Simple engine transforms village life

The technocrats of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) who are trying to promote it use the term "multi-purpose platform." But to the thousands of villagers whose lives it has touched -- and changed -- across Mali, it is the "magic machine." For them, no other term fully describes the transformation that the machine has brought to the way life is lived in their communities. And there are now 45 such villages, most located in the country's hinterland where electricity and other modern facilities are rare luxuries.

"It has made our lives easier," said Ms. Kani Sidibe of Balanfina village, near the Guinean border. She was talking to a group of international journalists who came recently to see the platform installed in her village. Before the platform, Ms. Sidibe spent six hours each day pounding millet in order to get enough for her family and for sale at the market. She then spent another four hours going to the stream to fetch water for domestic use. Now, she grinds the millet in minutes and draws water from the pump, completing all her tasks within an hour, thanks to the platform.

Anchored on a conventional 10-horsepower diesel motor, the platform generates mechanical power which can be used for any number of economic activities. Several simple attachments can be hooked up to turn it into a food processor, crusher, grinder or shredder. It also can be used to power electric motors to pump water, generate electricity, weld, drill or saw.

The motor is mounted on a heavy horizontal metal frame whose rigidity provides stability during operation and permits the platform to be moved around. Because the platform relies on readily available technology, the most modern of which is from the 1930s, local artisans have no difficulty in fixing and maintaining it. Besides, nearly all the modules, except for the electrical alternators and pumps, are made in Mali with locally available materials.

A unique feature of the platform is that although it is designed to run on diesel, it also runs on pourghere oil, which is obtained from a plant that grows easily in populated regions of Mali. One litre of fuel used to crush pourghere seeds can yield up to 21 litres of pourghere fuel.

Photo: UNDP / Leland Belgrave

Because of its modular concept, the platform is easily adapted to meet a wide variety of needs, with minimal idle time. A different module is easily connected to the motor to respond to the different needs as the days or seasons change.

In a country like Mali, where electricity is still a distant reality for most rural communities, the impact of the machine on daily life has been dramatic. By switching from human and animal energy sources to the platform, rural Malians, particularly women like Ms. Sidibe, have seen a significant reduction in their daily workload. In turn, they are able to devote more time to other income-generating activities such as market gardening and trading.

Women manage platform

To help ensure that the benefits reach more Malians, UNDP is helping villages to finance and install the platform. Each village is asked to select and train a group of women to operate and manage the platforms, including the sale of the services. The villages are also requested to demonstrate their commitment to maintaining the machines by mobilizing some of the funds needed to purchase it. Nearly 50 villages now have the platform. The target is to cover 500 villages in five years.

Cereal processing has been the platform's main revenue-generating activity. It also is popular for powering water pumps. In the communities where it has been installed, people no longer have to spend hours searching for water for domestic use. Moreover, by making electricity available, the platform has had a big social impact on village life, making possible such activities as evening classes for those unable to attend regular classes, refrigeration and use of television.

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