorporate needed improvements for the water filter.

The project faced two major barriers: one on technology and another on implementation. The research on locally produced ceramics as the material for the water filters got off to a good start and the requirements for the effectiveness of cleaning were met. However, the water flux was insufficient for the water system and therefore could not be implemented. A major constraint was the lack of tools at the university laboratory to conduct materials research and fully utilize the ideas on appropriate technology.

The second problem came out during the implementation phase. The students and the organizers, through past involvement with the village, built positive relationships with the community so the initial project of the solar water pump was very well received and



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Benefits, Outcome, and Reach

52 families now fetch water from the reservoirs through the installation of the solar-powered water pump. It ended many of the villagers’ drought woes. The solar panels powered the pump to deliver 1,800 liters of water per day to a reservoir located 88 meters up the hill. The water is then distributed to four smaller reservoirs, each with a capacity of 5,000 liters, built in the middle of the village. The system is fully managed by the Kaligede Water Management Organization. Each month, residents pay USD 1.70 to the organization, which is less than the USD 3.80 charged by the state-run tap water company. Should the two new reservoirs be found to be technically feasible and the water distribution concerns fully addressed, the drought woes would be further lessened, if not completely ended.

The expected outcome of the iBoP Asia-supported project was the development of an appropriate water filter system and the dissemination of the technology to the local community. During the project, it became clearer that these required more research before they could be achieved. On the technological side, the development of locally-produced ceramic water filter required more research and industry support.

A major learning is the positive effect that resulted from the methodology of utilizing university students as implementers of the project. The immersion allowed the students to understand the villagers’ issues and concerns. Further, they were able to break the barriers and build relationships with villagers effectively. This community-centered approach also assured that the community was fully involved and took ownership of it.

The support of the local leaders was highly instrumental for the project. They served as the key to the community and their support facilitated the community assessment that led to project implementation.

Lessons Learned

On the implementation aspect, notwithstanding efforts to disseminate information, it was realized that more time and resources are needed to continue raising the community’s awareness of the importance of clean water through a filtering system.


University of Gadjah Mada - Department of Engineering Physics http://tf.ugm.ac.id/

The University of Gadjah Mada is an academic institution responsible for conducting education, research and community services in Indonesia. Education and research activities within the institution focus on instrumentation and technology, and the utilization of renewable energy and appropriate technologies for sustainable development.

Mailing Address: Department of Engineering Physics, Faculty of EngineeringUniversity of Gadjah MadaJl. Grafika 2, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Contact number: +62 27 4580882 (Telefax)

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The future of the project lies in its expansion to other locations and its continuation with a new batch of students in 2011 in Gunungkidul village.

The BoP community service program run by Gadjah Mada University, as exemplified in this project, has attracted the attention of other universities interested to adopt this model of using a multi-year approach, student-led technical research, community assessment and implementation. It is expected that partnerships would be forged with these schools to support them in setting up similar projects. Gadjah Mada University plans to continue expanding its partnership with the local government and industry to increase funding and specialist knowledge in furthering technical innovation.

The Gunungkidul village can expect continued cooperation with the university as a new project team will arrive in 2011 for community assessment that will hopefully build upon the achievements of previous projects.

the Future


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Community-led Water Services“The Impact of Water PODS to Increase Resilience and Self-Reliance of Vulnerable Populations through Community-Led Provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services and Appropriate Technologies” by A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW) , Philippines

Innovation Story 4

A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW) developed the innovative People Offering Deliverable Services (PODS) program to improve community health through access to clean water and sanitation. The emphasis on ASDSW is not so much on the technology of water and sanitation solutions but on a community-centered delivery mechanism that is sustainable and answers the needs of the community. To ensure that the improvements in health at the start of the program are not short-lived, PODS is designed not just to appropriately implement the technology but also create mechanisms to overcome the sustainability issues that face the implementing organizations. This is done by creating or strengthening community-based water organizations.

The focus of the project is to determine whether this innovative community-led initiative is successful, what program enhancements are desirable, and benchmark it against other development approaches such as projects implemented by local government units (LGUs) or assisted foreign development agencies.

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An interesting problem of data integrity arose because of the community involvement in the survey. To conduct the interviews, members from the community were involved as data gatherers. However, it was found that despite training, there was a tendency among the data gatherers to answer the questions themselves if they knew the respondent. It was therefore emphasized in follow-up training sessions that the answers had to come from the respondents themselves and that a research assistant had to accompany the interviewers.

Originally, the project was designed as a comparative study between failed and successful PODS. However, the project was expanded to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different PODS. A comparative analysis between PODS and other projects that used different implementation methods was also undertaken. This new objective allowed the project to focus on the effect of a community-led delivery mechanism as opposed to an entrepreneur-led approach.

The main research method was a survey involving 1,159 interviews conducted among members of PODS and non-PODS organizations, service and product users and non-users, local government employees and members of training organizations. The questions were designed in conjunction with additional members from the partner organization, the University of the Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries (UP ISSI), and first tested in Barangay Macarascas, Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. The immediate health situation of the community was then assessed using the data gathered.

the Process



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Anecdotal evidence indicate that any intervention related to water and sanitation substantially reduces the impact of water-borne diseases (WBD) on its users. It was also found that the health benefit of the program in the surveyed communities was significant and did not depend on PODS or non–PODS intervention, the pre-intervention level or even the type of intervention. The effects of the health benefits are dependent on the long-term sustainability of the organization that provides the WASH service.

While the positive health benefits could be clearly proven, the financial health of the organizations was not in positive territory that it questioned sustainability, reach and capacity to scale up. In effect, none of the organizations surveyed was able to increase their assets. They also struggled to put together a cost structure that would allow them to grow as organizations.


To learn about the indicators of long-term sustainability, PODS and non–PODS projects were compared with regard to the status of their services within the community and various attributes that contribute to the organization’s long-term sustainability. This is because Bio-Sand Filters (BSF) PODS provide the least amount of services in their target areas, but the water system PODS provides slightly better coverage than non-PODS providers. The reason for the differing outcomes is that BSF organizations are product suppliers while water system organizations are service providers. This lends itself to two different organizational models: product suppliers are more entrepreneurial, while community service providers are more cooperative in nature. It was also found that PODS and non-PODS users are equally satisfied with their product, but PODS users are more satisfied with the services they receive from water suppliers. PODS water systems also outrank the non–PODS in the areas of community consultation, staff competency and financial transparency.

It was also found that accountability and transparency are important in establishing long-term relationship with customers. Public trust will help sustain the organization as payment of fees will be on a more regular basis, as well as the ease in mobilizing for repairs or expansion work.

The delineation of roles between PODS organizations and LGUs was also unclear. Traditionally, LGUs are water system implementers but since the design of the capacity of LGUs is limited, there is a high

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technical failure rate. This marked difference may be due to the respondents’ grasp of the simpler BSF technology versus the complexity of water system design. Funding and partial funding are not perceived as an LGU responsibility despite the legal requirement to do so. The research also showed that PODS has to work more closely with the municipal LGUs and establish a working partnership to provide WASH services. LGUs should not be allowed to refrain from their responsibility and it is the organizations’ duty to advocate and work with the LGU.

While the water issue is resolved, the community more often than not reverts to its old sources to save money or does not invest in new technology at all since it involves payment. Non–users of the technologies were interviewed to get the reasons why they do not avail of these services. The community’s failure to adopt the new technology was attributed to ineffective marketing and information dissemination as well as lack of cost planning. Although it is a worthwhile long-term investment for any resident, no cost structure was developed relative to the financial capacity of the market; likewise, no payment plan was developed by the organization.

In summary, it was found that the water systems PODS projects were more successful than the bio–sand filter micro enterprises in terms of number of people served and sustainability. The water systems PODS tend to provide better services and have better management capacity, which was easily recognized by the users.

The evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the innovation on community-led delivery mechanisms to the BoP will lead to a marked improvement of the PODS program in several areas, which will be vital for the scaling-up of operations. The findings from this research will be integrated into the PODS Training Manual and ASDSW Field Guide. The actual documentation of the benefits of water system and BSF implementation can now be supported by hard data and not just anecdotal evidence, which will aid marketing efforts. ASDSW intends to replicate the PODS model around the country and A Single Drop (USA) will pilot the program in Uganda in the near future.

the Future


A Single Drop for Safe Water www.asdforsafewater.org

ASDSW is a non-profit organization that builds the capacity of partners to implement community-driven clean water and sanitation solutions through sustainable organizational strategies, WASH Education and appropriate technologies. ASDSW creates self-reliant community-led water organizations or “Water PODS” (People Offering Deliverable Services) and for the last three years, has implemented the Water PODS model in impoverished, conflict-inflicted, and disaster-ridden communities.

Mailing Address: Corner Manalo Extension and Jacana Rd.Brgy. Bancao Bancao, Puerto Princesa City, 5300 Palawan, PHILIPPINES

Contact number: +63 48 434 1101 (Telefax)


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Getting the Health and Sanitation Message Across Floating Villages“Tonle Sap Floating Waste and Sanitation Treatment Barge,” a project of the Live & Learn Environmental Education Cambodia

Innovation Story 5

Live & Learn Cambodia, together with the Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB), designed and built a Floating Community Waste Management Station. The project aimed to address several problems faced by the residents of the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Specifically, it intends to capture harmful human waste from the floating toilet before it can degrade the water quality of the Tonle Sap and its surrounding environment; treat water using appropriate technologies and techniques for return to the environment; and where feasible, safely reuse and recycle wastes.

The project also aimed to provide a platform for the development of new and innovative technologies and management practices for the floating communities, where methods and technologies can be scaled up, if the community so chooses. It also sought to offer solutions for waste management that are culturally appropriate, reliable, economically efficient, and environmentally viable for the future.

Project Brief

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The project team developed a positive relationship with the Phat Sanday Commune in Kampong Thom Province, which allowed them to deeply understand the community’s idea of sanitation and develop a culturally appropriate sanitation solution for the floating communities. A comprehensive review of existing sanitation options used around the world in floating and land-based situations was conducted.

The project team built and tested 13 prototype floating latrines and regularly followed up their use. Each new prototype incorporated improvements learned from the construction and use of earlier models. The team educated the floating latrine users about the importance of total sanitation and how to use and maintain the latrine. This included classes at Phat Sanday primary and secondary schools. To evaluate the effects of the usage of the latrines, water quality testing of the water used by the Phat Sanday communities and the surrounding environment was undertaken in both high and low water level seasons. These tests demonstrated that during low-water season, the community is exposed to levels of e.coli and coliforms well above the recommended levels of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The support provided by iBoP Asia enabled the project team to focus on dealing with waste produced from the floating latrine. While the research showed that the waste is safe to be disposed or used as fertilizer after some storage time, the community saw this as a burden to their households and thus discouraged use of

the Process latrines in the community. Hence, in order to complement the total sanitation solution, the Community-Based Floating Waste Treatment Barge was developed to facilitate storage of the waste during treatment. This process relies on the drying of the waste and the lack of oxygen to kill off the pathogens.

With the completion of the Floating Community Waste Management Station in September 2010, the project immediately proceeded with the ongoing trial and use of the facility.

Developing an affordable design that is accepted by the community and offers the opportunity of marketability is often envisaged but difficult to achieve. The floating barge projects encountered additional barriers as cultural inhibitions on human feces and urine initially posed communication challenges. The project team found that intensive communication with the community was required to have meaningful discussion of issues surrounding sanitation challenges.

Only after this hurdle was overcome that the technical side of solving the storage problem in the sanitation solution began. The storage capacity and size of the barge was determined by the number of community members, with a required 6-month storage period prior to safe reuse as fertilizers. The EWB volunteer team from Australia used many approaches to come up with technical solutions to the storage problem.



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However, due to the community’s feedback, the project reverted to the original idea of simply storing the waste in 20-liter buckets. This experience proves that “low-tech” options often offer the best affordable design. Meanwhile, determining the strategic location of the barge in order to have a cost-effective, efficient collection and storage scheme (including its management and maintenance), posed further challenges for this innovation. The project team tackled these issues jointly with the community.

One important outcome of the project was the increased awareness of sanitation in floating communities, which was achieved through project presentations, informal discussions and education sessions. The community was strongly engaged, as evidenced by their support to the floating barge concept and assistance on the designs. This led to a strong and mutually agreeable relationship between the project team and the community.

This project demonstrated successful design, construction and trial of the world’s first known community-based floating human waste treatment barge. Once fully utilized, along with improved sanitation practices, the project will produce tremendous positive environmental and health impacts.


Lessons Learned

Community involvement was at the center of the project from inception. The community was integrated at all stages of the innovation process and provided valuable input that complemented the formal technical expertise of the engineers. It was also an important learning that with the inclusion of community members in the project team, the project achieved higher efficiency, greater participation and the uptake of the innovation was greatly enhanced. The closer the involvement of the community as members of the core project team became, the better the project developed.

Having separate focus group discussion for men and women resulted in better participation and results. In dealing with culturally sensitive


Live & Learn Environmental Education www.livelearn.org

Live & Learn is a non-profit, non-government organization that promotes greater understanding and action toward human and environmental sustainability through education and dialogue building. Live & Learn works with communities through critical entry points, such as safe drinking water issues, to address community health concerns while also facilitating community ownership of the action necessary to sustain a better quality of life for all.

Mailing Address: #32, Street 586Sangkat Boeung Kak II, Khan Tuol Kork Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Contact number: +855 092 629 964 (Telephone)+855 885 502 (Fax)

the Future

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issues like sanitation, a well-thought out effort to overcome the inhibitions should be undertaken. This effort may be as simple as separating groups according to gender.

The use of the school as a starting point within the community also proved to be successful. Michael Brown, Live & Learn project manager, states that “community involvement has been integral to the project. I feel that without it, the project would be very difficult to complete. Even if we were able to complete the project, without the involvement of the community, it would be almost certainly a failure as the solution most likely would have been inappropriate for the community’s needs.”

The current initiative is very small in scale and is focused on the prototyping of designs. If the Community-Led Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing techniques are successful in creating a demand for latrines in the floating communities, the supply of these latrines need to be improved. It plans to work with Cambodian small and medium-sized enterprises that can manufacture and sell latrines to floating communities. It also plans to follow similar Sanitation Marketing methods for land-based latrines currently undertaken in Cambodia by other organizations.

The project also aims to commence community engagement on the possibilities of reuse of the treated waste as fertilizer. Options include either creating a marketplace for selling the fertilizer or experimenting on floating gardens to grow vegetables and other marketable commodities.


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ater And Sanitation

“Closing the Loop Between Sanitation and Food Production,” a project of the Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development (WAND), Philippines

Developing Local and Affordable Ecosan Toilets for the BoP

Innovation Story 6

This project sought to develop ecological sanitation (ecosan) technologies to solve health, sanitation, and soil fertility issues by exploring models for lowering the cost of building ecosan toilets, a limiting factor in adopting such technologies. It also studied the response of crops (trees, vegetable, and coconuts) to ecosan product (urine and feces) treatments. Finally, it designed a micro-financing mechanism that would transform the initiative into a service-cum-enterprise venture. This would include designs for packaging soft and hard ecosan technologies for local government units, NGOs and other stakeholders.

Project Brief

The project team conducted field research to gain insights on the technology. The community was assembled for a rapid rural survey during the initial entry, followed by ocular inspection and informal sessions that facilitated exchanges about their concerns. Regular focus group discussions, meetings, and the formation of an ecosan club strengthened the bonds of the project team and the communities. Together with community members, the project started designing alternatives to the cement cover-slab of the arborloo as well as designs for low-cost single vault ecosan toilets using locally-available materials (e.g., bamboos, wood poles, coconut

the Process

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fronds, coconut lumber, and recycled plastics and drums). The new designs were then field-tested in Barrio Oguis in Initao and Barrio Tuod in Manticao, Misamis Oriental province. One prototype found to be appropriate for coastal communities, where space is limited and houses are close to each other, is a “hanging” type of ecosan, field- tested in Initao Poblacion.

Two German ecosan experts, Dr. Ralf Otterpohl and Dr. Jurgen Ricken, provided training on the terra preta (black soil) ecosan technology, which required the introduction of strains of bacillus that would transform feces and urine into high-quality fertilizer. WAND is now in the process of culturing the bacillus mix, with the further aim of marketing the fertilizer product to garden enthusiasts and tree planters.

The project succeeded in localizing ecosan technologies through the development of different ecosan designs--“hanging” ecosan toilets for coastal communities, lightweight arborloo toilets for mountain areas, single-vault ecosan toilets for rural households that can also be used during emergency situations, and the fabrication of urinals (“EcoPees”).


Cost proved to be a major barrier for an ecosan solution to take foothold at the BoP. In the original version, ecosan toilets are manufactured from ceramics in order to comply with the hygienic standards of the developed world. However, the resulting high cost and restriction of production to specialized factories have been a considerable stumbling block in the dissemination of this technology at the BoP. This project tackled the issue by using local materials as substitutes. Natural and recycled materials were instead used to provide the same functionality at a much lower price that is affordable to the community.


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instead installed on the side of the house and the vault underneath the house high enough so that the water could not reach the waste containers.

The project initially devised a micro-financing scheme solely devoted to marketing ecosan toilets for the poor. During its implementation, however, the project realized that there were very few people that showed interest in applying for a loan for an ecosan toilet. WAND tried to surmount this challenge by integrating the ecosan toilet loan to an ongoing microfinance program for farm livelihood activities. Thus, a person who applies for a farm loan would now be asked if the applicant has a toilet or not, and whether that person would like to include the toilet in the loan package.

Another barrier that the project had to hurdle was the cultural aspect of dealing with human feces and urine. Not all members of the community were comfortable discussing the ecosan products. A strong community-centric advocacy campaign was thus adopted to inform the community about the importance of sanitation. The use of posters with pictograms depicting the operating guidelines in the local language helped convey the message. Meetings with the community and its leaders further strengthened the message.

The original design of the toilets, which required them to be installed on the ground, further posed problems particularly in coastal communities, as access to the toilet during high tide was nearly impossible. In this new design, the toilets were

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WAND learned that the involvement of the community is key to the project’s success. Project leader Elmer Sayre expounded that the value of the community is so significant that he rated it as “10 out of 10.”

The use of local and recycled materials proved to be crucial in lowering the cost, making the ecosan solution affordable to the BoP. Most of the materials used in the designs are now locally-sourced such as bamboos, coconut palm fronds, wooden poles, g-melina wood and rattan baskets; while recycled drums, containers, black plastic sheets and heavy-duty Manila hemp sacks were sourced from a junk store in Cagayan de Oro. The special ecosan bowl is produced by local masons.


In partnership with the community, the project succeeded in custom-designing dry toilets for various conditions (e.g., coastal, urban slums, uplands, marshy areas, river settlements, flooded areas) and target beneficiaries (e.g., dry toilets for persons with disabilities, toddlers). The pilot implementation of the ecosan technology is innovative for its use of predominantly local materials, versatility, affordability, and ease of scale-up.

The project also succeeded in implementing the ecosan technology in coastal areas, a “first” in Asia, by piloting simple single-chamber urine diverting, dehydration toilets (UDDT) and low-cost “hanging” type solution for coastal communities.

The arborloo toilets established through this project reached 65 indigent families, while the eco-lilies and vegetable seeds were distributed to 100 vegetable garden beneficiaries. The project caught the attention of GTZ, a German funding agency, which allocated funds for the installation of 100 additional units of “hanging” ecosan toilets covering coastal areas in two Mindanao municipalities.

Lessons Learned


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Ecological sanitation really works. Beyond iBoP Asia’s support, WAND will continue its ongoing research activities by: a) integrating the terra preta concept in ecological sanitation in order to produce high-valued organic fertilizer; b) conducting long-term crop response study to humanure using coconuts and fruit trees; and c) studying the “user fee” principle in establishing coastal eco-sanitation.

In its desire to highlight the aspect of cultural acceptability in future interventions, the project team further plans to pilot the ecosan technology among different groups such as indigenous peoples and Muslims. Designing soft (i.e., trainings) and hard ecosan technologies for local government units, NGO, and other stakeholders will also be continued so that the technology can be considered in local solid waste management plans and policies.

the Future


Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development Foundation www.wandphils.org

WAND Foundation heads social development initiatives on the improvement of the environment and agricultural sectors, rural entrepreneurship, ecological sanitation and peace-building. The Foundation has grown out of a pool of community development workers in Northern Mindanao who are truly concerned about the direct link between severe poverty, poor health and sanitation, local resource mismanagement and the absence of lasting peace.

Mailing Address: Libertad, Misamis Oriental, 9021 Philippines

Contact number: +63 921 8041573 (Telephone)

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Innovation in Health

Within Southeast Asia, the countries with the highest poverty incidence

are Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. One of the

identified causes of poverty is “unequal access to health services, or the

limited access of the poor to health services.”42

In the goal to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) identify the critical role of global partnerships for development. This can be done through “cooperation with pharmaceutical companies in providing access to affordable essential drugs” in developing countries and “cooperation with the private sector in making available the benefits of new technologies,” especially in information and communications technology (ICT).43 An Asian Development (ADB)-commissioned study, while focusing largely on the Philippines, similarly remarked that in undertaking needed reforms in health and social welfare systems, multi-sector initiatives harnessed onto collective action similarly offer opportunities to reduce poverty.

To ensure that health systems reach all groups of the population, including the poor and the marginalized, countries are urged to “eliminate user fees for essential health services, improve community health education, promote behavior change, and involve communities in decision-making and service delivery.” Specifically, massive effort to “build local community expertise in the area of health” is emphasized.44

In the succeeding pages, we show how our grant partners’ direct experience and constant

42 iBoP Asia’s internal concept note for health, S&T innovations, and the BoP, citing the Asian Development Bank Study entitled

Poverty in the Philippines: Causes, Constraints, and Opportunities (2009); and the Millennium Development Project Report to the UN Secretary General entitled Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals (2005, New York).

43 Ibid. Goals 1, 4, 6, and 8 (targets 17 and 18).

44 Ibid

Chapter 2


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interaction with BoP communities motivated them to respond to these concerns about access to affordable medicines and health services simply by innovating.

Specifically, we narrate the story of how a medical doctor and his team from the University of Padjadjaran in Indonesia thought about bringing to marginalized communities a complete, locally-manufactured, and affordable diagnostic tool kit for the four most common infectious diseases in the country. The innovative rapid diagnostic test kit was introduced so that costly travel to distant diagnostic laboratories and indiscriminate reliance on plain antibiotics as quick remedies for such diseases are avoided.

We also capture the remarkable story of how two young Filipino social entrepreneurs from MicroVentures Inc., along with their already successful network of Hapinoy Sari-sari (community) Stores, continued to innovate their business model, strategically partnering with two pharmaceutical companies. This enabled them to bring affordable and quality medicines closer to BoP consumers and further benefited the small sari-sari store owners in terms of achieving confidence, credibility and competence in selling over-the-counter generic and branded medicines--not to mention the added earnings derived from this new scheme.

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Combating Major Infectious Diseases“Development of a multiplex rapid diagnostic test for differentiating four major infectious diseases with fever as the major symptom in Indonesia,” a project of the Medical Faculty, Universitas Padjadjaran – Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia

Innovation Story 7

Infectious diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, typhoid fever, and leptospirosis, are the leading cause of morbidity and death in Indonesia. Because laboratory-based diagnostic services are either unavailable or expensive, most health practitioners in remote and marginalized communities simply rely on the clinical symptoms in treating these symptoms and follow a standard procedure of indiscriminately prescribing antibiotics when the patient experiences two or three days of high fever.

Antibiotics, however, should only be warranted as treatment when the patient suffers from typhoid fever or leptospirosis. Most patients with high fever come with mild self-limiting viral infection that does not need antibiotic treatment; in the case of malaria and dengue, anti-malaria drugs and careful monitoring are recommended respective treatments. As a result, antibiotics are prescribed more than what is necessary, and patients do not receive appropriate treatment and even develop resistance to antibiotics.

Dr. Bachti Alisjahbana, a practitioner in rural areas with marginalized communities, observed and experienced the consequences of the lack of diagnostic tools in providing treatment. He co-founded the Pakar Biomedika Indonesia Company to bring innovations that will answer to these medical needs in Indonesia and adapt them to local requirements. The company partnered with the University of Padjadjaran and the Institut Teknologi Bandung in implementing this project.

Project Brief


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the Process

Pakar Biomedika Indonesia Company worked closely with the University of Padjadjaran and the Institut Teknologi Bandung in the development, production and commercialization of diagnostic equipment such as plastic housing cassettes. Initially, the company sourced test strips from American and European companies, but has since been developing its own test strips for several diseases. It also conceptualized the Multiplex Point of Care (POC) Rapid Diagnostic Test, an innovative rapid diagnostic test kit for the four most common infectious diseases that

is affordable, sensitive, user-friendly and easy to use in the field.

The first phase of the project involved investment and technical advice from the licensing partner, the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, as well as transfer of technology to Indonesia so that the test strips containing the antigens or antibodies could be optimized to the local condition, be produced locally, and conform to WHO standards. The second phase involved combining all four tests in one multiplex POC based on lateral flow assay that would allow a patient to be tested in just one procedure, reducing diagnostic costs substantially as the cost of one multiplex POC is much lower than four single POCs.

The project encountered a barrier to applied research Indonesia: the distinction between research (the university mandate) and development (to be undertaken by a private organization), as well as between production and sales. By setting up Pakar Biomedika Indonesia Company, commercialization of university research was made possible; on the other hand, the grant support from iBoP Asia enabled an efficient public-private innovation process.

Among the challenges encountered by the project were a) the local development of test kits; and b) combining four individual tests into a multiplex system for all four diseases. To address these challenges, Pakar Biomedika Indonesia Company sought the support of the licensing partner and related government institutions to develop capacity-building programs for the firm alongside technology transfer. The project successfully produced the required test strips in the laboratory that served as basis for local production at low costs, and developed multiplex cassette test kit prototypes for clinical and field testing.



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The project, in its initial laboratory phase, was able to generate remarkable outcomes for the bio-tech community in Indonesia. With test strips being produced locally, dependence on imported antigens and antibodies was overcome. Further, single POC test kits for malaria, typhoid, and leptospirosis were developed and contributed to the development of the rapid multiplex test. With the finalization of a locally-developed multiplex POC, the project looks forward to testing and eventual social marketing of the tests.

The capacity-building and technology transfer components of the project led to close cooperation among public institutions. Meanwhile, the collaboration with the private company Pakar Biomedika Indonesia Company demonstrated the potential of a public-private partnership cluster.

The project illustrated that public-public and public-private partnerships with common goals and strong leadership create the potential to achieve breakthrough innovations. The individual strength of each participant, coupled with technical advice and grant resources, resulted in more affordable and appropriate treatment through better diagnostic tools. The collaborative effort also encouraged locally produced bio-tech products.

The project showed that local institutions can be successful in innovating at the BoP, as building their capacity is a crucial activity in the development phase. This strategy, hinged upon local institutions’ deep knowledge of the local situation, also offered new partnership and innovation paths for international institutions and/or corporations.

Lessons Learned


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The team realized that a subsequent phase to the technology level is essential to achieve acceptance of new standards of treatment. This phase should be able to change behavior and expectations through anthropological field studies of patient and health provider behaviour, and ensure community empowerment and dissemination through education programs.

Innovative multiplex POC test kits will soon be introduced to the Indonesian health system after the completion of necessary tests. With the availability of these, health providers would be able to diagnose diseases correctly and treat patients with the right medicine. Dr. Alisjahbana has reiterated that this process of introducing the medical diagnostic innovation is expected to be as challenging as the technological innovation itself. What seems to be a purely technological innovation gets an important community perspective if the gestation of the project and dissemination is considered.

Several behaviors that are not as straightforward have to change as well. First, the diagnosis needs a certain amount of time to detect the appropriate antibodies and antigens. The correct usage of the test is to wait for five days before administering the test, which, from a patient’s perspective, is less desirable than receiving immediate remedy. Second, it should be pointed out that the availability of a diagnostic tool is a positive development as it increases practitioners’ confidence in treating patients.

Laboratory technological solutions is just one step in achieving positive outcomes at the BoP. Mastering the challenge of finding dissemination models via the public health system, and business models via the private sector, is another crucial step to create a meaningful impact at the BoP.

the Future


University of Padjajaran - Faculty of Medicine with the Hasan Sadikin General Hospital - Health Research Unit http://www.fk.unpad.ac.id/

The Health Research Unit is an active research coordinator of the Faculty of Medicine, Padjadjaran University. This institution conducts applied research in the bio-medical and socio-medical fields. The working group on improving diagnostic consists of a multidisciplinary staff, which includes an internist, a clinical pathologist, and biologists, developing optimized point-of-care testing that can be used in low-income areas all over Indonesia.

Mailing Address: Health Research Unit, FKUP-RSHSJl. Pasirkaliki 190, Bandung, 40161 Indonesia


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Bringing Affordable and Quality Medicines Closer to Communities“Hapinoy Healthcare Hub,” a project of the MicroVentures, Inc. (Philippines)

Innovation Story 8

Bam Aquino and Mark Ruiz founded MicroVentures, Inc. (MVI), a social enterprise that aims to support micro-entrepreneur programs, in 2007. Their first venture was Hapinoy, a network of sari-sari (community) stores owned and run by MVI-trained microfinance borrowers who are mostly nanays (mothers). The Hapinoy program benefits sari-sari store owners with: a) additional loan for store inventory and operations; b) training and capacity-building; c) access to better prices and new businesses; and d) store branding. By 2010, Hapinoy’s presence was already established in 150 South Luzon communities.

The main products sold at sari-sari stores are fast-moving consumer products. MVI considered adding medicine to their range of products and explored an innovative business model for supplying generic medicine to the BoP in selected areas of Luzon through a grant from iBoP Asia. The project adopted the “Base of Pyramid Protocol – Toward Next Generation BoP Strategy” (2nd edition) or BoP Protocol 2.0 framework, which enables

Project Brief


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corporations to generate new business opportunities at the BoP based on a participatory philosophy and with the notion of co-creation at its core. The Asian Social Enterprise Incubator, Inc., an incubation firm specializing in BoP ventures, helped conceptualize and manage the project.

the Process

During the pre-field phase, MVI conducted research on the legal and economic context of providing medicine. Interviews with relevant authorities and suppliers concluded that non-prescription over-the-counter (OTC) medicine could be legally sold in sari-sari stores. It was realized that most of the stores already sold medicine in a covert way. Also, nanays preferred branded medicine because customers are wary of the quality and effectiveness of generic medicines (despite these being up to 4 times cheaper). It became crucial to work with a partner that assured MVI and the nanays that generic medicines are trustworthy.

The project opted to include Unilab as its strategic partner for the project’s branded medicine and Generika Drugstores for generic medicine. In order to come out with a desirable assortment from the perspectives of commercial viability and public health, MVI combined the best-selling items from the manufacturers, the products best sold by the nanays, and those recommended by doctors.

An initial business model called the Hapinoy Botika was developed based on the existing Hapinoy business model, a platform where MVI would source medicine from the partners and

distribute these to the Community Stores via its own distribution operation. These Community Stores, acting as wholesalers to smaller Hapinoy stores, are at the core of the operations. MVI supports their daily operations with its field staff and through regular training events.

The Hapinoy Botika Corner was subsequently launched in seven communities. Merchandising materials were distributed with the Hapinoy Botika signage, consisting of two display and storage panels--one for branded and another one for generic medicine--filled with initial stocks (on consignment). The pilot phase also included an educational component for nanays. Focus group discussions participated by the Community Stores and the sari-sari stores gave a generally positive feedback on the effectiveness of the launch, which addressed the issues of confidence, credibility, and competence.

One important barrier to bringing affordable medicine to the BoP is the regulatory framework governing the sale and distribution of medicine. It restricts the role that retail outlets can play (and for all the right reasons), which is limited to the supply of over-the-counter drugs and excludes


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prescription drugs. During the research, however, it became clear that prescription drugs (especially antibiotic medicine) were sold in the market by sari-sari stores. MVI stressed that it strictly adheres to regulation, exemplified by their securing of necessary licenses and their firm stance on not distributing antibiotics. However, it also acknowledged the reality that the stores could buy antibiotics from other sources and thus included a session in the training program on the correct use of antibiotics, and a discussion on regulatory issues to raise awareness among store owners.

The project team also regularly visited the nanays and monitored them in filling-out the sales tally sheets. In MVI’s point of view, the task of recording base data is vital to managing a grocery store. The nanays, however, did not share this view. For them, it was enough to look after the cash box, and open invoices to determine inventory, available cash and liabilities. Although big efforts were put into applying the simple tally sheet approach, the project was not able to fully overcome this aversion to data recording.

Pricing is always a difficult aspect of retailing at the BoP. On one hand, the project’s aim is to bring affordable medicine to the BoP and reduce the BoP penalty; on the other, the stores have to earn enough profit to make the project sustainable. To resolve this concern, a pricing scheme that fixed the selling price from MVI to the Community Stores and from the Community Stores to the Hapinoy Stores was implemented.

During the pilot phase, the average quantity of order increased from the initial orders of medicine by blisters (10pcs) to packs (100pcs), indicating a growing demand from the stores. 81% of those sold were branded medicine, while 19% were generic drugs. This split was in line with expectations as it reflected the preference for branded medicine at the BoP, despite its higher price point. As the pilot phase ended, the nanays expressed optimism about the Hapinoy Botika Corner. They confirmed that the education component was the basis for its success as it enabled them to sell the medicine with conviction. The merchandising materials brought the products to the forefront of the stores’ offering and informed the customers about the possibility of acquiring a comprehensive range of over-the-counter medicines in the store.



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Mark Ruiz views that the inclusion of all stakeholders from the very beginning, guided by the co-creation principle, was one of the key success factors of the project. The strategic partners and the nanays co-developed all aspects of the project, including the design and size of the merchandising materials, the assortment, pricing, educational events, and final launch of the project.

Contrary to the initial idea of only supplying generic medicines on the basis that they are more affordable, the co-creation workshop revealed that branded medicines are still vital to the project’s success. It brings the best selling items of the market at a less expensive distribution pricing to the stores, which previously had bought those items at suggested retail prices from local pharmacies.

In the workshops, it was also highlighted that the nanays required training and education as they felt insecure about selling medicines. Together with Dr. Miel Penalosa, an experienced community health practitioner, an education presentation was developed in the Botika Corner launch, which discussed branded and generic over-the-counter remedies. The presentation aimed to empower nanays to become credible suppliers of medicine at the BoP.

Due to the success of the pilot phase, MVI decided to scale up the Hapinoy Botika Corner project in 2011 and make affordable medicine available to 150 communities through 5,000 Hapinoy stores. The strategic partners were satisfied with the results and discussions are ongoing on how to structure their involvement in the scale-up phase.

Lessons Learned

the FuturePARTNER ORGANIZATION

MicroVentures, Inc.www.hapinoy.com

MicroVentures aspires to be the leading partner of micro-entrepreneurs in the Philippines by leveraging micro-financing as a powerful tool to empower socially and economically challenged families. MicroVentures manages Hapinoy -- a network of sari-sari stores owned and run by borrowers and trained on standard operating systems. Currently, Hapinoy is present in 50 communities in South Luzon and each active Hapinoy community has one anchor Community Store servicing between 30 to 100 sari-sari stores.

Mailing Address: 39-A N.Garcia St., Varsity Hills SubdivisionLoyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines

Contact number: +63 2 647 1216 (Telephone)+63 2 647 1215 (Fax)

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Innovation in ICT and Business

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and BoP

in business are cross-cutting themes of the iBoP Asia project.

iBoP Asia views ICT as an enabler and tool for development and poverty alleviation, not just ends in themselves, specifically in areas where it is involved – be it in water and sanitation, health, food and agriculture, energy or climate change. ICT can be used to directly benefit disadvantaged populations. It can also be utilized to assist organizations to improve general socio-economic conditions. This is in line with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of making the benefits of new technologies available, especially information and communications technologies.45

While connectivity is reportedly increasing worldwide, with the number of internet users and telephone subscribers expanding and mobile users rapidly growing, it continues to be slow and low in many parts of the developing world, including in Southeast Asia.46

The first portion of this Chapter demonstrates four interesting ICT innovation stories. The initial story accounts how the Vietnet Information Technology and Communication Centre (Vietnet-ICT), together with its allies and the community living within an important international wetland area of Vietnam, innovates on the traditional concept of a coffee shop in order to raise awareness and elicit positive action about climate change and adaptation through ICT, while maintaining its original eco-tourism venture.

45 Millennium Development Project Report to the UN Secretary General. (2005). Investing in Development: A

Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals. New York.

46 United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report (2007).

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The Computer Professionals’ Union in the Philippines and Indonesia’s Institut Teknologi Bandung, on the other hand, developed ICT-based teaching tools for two different BoP sectors. One created an offline accessible toolkit of basic scientific concepts for primary and secondary public school educators and students who have no access to laboratories and high-end computer facilities; while the other built the foundation for an individualized e-learning and monitoring system for multiple handicapped students.

The next story illustrates ICT’s effectiveness as a tool for raising awareness and building the capacity of specific BoP communities. The World Fish Center and its Philippine NGO counterpart, FishBase Information and Research Group (FIN) used a mobile interface to facilitate exchange of information about fisheries-related data and at the same time increase fisherfolk’s knowledge and capacity for resource conservation and management.

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The role of business as a powerful force in alleviating poverty, even more powerful when built on others’ support, is now recognized. Business, whether large-scale, medium, small or micro-enterprises, can significantly contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by “generating growth, including poor people into their value chains, contributing knowledge and capabilities, developing innovative approaches, replicating those approaches across borders, and by advocating for policies that will alleviate poverty.” 47

This next part illustrates research initiatives that can serve as foundations for developing the so-called inclusive business models by including the poor into the value chains as producers, employees and consumers, and by developing innovative payment approaches.

The research story of the Emerging Futures Lab (Singapore) looks at the rural BoP’s consumer behavior, purchasing patterns and decision-making given the irregularity of their incomes, and its implications for designing business models and payment strategies. The Philippine Business for Social Progress’ casebook project, on the other hand, examines its own business advisory program in terms of its responsiveness to the business development and technical needs of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises and the enterprising BoP. Both studies provide insightful recommendations for building business models and best practices for involving and engaging with the BoP as consumers and producers.

47 United Nations Development Programme. (2010). The MDGs: Everyone’s Business; also, UNDP. (2008). Growing

Inclusive Markets Initiative (GIN), Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor.

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48 Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention.

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“Ecolife Café: Community Learning Space for Climate Change Adaptation,” a project of the Vietnet Information Technology and Communication Centre (Vietnet-ICT), Vietnam

Local villagers in Giao Xuan commune, one of the buffer zones of the Xuan Thuy Wetland Reserve (the first Ramsar48 site of Vietnam) provides community-based ecotourism (CBET) services with support from the Centre for Marine Life Conservation and Community Development (MCD). Various groups of had earlier been provided with skills to provide services to eco-tourists such as home-stay, food and environmental guide services. As a result, hundreds of eco-tourists have come to the area.

Though considered to be one of the coastal areas forecast to be most vulnerable to climate

change, the local community has not yet fully understood the phenomenon and why it needs to be more adaptive and resilient. Through a grant from iBoP Asia, Vietnet-ICT in collaboration with MCD and Ecolife Ltd., sought to establish and implement a community learning center, the Ecolife Café, that would provide a lively space for information exchange on climate change adaptation in the Giao Xuan commune.

Since it was part of a bigger community-based eco-tourism enterprise, Ecolife Café set out to become an ecotourism center that demonstrates information about ecotourism services. Apart from that, Ecolife Café offered a library corner with computer and free internet access, and a common learning

Project Brief

More than Just a Sip: The Ecolife Café Concept

Innovation Story 9

A group of volunteers worked on the physical design of the Ecolife Café, with inputs discussed with the community members. Several community small group meetings were held to discuss important issues related to the café’s purpose, functions, its difference from other government-organized learning spaces, its location, ownership, and sustainability.

The community further devoted time discussing the ideal ownership and management of the café. They agreed that they wanted to develop a business model that ensures sustainability and participation of the local community. Local authorities and representatives of different groups were also involved in setting the criteria for selecting the host of the cafe.

In terms of roles and organizational structure, the community-based Ecotourism Management Board was clearly identified as responsible for

the general management of the eco-tourism activities at the local level. The community-based eco-tourism cooperative and the Ecolife Café play the role of service providers. Vietnet-ICT is responsible for using technologies for engaging the local community in climate change adaptation. MCD, on the other hand, takes responsibility for all eco-tourism and climate change-related activities, such as community dialogues on climate change adaptation. Ecolife Ltd. was tasked to ensure the sustainability of the business idea and to popularize the concept in other areas.

In June 2010, Ecolife Café was officially launched with hundreds of community members, guests from national and provincial government agencies, and the media in attendance.

Two community dialogues on climate change adaptation were subsequently organized by the MCD and Vietnet-ICT at the Ecolife Café, which drew hundreds of local community members as attendees. The first community talk

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space where villagers could hold meetings and exhibits on climate change adaptation tools and discuss livelihood diversification and related new technologies.

Using ICT as a key element to bridge the digital divide, Ecolife Café offered innovative ways to enable poor coastal villagers to be introduced to the concept of climate change and climate change adaptation tools that could be applicable in many other similarly-situated coastal areas of Vietnam.

The Ecolife Cafe project is expected to generate jobs for villagers, host hundreds of guests and events and make the villagers improve their social, economic and political position. The final outcome is the creation of sustainable supplement livelihoods for thousands of villagers in poor coastal villages of Vietnam, thus reducing pressure on coastal fishing.

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focused on bringing general knowledge about climate change impacts that affect human life, especially those of coastal communities. The second community dialogue centered on illustrating the human activities that had environmental impacts and led to disasters.

As a pioneering effort, the Ecolife Café, by combining a coffee shop with climate change adaptation aspects, equipped the village poor with tools for adapting to climate change impacts through internet surfing, updating information and interaction with tourists. The concept itself also began to create a social value of changing the Vietnamese perspective of coming to a coffee shop, from enjoying coffee for leisure to enjoying coffee while raising awareness on the world’s hottest environmental issues.

The space offered by the café provided opportunity for approximately 300 local villagers to learn about climate change issues through the visualized facilities at the Ecolife Café and the dialogues and workshops. The same space also enabled volunteers to enhance the ICT skills of community members. Eight villagers who received training in computer and internet

Benefits, Outcomes, and Reach

use from the volunteers were expected to train others in the community. About 100 youth and women in the community also had the chance to use the computer and internet at the café.

For community members that have traditionally been involved in eco-tourism activities, the presence of the Ecolife Café provided more opportunities to offer services and interact with eco-tourists. About 30 households directly engaged in eco-tourism have so far been benefited by this development. In other instances, talented community members have contributed to the art scene in the café and earned income by playing musical instruments for art performers.

With the Ecolife Café concept successfully established in Giao Xian commune, the project team is optimistic that its pioneering effort would be multiplied in other coastal communities around the country.

While implementing the project, the researchers recognized the importance of forging partnerships in each field. Hence, the structure and roles were clearly defined early on. Vietnet-ICT focused on the technology aspects, while MCD attended to the eco-tourism and climate change-related aspects of the project; with Ecolife Ltd. looking at the business and sustainability angles.

The involvement of the ultimate beneficiaries, the local community, was also crucial in successfully designing and implementing the project. The participatory attributes of the Ecolife Café deepened the community’s sense of ownership in the initiative. One would note, for instance, how community members contributed some of their assets in decorating the coffee shop and in ensuring that the project’s requirements are met.

The project thus gave Vietnet-ICT and MCD a chance to practice and enhance their knowledge in community development, which was important in the conduct of community dialogues and general project implementation process.

Being a vital part of Giao Xian eco-tourism services, the Ecolife Café is regarded by the project as much dependent on the success of eco-tourism practices. Thus, the project saw the need for the café to be managed and coordinated by the local eco-tourism management board, which will define marketing activities in order to attract responsible eco-tourists to the area. Should the board’s plans to popularize Giao Xian as a local and foreign tourist destination materialize, the Ecolife Café will become an added attraction to tourists, which will in turn create more jobs and benefits to this local community that thrives on eco-tourism.

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The Ecolife Café is an idea, not just a coffee shop. By combining community-based eco-tourism and climate change adaptation via the café, the idea is expected to be applied in other coastal areas of Vietnam with conditions that are similar to Giao Xian. Lessons learned from this experience would be used in other places with flexibility and adaptability to local conditions. It is also expected that, in numerous cafes in big cities, the concept of Ecolife Café associated with responsible tourism could be promoted.

the Future


Vietnet Information Technology and Communication Center (VIETNET-ICT) with the Centre for Marine-Life Conservation and Community Development, and Ecolife

VIETNET-ICT is an NGO that focuses on addressing the digital divide in Vietnam by filling knowledge gaps, particularly among the rural population. It works on technology for development, ICT in microfinance, gender enhancement and women’s empowerment, media development support and ICT policy. For this project, Vietnet-ICT is working with two other organizations, the Centre for Marine-life Conservation and Community Development (MCD) and ECOLIFE.

Mailing Address: Suite 3104, Building 34THoang Dao Thuy Street, Cau Giay DistrictHa Noi City, Viet Nam


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Isda.mobi: Mobile Phones as Gateway to Fisheries-Related Information“Isda.mobi: A mobile phone interface for small-scale fisheries to access fisheries-related information,” a project of the World Fish Center, Philippine Office

Innovation Story 10

The World Fish Center is an international, non-profit NGO that works in partnership with a wide range of public and private sector institutions. Its mission is to reduce poverty and hunger by carrying out research-for-development initiatives to improve small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. The Center developed and maintains the FishBase - data repository. Information on ontrophic ecology, biology, life history, growth, distribution and occurrence of more than 31,000 fish species all over the world comprise the backbone of this database. FishBase also developed a number of fisheries management tools that can help small-scale fishers and fisheries managers use fisheries resources in a sustainable manner. With support from iBoP Asia, the Center, in partnership with the FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc. (FIN), a Philippine NGO, endeavored to make FishBase available through mobile phones.

Project Brief



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The project aimed to:■ Provide a community of subsistence fishermen in the Verde Island Passage access

to relevant information about fisheries management recorded in the World Fish Center-Maintained Information System - FishBase and SeaLifeBase - in formats required for mobile phones;

■ Improve and increase the content of species targeted by small-scale fishers in the Philippines (about 3,000 fishes are reported in the Philippines, with more than 400 found in the Verde Island Passage, and half of these targeted by small-scale fisheries);

■ Translate the mobile interface in local languages; ■ Validate the efficiency of mobile phones as gateway to FishBase and SeaLifeBase

data access; and■ Validate improvement in awareness and knowledge of fisheries issues through

the use of mobile phones.

the Process

In July 2009, the project was launched and the mobile interface tested in a local fishing community in Verde Island Passage in San Juan, Batangas, with nine fishermen and Bantay-Dagat members and two municipal officials participating. The 11 participants were given an introduction to FishBase and SealifeBase, a comprehensive lecture on age-at-maturity of various fish, and a discussion on the mechanics of using mobile phones for accessing FishBase information and reporting fish occurrences.

The 11 fisherfolk were given biological information, such as maximum size, age and length-at-maturity, spawning season for each species found in different localities,

countries, or water bodies. It is envisioned that access to crucial fishery-related information, particularly by the local officials of this community, would facilitate sound decision-making on policies related to fisheries. In the tests, the concept of fish size-at-maturity was used as a springboard to illustrate and instruct fish conservation and management methods to this pool of fisherfolk whose work also includes patrolling the sea for illegal fishing activities.

Taking pictures of fish found in the coastal waters using mobile phones was the primary activity undertaken by the fisherfolk that produced significant social impacts and valuable scientific data such as length and common name of each

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SeaLifeBase. Knowledge shared to the fisherfolk gave them a wider understanding of the social issues surrounding fishing policies and practices, such as the effects of catching juvenile fish. Improved self-esteem and increased self-confidence was observed among the participants as they became aware of the role they play in fisheries conservation and management. The project team termed this occurrence as “citizen science” where individual volunteers or networks of volunteers, many of whom may have no specific scientific training, perform or manage research-related tasks, such as observation, measurement or computation.

This project has indeed built tools for awareness and knowledge-sharing that benefited both recipients and researchers. Even more significant were the skills and training imparted upon the fisherfolk, which ultimately transformed their behavior towards the environment and empowered them to further the cause of resource conservation through citizen science.

One concrete contribution that resulted from the isda.mobi mobile phone interface is the monitoring and reporting of occurrence of species through pictures and log entries to FishBase. In addition, the fisherfolk contributed to enhancing the database by submitting photos and information on fish that they caught. The interface allowed them to upload the photos direct to FishBase. The information provided eventually became part of the information record that makes FishBase a useful resource to users and managers. This then becomes a definite exercise in biodiversity monitoring at the hands of the fisherfolk--the very same people who wield a constant relationship with fisheries resources and hold significant indigenous knowledge that remain untapped by the scientific community.

Moreover, this innovation extended the usefulness of the existing FishBase and

fish species. They sent these data to FishBase for verification and identification. The information generated include: a) 397 common names of fish; b) 419 fish pictures; and c) 31 new occurrence records in FishBase.




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Essentially, the framework of the interface was so designed such that translation to any language or dialect is straightforward. The mobile phone interface has already been translated to Tagalog, with translation to other local languages intended for completion in future versions.


The creation of the mobile phone interface provided the target users access to key information that are useful for fisheries-related issues in the community. The use of the mobile phone as a means to educate and empower those who lack training demonstrates that simple and common technology is enough for such technology-dependent endeavors.

Each common name of fish submitted by Bantay-Dagat members to FishBase represents traditional knowledge particular to the community. Through these common names that have been passed on from generations of sea-loving people, the project had a glimpse of the cultural identity of the fisherfolk. Such traditional knowledge strongly links with existing scientific data that can provide input to a comprehensive analysis of fisheries conservation and management issues in the community.

The project considers that the study’s greatest impact is probably embodied in the famous

quote by Lao Tzu: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” However, as with other things left unrestrained, teaching man how to fish is not without error. Man should be taught sustainable fishing practices and methods to ensure sufficient fish resources for the future. Thus, a modified version of the above quote by FishBase: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish sustainably and you feed him for a lifetime,” best embodies the Center’s ideals for this project and for the entire fishery resources.

The Bantay-Dagat members learned the essential concepts of fisheries conservation and management through the mobile phone. Conservation and management of resources may take up long campaigns to gain needed and necessary benefits, but the project views that if academics really want to achieve results, they should join the potential and significant force at the BoP, which holds the key to apply research such as this with their sheer number and commonality.

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wi-fi connection would be centered. This is a mitigation protocol to counter the costs involved in internet access through the mobile phone. This approach should be piloted in similar communities where the likelihood of success is high.

■ Create a Fish Watcher interface for the mobile phone to upload fish observations data directly to Fish Base. Fish Watcher is an online tool in Fish Base that allows users to directly upload their fish occurrence data. This is an option to contribute information to the global version of Fish Base where contributors are fully recognized and acknowledged. The Fish Watcher tool can be accessed online through the wi-fi center that will be established in the community.

Each picture sent by the Bantay-Dagat members to FishBase is equivalent to an occurrence record of a fish species in the area. Occurrence records are used to create a distribution map of species found in particular ecosystems. Such distribution maps are created in FishBase through a predictive tool called AquaMaps. By filling information gaps on species distribution ranges through AquaMaps, analyses of global issues (from ecosystem collapse to food security as a consequence of biodiversity loss and extinction) could elicit timely mitigating responses from all concerned sectors of society. AquaMaps is currently being developed to model the impacts of climate change on global species distributions and extending the approach to mapping species ranges in freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

The entire process of eliciting fish occurrence data submission from fisherfolk using a mobile phone can also be executed on a wider platform. On a nationwide scale, this project has the potential to remake the masterlist of fish species in the Philippines, originally published in 1953. This innovation fueled by local minds creates a unique response to conserve biodiversity.

The following recommendations outline the directions for future development of the project:

■ Establish a wi-fi center in the community to mitigate the cost of web access through the mobile phone. This would entail coordination with the local government unit where the

the Future



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■ Explore the utility of social networking media like Facebook and Twitter to access information in Fish Base, such as links that open Fish Base pages in the mobile phone embedded in FaceBook accounts, which could reduce the programming work needed to make Fish Base accessible in this platform. For Twitter accounts, a protocol for a request with a common name sent to a Fish Base account in Twitter triggers a response which asks the user to select one of several possible matching names, and then presents key information, such as length-at-maturity in a 140-character row. The Center’s successful Fish Forum and Fish Glossary could likewise be created on Twitter.

■ This project can be replicated in other communities with provisions for distant localities in different language interfaces.

■ Target users for the continuation of the project would primarily be the school youth who are more adept and in tune with modern technology.

■ More collaborative work and partnerships are needed, specifically with telephone networks and other NGOs that adhere to the objectives of this initiative.


WorldFish Center – Philippine Office

WorldFish is an international, non-profit and non-governmental organization working in partnership with a wide range of government and non-government agencies, and advanced research institutions worldwide. The Center’s mission is to reduce poverty and hunger by carrying out research-for-development to improve small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. With bases in 13 countries across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, WorldFish is one of the centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

Mailing Address: The World Fish Center – Philippine Officec/o IRRI, Khush Hall, CollegeLos Baños, Laguna, Philippines 4031

Contact number: +6349 536 2701 to 05 or +6349 536 0168 (Telephone)+6349 536 0202 (Fax)

www.worldfishcenter.org

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SnT in a BoxSnT in a Box“Basic SnT in a Box,” a project of the Computer Professionals’ Union, Philippines in developing a toolkit for Math and Science education

Innovation Story 11

Project Brief

communications technology (ICT) and its increasing impact in education are readily observed. Reference materials and teaching tools are likewise accessible on the internet, but many teachers, especially those who work in rural areas, continue to have limited computer and web access.

Noting the great lack in source materials for both public elementary and secondary school teachers and students, the Computer Professionals’ Union (CPU) developed the idea of creating teaching tools in BSM. CPU, with its active core group of ICT professionals, works to advocate, promote and advance “ICT for the people”, expounding on issues concerning ICT and its impact on the Filipino people. The SnT in a Box project was conceptualized to provide educators with new skills and tools in using computers for basic science and math instructions. Using Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS), CPU created a compilation of tools, including user manuals and sample instruction materials to aid BSM education. Relevant background research on

Many teachers in different parts of the Philippines face the challenge of lack of reference materials and facilities to create an interesting and current lesson plan for their students. The problem is especially serious in teaching science subjects and mathematics. A typical elementary or high school in rural areas does not have library facilities and necessary equipment for scientific learning. In the 2003 National Achievement Test, the average grade was 44% for elementary and 36% for secondary level. Students scored poorly in Science and Math. In the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, the Philippines ranked 41st out of 45 countries in Mathematics. Many studies on the Basic Science and Mathematics (BSM) performance of Filipino students also showed poor results. The University of the Philippines-National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (UP-NISMED) concluded that a large number of students could not apply BSM concepts in real life.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, developments in information and



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FOSS tools usage in education were also compiled. While the tool kit can already be used in ordinary computers even without internet connection, an online portal, http://www.opensciencebox.org, was also developed to deliver updated content to educators.

The toolkit was not intended to replace actual experiments to introduce concepts. On the contrary, it would allow students to understand basic concepts beyond the laboratory restrictions using FOSS tools in a computer. Its usefulness is extended by the following:

■ The online portal, where online updates and contents are provided;

■ User manuals and learning guides that serve as self-help references for BSM educators, particularly on how the toolkit can be used;

■ Documentation of software tools from various FOSS projects that can be applied to basic science concepts. The use of free and open-source software lowers the technology costs in enabling computer-aided instructions; and

■ Workshops about trends in science and mathematics teaching, pilot school implementation, and trainers’ training on the toolkit.

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expressed keen interest in using the SnT in a Box toolkit. Several teachers were already finding ways to include the use of the toolkits in their lesson plans.

■ The collaboration with IBON Partnership in Education for Development (IPED), which facilitated the event entitled Trends and Developments in Science and Mathematics Workshop, was regarded as an important opportunity that surfaced good practices and effective teaching methods that could be replicated in the education sector. It facilitated learning among teachers and ICT professionals on new and appropriate tools and methods in BSM instruction. It was also deemed that an annual workshop is necessary to share best practices on the field.

■ A community of educators and ICT professionals who are willing to help BSM educators by actively working on the creation of apt and effective teaching methods and

In developing SnT in a Box, CPU held a series of consultations with public school teachers and ICT professionals from different parts of Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog. The consultations surfaced the need for supplementary tools for BSM. Hence, in the course of the project, the team was able to get the support of other groups’ initiatives such as the GILAS project of the Ayala Foundation which provided the much needed computer hardware to run the SnT in a Box toolkit.

In December 2009, after about three months of product development, the SnT in a Box toolkit was officially launched at the Ateneo de Manila University. An initial release of the toolkit was distributed a month after during the annual Software Freedom Day celebration of free and open-source software (FOSS) enthusiasts.

The project succeeded in compiling FOSS applications and open learning content that can aid the teaching of math and basic sciences in elementary and secondary public schools. The offline-accessible toolkit can help illustrate scientific concepts, especially to schools that have no access to laboratories and high-end facilities.

In implementing the project, CPU noted that: ■ Primary and secondary level public school

teachers of science and mathematics subjects who participated in the project’s activities




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materials was formed through the project. CPU plans to maintain connectivity with this consultative network in order to continuously engage its members in enhancing the tools for BSM instruction.

■ The introduction of FOSS tools through SnT in a Box toolkit generated requests for consultations from a number of schools on how to maximize computer laboratories with proprietary software.

■ A review of existing initiatives of various government agencies on BSM education showed that government efforts and CPU efforts in toolkit development can be integrated.

In a number of public presentations of the project, new doors were opened for the CPU to sustain the initiative such as: a) the integration of the Basic SnT in a Box tool kit with GILAS-deployed computer laboratories, thus providing additional content; b) networking with student

and professional organizations that assured delivery of needed hardware and content for the toolkit; c) Green Grants Funds of the Earth Island Institute, which committed to help out in enhancing the biology and environmental science component of the current toolkit; and d) an expression of support from the Open Society Institute’s Open Resources Education project.

The toolkit developed under this project has shown the potential to help demonstrate scientific concepts to public elementary and secondary schools that have no access to laboratories and other facilities. Its content was enriched by the inputs of educators and ICT professionals who participated in the activities of the project. Their participation is crucial in the development of the final SnT in a Box product.

While the existence of an active community of educators and the integration of technological innovations in basic education may not be the cure-all solution to the current state of science and mathematics education, it could definitely act as catalyst to the needed reforms in the education system.

Venues where educators and ICT professionals can interact to enhance the state of science and mathematics education in the country should be supported. A dynamic interaction resulting in new methods of teaching science and mathematics

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while integrating the promotion of scientific culture and the maximization of available resources will play a vital role towards the improvement of the existing state of basic science and mathematics education.

Building on the gains of the project, CPU plans to develop a Version 2.0 of the SnT in a Box toolkit by reconvening the consultative network of primary and secondary level public school teachers to update themselves on the trends in math and science education. Their assessment will be utilized as basis for the necessary updates in the pool of resources and applications compiled as well as for the web portal development which serves as the online community of the network. CPU is aiming to conduct a national consultation of public educators for this purpose. Once the second version is completed, seminars to train public school teachers will be held on the use of SnT in a Box and its content.

the Future


Computer Professionals’ Union

CP-UNION is a non-stock, non-profit organization established in 2001. It has an active core group of information and communications technology (ICT) professionals committed to advocate, promote and advance “ICT for the people” – expounding on issues concerning ICT and its impact on the Filipino people, and ways to respond to the specific ICT needs of basic and allied sectors in the Philippines.

Mailing Address: 26 Matulungin Street, Brgy. CentralDiliman, Quezon City, Philippines


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Project Brief

“Bale-Endah E-Multiple Handicapped System (BEMHaS),” a project of the School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia)

The Bhakti Mitra Utama Centre in Bale Endah and Cisarua Village in Bandung, Indonesia is one of the few rural schools and dormitories in the country that cater to multiple handicapped students who are mostly mentally retarded and have additional mental or physical disabilities. It is run by the Yayasan Bhakti Mitra Utama (YBMU) Foundation. Some students with the Centre cannot read, and others articulate themselves via sign language, while others slowly but steadily advance at their own individual pace through elementary classes.

To help improve the services of the Centre, the School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) identified the opportunity to use information technology as an enabler and to offer to the students an individualized approach to learning. The Institute also saw this as a venue to further develop an integrated monitoring and supervision tool for the social workers, staff, and management of

the Centre. This was the moment when the idea for EMHaS, the E-Multiple Handicapped System, was born.

EMHaS is envisioned as an innovative integrated information system that would use collaborative information technology where people with multiple disabilities could enjoy the benefit of using the information system to support their daily activities, education, health, vocational training and rehabilitation. It would also support teachers, social workers, doctors, administration and management in monitoring and supervising the progress of students. The development of the EMHaS would also provide a platform for student-centric e-learning in the future. The development of its prototype, called Bale-Endah Multiple Handicapped System or BEMHaS, was the focus of this project.

Students with Multiple Disabilities Enjoying e-Learning

Innovation Story 12

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During project implementation, prototypes of the MHP interface devices and BEMHaS information system were built. The relevant modules were also implemented and tested in the two communities. Training on how to use the BEMHaS was undertaken with the social workers, teachers and other school staff. The physical EMHaS infrastructure, consisting of network servers, access points and computers in three locations between Bale Endah, Cisarua and YBMU office was also set up.

The project started with a literature review to understand the existing conditions for multiple handicapped people and integrated learning and monitoring software for them. It was realized that no such software and systems exist. Hence, the ITB team literally started from scratch in developing the system.

Field surveys and observations were undertaken in the communities of Bale Endah and Cisarua to fully understand the daily activities that take place and what could be done to enable multiple handicapped persons (MHPs) to process better information. A seminar organized by the team identified the roles of the staff dormitory, the Foundation, and the school. They were also introduced to the potential uses of EMHaS to aid them in their particular responsibilities. Surveys on the manual information system and manual equipment typically used by the disabled persons and staff were also conducted.

The inputs from the research formed the basis for developing the EMHaS logical model which consists of seven integrated modules covering registration, dormitory, education, school, workshop, rehabilitation and the reports. It combines all aspects of the daily life of the MHPs in Bale Endah, their types of disability, medical and health activities, the school, dormitory and workshop activities, and the management aspects.

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Based on the field tests conducted under this project, the BEMHaS prototype proved that the system can provide a new atmosphere for multiple handicapped schools, dormitories, and rehabilitation entities to work under the e-digital environment. Social workers and teachers were able to use computer-assisted devices and software-aided teaching that could bring modern learning experience to the students.

It enabled every stakeholder to see for himself/herself the benefits of the system.

The technological challenge thus lied in the development of a software system which had no benchmark given that no such system was yet in existence. This challenge was addressed with modern software project management and detailed modelling and prototyping. The other technical challenge was the set up of the physical infrastructure in a rural area. The increase of internet connectivity via landline or wireless data networks nonetheless made this challenge less daunting in the last years as mobile phone operators and telecommunication companies had increased their reach.



Among the challenges encountered were the difficulties in communicating with MHPs in the two communities and in determining what type of technology suits each disability. The researchers thus enlisted the support of the teachers and social workers and also used immersion and observation techniques to understand comprehensively the daily activities of the multiple handicapped people in the school, dormitories and workshops. A detailed list of the individual’s disabilities, likes, dislikes, habits and educational level was drawn up to deeply understand the requirements of the system. Although this approach added to the complexity of the system, it was deemed necessary to be able to develop a system that can accommodate multiple handicaps.

The complexity of the system was further increased by the number of different stakeholders -- students and representatives of the school, dormitory, workshop, social work, administration and management -- having different needs and expectations from the system. In this project, user acceptance was a major challenge. The ITB team was able to hurdle this issue by using an integrated participatory approach.

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One goal of the Activities of the Daily Life (ADL) module, for instance, was to improve the low capacity of some MHPs to memorize their daily schedule. Together with the social workers and the handicapped person, a process was created in which BEMHaS would signal on the screen when lunch time has come. After acknowledging the task at hand in the system, the next entry would be performed after the first task is completed. For each successfully completed task, points would be accredited and rewards given. This Game Reward System was noted to stimulate improvements in the level and progress of MHPs.

From the perspective of the school administration, the shift from a manual to an integrated manual system would definitely enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the institution and enable it to increase the number of its students. More importantly, the BEMHaS approach of supporting the daily activities and learning in an individual and non-uniform way would enhance the learning experience of each student taking into account their respective unique abilities.



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With the completion of the prototype phase, ITB looks forward to consolidating all the learning in the development of a fully-integrated EMHaS system that would enable support and monitoring of MHPs and the institutions that look after them. It will also disseminate the results of the research to other MHP organizations in the country or even in other countries in the region, with the vision that standardized procedures and evaluation mechanisms can be developed through cooperation among foundations similar to YBMU.

Lessons Learned

the Future

ICT can serve as an enabler not only in business but also in learning and rehabilitation. It can also lead to the integration of MHPs to the mainstream of society as proclaimed under the Declaration of Rights of the Disabled Persons. It also enables the connectivity to special hardware devices that open new learning opportunities for this special group of students.

The basis of this project was the identification of ICT as an enabler for the specific set of problems of the multiple disabled people. The challenges were significantly overcome through participatory approach involving all stakeholders, especially the MHPs, their teachers, and social workers.


Institut Teknologi Bandung - School of Electrical Engineering and Informatic

The School of Electrical Engineering and Informatic, officially established on January 1, 2006, is a merger of the Electrical Engineering Department and the Informatics Department of ITB. The School offers a bachelor of engineering program on Electrical Engineering and Informatics (Sarjana Teknik S1), Sarjana in Electrical Engineering and Sarjana in Informatics, and aims to become a institution of higher learning that develops competitive and outstanding electrical engineering and informatics students in Indonesia.

Mailing Address: School of Electrical Engineering and Informatic, Institut Teknologi BandungLabtek V Building floor 2, Database LaboratoryJln. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Jawa Barat Indonesia


http://www.itb.ac.id/en/

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Understanding BoP Household Financial Management“Payment Strategies for those with irregular income at the BoP,” a research project of the Emerging Futures Lab (Singapore)

Innovation Story 13

Project Brief ■ How do you manage your daily household expenses (when you cannot plan or predict)?

■ What do you do when there is an emergency, such as sickness, injury, death in the family or natural disaster?

■ How do you plan for major expenses (that are known or expected like wedding, education, building a house or funeral)?

■ Do you notice any pattern in your income flow over the course of the year (seasonality)?

One challenge faced by BoP ventures is the lack of knowledge about their intended target audience from the viewpoint of business development. Considering what little is known about the BoP’s consumer behavior, purchasing patterns and decision-making tend to assume that there are no primary differences between mainstream consumers and the BoP, except for the amount of their income, often pegged at USD 2-5 a day.

On the ground, most people at the BoP survive on incomes from varied sources rather than from a predictable salary through a regular job. They have little or no access to conventional financial tools such as credit cards, bank accounts, loans and mortgages.

This research project is the first step towards an increased understanding of the consumer behavior of those at the BoP. It focuses on rural populations on the premise that over 60% of the world’s BoP live in rural areas. Families and individuals in rural Philippines, India and Malawi were asked the following questions:



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The interviews results and researchers’ observations generated the following insights, including their relevance to businesses seeking to enter the rural BoP markets: ■ Cash held are rapidly converted into tangible

assets, such as goods or livestock; any wealth is subsequently stored in this form;

■ Cashless transactions through simple or sophisticated mechanisms are ably conducted;

■ Shared or cooperative financial tools exist, such as investments, loans, purchases and savings;

■ People use multiple resources that are allocated by cost and usage; and

■ Cash flow management is influenced by their knowledge and experience of seasonal ebb and flow of income.

Research Findings

The irregularity of cash flow or income over time in the households studied can be said to be a combination of the known and the unknown (from the unpredictable such as a natural disaster to the simply random such as not knowing how many customers will make a purchase on any given day).

For example, in rural areas of the Philippines, the months of January to around April or May are considered the summer or dry season. Unless a farm is very lucky to have access to sufficient water for growing rice regardless of rain, farmers ordinarily can only start planting when the rains arrive and are dependent on them for their second harvest. Hence, the tiny sari-sari (community) stores supplying their daily essentials consider this time a lean period.

Whatever the reasons, when evaluating the purchasing power of those who manage with irregular and unpredictable income, the first question to ask is whether there are any known patterns of ebb and flow in their incomes. It is the unknown component that creates the volatility that those on irregular income streams must deal with in order to manage their household expenses. The behavior observed shows that each household managed what could be called a “portfolio of investments” that acted as deposits maturing over time. They either maintain multiple sources of income simultaneously since available cash was often converted into these investments

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scarcity over the course of a natural year. Identification of a particular region or market’s local pattern of seasonality would benefit the design of payment schedules, timing of entry or launch of new product and service.

■ Relative lack of liquidity. Majority of the rural households observed tended to store wealth in the form of goods, livestock or natural resources, relying on a variety of cashless transactions within the community for a number of needs. Conventional business development strategies need to take this into account as these patterns of behavior may affect the purchasing power.

■ Increasing the customers’ span of control over the timing, frequency and amount of cash required. The availability and amount of cash cannot be predicted on a definite point in time. This simplification is best reflected by the success of the prepaid mobile phone subscriptions in these same markets. When some cash is available, it is to purchase airtime minutes for text or voice calls; when there is no money, the phone can still receive incoming calls. Models that impose an external schedule of periodicity, frequency and amount of cash required may not always match the volatile cash flow particular to each household’s sources of income.

■ A suggested conceptual model of community-based payment strategy for shared resources based on the observations made in the field: “Pay

(spreading the risk of any one source failing, when needed), or store their wealth accordingly. Maximizing available resources based on their cost and intended usage, along with the tendency towards minimizing the need for cash-based transactions, worked together to regulate the volatility of the household‘s income. The “portfolio management” approach to household expenses implies the manipulation of their span of control over elements of time, such as frequency and currency, in order to decrease the volatility of their cash flow, improve their ability to plan, and decrease the variance between expenses and income.

Overall, the particular characteristic that stood out during conversations with the rural populace in India and the Philippines was their undeniable pride in their degree of self-reliance and their level of independence from the formal or cash-based economy.

Conventional business development methods include the use of market research to evaluate the disposable income or purchasing power of the target audience. When considering rural BoP households, these tools may not supply any meaningful data, thus skewing the perceived income levels or earnings of those studied.

From the observations made in the field, the following are highlighted as key implications for designing innovative business models and payment strategies for rural BoP:

■ Seasonality. With the exception of the salaried, everyone else in the sample pool was able to identify times of abundance and



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when you can.” The key factor that makes the “prepaid” transaction model so successful among the BoP is the fact that the decision-making is in the hands of the individual. This model gives the end-user significant control over time--frequency, periodicity, and money fits in with their need to manage with a great degree of flexibility their varying cash flow from multiple income sources.

It was also observed that social capital (i.e., community ties and extended networks) plays a significant role in the success of existing informal yet traditional means of borrowing, lending, and sharingwealth and expenses.

The project researchers proposed a conceptual model by which a community could pay for a shared resource or asset that contains elements that resonate with all of the above values. The incentive is the tangible evidence provided by the asset and this factor resonates with observed behavior where savings in the form of stored wealth or tangible goods act as a visible metric of progress (“I have the walls and doors of my house and need only the roof now”). The timing and sharing of payments over the duration of the purchase timeline become decisions that are reached with the participation of the community members, many of whom may already be part of existing informal savings schemes or lending circles.

The proposed model goes through the following steps:

■ Participatory community planning. Respected members of the community would be invited to participate in a group meeting to identify the “purchase,” its estimated cost (to the community), who will be responsible for sharing the cost, and how much will be their shared cost. For example, in one area, residents discussed how water meters would


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This proposed payment structure will act as a reminder of the obligation over the payment plan period, a reason for the participating community members to gather together regularly and build upon existing frameworks of trust and social capital, and an opportunity when they come and pay extra against their total if funds are available at that time.

be paid following the installation of municipal water supply in their compounds.

■ Duration of payment plan and its timing. The next key decision that the community needs to take is the payment plan period. This takes into account the spread of income sources in the community or the members who chose to participate, as a great majority of these sources “mature” over different times. For instance, rice harvest takes three months while rearing a carabao that will be sold may take a year. Another critical consideration is the local seasonality when choosing at which point over the course of the year to plan for such a major expense in order to maximize the successful repayment of the entire amount. In the rice growing region in Iloilo, January through April are the dry months. when incomes across the board. Income across the board (regardless of whether the individual is a farmer or not) are much lower than during the wet or planting and growing season.

■ Flexibility in payment. This is the core of the proposed payment plan. Members can deposit varying amounts as and when they have it available towards the total amount that they are responsible for paying. However, it is recommended that a token amount is made compulsorily due every week.



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In May 2009, a year-long basic and applied research project was initiated by the Finnish Forest Cluster called Radical Market Innovations, the largest component of which is the documentation of BoP consumer practices observed in the field using design ethnography. It was conducted in Brazil, India, Russia and Tanzania by a team of 9 doctoral researchers at the Helsinki School of Economics. Emerging Futures Lab was responsible for the research protocol development, research design, and planning of the multi-location fieldwork for the entire team. The experience gained from conducting this pioneering iBoP Asia Project was critical in ensuring the success of this responsibility.

The author is now involved in supporting the business model development efforts of a mobile information services prototype being tested in selected townships in South Africa by a stealth start-up venture based in Otaniemi, Finland’s “silicon valley.” Plans are also in place to begin urban research among the user community.

the Future


Emerging Futures Lab

Emerging Futures Lab is a multidisciplinary team that aims to increase understanding of the people at the base of the pyramid across the developing world in order to improve the success rate of new ventures, products and services that are intended to serve this market in a holistically beneficial manner. They focus on emerging BoP consumer markets, and are working to provide them with the most meaningful, relevant, and culture-specific products and services to enhance and improve lives at the BoP.

Mailing Address: Block 3014, Ubi Road 1, #02-296Singapore 408702

Contact number: +656 400 7366 or +656 743 8210 (Telephone)

www.emergingfutureslab.com

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Business Development Services for the Enterprising BoPBusiness Development Services for the Enterprising BoP“Business Development Services for the Enterprising BoP,” a project of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)

Innovation Story 14

Project Brief

Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) prepared this casebook project to inquire and document how its ongoing Business Advisory Program (BAP) addresses the need for business development and technical assistance of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) and the enterprising BoP. It also explored innovative approaches on how BAP can be delivered sustainably, and making its services accessible and affordable to enterprising BoP that have the potential to grow and become competitive. By improving business performance and competitiveness, small and micro-enterprises will be able to generate jobs and increase the income of their workers and the households dependent on them.



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PBSP’s casebook project consisted of a review of BoP literature and PBSP-BAP documents. The researchers then proceeded with the conduct of interviews and focus group discussions with the clients, volunteer advisers, and PBSP-BAP staff. They also observed the operations of the enterprises.

The cases developed were pre-selected by PBSP based on the criteria that the cases are representative of the clients served from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao; and that they show variation in the nature of business advisory assignment, industry sector, type of enterprise, and the extent of outcome of the business. These criteria were set to demonstrate representativeness, as well as viability across regions and opportunities for engaging the BoP.

the Process From the cases, PBSP assessed that the program was generally successful, with the following identified as hindering factors:

The proposed model goes through the following steps:

■ Limited time of advisers. The entrepreneurs all agreed that the technical assistance would have created more impact in the enterprise if the Volunteer Advisers (VA) were able to share more time with them. Since they were also holding full-time jobs, the volunteers could only devote so much time.

■ Recommendation of some VAs do not seem to work. In one of the cases, the recommendations were not followed because they appeared too sophisticated, and too costly, for the size of the enterprise. In that case, PBSP-BAP listened and relented. In other cases, the reluctance to engage in new practices appeared to result largely from the conservativeness of decision-makers in the enterprises.

Some of the enterprises studied began as “social causes” in that they were put up mainly to help a particular sector such as persons with disability, women and the environment, and rice farmers to help improve the quality of life of members through an economic activity.49 On the other hand, the rest began mainly as for-profit enterprises.50

Risks, Barriers, and Problems

49 NFCPWD, AMCHA MPC, KATAKUS, DOCHSEI, MANCOR.

50 Bulacan GTH cluster members, Lailen’s pastries, Tienda Boholana, and Capiz Shells.

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If social cause and profit orientation were seen as opposite ends of a scale, the study observed that as they progressed toward their vision and goals, the enterprises took more notice of one end: the social causes became more concerned about their profitability and sustainability, while the for-profit enterprises became more aware of the contribution they could make to the poor in their communities. In pursing their original orientation, they moved toward the other end of the scale as well. This observation strongly suggests that MSMEs can indeed become potent tools for creating local wealth. This should not be lost on those who wish to help both the MSMEs and the BoP. Profit can be a social good. At the same time, a social cause can be a viable source of income.


Improving performance based on needs and refined by diagnostic assessments, the enterprises in the areas covered achieved their objectives to a great extent. Lailen’s improved its plant, redefined its process flow, lengthened the shelf life of its products, and improved its compensation scheme. MANCOR increased its outlets, sales, and accessed loans. DOCHSEI improved its plant layout, mechanized its operations, and improved its organizational structure. GTH increased its visibility and sales by coming up with new designs and exploring new markets. Tienda Boholana developed new products and increased its visibility to new markets. NFCWPD and AMCHA-MCPC were able to sustain their contracts by improving their organizational and financial systems and tapping government agencies. Capiz Shell continues to improve its plant operations. Finally, KATAKUS is on its way to making its social vision sustainable by improving its business operations. In sum, these are increased production, increased sales and income, improved products, tapped new markets, generated employment opportunities, and accessed funding.

As a strategy for poverty alleviation and helping the enterprising BoP, the program showed promising results. An evaluation conducted in March 2008 revealed that at least 90 enterprises, including 45 owned and managed by women and 20 rural enterprises, achieved significant outcomes from business advice, including new jobs generated or sustained, improved production efficiency, and increased sales and profits.



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What facilitated the success of the PBSP-BAP? The cases point to the following:

■ The program scheme. The entrepreneurs mentioned that a major factor that contributed to their success was the PBSP-BAP itself. It is needs-based, customized according to the needs and unique characteristics of the enterprise, made use of local experts, and was provided only after thorough diagnosis of the business needs.

■ The interest, sincerity and empathy of the Volunteer Advisers. The enterprises agreed that one facilitating factor was the interest, commitment and empathy of the VAs. They were motivated to adopt recommendations because they sincerely believed that their VAs took their interest to heart.

■ Their own openness to advice. The cases demonstrate that the entrepreneurs listened to the advice of the VAs and, in most cases, implemented them. There were exceptions when the recommendations were not feasible due to specific limitations, such as financial constraints, perceived sophistication of technological innovations, and reluctance of decision-makers in the enterprise. In other cases, the recommendations were followed because they were found feasible and within their means to implement. Listening to advice enabled them to engage in dialogue and collaboration within and outside their organization, with their peers and others in their sector, and the larger community. It also motivated them to increase their research.

■ Results-oriented business advice. Advice was followed because it led to demonstrable results - improved marketing, access to market, product visibility, longer product shelf-life, access to funds, improved physical layout, more motivated and efficient workers, lowered production costs, and, in general, increased sales and profitability.

Lessons Learned

the Future

■ Affordability of the assistance. The entrepreneurs commented that through the program, they were able to get valuable assistance from recognized practitioners and experts at the least cost.

■ After-care service. BAP was able to provide this because PBSP itself is a local organization with expertise, organizational system, financial means, pool of resource persons, and network of corporations that could be tapped for the program. The concern that the VAs demonstrated for the success of the enterprise also enabled it to provide after-care services. While the VAs are just volunteers, it is precisely because of this arrangement that the BAP was able to recruit the best and most motivated to be part of the program.

With the successful publication and launch of the casebook entitled “Nurturing the Enterprising BoP” in July 2009 and a video documentary of some of the enterprises featured in the book, PBSP planned to share the project output to the Department of Trade and Industry, national and provincial offices, industry or sector associations, local chambers, business sector, financial institutions, NGOs, and other interested parties so that more micro and small enterprises and organizations supporting the development of MSMEs will become aware of PBSP’s business advisory program.

Based on the lessons and insights surfaced by this study, PBSP will work to improve the program implementation and delivery of its services. The dissemination of the outputs will help in raising awareness among entrepreneurs of the value and importance of business advisory services, and hopefully encourage them to avail of the services. Ultimately, PBSP anticipates positive impact at the enterprise and household levels.

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IN SOUTHEAST ASIA


Philippine Business for Social Progress

PBSP is a private and non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting business sector commitment to social development by leading the advocacy on and the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship. For more than three decades, PBSP has been the Philippine business sector’s vehicle in delivering organized, professional and sustainable assistance to the Filipino poor, particularly the landless farmers, fisherfolk, rural workers, urban poor and indigenous communities.

Mailing Address: PSDC Building, Magallanes cor. Real Streets, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines 1002

Contact number: +632 527 7741 to 48 (Telephone)+632 527 3743 (Fax)

www.pbsp.org.ph

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Primary power consumption

today is mostly fossil-fueled.

Though it yields to high efficiency,

productivity and product value,

our continued dependence on

oil, coal and gas has produced

negative socio-economic and

environmental impacts.

For many BoP communities, the continuing

surge in the price of oil and gas has

affected their ways of traveling, producing

agricultural crops, and general household

living. In a larger context, emissions from

fossil fuels have raised concerns about their

adverse effects on health, air quality and

global climate conditions.

These have prompted the well-known

call from the UN Framework Convention

on Climate Change (UNFCC) to stabilize

greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations at

levels that avoid dangerous interference

51 Hofert, et. al. (2002). Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet. Science Compass Review. Vol.

292, p.981-987.

with the climate system. In addition to reducing end-

use energy demand, stabilizing GHG requires the

development of primary energy sources -- terrestrial

solar and wind energy, solar power satellites, biomass,

nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, fission-fusion hybrids

and the like -- that do not emit carbon dioxide to the

atmosphere; as well as revolutionary changes in the

technology of energy production, distribution, storage,

and conversion.51

Innovation in Energy

Chapter 4



52 Ibid.

One broad range of technology options that have been identified to potentially allow both

climate stabilization and economic development includes renewable energy technologies –

biomass, solar thermal and photovoltaic, wind power, hydropower, ocean thermal, geothermal,

and tidal.52 This part narrates the experience of our grant partners in innovating for the poor in

the field of energy, specifically in the study of waste-to-fuel initiatives, biofuels and renewable

energy from the wind and sun.

Two of our grant partners from the Philippines experimented on the conversion of certain wastes

into affordable fuels. Don Bosco Technical College’s Center for Research and Training looks at

the potential of waste cooking oil to run jeepneys, a common public transport vehicle in the

country. The story of Ecological and Agricultural Development (Eco-Agri) Foundation, on the

other hand, shows how it developed a biogas system using agricultural wastes that can produce

enough fuel for household cooking and supply fertilizer for organic farming.

Two grant partners, Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and SETARA Foundation, examined the

local development of biofuels and their potential impacts on the rural poor, particularly small

farmers and farm workers. Both studies employed value chain analysis to assess the role of the

rural poor in the chain, the impacts of the chain on their livelihood, and the interventions that

are necessary to maximize benefits for poor communities.

Finally, testing the viability of renewable energy from the sun and the wind was the focus of

both the Universitas Indonesia’s Department of Electrical Engineering and the Tri-People

Concern for Peace, Progress, and Development of Mindanao (TRICOM), as they respectively

developed a solar-powered hatchery machine for small farmers and poultry owners in a small

village in Lampung province in Indonesia, and stackable small-sized vertical axis wind turbines for

generating electricity for indigenous peoples living in the mountains of Sultan Kudarat province

in Southern Mindanao.

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Waste Cooking Oil as Jeepney Fuel“Waste Cooking Oil as Jeepney Fuel: Technology Evaluation, Adoption, and Business Development”, a project of the Center for Research and Training, Don Bosco Technical College (Philippines)

Innovation Story 15

Jeepney drivers constitute one of the lower income groups in the country. On the average, they earn a daily income at or near the minimum wage level, a fraction of which they still have to turn over to the jeepney owners at the end of the day to cover boundary cost (daily lease or rent for the jeepeney). and fuel cost, which has risen dramatically over the past 2 years. Along the rise in oil prices came a gush of alternative vehicle technologies that offer to alleviate the impacts of rising prices on vulnerable groups.

Don Bosco’s Center for Research and Training saw a need for an independent body to evaluate these technologies in order to help drivers and operators make informed choices, Also, this is to cover for the fuel cost, which has risen dramatically over the past 2 years. The use of waste cooking oil as jeepney fuel seemed promising both in terms of lowering fuel costs and minimizing certain emissions from transport vehicles. Through iBoP Asia, Don Bosco tested if waste cooking oil was a viable alternative fuel for jeepneys.

Project Brief

the Process



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hapter Four: Energy Innovation Stories

the Process

Most cooking oil in the Philippines are made from vegetable oil, and the fact that such oils could be used as alternatives to petroleum diesel is well known. One problem with vegetable oil is its viscosity or “thickness” but this is usually solved by pre-heating the oil or by blending it with petroleum diesel. It can also be turned into biodiesel through a chemical process called transesterification. Waste cooking oil collected from users has to be processed before it becomes suitable as transport fuel.

Don Bosco decided to evaluate five different formulations: a) 100% waste oil with pre-heating; b) 10% waste oil blended with 90% petroleum diesel; c) 20% waste oil blended with 80% diesel; d) 10% waste oil processed into biodiesel and blended with 90% diesel; and e) 20% waste oil biodiesel blended with 80% diesel. The research team examined the fuels in the laboratory to see how they performed individually under controlled conditions, and also did a life cycle assessment of the fuels to determine if they had positive net energy benefits. An actual field test would be the ultimate challenge, not only in terms of road performance but on how jeepney drivers would take it.

The team also had to devise a way for the product to be commercially available on a sustained basis, preferably with jeepney drivers being able to benefit from the production and sale of waste cooking oil fuel.

The success of the pilot field test depended on finding people who were willing to participate in the project and cooperate with the research team. This involved not only jeepney drivers but the local government unit (LGU) of Los Baños, where the pilot test was conducted. The LGU provided an enabling environment for the project. A memorandum was issued banning the resale of waste cooking in public markets, and channeled supply to the local jeepney cooperative (SNODLOB) that was trained to process waste cooking oil into fuel. The project was also able to partner with local fastfood chain outlets (Jollibee and Chowking) for greater waste cooking oil supply, and technology providers that supplied the fuel pre-heating equipment and the biodiesel processed from waste oil.

Engine bench test results showed that the different fuel formulations did not vary very much at low engine revolutions per minute (rpm), but differences

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Actual field tests showed that switching from regular diesel to any of the alternative waste cooking oil formulations led to initial problems in terms of engine performance -- loss of power, overheating, and increased engine vibrations. These problems were traced to lapses in filtering the waste oil, and to improper calibration of the engines. It was also discovered that sediments formed in the fuel tank and that deposits formed in the engine. To address these issues, as agreed upon by the study team and the drivers, the drivers switched between waste oil blends and pure diesel at specified intervals (using two fuel tanks), which allowed the engine to flush out deposits. Replacing the engine’s oil and fuel filters more frequently were also found to improve overall engine performance. According to the Center’s Director, Dr. Manuel Biona, the drivers and jeepney cooperative preferred the 50% waste oil and diesel blend, which they put on an extended test with 40 members of the cooperative.

in performance were revealed when the engine was pushed past the 1500 rpm mark. The best performing formulation based on the test results was the 20% waste oil blend, with over 2% improvement in power output compared to pure petroleum diesel. The worst performer was the 100% waste oil fuel with pre-heating. In terms of fuel consumption, pure waste oil fuel had the highest consumption particularly at higher rpm, with the 10% waste oil blend coming in second. In terms of kilometers per liter traveled, pure waste oil fuel had the lowest average score and the 10% waste oil biodiesel blend with petroleum diesel had the highest.

The life cycle assessment was limited to total energy and fossil energy depletion impacts for upstream (representing resource extraction and processing) and in-use phases. The levels of total energy consumed were close for all fuel formulations. The pure waste oil and 10% waste oil biodiesel blend fuel had the lowest total energy consumed. In terms of fossil energy consumed, the best was the pure waste oil because it underwent the least processing among all the alternatives. In terms of emissions, all the waste cooking oil based formulations exhibited lower exhaust smoke opacity compared to pure diesel. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) for all formulations, however, increased. Nevertheless, different studies on NOx have shown varying results and seem to depend on test conditions.



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■ Supply. Even if waste cooking oil is a viable transport fuel, particularly for older, non-direct injection engines, there is not enough used oil that can be turned into fuel for all jeepneys. There can only be a specialty market for this fuel, mostly in highly urbanized areas where restaurants and other large users of cooking oil can be found. Nonetheless, even with a limited market for the fuel, its use can have significant impacts on livelihood, health and the environment.

■ Technical Issues. All the formulations tested encountered common problems in terms of engine overheating and loss of power because of inefficient filtration systems and incorrect injection system calibration. In addition, the 100% waste cooking oil fuel and the waste oil blended with petroleum diesel resulted in periodic increase in emissions. The research team had to work closely with each driver to resolve these issues and, extended the testing period to gain the drivers’ full confidence in using the waste oil fuel intermittently with biodiesel (currently at a 2% blend with coco-biodiesel).

■ Social acceptability issues. The jeepney drivers were at first reluctant to go through the experiment, which was understandable because the jeepney is their main source of livelihood and any down time that the fuels might cause would be a significant loss. The research team had to assure the drivers that the project would cover for any loss of income in addition to fixing any

engine problems that may arise because of the use of waste cooking oil fuel. The project also offered to cover the cost of the calibration of the engines.

■ Waste cooking oil sourcing. To ensure a regular supply of waste cooking oil, the research team had to partner with local outlets of Jollibee and Chowking in Los Baños, and got them to sell their waste oil to the project at a price lower than the market rate. Meanwhile, the municipal government of Los Baños issued Ordinance No. 2009-873 banning the re-sale of waste cooking oil in local public markets and mandating a local oil collection center to manage waste oil collection for processing into transport fuel.

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fuel cost. Furthermore, the processing of the oil into fuel and its sale by drivers’ cooperatives mean additional incomes and increased capacities for the drivers.

In order for this innovation to have greater impact, the Don Bosco team believes that the government should set standards for the use of waste cooking oil as transport fuel, and that these standards should be sufficiently high to encourage commercial processing. These standards, however, need not adhere to the high fuel standards of advanced countries so that used oil fuel processing can also become a viable enterprise for BoP groups who have neither the technical skills nor the financial resources to meet such standards.

The drivers gradually became convinced that waste cooking oil could offer them significant savings in fuel costs. They also saw the advantage of being able to process and supply some of their own fuel. Even the local government was convinced that transport fuel was the best use for waste oil, such that it passed a local ordinance to support the effort.

The limited freedom of the poor to adopt certain innovations should be recognized, especially when it entails adjustments that would affect livelihoods. The role of the local government in creating an enabling environment for the adoption and sustainability of innovation efforts mainly through policy-setting is equally crucial, as is the finding of the right partners to support the endeavor.

The project has shown that waste cooking oil can be a viable alternative to pure petroleum diesel as well as biodiesel as fuel for jeepneys. Technically, none of the barriers for adoption are insurmountable. In terms of income benefits for jeepney drivers, it appears that using waste cooking oil affords a measure of savings on the


Lessons Learned

the Future


Don Bosco Technical College - Center for Research and Training www.dbtc.edu.ph

The Center for Research and Training (DBTC-CRT) is an institutional department of Don Bosco Technical College. DBTC-CRT manages and coordinates training / tutorial programs, and research and consultancy activities for the different departments of DBTC. The Center provides a wide range of services including public workshops, project development and management, laboratory services, system design and development, contract research, surveys and other related studies.

Mailing Address: #736 General Kalentong Street, Mandaluyong City, Philippines




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Since the so-called Green Revolution in the 1960s, the typical Filipino farmer has depended heavily on expensive, imported chemical inputs to attain the yield potential of high-yielding varieties of rice and corn. The high cost of such inputs has been a burden on many small farmers. To counter this high-input cost and gain other benefits, organic agriculture advocates have been trying to get farmers to reject chemical inputs. With the issuance of Executive Order 481 in 2005 and the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, the Philippine government adopted organic agriculture as part of its official program. However, these laws prescribed that the government would promote organic farming as an alternative method without necessarily replacing conventional, chemical-dependent cultivation.

The Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc. (EcoAgri) made organic farming the focus of its advocacy and supports it by developing appropriate technologies for local farming conditions. This project explores how a low-cost biogas system produces not only fuel for households, but also organic fertilizers and organic inputs to farming.

“Turning Natural Waste into Organic Fertilizer, Safe and Affordable Fuel,” a project of the Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc. (EcoAgri), Philippines

Innovation Story 16

Converting Agricultural Waste to Fuel and Fertilizer

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heating, and produced nutrient-rich fertilizer from wastes. The principles are straightforward but the particular conditions of a locality are key variables that need to be considered when designing such a system.

EcoAgri considered two designs for this project: a) a self-designed continuous-feed system with a digester made of ferro-concrete with a sealed dome to contain the methane gas produced, and b) a batch-type Portagas model obtained from the Bureau of Soils and Water Management. EcoAgri installed only one Portagas model in Bacolod City and concentrated on its own design afterwards, which the farmers preferred. It was then a matter

EcoAgri found that one obstacle to encourage farmers to shift to organic farming is the limited availability of low-cost organic inputs. The Foundation has since been promoting a low-cost solution: vermiculture or vermicomposting, with a pedal-operated shredder used to prepare biodegradable wastes for composting. It also realized the potential of a low-cost biogas system to become a source of organic fertilizer while producing fuel for households. This biogas system should be inexpensive enough for a small farmer to build and maintain.

Systems that produce gas from decaying organic matter have long been promoted as possible sources of cheap and clean energy for rural communities. A household producing its own energy would have impact on the environment as opposed to the current practice of using firewood. This would also unburden the women and children who usually collect firewood for household use. EcoAgri was keen to promote such a system but felt that current designs had to be tweaked to better suit the contexts, needs, and budgets of poor rural households.

The process of anaerobic decay that produces gas from organic material is well understood. Biogas development, first practiced in India in 1900, was promoted to reduce poverty in rural areas after it was established that biogas systems provide cheap and clean fuel for cooking, lighting and

Project Brief

the Process



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shredding waste paper. The shredded paper, combined with other biodegradable wastes, could be turned into “eco-charcoal” that could also be used for cooking in a stove. EcoAgri partnered with an urban poor community in Bacolod City to develop an enterpise around this product, and today, this venture produces enough eco-charcoal for 50 families.

■ Cost of the system. A barrier to the popularization of a biogas system is its cost. EcoAgri sought to solve this problem by minimizing the initial monetary outlay (finding a way for farmers to share the cost of a system), and by having farmers earn from the biogas system through selling foliar fertilizer. The foundation also sought to create a standard model for training local technicians on how to build and maintain the system. EcoAgri was also able to reduce the cost of construction by using discarded cardboard rather than plywood for the walls of the digester and ponds. In addition, the structure was made of ferro-cement instead of the usual hollow blocks and cement,. The design of the conditioning lagoon was also improved with the slurry cascading into subsequent ponds through an alternating system of drains, thereby maximizing the retention of solids in each pond. Finally, the size of the digester and the hydraulic pressure tank and conditioning lagoons or

of continuously tweaking the design elements in order to make further improvements.

The system consists of the digester, hydraulic pressure tank and a series of four conditioning lagoons or ponds. The ponds improve the condition of the effluent from the digester, progressively reducing the amount of solids from the sludge. The end result is liquid that allows the farmer to spray it as foliar fertilizer and natural pesticide.

Pilot households were selected through a process that involved consultations with local community members. A household selected to host the biogas system was required to own or have access to a minimum number of farm animals whose manure would be used to feed the digester. Household members were then trained to operate the system so that ideal conditions for waste digestion could be attained. This ensured the production of enough gas for cooking three meals a day for the household and constant supply of foliar fertilizer. EcoAgri monitored the performance of each installed system.

Feedback from the farmer-beneficiaries revealed an added benefit that was not anticipated. The farmers observed that the application of the slurry seemed to inhibit the growth of the golden kuhol, a snail that tended to infest rice paddies. EcoAgri confirmed this natural pest control effect by conducting a trial on a field with five farmers.

In the case of the pedal-operated shredder, EcoAgri found that it could also be used for


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Over the duration of the project, EcoAgri installed 12 units of the biogas system in 10 sites. The systems provided cooking fuel for 12 households and fertilizer for 183 families within the pilot communities. As of July 2010, the number of installed units has increased to 14, with an additional 50 families enjoying the use of the foliar fertilizer.

EcoAgri is also promoting the biogas system to local government units and local church-based Social Action Centers. The Foundation has generated much interest that it had to increase its staff and train more people to install the system.

The installation of a system in a community provides short-term employment for three to five members of the community. Some technical skills are also transferred to those who host the system, and EcoAgri trains a technician in each community to help maintain the system.

Additional benefits and outcomes of the project include increasing the number of vermiculture or vermicomposting practitioners and creating a new livelihood, eco-charcoal production, for an urban poor community’s livelihood.


ponds were standardized to produce enough gas for cooking three meals a day for a typical household, and enough fertilizer for a 10 to 15-hectare organic rice farm.

■ Supply of organic material. This model requires a constant supply of substrate (organic material) to charge the system, with farm animal manure being the ideal substrate. The model required 60 kilograms of manure daily, which four heads of cattle could produce overnight. Since a typical farmer owns only one carabao, if any, the solution was to offer the biogas system to a cluster of farmers, preferably organized into a cooperative or association. This group would then pay for the system, and decide where the biogas system would be installed and who would be responsible for operating it. The host household would have the biogas for cooking, while the slurry would be shared among the group members and any excess would be sold to others. EcoAgri hopes that a combination of subsidies, socialized pricing, and micro-financing may be the key to dealing with the full cost of the system, which is now at PhP 216,000.00 or US$ 4,695. For organized groups of small farmers, EcoAgri is currently selling the system for half the cost. The system is supposed to pay for itself in two years, mainly from the sale of the slurry as fertilizer.



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While organic farming is being promoted by many organizations, inexpensive organic fertilizers are not readily available in the market. This is especially true for small farmers whose livelihoods are fairly unstable, and whose access to farming inputs depends on credit extended by traders of chemical fertilizers and other inputs. EcoAgri realizes this as a major barrier in broadening organic farming’s acceptance but local technological innovation may be key to making it more affordable and acceptable to small farmers. Understandably, small farmers tend to be conservative and avoid the risk of using new technologies. It was thus important for EcoAgri to develop the system well to gain the farmers’ confidence and make its promised benefits real.

Lessons Learned

EcoAgri has been promoting the product actively and has received many inquiries and requests for installation, not just from small farmers but also from those who own larger farms. The foundation is now working to broaden the market for this innovation, and possibly transfer the technology to other organizations.

EcoAgri is now looking into the possible use of biogas fuel for lighting through biogas lamps. While not a direct consequence of the innovation, large systems that produce more biogas can also be designed to generate electricity with methane-fueled generators.


Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc.EADFI is a non-stock, non-profit organization based in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. The Foundation implements programs and projects highlighting organic farming; fabrication and installation of appropriate technologies; research and development; entrepreneurship; capability building; and environmental protection and conservation. It also facilitates the installation of organic fertilizer processing centers at the community level, and provision of technical assistance and support to enhance the capabilities of community members in managing their enterprises.

Mailing Address: c/o RU Foundry and Machine Shop Corporation Sitio Aning, Brgy. Pahanocoy, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines


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The historic rise in the price of oil has always been a cause of concern. Many see this trend as the sign that oil is running out, and that alternative renewable sources must be developed. One identified strategy was to drive the replacement of fossil fuels with fuels processed from plants or biofuels, primarily methyl esters from plant oils and fuel grade ethanol from plant sugars. Biofuels have been hailed not only as environmentally sustainable fuels but also as socially desirable because of their supposed potential to benefit those who plant these crops, among them many small farmers in the developing world. Developing country governments have gladly jumped on the bandwagon, hoping that these new fuels could contribute to the development of their rural economies. The Philippines is no exception, and its Congress passed a biofuels law in 2006 with the provision that it would promote energy security and rural development with significant benefits on the incomes of small farmers and agricultural workers.

Action for Economic Reforms (AER), a policy research institute, undertook this project to help

Project Brief

Biofuels for the Poor“Biofuel: Clean Fuels for the Poor?”, a project of the Action for Economic Reforms (Philippines)

Innovation Story 17

clear the debate about biofuels—which centers upon the supposed environmental benefits of large-scale production and the windfall social and economic benefits that threaten to engulf developing country economies and their farmers. The project recognizes biofuels as a real innovation that will probably have significant effect on what and how the world produces its next generation of fuels. Whether this development offers benefits and opportunities for the BoP or not, and under what conditions, becomes an important question.

The AER study was an attempt to look closely into the local development of biofuels and assess their beneficial impacts particularly on



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small farmers and farm workers who make up the bulk of the rural poor. Employing value-chain analysis, the research examined the role of small farmers and farm workers in the chain, the impacts it had on their livelihood, and the interventions that are necessary--including the possibility of community enterprise ventures to maximize the benefits for these sectors. The innovations addressed in the study consist of the process of turning plant oil and sugar into transport fuel, as well as advances in equipment and techniques that make village-level processing possible.

The production of fuels from plants potentially benefits BoP groups at both ends of the chain. They potentially benefit as producers of the feedstock, the raw materials from which these fuels are produced. They may also benefit as consumers of transport fuel and of cheap, safe household fuels that could potentially be produced as well.

Before the Biofuels Law was passed, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) had been working on a technological process designed to suit the resources of small producers of biodiesel using coconut oil as feedstock. This technology was eventually made available to two small biodiesel producers, Romtron and Rapco.

The Romtron biofuels facility, based in the coconut-producing province of Romblon, was managed by a local cooperative. Romtron’s goal was to develop a local market for copra produced by the coconut farmers of that province. Copra, the raw material for coconut oil, was not processed locally but shipped to Lucena’s coconut mills by traders who bought the local copra. There is a common belief that traders squeeze farmers dry by buying their copra cheaply. Eliminating such middlemen and their mark-up could mean a higher return for farmers if they sell directly to the processing plant. In order to entice farmers into selling their copra to the cooperative, Romtron set a price that is one peso per kilo (US$ 0.02) above the prevailing market price offered by local

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traders. Rapco, on the other hand, was a small family-owned coconut mill in the province of Laguna that bought copra directly from farmers. The biodiesel plant was to be an additional source of value to its operations even if it was only to be on a relatively small scale.

Bioethanol is distilled from the sugar or molasses extracted from plants. There are only two local producers of this fuel. One is a small plant in Ormoc City, Leyte that added another distilling tower to its distillery (for food grade alcohol) to produce the ethanol for fuel. The plant uses molasses as feedstock. Meanwhile, a new and larger plant was built in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental to process the juice extracted from sugar cane into ethanol. This was the first of many distilleries of bioethanol using sugarcane as feedstock. The study team traveled to these sites and other areas in order to interview the various actors who are involved in the value-chain of biofuel production.


■ Too much supply of biodiesel in the market. Making biodiesel from coconut oil is a fairly simple, straightforward process and the technology can be scaled from household level processing to large industrial operations. Agricultural research institutes such as the Visayas State University in Baybay, Leyte and the University of the Philippines

in Los Baños have produced technology and equipment for small producers, which can be easily replicated by others. As mentioned, the Department of Science and Technology put together a process for small biodiesel producers. Industrial producers, on the other hand, can easily source their production equipment and technology from abroad. The biofuels law and the spiraling price of oil, coupled with low demand for coconut oil and sugar in international markets, enticed many to enter what looked to have all the potential of a booming market. Now there is too much supply of biodiesel at the currently mandated two percent blend and some of the producers have reportedly stopped production, including the two small ones, Romtron and Rapco.

■ Price problem. The lowering of oil prices from their highs in 2007 and 2008 has created problems with both biofuels. Biodiesel from coconut oil is more expensive than petroleum diesel at current oil prices, which in turn precludes the government from increasing the required blend as this would raise the price of biodiesel at the pump. With bioethanol, it is cheaper to import the fuel rather than produce it locally. Coupled with higher sugar prices in the world market, this has put a hold on plans to build more bioethanol plants.

■ Social and political constraints. With regard to the plight of small farmers and workers who supply the feedstock, the new biofuels market has not been the catalyst for change and improvement that it was



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■ Use for poor households. For poor rural households, the availability of cheap, clean household fuel is essential for economic and health reasons; and fuels from plants may be part of the answer. However, developing this market necessitates other production arrangements, preferably those that involve community and small farmer participation. In order to avoid the fuel-versus-food conflict, and also to lower the cost of feedstock, some are advocating the use of non-food oil-bearing plants such as jatropha. These sources are still under investigation and do not yet have commercial applicability.

■ Need to improve local participation and management. The technology for local processing of plant oil, at both village and household levels, is available. While small-scale distilling of ethanol is supposedly also available, it is not common in this country. But can village-level production of biofuels with substantial participation by small farmers be made feasible? The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) had once tried to promote village-level, integrated coconut products processing. The technology was developed locally and was said to work but the project ran into problems relating to the participation of farmer’s cooperatives, lack of management skills by the cooperatives, and funding problems. It will probably take a combination of developing alternative non-food feedstock and a better business model to make this concept work.

touted to be. This new development has not changed the small farmers’ traditional role in the value chain for both coconut oil and sugar, the two largest markets for copra and sugarcane, respectively. There are certainly other forces, primarily in social relations and political power, which keep farmers’ incomes low. Coconut and sugarcane farmers interviewed for this study still regard land reform as the primary constraint to making their lives better.

■ Environmental impact. There are conflicting studies on the environmental impact of biofuels. Some say that local production of biofuels for local use may be preferable to large-scale production for transport fuel. Large-scale production inevitably requires plantation-type farms to meet the potentially huge demand for feedstock. With crops that are important sources of food or other uses, this creates a conflict. Plantation-type production of feedstock also promotes land conversions that threaten biologically important areas such as natural forests.

When it was still operating, Romtron was able to provide an alternative market for farmers to sell copra for a better price. But Romtron could not continue to produce biodiesel when its only local customer stopped buying and it could not afford to ship its product to the central blending plants of the large oil companies. Rapco has been unable to get a supply contract from the oil companies because it produces a relatively small amount of biodiesel. As other studies have stated, enabling more people to share the benefits from biofuels will require decentralized production and processing of transport fuels.

Dr. Roberto Guarte, head of the plant oil stove and biofuels project of Visayas State University, developed a technology for extracting oil from plants and processing it into fuel. He also worked with the German company, Siemens-Bosch, in developing the prototype oil stove and is fabricating a model that has been on sale at a price comparable to gas stoves. While sales have been good, he says that the market is currently limited by the lack of a steady supply of fuel and support from the government in developing the market.


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The research project shows that technological innovation by itself will probably not work without taking into consideration the economic and social conditions that can either hinder its beneficial impacts on the poor or contribute to the broadening of those impacts. In this case, political considerations are also crucial since the question as to what extent farmers and farm workers can share in the benefits of new technology may mean dismantling age-old production arrangements, such as the plantation economy and the way that fuels are produced and distributed.

It may also be true that the benefits of certain technological innovations may be constrained by the limits of existing market infrastructure. In this case, policy intervention may be needed to unblock the channels that keep the innovations from benefiting the poor. Corollary to this is that any pronouncements of broad impacts from new technologies, particularly on the BoP, should be taken with caution. Policies and programs that do not directly respond to the needs of the BoP in relation to new technologies and market innovations may result in few benefits, and may even have unintended negative impacts.

Lessons Learned



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In the immediate future, the fate of biofuels greatly depends on the movement in the price of oil. In the long-term, it will probably also depend on the development of alternative feedstock, particularly those without other competing uses. Hopefully, the latter development will come with other innovations for cultivating, processing, and distributing these new fuels.

Biofuels have obvious advantages over fossil fuels. Many acknowledge the problems with the initial feedstock now being used to produce these new fuels, but they are hopeful that more environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable feedstocks can be developed. This should present new opportunities for the BoP to become major participants in the value-chain for these new fuels. They and their champions need to be prepared to seize these new opportunities with innovations of their own to guarantee this transformation.


Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc.www.dbtc.edu.ph

The Center for Research and Training (DBTC-CRT) is an institutional department of Don Bosco Technical College. DBTC-CRT manages and coordinates training / tutorial programs, and research and consultancy activities for the different departments of DBTC. The Center provides a wide range of services including public workshops, project development and management, laboratory services, system design and development, contract research, surveys and other related studies.

Mailing Address: #736 General Kalentong Street, Mandaluyong City, Philippines


Fuel-Alcohol from Aren and Nypah“Developing mutual value creation through a Value Chain Analysis of bio-ethanol and palm sugar production from Aren and Nypah plants,” a project of the SETARA Foundation/NTFP Indonesia

Innovation Story 18

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Nypah (nypa fruticans) and aren (arenga pinnata) are palms native Indonesia and most of Southeast Asia. Both palms produce sugar-rich saps that are traditionally tapped to make crystallized sugar, local sweets and palm vinegar. The sap from both palms also has high sugar content and can be used as feedstock for the production of fuel-grade ethanol or bioethanol. With the recent surge of commercial interest in biofuels, particularly bioethanol, communities where these palms abound have been presented with an opportunity to diversify their sources of income by taking part in the biofuels supply chain. Both palms are supposedly able to produce more ethanol per hectare than sugarcane and corn.

The SETARA Foundation is an Indonesian NGO that promotes the development of rural and indigenous peoples’ communities through enterprise development and fair trade. For this project, SETARA set out to do value-chain analyses for aren and nypah as potential sources of palm sugar and as feedstock for the production of ethanol. Such analyses were to be the initial steps in preparing the communities to locally produce

Project Brief

ethanol, identifying the role of the rural poor in the production of biofuel, identifying other stakeholders who could be partners in facilitating the establishment of the biofuel plants, and in developing an enterprise model that would maximize returns for the communities.

The project involved two communities: one in the Malingping sub-district of Banten Province on the island of Java, which has access to 254 hectares of aren; and one in the Kumai sub-district of Central Kalimantan where a large nypah plantation of over 10,000 hectares is located. The nypah area forms part of the buffer zone of the Tanjung Putting National Park, a protected area that is home to the orangutan.



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Making fuel-grade ethanol is simple. The juice or sap from sugar-producing plants is fermented with the addition of yeast. The resulting liquid is then distilled to produce ethanol from which water is removed to get 99.5 percent alcohol that is suitable for fuel use (anhydrous alcohol). Bioethanol in Indonesia is currently produced using molasses and cassava as feedstock. Apart from fuel, ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) is also used as a solvent and anti-bacterial agent in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

A mapping of the actors involved in the biofuel value-chain was conducted in the Kumai area, and it found that nypah grow naturally along the coast with no organized palm cultivation activities. As such, these nypah are open resource. Thus, they are available to anyone who needs nypah products for household use such as thatches for roofs or sap for making

vinegar. Discussions with stakeholders in Kumai found that no ethanol was being produced using nypah sap because of the prohibition among Moslems to produce and consume alcoholic drinks. Since the sap could be turned into sugar, attention was turned to the potential of locally producing nypah sugar, which could compete with the palm sugar being produced in and imported from Java. This could break market control by wholesalers who import this sugar.

SETARA felt that creating this new market would require government intervention in the form of low-cost financing for small producers. Two alternative business models were considered: one where an investor is invited to manufacture sugar from the nypah sap collected by the communities, and the other where the communities themselves produce nypah sugar. In both cases, the communities need to be organized into cooperatives or unions. Choosing the business model for this new enterprise would involve further studies to determine which is best for poor communities. Thus, there should be a consideration of the long-term goal of producing bioethanol, which could be undertaken as a community social enterprise.

The situation in Banten where aren palm abound is similar, with the palm stands generally regarded as a common resource. Palm sugar production already contributes to the income of households in certain communities, where the sugar produced by each household is sold to traders who regularly go around

the villages, and who then pass them on to wholesalers in the Malingping market. Households also collect the fibers and fruit from the aren palm trees and sell them to traders. Its sap is not currently used to produce ethanol. For Banten communities to undertake large-scale bioethanol production, the project saw the need for an investor to serve as a partner in an enterprise that will encourage the participation of poor households in the production of palm sugar, and also the processing of the sugar into ethanol. The enterprise, therefore, should be a partnership between the communities and the investing entity, with each providing inputs to the enterprise.

■ Economic value of natural resources. The basic challenge that was tackled by the project is how to raise the economic values of natural resources that are perceived to be “useless” or of low value so as to encourage poor communities to utilize them more and, more so, preserve them. SETARA’s experience showed that people will want to take care of things in which they have substantial material stake. SETARA sees the inevitable boom in the biofuels market and sees this as a way for poor communities to become active participants in this developing market, especially for sugar-based biofuels and also for palm sugar, given their access to aren and nypah sources. Realizing this vision, however, would require fostering partnerships with other stakeholders – investors and other business partners who can provide capital, management skills, and marketing expertise; NGOs that can organize communities and build their capacity for such ventures; and local and national government entities who can set up a favorable policy environment to nurture such enterprises, and resolve issues of access and ownership that will favor the poor.

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■ Other issues. SETARA’s assessment also points to certain problems posed by issues in property rights and legal access to the palm groves; organizing the cultivation of the palms, organizing communities into cooperatives and social enterprises; accessing technologies for sugar production and bioethanol processing; and business development and financing.


In the process, SETARA’s advocacy raised the communities’ awareness about the need to conserve their natural resource, tying their immediate welfare and potential alternative livelihoods to the continued existence of the aren and nypah palm groves in their areas. The study also raised hopes for lesser external market dependence, especially for sugar. If sufficient quantities of nypah sap can be extracted and quality sugar is produced as to attract consumers, then the Central Kalimantan region will not have to import sugar again.




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the Future

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONSejahtera Semesta Rakyat (SETARA) Foundation / NTFP Indonesia www.ntfp.or.id

SETARA Foundation/NTFP Indonesia is a national facilitating agency initiated by the Indonesian government, non-government organizations, community-based organizations and the private sector. It is tasked to do assessments and studies on how abundant natural resources can be utilized for people’s prosperity while keeping in mind the value of its conservation. The agency also facilitates sustainable and fair community trading, especially for indigenous peoples who live around the forest and utilize non-timber forest products as their source of income.

Mailing Address: Jl. Bogor Baru B III No. 17Bogor, Indonesia 16152

Contact number: +62 251 832 5849 (Telefax)

Although attention had been shifted to the production of palm sugar when social and economic issues regarding bioethanol production unfolded, the goal of having local communities produce bioethanol--a product of higher value than sugar--should not abandoned.

For the BoP, interest in the conservation of natural resources can be raised if it is also tied to economic value, showing that the conservation of aren and nypah ensures their supply of natural products for household use and for trade. More importantly, SETARA found it critical to show to poor communities that they can take charge of improving their welfare by acting on their own interests and utilizing the resources available around them. This ability to work for themselves can be enhanced by the emergence of new products and markets, and in defining how the poor can participate in the production of valuable goods. Other sectors can only support this endeavor by providing access to financial resources, skills, and by creating an enabling environment for community participation.

For sugar production in Kumai Hulu, it will be necessary to equip community members with the production and marketing skills needed for tapping, storing, processing, molding, packaging and marketing nypah sugar. These activities will have to start at the household level but must

eventually lead to the organized, community-wide production by cooperatives operating on a semi-industrial scale that can produce 600 kilograms of block sugar per day. Once this is established, bioethanol production should be next.

In Cijengkol, Banten, SETARA hopes to find corporate partners to help process aren palm sugar into ethanol with the poor communities. Potential corporate partners may be the cosmetics industry, the state oil company, Pertamina, and the Indonesian power utility, PT PLN. The government is also expected to provide funding for the development of an ethanol processing plant. In the meantime, SETARA continues to encourage local households to get into home ethanol distillation using the distillery unit that it installed in the community with support from PT PLN.

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Many small farmers try to venture into other money-making activities in order to bolster their meager incomes from farming. Raising poultry is a popular sideline, but relying on the hens to lay eggs and hatch them on their own does not make for a very efficient production system. Having a hatchery can significantly boost productivity because it provides ideal conditions for hatching, ensures a high rate of survival among healthy chicks, and gives poultry raisers a better return of investment. Commercial hatcheries, however, are expensive to acquire and run, and will not work in areas without regular power supply. Small inexpensive hatcheries that do not require connection to the power grid or petroleum fuel can therefore be a boon especially to small rural poultry farms.

The Department of Electrical Engineering of the Universitas Indonesia proposed to develop an integrated hatchery machine (IHM) in Bandar Harapan, Lampung Province to address the need to raise the productivity of small poultry businesses by facilitating the hatching of eggs in a

Project Brief

Hatching an Innovative Solar-Powered Machine“Solar Power Technology Reforming the Small Poultry Entrepreneurs in Rural Area in Indonesia,” a project of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Universitas Indonesia

Innovation Story 19

the Process

Commercial hatcheries commonly use incubators to hatch large quantities of eggs. Simple incubators made of readily available materials – wood, glass, polystyrene or insulation board, heating element, thermostat - can be made at home. These incubators

low-cost way. Ideas for such a hatchery had been going around in the Department, and the iBoP Asia grant enabled the translation of these ideas into a working model.



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provide optimum temperatures and humidity levels to hatch a number of eggs at the same time, with the ideal temperature ranging from 37.5 to 38 degrees Celsius, and relative humidity from 50 percent to 88 percent depending on the stage of incubation and hatching.

Designing the system took the most time. The team had to familiarize itself with the technology of hatchery machines and with the needs of the BoP in relation to poultry-raising. The team wanted to develop a machine made of locally available materials in order to keep its cost down,

and this led to the development of four alternative designs and the testing of each to determine which is most suited to the project’s goals. This work was largely conducted under laboratory conditions.

The first design involved the use of a solar heating panel to provide the heat. The panel was made of glass. It collected heat from the sun and directed it to the incubating chambers. However, it performed poorly as the desired temperature was never reached. A second iteration joined the thermal panel with a photovoltaic cell that charged a battery that in turn provided energy to generate supplementary heat from lamps. It was found that while the desired temperature was attained, the humidity level could not be controlled. The cause appeared to be the thermal panel, so it was then removed. The third model involved only the lamps as heat generators for the incubator. While this worked, the lamps were drawing too much power from the battery, causing it to drain prematurely. To have a heater that consumes less power, the team built a heating element with nickelin wire which was in the fourth iteration of the hatchery. It was this model that generated suitable

heat and eventually was installed and field-tested in Bandar Harapan, a small village in the Lampung Province with a number of small poultry raisers.

As work on the design and construction of the hatchery incubator progressed, the research team carried out a series of dialogues with the target beneficiaries in a farming community. The team presented the design elements of the hatchery and how this technology could better serve their needs. A youth association called Karang Taruna Bandar Harapan was also enagaged, particularly in finding suitable business models and sustainability approaches.

With a capacity for hatching 216 eggs, the hatchery machine was ultimately turned over to the community. At the time of delivery, the hatchery was filled with 20 eggs. The community then tried to operate the machine and after 21 days, 18 fertilized eggs were hatched, thus achieving 90% success in incubation.

■ Weather condition. The research team felt that the initial design models did not perform as expected because of the rainy weather that prevailed at the time they were being developed. However, the research team took this as a blessing in disguise. This is the worst condition that poultry raisers can face. The team considered this in the final design of the hatchery in order to ensure that it will work properly even under such conditions, and even better with the ideal climate.

■ Resistance from traditional poultry raisers. The team met some resistance from traditional poultry raisers who were used to the traditional way of doing business. The team overcame this resistance by conducting continuous dialogues with the community on the merits of utilizing an inexpensive, user-friendly system that could help raise their productivity and incomes. The farmers were also trained on the proper use of the system and were given assistance in marketing.

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The hatchery machine designed and constructed under the project undeniably provided tangible benefits to the farming community in Bandar Harapan. With a capacity to incubate 216 eggs, the machine is expected to improve the poultry business of small farmers and entrepreneurs in the locality. It is low-cost and harnesses free energy from the sun.

The village’s youth association actively participated in the project. Some members demonstrated interest in the business process, while others were more interested in the electronic systems and the construction of the machine. They created a business plan covering the first stage when eggs are selected up to the marketing of the chickens, and are now planning to sell their produce either in the form of chicks or grown chickens. Apart from the financial benefits, the community and the youth association increased their skills and knowledge on the construction and operation of the system. Local leaders and young people who have seen the system work have expressed much interest in replicating the technology and in generating funds to construct the machine.

the Process


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Lessons Learned

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the FuturePARTNER ORGANIZATION

University of Indonesia - Department of Electrical Engineering www.ee.ui.ac.id

The University of Indonesia (UI) is a modern, comprehensive, open-minded, multi-culture, and humanistic campus that covers a wide array of scientific disciplines. UI strives to be one of the leading research universities and most outstanding academic institution in the world. The Department of Electrical Engineering is one of the oldest departments in Faculty of Engineering, which was established in 1964. Research fields include electric power and energy studies, telecommunications, electronics and control.

Mailing Address: Department of Electrical EngineeringUniversity of IndonesiaDepok 16424 Indonesia

Contact number: +62 21 7270078 Ext. 107 (Telephone)+62 21 7270077 (Fax)

The project team from Universitas Indonesia learned to take into consideration variations in weather condition when designing the IHM system. This was not a factor that figured prominently in the initial designs, which focused on energy consumption.

The team’s experience in working with the community recognized the importance of making the community the major decision-maker and considering their ideas in innovation. The community has great potential if given sufficient technical support.

Discussions with the community are ongoing about the possibility of developing an incubator that can carry 500 to 1,000 eggs. Funds to construct this system will be drawn from the income generated from the selling of chicks and/or grown chickens.

Moreover, with the interest expressed by other communities to try this innovation, the research team plans to raise additional funds to help them construct more hatcheries. The team would also like to work with the government to promote the technology so that it could reach more communities. The team is also planning to apply for a patent for the technology in order to attract businesses to manufacture and market the hatchery.

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The Manobo-Dulangan is an indigenous peoples’ (IP) group living in their ancestral domain in the mountains of Sen. Ninoy Aquino (SNA), Sultan Kudarat. The Tri-People Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao (TRICOM) has been working with this IP group for many years, helping them get titles to their ancestral domains and assisting them in planning the development of their areas. However, the poverty situation remains a challenge due to the intermittent provision of basic services to this area. TRICOM identified the need for electricity as the foundation on which development can be built. Power is needed to bring light to homes, schools, and community centers, to operate small farm machinery and irrigation pumps, and to utilize a resource that is freely available in these mountainous areas--the wind.

TRICOM partnered with the Ateneo de Davao University’s Energy and Environment Resource Center (EERC) to bring this vision to reality. This

Project Brief

Where the Wind Blows for the Manobo-Dulangan

“Development and Field-Testing of Stackable Small-Sized Vertical Axis Wind Turbines for Energy Generation in Indigenous Peoples’ Communities in Southern Mindanao”, Tri-People Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao, Inc. (TRICOM), Philippines

Innovation Story 20

project’s aim was to design, develop, and analyze the use of inexpensive wind turbines to generate electricity for houses, classrooms, and child care centers. These turbines were pilot tested in three communities of the Manobo-Dulangan.



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EERC agreed to provide the technology solution for this project. It would design and build wind turbines of the Savonius-Darrieus type to provide 50 to 100 watts of electricity for a residential dwelling, with the actual output dependent on wind speed. To be able to power small farm machinery, the turbines would be arranged in stacks. EERC considered TRICOM’s assistance to poor communities as important because it would help nurture local engineering ingenuity and capabilities in addressing the needs of the poor.

With the public’s increasing concern about the supply of fossil fuels and the rise in their prices, alternative energy sources have become attractive options. Generating power from indigenous renewable and non-depletable sources is now being encouraged by governments in the face of energy security issues and the threat of climate change. The Philippines government passed a renewable energy law in late 2008 (Republic Act No. 9513) that provides various incentives and support mechanisms to investors in renewable energy generation.

Turbines use wind energy to operate generators to produce electricity. Large wind farms generate electricity that is distributed through national grid networks. On the other hand, small wind turbines can produce electricity for household consumption. Small turbines can be fabricated using locally available materials and relatively simple tools. This technology seems ideal for

the Future powering off-grid communities in a relatively inexpensive way compared to photovoltaic (solar panels) or small hydro-powered plants. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTS) are seen as optimal for urban areas where wind speeds are generally low but also tend to be highly variable. An additional advantage is that these VAWTS produce less wind noise compared to horizontal axis designs that use large propellers as blades. Large wind farms use these more efficient horizontal axis designs.

At its inception, the project dealt with the fact that there is no wind profile established for Mindanao. The study nonetheless proceeded with the conduct of random wind profiling in specific areas and dates within SNA, and the data gathered was used as the basis for the design of the prototype turbines.

TRICOM initially identified three sites where the turbines will be installed, all in the ancestral domain of the Manobo-Dulangan. TRICOM conducted initial discussions with the communities and acquired free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for this project. To maximize the use of resources, the project eventually selected one area based on need and the community’s commitment to support the VAWT project – Pangaan, Tinalon, which is home to 30 families.

Two prototypes were built at the Ateneo de Davao, which were then installed and tested at the selected site. After the tests, a new 150-watt VAWT model (VAWT 02) was developed made of fiberglass and aluminum, has only 3 blades, and

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turbine weight of 7 kilos. Although the efficiency of the second VAWT model was lower than the first model, its reliability is higher and it operates even at very low wind speed. The improved VAWTs were cascaded to maximize harvesting of wind, and to produce and store more energy. The harvested power is stored at four 100Ah batteries for distribution to the selected households and possible use for milling and weaving.

Though the VAWT system is ideal as an alternative technology to generate electricity, the project realized that its huge potential is for home electrification purposes only. Furthermore, the system is at present not yet suitable for industrial or agri-processing applications due to the non-availability of excellent source of wind in the area studied.

■ Availability of information. No wind profiles were initially available for the pilot sites that were identified for this project. At first, the research team relied on wind information published by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States. After visiting the sites and taking wind measurements, the team found that the wind speed in several sites was lower than expected. This information was used in designing the prototype and working models.

■ Time, availability of materials and funds. In developing the turbines, three challenges were identified: first, the limited amount of time that the EERC could spend on the project. Second, the availability of certain materials to be used for building the turbines (certain items, such as the


permanent magnets and the electronics, had to be sourced abroad, and Ateneo lacked the machinery to fabricate and form some of the metal parts). Third, the limited resources that the project had for building the turbines. The second concern was resolved by using fiberglass to make the rotors.

■ Wind speed. A major challenge for the team was the wind speed, which varied considerably in the selected site. A wind turbine can generate power at a certain level but varying wind speeds can affect its productivity.

■ Access to and working with indigenous peoples. Access to the remote settlement areas within IPs’ ancestral domains is a major obstacle to the provision of electric power. If the turbines are to be a viable source of power for these communities, they have to be designed and built using materials that are either available in these areas or could be brought in easily. This figured in the process



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of identifying solutions and in the design of the VAWT model. Dr. Espina feels that the indigenous peoples could also be equipped with the basic skills to build the turbines except for the generators, which require higher skill level. Working with IPs also means that one should also take into consideration their culture, which is key to success not just in terms of overcoming technical challenges but also in terms of how to make the technology acceptable to IP communities. Acceptance, in turn, depends on the positive impacts of the technology on their livelihoods and, in the long run, the quality of life in the community.

■ System cost. Cost is also a major issue. In this project, only the turbines, generators, and the layout of the distribution system were made. Power electronics and battery storage, which were found to be the most crucial and expensive part of the system, were sourced locally and imported from other countries. Approximately, each VAWT system costs around PhP 50,000 (US$ 1,086), excluding installation costs. The research team recognizes the need to address the financial costs of not only the technology but also its management and maintenance and how it can be made affordable to poor communities. One idea is to socialize the cost by having each resident-user contribute to battery charging costs but the business model and the cost per user still has to be studied carefully.

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The Manobo-Dulangan communities were impressed by the fact that electric power has been brought to them through this technology. They were eager to test this innovation, and participated in discussions with the project team. They even helped the team install the turbines and agreed to be trained on how to manage and maintain the system.

Local government officials have also been supportive of the project and are interested in its wider application throughout the municipality of SNA. One VAWT unit was installed at the municipal hall to demonstrate the use and benefits of the technology.

A paper on this project was presented at a scientific and engineering forum in Davao City in April 2010. Ateneo de Davao regards this project as a good learning experience. While complete wind turbine kits can be bought and simply installed, designing from scratch and using local materials serve to expand local knowledge and technical skills that enhance local expertise in technology innovation.


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA


Tri-People Concern for Peace, Progress and Development of Mindanao www.triconcern.org

TRICOM, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit organization working for the recognition, respect and promotion of Tri-People’s (Indigenous People, Moro and Christian settlers) rights to self-determination, and harnessing unities towards the attainment of peace in Mindanao, Philippines. TRICOM, Inc. works with different indigenous peoples’ communities in Mindanao to help them attain effective control over ancestral resources, and govern and manage their own political, socio-cultural and economic development.

Mailing Address: 3rd Floor, Consolacion Building#219 Corner Ponce and Aurora StreetsDavao City, Philippines


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The impact of VAWTs on the lives of the poor has yet to be tested and proven. If harnessing wind power in an affordable and easily manageable scale proves to be economically feasible, it could have significant implications on power service delivery and poverty alleviation in remote areas. Having access to cheap electricity is key to raise farmers’ and IPs’ productivity and their ability to engage in activities of higher socio-economic value. It also opens up better opportunities for education, health services and the development of diversified livelihoods.

Lessons Learned the Future

The challenge for local innovators, as always, is to be able to adapt new technologies to local conditions and make them affordable to the poor. This is not easy because cutting-edge models are mostly from the West and use materials are not readily available in developing nations. Another adaptation challenge is the simplification of these technologies so that poor communities with little educational training and technical skills can manage and maintain, or even build them, if possible. Introducing innovations to IP communities can help broaden their outlook and nurture in them an understanding and appreciation of life-changing science and technology.

The project team notes that there is greater chance for acceptance if one demonstrates the technology’s potential to increase not just skills but actual incomes. It is hoped that innovations in the energy sector, particularly in providing power to rural and poor communities, can ultimately enable the poor to improve food production and crop cultivation, and that these types of projects be undertaken regularly by the academe.

Innovation in Food and Agriculture

Chapter 5

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Agriculture continues to be a vital instrument for reducing poverty. Three

of four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas, and most of

them depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

Promoting agriculture is important in achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving the share of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger, and of continuing to reduce hunger and poverty.53

The contributions of agriculture to economic development can be regarded in many aspects such as economic activity, livelihood and provider of environmental services. Agricultural production alone is essential for food security because it is a source of income for majority of the rural poor. Yet this source of livelihood faces several constraints, such as those related to flawed production systems and unpredictable weather patterns, which limit food for trading and make food for subsistence uncertain. Small farmers, who are the hardest-hit by climate change, have yet to learn more about coping with and adapting to this occurrence.54

In the face of recurrent food emergencies and the uncertainties of food aid, one of the identified solutions to food security concerns is to increase, stabilize, and make sustainable domestic production and production systems.55

53 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ World Bank: World Development Report: Agriculture for

Development (2008)/

54 Ibid.

55 Ibid.



This Chapter tells the story of our grant partners’ attempts to contribute to improving agricultural productivity and ensuring food security through innovations via training, action research, and product development. Innovations in agriculture insofar as these relate to climate change adaptation are discussed separately.

The story of the Sub-Plant Protection Department (SPPD) of An Giang Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta - the provincial level equivalent of the Plant Protection Department of the national government’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – relates how new, unconventional and participatory training methodologies are crafted to deepen the knowledge of local farmers (who are reluctant to adopt new modes of managing their produce) about rice crops and crop management.

The action research undertaken by the Philippine Rice Research Institute–Social and Agro-Industrial Ventures (Phil Rice-SAIV) gives a snapshot of the agriculture-based snack food industry, particularly those processed from rice and milk, and analyzes how the BoP can meaningfully participate in the supply chain in a manner that enables them to address both product development and quality management concerns.

Finally, we relate how the Industrial Technology Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (ITDI-DOST) applies dehydration technologies to process and compound indigenous and nutrient-rich crops into ready-to-use food commodities that can be stock-piled and applied into various food preparations to add balance and variety to emergency food rations in times of relief and rescue operations, famine, or nutrition feeding in depressed and calamity-stricken areas.

Training Innovations for Improved Rice Quality“The Farmer and Rice Quality,” a project of the Sub-Plant Protection Department, An Giang Province, Vietnam

Innovation Story 21

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The Province of An Giang is located in the Mekong Delta area, the rice bowl of Vietnam. The Delta accounts for more than half of the country’s rice production and over 90 percent of its rice exports. Despite changes in the market and the introduction of various innovations in rice cultivation to cope with these changes, rice farmers in the province have been reluctant to embrace new methods of cultivation.

The An Giang sub-department was concerned that rice farmers in the province appeared hesitant to adopt new methods of crop management. Despite past efforts by the sub-department, farmers reverted to old methods - planting rice too densely, using too much pesticide, and improperly applying fertilizers. They also continued to plant their traditional rice varieties that yielded low-quality rice and were increasingly becoming susceptible to pests. The sub-department blamed the farmers’ reluctance to what it considered were inadequate methods of technology transfer that consisted mostly of two-hour lectures. The sub-department resolved to change its training methods and try a more participatory and practical approach.

The Sub-Plant Protection Department of An Giang proposed to use the iBoP Asia research grant

toward the creation of new training methodologies that would deepen the knowledge of farmers about their rice crops and how to manage them. The revised methods would involve the farmer-trainees in the actual application of new crop management techniques through demonstration plots that would allow them to see the results first-hand. The new technologies that the sub-department wanted to introduce to farmers includes: 1) awareness to the various stages of rice growth; 2) integrated pest management (IPM); and 3) integrated nutrient management (INM). The sub-department proposed to try a new teaching method in one district and then evaluate the results. If successful, the sub-department is confident about replicating the training in other districts.

Project Brief



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hapter Five: Agriculture and Food Innovation Stories

The sub-department believed that changes in the method of transferring technology to the farmers would significantly improve farmer reception. The new method prescribed a longer period of involvement with the farmers. During the whole cropping season of four months, farmers familiarized themselves with each stage of rice growth as each stage required different techniques to optimize growth. The extended training period allowed the research team to show IPM and INM practices in field demonstrations. It also enabled the farmers to witness the benefits of such methods compared to those they traditionally used. The sub-department also urged the farmers to

the Process

replace their former rice variety (IR 50404) with a new, higher-quality variety that fetched a higher market price.

In addition, the department used simple memory devices for these new techniques so that farmers could easily retain them without having to deal with complicated instructions. These were the “three reductions, three gains” program and the “four rights” rule.

The “three reductions, three gains” program was designed to change the practice of rice farmers of using high seeding rates, applying too much nitrogen, and spraying too much pesticide. Research has shown that seeding rates and nitrogen application could be significantly lessened without affecting yields. Therefore, by reducing costly inputs, farmers gained the benefits of higher incomes, less exposure to chemicals, and a better environment for their farms. The “four rights rule,” on the other hand, referred to the proper way of using pesticides: right kind of pesticide, applying the right dosage, using pesticides at the right time, and applying pesticides the right way.

In order to put these principles into practice, a 1,000-square meter field was obtained as a demonstration area. The farmers planted the high quality variety that the government preferred and put into immediate practice the new techniques that they learned. The field work was supplemented by sessions with a trainer from the sub-department. This enabled the farmers to consolidate and reinforce what they observed and experienced in the field.

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Although the government had decreed that farmers should plant high-quality rice, farmers in An Giang Province were initially reluctant to do so because they were already familiar with IR 50404 and the results they got were predictable. The quality of IR 50404 was so low that the grains broke easily. It was also an old variety that was becoming more vulnerable to attacks by pests and viruses. This caused farmers to increase their use of chemical pesticides. The fact was that farmers cultivated IR 50404, which they then mostly sold for exports, and bought the higher quality rice for their own consumption. The training taught farmers the qualities of the new rice variety, OM 4218. The sub-department hoped that this would encourage them to switch to the new variety. This new variety produced about the same yield but since the quality was higher, the farmers could

Some problems were encountered when this new methodology for technology transfer was introduced. The number of farmers that came at the start of the training was less than what was targeted. This was because some of the farmers chose to take on other farm work in order to supplement their incomes. In order to correct this, the sub-department asked for the assistance of the local people’s committee to urge the farmers to attend the training. The project start-up was also affected by the late ending of the flood season and the infestation of plant pests and diseases, specifically the appearance of rice grassy stunt and rice gagged stunt viruses proliferated by the brown plant-hopper. The delay was deliberate to ensure that the viruses would not strike the rice planted in the demonstration lot.


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA


Sub-Plant Protection Department of An Giang Province

SPPD was established in 1987 and operates directly under the Vietnam Government. The Department was initially tasked to do pest monitoring and management, and oversee the selling of pesticides in the Angiang Province. In 1994, SPPD ceased its pesticide-selling operations and began its work in plant protection. SPPD aims to share and transfer new technologies to local farmers.

Mailing Address: 04 Nguyen Du Street, My Binh wardLong Xuyen district. Angiang Province, Vietnam

Contact number: +84 076 953 622 (Telephone)

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The project confirmed to the sub-department that a participatory and practical approach to technology transfer was a better way to train farmers than the usual method of pure lecturing. This was because farmers learned best by doing and by observing actual results rather than merely being told about new technologies. Farmers also tended to be conservative about their farming practices, preferring old methods that worked to new technologies with which they had no first-hand experience. This risk aversion was understandable with farmers who have few reserve resources to fall back on when things go awry.

The Sub-Plant Protection Department of An Giang was confident that it had found the right way to improve farmers’ crop management practices. With the positive results from its pilot effort, it managed to obtain support from the provincial people’s committee and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) through the Agriculture and Rural Development Department to extend the training to all districts of the province.

get better prices for them. The new variety was also less vulnerable to the pests and diseases that the old variety had become susceptible to, making it easier for farmers to manage. This meant that farmers could use less chemical inputs, thereby lowering production costs.

The sub-department was also confident that these changes in crop management would improve the health of the farmers as a direct result of being less exposed to toxic chemical inputs. Furthermore, the use of organic fertilizers and pesticides would have significant positive impacts on the natural environment.

Lessons Learned

the Future

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Small farmers constitute one of the poorest groups in society, living off farm incomes that barely provide for their subsistence needs. Many programs have attempted to improve farmers’ livelihoods and welfare, mostly with varied results. A BoP approach is another intervention that hopes to contribute to the goal of reducing rural poverty. One form this has taken is the attempt to expand the participation of farmers in supply chains, building their entrepreneurial skills and developing entrepreneurial ventures.

The research conducted by PhilRice’s Social and Agro Industrial Ventures Unit (SAIV) sought to determine the factors that can encourage start-ups in the processing of snack foods using rice and milk as raw materials, and those factors that allow small farmers to participate in the supply chains of large agro-industrial enterprises in the snack food industry. The goal was to make policy recommendations based on the findings. The study initially focused on the snack food subsector, but subsequently widened its scope to the general agro-industrial sector supply chain.

Project Brief

Bridging the BoP with Mainstream Agriculture-Based Commerce“An action research on policies and enabling factors for the BoP to effectively participate in the R&D and trade of value-added agriculture-based commodities,” a project of the Philippine Rice Research Institute – Social and Agro Industrial Ventures (PhilRice – SAIV)

Innovation Story 22



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The initial phase of the project was a study of the snack food sector (particularly snacks processed from rice and milk), how entrepreneurs started their related businesses, and the contributions made by research institutions such as PhilRice and the Philippine Carabao Center (both located in the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija) to the development of this sector. These two research centers were expected to develop innovations that benefit small farmers and entrepreneurs, ideally with the local Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) offices helping small start-up businesses get off the ground.

A number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Nueva Ecija processing rice and milk-based snacks were visited and their proprietors interviewed. All of them claimed that their respective businesses were built on recipes and formulations that had either been in the family for some time or were conceptualized by the entrepreneurs themselves. None utilized the standardized recipes created and disseminated by research institutes. These businesses generally catered to a local market, rarely venturing to other markets except when participating in trade fairs organized by DTI. This seemed to be the pattern in areas of the country where similar local ventures had sprouted. Dominating these small enterprises were the few large snack food corporations whose products reached even the smallest sari-sari stores in the most remote villages.

While entering such a sector was an option for small farmers, particularly if they could pool their resources in order to be competitive, the study found that small producers of snack food also had to hurdle a major challenge: dealing with the public perception that

the Process

The change midstream was influenced by a project that the SAIV unit undertook with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The project investigated the factors that kept farmers and other agricultural groups from participating in the supply chain of agro-industrial firms, specifically of the snack food industry. One of these factors concerns the ability of small suppliers to comply with the firms’ quality standards. UNIDO offered a ready answer: a tool it called a traceability regime. A traceability regime allowed for a detailed tracing back of each component supplied along the chain to its origin. This allowed for any lapses in supply quality to be pinpointed and for corrective measures to be subsequently taken.

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These experiences showed that quality issues did tend to be a problem in supply chains. Training BoP suppliers on how to attain and maintain the quality that their clients required is a necessity if they are to become a significant part of the chain to big firms. There also had to be a process of quality control to ensure adherence to standards. Part of that process is a way for the source of quality problems to be pinpointed - to trace back a failure to its origin so that corresponding corrective measures could be implemented. PhilRice-SAIV embraced UNIDO’s traceability regime as a solution and helped initiate the formation of a Philippine Traceability Center patterned after the Egyptian model instituted by UNIDO.

food prepared by the poor might be unsafe. This was supposedly because the poor are often saddled by lack of access to power and clean water.

A more promising path seemed to be taking part in the supply chain of large firms. However, another constraint faced was the concern over product quality. The PhilRice-SAIV team then studied the experience of the Balay Mindanaw Foundation poultry project that enabled small farmers to become part of the supply chain of the dressing plant of Sr. Pedro, a retail chain selling roasted chicken. The engagement, however, did not last due to Sr. Pedro’s concerns about the quality of the poultry supplied by some small farmers.

SAIV then initiated its own supply chain project, organizing small farmers and rice millers to supply biomass fuel in the form of rice husks for Mariwasa Siam Ceramics’ co-generator plant. UNIDO facilitated the partnership and provided initial funds for PhilRice-SAIV to run the enterprise as part of its research activity.




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The most significant contribution of the project was the initiation of a Philippine Traceability Center. A focus group discussion was organized with the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) to discuss the importance of the center and how its work can be sustained. In response, DCCI decided to establish the center as a social enterprise, earning income from its activities, and putting part of that income into capacity-building for small rice farmers. It is hoped that such a regime would have long-term benefits that would ensure the participation of poor groups in the supply chains of large corporations.

PhilRice-SAIV also raised the concern about measuring the benefits that science and technology institutions actually contribute to society and the real returns of the funds provided to them. This was prompted by the finding that the innovations in snack food processing created by these institutions are rarely taken up by small snack food entrepreneurs who prefer their own formulation. These innovations, therefore, appeared to have little practical value and were being produced merely for the sake of general knowledge generation. PhilRice-SAIV has suggested that these institutions may serve the poor better by assisting them in quality management, and not just in product development.


The study conducted by PhilRice-SAIV actually changed its focus from its original intent. This change was necessary as initial investigation showed that the snack food industry was dominated by large players. Small farmers as well as landless workers could benefit most not by competing with these corporations but by participating in their supply chains. One barrier to this participation is the quality of the goods that the poor can deliver. The response to this is the establishment of a traceability regime that can pinpoint the source of quality problems and facilitate corrective measures.

It was also realized that intermediary organizations need to teach BoP communities entrepreneurial and management skills for the poor to be able to participate effectively with the poor. The intermediaries also make it possible for large corporations to deal only with a few organizations rather than with a multitude of suppliers. The bridge organizations therefore, must be able to manage their network of small suppliers well.

Lessons Learned

In addition, PhilRice-SAIV determined that, in order to promote BoP participation in supply chains, a bridge organization is needed to organize BoP groups, train them to be responsible participants in the supply chain of large companies, and link them to those enterprises. The bridge organization could be a government agency or an NGO that would take the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the goods provided by micro producers and build the BoP’s capacity for running their own enterprises.


Philippine Rice Research Institute - Social and Agro-Industrial Venture Unit www.philrice.gov.ph

PhilRice is the national rice research institute of the Philippines, established in 1985 through Executive Order 1061 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos. It is mandated to serve as a key player in attaining and sustaining the country’s rice self-sufficiency, and in promoting greater access of farmers to agricultural technologies. The Social and Agro-Industrial Venture (PhilRice-SAIV) Unit is at the forefront of forging local and international business partnerships and networks, and developing and linking farmers’ rice-based products in the local and international markets.

Mailing Address: PhilRice-Agribusiness Incubation Services forEnterprises (PRAISE), Philippine Rice Research Institute - Central Experiment StationMaligaya, Science City of Munoz, Nueva EcijaPhilippines 3119

Contact number: +6344 456 0285 (Telephone) +6344 456 0441 (Fax)

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The project has helped lay down the foundations for establishing a Philippine Traceability Center for Agro-Industrial Commodities with the assistance of UNIDO. The center is currently designing a pilot program that can be the basis for implementation at the national level. The institutionalization of a national program may enable more BoP groups to participate in the supply chain of large corporations in the agro-industrial sector.

With the government officially encouraging the building of power plants fueled by renewable energy sources, PhilRice SAIV sees its experience in the biomass supply project with Mariwasa Siam Ceramics as a possible model for similar agreements between biomass suppliers (which include rice millers and the rural poor that manually gather biomass) and renewable energy installations.

the Future



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“Production and Distribution of Emergency Food Reserve (EFR) from Selected Crops: A Government-Private Sector Cooperation,” a project of the Food Processing Division, Industrial Technology Development, Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (ITDI-DOST), Philippines

Innovation Story 23

Project Saklolo: Ensuring Food Security in Times of Disasters

After the destructive eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991, life was never the same again for the residents of Botolan, Zambales in Central Luzon. Displaced residents could no longer go back to till their farms, which were buried under layers of lahar. The hardest hit were the Aeta communities, many of whom have since lived in government resettlement areas. With very little livelihood opportunities, they remain poor up to this day. Life gets harder especially during typhoon season, and such was the case in 2009 when they were successively hit by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

The Industrial Technology Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (ITDI-DOST) responded to this situation through Emergency Food Reserve (EFR), a ready-to-eat and ready-to-use food ingredient that can be produced locally. The EFR is the heart of ITDI-DOST’s research project called “The Production and Distribution of Emergency Food Reserve from Selected

Crops: A Government-Private Sector Cooperation.” Dubbing it “Project Saklolo” (Project “Emergency Food Reserve”), ITDI’s Food Processing Division describes the goal of the project as “to present a new and practical approach to food logistics and a novel and quick-response food preparation.” More importantly, ITDI aimed for this innovation to be guided by an integrated framework of cooperation among the public, private, civil society, and academic sectors.

While Project Saklolo started in 2010, it traces its roots to the success of the Manila Food Assistance Program, a feeding program implemented by the City Government of Manila from 2002 to 2007. What

Project Brief

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is unique and innovative in Project Saklolo is found in the EFR’s main ingredient, cassava flour. Unlike its 2002 predecessor, which made use of imported wheat flour (fortified with vegetable powder), Project Saklolo uses cassava as the base for the EFR. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is indigenous to the Philippines, abundant, and affordable. The project also makes use of malunggay (Moringa oleifera), which is also drought-resistant, and bean or pulse, several varieties of which are abundantly available in the Philippines.

In preparing the EFR, ITDI-DOST applies dehydration technologies to process and compound the selected crops into ready-to-use food commodities that can be stock-piled and applied into various food preparations to add balance and variety to emergency food rations in times of relief and rescue operations, famine or nutrition feeding. Apart from being nutritious, the EFR also offers convenience. It may be used as-is, cooked or baked, and has a long shelf life. The EFR is neutral in taste so consumers can easily add other flavors or ingredients for variety.

The research project run in three phases: 1) Product/Process Development and Standardization; 2) Initiating and Facilitating Government-Private Sector Cooperation on the Production of EFR in the Pilot Area; and 3) Monitoring, Evaluation and Improvement of

the Process

Product Performance and Process, Facility, and the Cooperation.

In April 2010, ITDI-DOST successfully developed a product called SAGIP (“Save”) using a community-level technology for preparing EFR and formulated a number of recipes for commonly consumed foods, such as kutsinta, puto, noodles, bread, cookies, donut, bibingka, instant chicken soup; polvoron, ukoy, non-meat burger, pound cake and instant chocolate drink. The pilot project was introduced in Pasambot, Barangay San Juan in Botolan, Zambales. The team successfully set up a prototype rural processing facility in an unused building that was offered by the Department of Agriculture to the local community. Installed with adequate tap water and power supply, the building was highly suitable for the project. Its location was also ideal as it was surrounded by hectares of farmlands planted by cultural minority groups with cassava, gabi, camote and other crops.


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Subsequent to the product development phase, the project team focused its efforts in establishing government-private sector cooperation and in developing training manuals and technology packages with community volunteers and workers.

This phase of project implementation was considered by ITDI DOST as its biggest challenge, considering how it had to hurdle the intricacies of organizing the partnership given the project’s diverse mix of probable partners. These included government groups (such as the offices of the Zambales Governor, congressman, and Mayor of Botolan); the municipal offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), Department of Labor and Employment

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(DOLE), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Landbank of the Philippines (LBP); private groups like the Lubos na Alyansa ng mga Katutubong Ayta ng Sambales or LAKAS (the main beneficiary); Save Botolan Movement, and others. With such diversity, inter-agency dynamics and institutional arrangements were complex. ITDI DOST considers equally tough its efforts to elicit the commitment of each partner and to promote their sense of ownership of the project.

In December 2010, relationships among stakeholders were formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The agreement addressed the largely ad hoc arrangements in most partnerships. A total of 12 entities signed the MOU, effectively transferring the responsibilities to the community, with Save Botolan Movement spearheading the program.

Several positive outcomes are noted from the research project by the team. One, the EFR has generated interest and has been accepted by the project partners. This acceptance from a diverse group of individuals and organizations is an encouraging sign that the EFR has a compelling purpose and is marketable. Two, there is an improved level of awareness and understanding on the EFR. Communities appreciated the ease in preparing the product and the diversity of its application.



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Because the EFR is packed with nutrients, others saw that it too can be fed to infants and toddlers. The EFR also generated recommendations and suggestions from partner communities of Botolan on alternative crops that may be used during drought season, thereby expanding the array of indigenous crops that may be used for producing the EFR. Finally, the EFR stirred the private sector’s sense of corporate social responsibility, with some signifying interest in providing financial or technical assistance.

In terms of lessons learned from implementing this project, the team made incisive observations of what they consider essential aspects of the project. These observations center on the urgency of EFR and addressing socio-cultural differences. The mayor of Botolan conveyed to the project team and community partners in Botolan that the EFR is an urgent need and that the LGU has committed full support to the project. A food reserve locally produced by the community is a welcome alternative and solution after the community had been dependent on food aid since the eruption of Mount Pinatubo almost two decades ago.

The team’s other insight touches on narrowing the socio-cultural gaps. Indigenous peoples’ (IP) communities need to be integrated to the community, but in doing so adjustments will have to be introduced. In particular, there is a need to connect and communicate with the IP

Lessons Learned

communities in a language that they can easily understand. A good example of this is providing the community with materials that use their local language. A more challenging task, however, is removing any lingering prejudice among urban dwellers on IPs. Particularly for this project, people who are not accustomed to their ways are circumspect of their food preparation practices. Sadly, such perception impresses upon IPs that they are being compared to their non-IP counterparts.

The research team was very much impressed with Chairman Carlito Domulot and also the chairperson of the Samahan ng mga Magsasaka ng Botolan, who openly shared their knowledge on Philippine law and the rights of the IPs. The project is certainly helping to create a climate that allows the Aeta population to develop, grow and gain satisfaction in knowing that they can greatly help in community development.


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Beyond the project, the team looks at establishing more pilot projects, particularly in communities within Central Luzon. The team also plans to improve and validate the system of cooperation in Botolan with the goal of replicating it in other disaster-prone areas. ITDI-DOST also hopes that Project Saklolo will open business opportunities for the partner communities where the LGUs become the buyer of the community’s products as food stocks for emergency and nutritional feeding programs. This way, the community’s livelihood will grow and flourish.

ITDI-DOST believes that it is high time for the people of Botolan to be self-reliant and to wean from traditional sources of food aid. To make it a reality, community participation in the project is of paramount importance. As co-implementers, the community members are more likely to adopt the project and make it their own. With EFR, the community in Botolan is now better prepared and empowered to deal with any disaster.

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the Future


Industrial Technology Development Institute of the Department of Science and Technology

http://itdibiz.com/

ITDI is one of the research and development institutes under the Department of Science & Technology of the Philippines. By virtue of Executive Order No. 128, dated January 30, 1987, ITDI plays a critical role in the standardization, evaluation and testing of various products and materials. The Institute provides other services or interventions to help modernize the production sector, and rigorously pursues and sustains its R&D efforts and services to spur technology innovation, commercialization and adaptation.

Mailing Address: DOST Compound, General Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City, Philippines

Contact number: +63 2 837 2071 to 82 (Telephone)+63 2 837 20 71 to 82 local 2210 (Fax)

Innovation in Climate Change Adaptation

Chapter 6

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There is global consensus on the reality of climate

change and its impact on vulnerable groups, among

them are BoP communities. In most developing

countries, the adverse effects of climate change

manifest through stronger and more frequent typhoons,

extreme weather events, and droughts.56

Southeast Asia is particularly vulnerable due to its largely populated coastal areas and low-lying islands that are exposed to sea level rise, heavy reliance on agriculture and growing water use, dependence on marine resources, and rising energy demand. It has in the last years experienced increased intensity and incidence of heat waves, droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones. What makes this worse is the high poverty incidence in the region.57

Notwithstanding societies’ long record of managing the impacts of weather- and climate-related events and even with the scale of mitigation efforts, additional adaptation measures are required to reduce the adverse impacts of projected climate change and variability. This vulnerability is exacerbated by other stresses, such as those that arise from climate change hazards, poverty and unequal access to resources, and food insecurity. Adaptation, even at low cost and/or with high benefit-cost ratios, and embedded within broader sectoral initiatives, can help reduce vulnerability.58

56 Joanne Dulce. (2010). Promoting Science and Technology to Support Climate Change Adaptation of the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)

Communities in the Philippines. Final Draft In-House Research Paper for iBoP Asia

57 Ibid. Citing the World Bank’s Environment Monitor (2007), Asian Development Bank’s study entitled, “The Economics of Climate

Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review” (March 2009), and Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) study entitled, “Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping for Southeast Asia” (2009).

58 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Summary for Policy Makers (2007).



This Chapter features the stories of our grant partners from studying the potential and challenges of innovations that seek to improve the awareness of BoP communities on climate change and reduce their vulnerability to adapt to unpredictable weather conditions.

The Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development (IPSARD), Vietnam government‘s research arm for agriculture and rural development, piloted a baseline study of the livelihood conditions of two Mekong Delta farming communities predicted to be seriously affected by climate change and offered science-based policy recommendations that could help prepare these communities to deal with future climate challenges. The policy recommendations are expected to feed into a plan that the national government will implement in the long-term.

Kahublagan sang Panimalay (Community Movement) Foundation and the Philippine Rice Research Institute – Social and Agro-Industrial Ventures (PhilRice-SAIV), both from the Philippines, journeyed with the farmers from different parts of the country to look at how they can achieve agricultural productivity given weather changes that affect water availability. Kahublagan responds by documenting innovative rainwater harvesting technologies that small farmers can easily adopt in order to achieve higher yield compared to pure rain-fed farming, and at the same time less costly and less risky compared with irrigated farming. The story of PhilRice-SAIV, on the other hand, illustrates the variety of information that small farmers can rely on to cope with extreme climate events, particularly in identifying the crops that can be propagated during periods of excessive water and during water scarcity, so that they can ultimately produce both drought-resistant and submergence-tolerant crop varieties.

Using Research towards Sustainable Livelihoods for Mekong River Delta Farmers

“Livelihood strategies of poor households in Mekong Delta for climate change adaptation,” a project of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), Vietnam59

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The Mekong River Delta (MRD) is a coastal region composed of 13 provinces in southwest Vietnam. A source of pride for the Vietnamese people, the region is vast and verdant and is a major food basket for Vietnam. In recent years, signs of climate change have been observed in predominantly poor agricultural communities of the MRD. The pilot areas for this research project are in Ben Tre, which was cited by the online newspaper VietnamNet Bridge in 2009 as one of the two provinces in the MRD predicted to face the most serious consequences of climate change.

The objective of the project was to offer solutions, drawn from research, for sustainable livelihoods to farmers affected by the visible effects of climate change and provide them with options to diversify income sources. Specifically, it aims to provide for a scientific base for formulation of solutions with a high practical value that will ensure the feasibility and effectiveness as they have direct linkage with the main actors who are farmers in agriculture and rural development.

Project Brief

The project used multi-disciplinary and participatory approaches to create new knowledge and innovative forms of interaction. The researchers collected the secondary data from Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and its functional institutions, and worked with relevant government departments to review documents (including reports on climate change, social economic conditions, poverty reduction and development policy on the MRD). The researchers also had informal and in-depth discussions with the province-level arms of the Department of Plan and Investment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Labour, Invalids and Social affairs, Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism. Moreover, the researchers organized a discussion at district People’s Committee with district managers and officers, representatives of district specialized departments, social provincal associations (women, farmers, fishermen), leaders of two communes. They also interviewed poor households and employed other participatory rural appraisal tools such as resource-mapping, seasonal calendar and focus group discussions.

the Process

59 Pham Bao Duong, Phung Giang Hai and Pham Thi Hong Van



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interviewed were aware that climate change could cause the phenomenon of sea level rise. The other 50% referred to climate change as the rise in overall temperature, which could trigger desertification, cause havoc in plant cultivation and animal breeding activities. About 33% attributed the changing rain patterns in some parts of the world to climate change, while another 30% spoke of climate change impacts such as the irregularity of increasingly powerful storms, hurricanes, floods, etc. About 24% complained that the water they were using for daily activities and production was getting salinized, and attributed this to climate change. About 21% attributed the increased frequency of powerful hurricanes and devastating floods to climate change. Meanwhile, 30% agreed that corresponding changes in rainfall and timing of the rainy season was a direct result of climate change. In addition, 10% said the phenomenon of increasing abnormally hot spells has become more of a problem.

Also according to the study, changes in weather patterns have posed difficulties on the production activities of people: shortage of irrigation water when the crops need irrigating, and devastating floods when the crops do not need any more water. The irregularity of weather patterns has also triggered the unexpected occurrence of many damaging epidemics and diseases, which have caused the mass destruction of plants and animals.

In the salinized areas of Ben Tre province, paddy crops are cultivated twice a year. The winter-spring crop is cultivated from January to May while the summer-autumn crop is from July to November. Vegetable crops are planted all year round with the typical cycle of 20-60 days, depending on the kinds of vegetables planted. The cultivation techniques, learned from agricultural extension services and agricultural development associations or companies, helped to boost the yield of each crop. Apart from paddy cultivation, local people also cultivate other types of crops such as sugar cane, farmed once a year. Livestock breeding is mainly done with pigs and chickens. However, in recent years, the occurrence of epidemics and diseases has posed a difficulty on the productivity and stability of agricultural production.

The number of people having a basic knowledge on climate change is rather limited; thus, it follows that the number of those having a thorough understanding of its impacts is even lower. Only 27% of those

Research Findings on Livelihood Impacts of the Changing Climate

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Meanwhile, aquaculture uses tiger shrimps, crabs and fish. This production activity is carried out all year round and only temporarily stopped upon the unexpected occurrence of unfavorable weather conditions. According to the local people, weather patterns in recent years have developed in a treacherous manner, and have hurt the industry badly.

In salinized and brackish-water areas of Ben Tre, there are 2 major jobs done yearly: marine fishery and plantation of watermelon (2 crops yearly). Apart from shrimp production that starts in September and ends in February-March, paddy, sweet potato and cassava crops are only cultivated once a year during the rainy season from March-April to September-October.

There are two sub-livelihoods in marine fisheries: Trawling and Drag-net. Trawling often operates during “Chuong wind” season (eastern wind blowing from the mainland to the sea) from September to February-March. It is notable that the output of marine product exploitation has diminished in the last few years due to the depleting resources caused by over-exploitation and the treacherous weather patterns with a longer and more devastating stormy season.

are the ones most exposed to unfavorable weather conditions. Access to financial services is limited for many poor families. With the accompanying poor flow of investment to the countryside and the lack of responsive programs from professional and social organizations and institutions, poor households have very limited options for development.

Poor households in Ben Tre have small-scale family-run businesses that have limited capacity to meet market demand. Households that depend on manual labor for livelihoods

As a result of the participatory analysis, the researchers noted that it would be essential to bring the internal strength of the poor into play by raising public awareness on the importance of creating sustainable livelihoods. Moreover, it is essential to come up with a communication approach to help communities raise their level of awareness on climate change and to address sustainable livelihoods concerns. A more nuanced approach to sustaining livelihoods (depending on livelihood and household categories) is suggested, as well as scientific research on better plant varieties and animal breeds that are more resilient to climate change and suitable to market demand. Moreover, a shift in plantation and breeding structure to better adapt to climate change is also encouraged.

Further, the following are also suggested: give priority to businesses that employ a large number of rural laborers; draw more investments in developing traditional craft villages (handicrafts from coconuts), and eco and religion tourism so that more poor households can make a better living; encourage the development and

Lessons Learned and Conclusions

How the poor are being affected by climate change



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operation of collective production models such as cooperative societies; expand market relationships and promote local green products; and build a strong brand name for locally produced goods.

A comprehensive strategic vision and a range of relevant solutions to climate change require efforts and determination from the government, foreign and domestic organizations, local administrations and other stakeholders. Each locality must be able to have a detailed climate change scenario based on the general senario for the country that also examines impacts on livelihoods, production, plants and animals. Appropriate plans to adapt and mitigate climate change can be developed with particular attention to hunger eradication and poverty reduction. Local communities, particularly the poorest of the poor, will be at the frontline of implementation and monitoring to ensure effectiveness of the project. They should be given the autonomy to choose the right livelihood for themselves, after which policies should be deployed to support them. Support is welcome from the Central Government and other organizations. Recognizing however that the stakeholders’ perception and knowledge of climate change vary and that existing efforts to address climate change are “quite scattered,” IPSARD recommends continuing research to enhance the effectiveness and

sustainability of policy and programs designed to help the poor in adapting to climate change. In particular, there is a need to conduct more case studies at the MRD to better identify and clarify characteristics corresponding to sub- ecosystems in the region and to provide local policymakers with more footing for introducing reasonable, feasible, and integrated policies and programs. There is also a need to extend more support to the poor in the form of experiments or pilot activities that aid them in increasing production and enhancing living standards. Support is most needed in small credit financing, infrastructure improvement, technical training and seed provision.

Recommendations


Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development - Division of Strategy and Policy Research www.ipsard.gov.vn

IPSARD was the institution formed after the merging of the former Institute of Agricultural Economics and other units under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development (MARD) at the end of 2005. The Institute does scientific research, assesses impacts of policies, strategies, plans and programs, and informs the decision-making of policymakers and stakeholders in the agriculture and rural development sector. Furthermore, the Institute implements collaborative activities in research, technology transfer, training, consultation and model development with domestic and foreign institutions, and individuals.

Mailing Address: No. 6 Nguyen Cong Tru Str. Hai Ba Trung Dist., Ha Noi, Viet Nam

Contact number: +84 43 9723390 or +84 91 3270672 (Telephone)+84 43 9711062 (Fax)

Innovation in Harvesting Rainwater Technology“Engaging Farmer Researchers in the Study of Rainwater CatchmentSystems,” a project of the Kahublagan sang Panimalay (CommunityMovement) Foundation, Inc. (Philippines)

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In Iloilo, Philippines, water storage is limited as old growth forests cover only 2% of the land and the proposed construction of river dams can not find enough budget and government support. Thus, water constraint could become a major issue in the future given the project climate scenarios for the province of Iloilo, which was identified by Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration as one of the provinces that will most likely be severely affected by the increase in temperature by 2020 and 2050.

This research project aimed to understand existing rainwater harvesting technologies with the potential to improve the lives of rain-fed farmers. The project was organized so that farmers themselves would provide most of the input to the study. The other collaborators were a team of technical people who helped with providing research about rainwater harvesting technologies and systems.

Project Brief



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the Process

Three sources of data were triangulated to identify local knowledge in rainwater harvesting and to improve on it to produce new understanding and practice. These were knowledge from the farmer-researchers, small farmer groups, and a team of experts from agriculture, hydrology, engineering and social science. The information-sharing process included regular meetings of farmer-researchers, cross visits to other demonstration areas or farmers practicing rainwater collection, reporting to an organized farmers’ group, and roundtable discussions with an expanded group of experts in the region. From the documentation of experiences, interaction and secondary information, new knowledge was formed that enumerated and classified types of rainwater water harvesting devices and described how these are managed for optimum usefulness.

Research Findings on Livelihood Impacts of the Changing Climate

The main benefit of rainwater harvesting is higher productivity or higher yield compared with pure rain-fed farming. It is less costly and less risky compared to irrigated farming. It also improves soil conservation as it involves less soil erosion (especially when applied in sloping areas), and leads to less accumulation of salt in soil because of the fresh supply of rainwater. The technology leads to water conservation and provision of new water sources, as primary water source is used which lessens the use of ground and surface water. It can further assist in reforestation efforts as well as in the establishment of orchards and plantations resulting in less drying of land.

Types DevicesPONDS

PANS

IN-SITU DEVICES

DAMS

CISTERNS

HILLSIDE DEVICES

CANALS

Simple dugout

Foot slope natural depression

Farm bunds/ rice paddies

Check dams

Above ground

Contour bunds

Eyebrow terraces

Natural vegetative strips

Diversion canals

Burrow pits

Flat terrain natural depression

Linear furrows

Diversion dams

Below ground

Terraces

Rainwater pits

Earthdam, hillside

Detention canalsInfiltration canals

Detention pond, concrete

Swamps

Individual rainwater pits

Water pools in creeks

Meskat

Sub-surface dam

Infiltration pond

Detention pond, clay

Sand dams

Small farm reservoir

Low corner within bunds

Square furrows

Earthen dams, valley

Small water impounding

End corner within bunds

Ring furrows

Rock catchment

Detention pond, rip rap

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The research resulted in a classification of 38 rainwater harvesting innovations:

Most of the farmers could not make use of their small farm reservoirs because of the soil type. The lesson is that farmers should choose from a wide variety of rainwater harvesting devices suited for their farm soil and topography of the area. Upland farmers could well benefit from detention ponds to store surface water. They can also use infiltration canals to store water in the soil and make use of the same downstream. Farmers also need to understand the socio-economic nature of their production, giving priority to food for the table, and taking risks in crop production for the market for livelihood. RWH is a system that could protect food supply even as it helps diversify sources of income.

The research found that rain-fed farmers often use a variety of rice requiring higher volumes of water, and is therefore not optimized using rainwater harvesting techniques. This practice hindered farmers’ flexibility in using non-rice crops for the second cropping. To practice rainwater harvesting,


table 9: Types of Rainwater Catching Systems


IN SOUTHEAST ASIA


Kahublagan Sang Panimalay Foundation, Inc.

Kahublagan is a private corporation engaged in social research and community development work. The need for technical development and managerial expertise in the development contracts and foreign assisted projects brought about the merging of the local management consultancy firm of J.C. Salas and Associates and Hublag Sang Panimalay (former name of the organization). The consolidation gave birth to the Foundation, as approved by the Security and Exchange Commission in 1988.

Mailing Address: Mailing Address: 25 B Magsaysay VillageLa Paz, Iloilo City, Iloilo, Philippines


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farmers have to be educated on the choices of rice varieties appropriate for their available water sources.

On the research method employed, farmers were found to be highly effective as field researchers. This led to the identification of an unexpectedly high number of different techniques and provided valuable insights into the workings of the techniques. Moreover, knowledge in community organizing work proved to be useful in the research process.

Recommendations

The demand for rainwater harvesting technology to adapt to climate change is apparent. There is, however, a greater need for information dissemination and investment on the part of the government for the technology to be recognized as a social good. On the other hand, more service providers could be attracted to the business of rainwater harvesting to help address the needs of those most vulnerable to climate change. It is a budding industry in many countries, but the Philippines may not be fully aware of this opportunity.

Disaster-Resilient Crops for Disaster-Prone Communities“Participatory Adaptability Trial of Submergence Tolerant Rice Varieties, Disaster Resilient Crops and Climate Change Adaptable Crop Production Methods” by the Philippine Rice Research Institute – Social and Agro Industrial Ventures (PhilRice – SAIV)

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In 2009, two typhoons entered the Philippine area of responsibility earlier than expected. Typhoon Dante (international name “Kujira”) made a landfall on April 30 and wreaked havoc in the Bicol region, southeast of Luzon. A week later, Typhoon Emong (“Chan-Hom”) made entry and lashed at the Ilocos region on the northeast side of the island. The damage to agriculture caused by these two typhoons was roughly Php1.38 billion, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Farmers lament over such off-season typhoons. Typhoons used to be predictable and were considered in the crops cultivation process; but beginning in 2008, dry and wet seasons were no longer distinct. Clear signs of climate change are showing across the country, thereby disrupting farmers’ planting calendars and affecting yields and profits.

PhilRice introduced three new elements in this research undertaking: 1) test novel approaches

Project Brief

by moving out of a controlled environment and test a submergence-tolerant rice variety; 2) engage farming households to set up the farm and subjecting the adaptability of said rice variety to farmers’ traditional practices; and 3) introduce farmers to new crops that can be planted in areas frequented by flooding.



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the Process

A preliminary rapid assessment was made in Northern Samar in November 2009 to gather data on crop production and determine the farming community’s food security level, available power and water supplies, market channels for agricultural products, and access to schools and healthcare facilities. This initial activity is notable for the weight that PhilRice-SAIV places on social preparation. According to the team, “social preparation is a very important step, and, when dealing with marginalized communities, immersion with the stakeholders is more effective than survey type data-gathering.” The team also conducted a micro-scale testing of the propagation of “industrial crops” such as aromatic herbs for essential oils.

Research Findings

The vulnerability of marginalized farmers to climate change impact is due to a general lack of awareness on climate change and its correlation to changing and erratic weather patterns. They also lacked knowledge of other livelihood opportunities that can be derived from crops grown in their gardens.

Crop production from vegetable seeds provided was eased by a good water source that the community discovered and tapped using a water hose. The project team considers this initiative by the community a significant improvement because past observations show that the beneficiaries were used to the abundance of water in their area and therefore lacked motivation to find other water sources when drought came.

Opportunities for alternative livelihood are slowly unfolding as the team continues its research on aromatic herbs that may be mass-produced for their natural essences and market potential as “healing oils.” Moreover, farmers were able to find inspiration in developing new products upon learning that there is a potential to add value to the raw materials they planted and in marketing their produce.

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Recommendations

In the near future, PhilRice will disseminate the results of the research project through newspapers, tabloids, and radio stations. This will be undertaken as soon as the ongoing training program is completed and the results of the yield trial are completely gathered.

PhilRice’s long-term plan is to scale up the project and integrate it to a business model. This will form part of the Climate Change Adaptation Program that PhilRice is planning to create. Livelihood will be a key component of the program. One source of livelihood will be the consolidation of food crops where a community member collects excess produce from the

■ There is opportunity in crisis. The drought was an opportunity to see the response of the beneficiaries to the water crisis. Seemingly, it takes a “transformation” initiative to prompt and motivate farmers to innovate in their own backyards and become more prepared even before a disaster happens. Hence, PhilRice sees the value of engaging communities in the innovation process by exposing them to other farming communities that have successfully made farming more viable. The drought was also an opportunity for farmers to explore other sources of income that are adaptable to climate change.

■ Access to information is critically needed by farmers. The project team has observed that their partner communities were totally unprepared for water scarcity having been used to abundant water supply in their farmlands, and lacked the urgency to search for ways to get the water they need to produce their food crops. The project team attributes the lack of awareness of farming communities to the absence of access to information. They see the need to provide rural farmers with access to information to better understand climatic conditions, including the threat of climate change. This, however, requires appropriate media--in local languages and popular forms--to effectively deliver the information.



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Philippine Rice Research Institute - Social and Agro-Industrial Venture Unit www.philrice.gov.ph

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farmers and sells the produce to the local market. Another potential income generator for farmers is the production of essential oils from the farmers’ industrial crops. Community participation will remain a key element in developing the business model and in the enterprise to help farmers learn the skills and tricks in manufacturing and trading and become better managers of their livelihood. PhilRice estimates that Php1.5 million is needed to jumpstart the extraction process of essential oils, with 18-24 months as business incubation period.

The system for trading food crops, meanwhile, may be covered by micro-grants in one year. PhilRice will also harness its electronic commerce facility for the essential oils. As for the food crops, the project team is optimistic that the community can sustain the project’s initiative as they themselves can readily sell the food crops in the local market.

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Anderson, J. & Markides, C. (2007). Strategic innovation at the base of the pyramid. MIT Sloan Management Review, 49(1), 83-88.

Arocena, R., Sutz, J.(2005). Science, technology and innovation in developing countries: some elements for defining policies and assigning resources. United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

Arora, S. & Romijin, H. (2010). Innovation for the Base of the Pyramid: critical perspectives from development studies on heterogeneity and participation. United Nations University Working Paper, Series No. 2009-036. Retrieved from www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2009/wp2009-036.pdf

Baudry, A. (2009). Final Draft In-House Research Paper for iBoP Asia, “Innovations and Cross-Section Partnerships: A recipe for improving water and sanitation access in the Philippines and Southeast Asia” citing the 2008 iBoP Asia Inception Paper, the UN Millennium Project (2005), and ADB’s Water Brief (2008).

Baudry, A. (2009). Final Draft In-House Research Paper for iBoP Asia, “Innovations and Cross-Section Partnerships: A recipe for improving water and sanitation access in the Philippines and Southeast Asia” citing Lau (2007) and Asia Society (2009).

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Caccam Jr., E. (ed). (2009). Nurturing the Enterprising BoP: Cases from the PBSP Business Advisory Program. Manila: Philippine Business for Social Progress.

Carden, F. (2009). Knowledge to policy: making the most of development research. New Delhi, India: International

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IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Table 8

Table 9

The Original Business Models, Prahalad and Hart

Prahalad and Hammond’s Pyramid

Hart and Christensen’s Pyramid

Prahalad: From Pyramid to Diamond

Business Models at the BoP according to Budinich

Stages in the Innovation Process

Multi-sectoral collaboration of intermediaries in Innovation Story 15

The Difference between the First and Second Generation BoP Concept

Milestones in the invention, innovation and diffusion process

Six Levels of Community engagement

Level of Community Engagement in the 26 innovation stories

Types of NGOs engaged in the 26 innovation stories

Universities and colleges engaged in the 26 innovation stories

National Government Agencies involved in project implementation of the innovation stories

Private Sector involved in project implementation of the innovation stories

Types of Rainwater Catching Systems

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PathwaysOut of Poverty:Innovating with the BOPin Southeast Asia

iBoP Asia is a partnership of the Ateneo School of Governement (www.asg.ateneo)

and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (www.idrc.ca)

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Center for Social Policy Building

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pathways out of poverty - inclusive innovation hub · ramon l. fernan iii lilac c. florentino ......

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