Parten's Profile

INTERMEDIATE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT GROUP (ITDG)

ITDG was formed after radical economist and philosopher Fritz Schumacher had an article published in the Observer in 1965 pointing out the limitations of aid based on the transfer of large-scale technologies to developing countries which did not have the resources to accommodate them. He argued that there should be a shift in emphasis towards ‘intermediate technologies’ based on the needs and skills possessed by the people of developing countries. Encouraged by the response, Schumacher and a few of his associates decided to create an ‘advisory centre’ to promote the use of efficient labour-intensive techniques and in 1966 the Intermediate Technology Development Group was born.

Today, ITDG is an international NGO with over 400 staff, a headquarters in the UK, and regional or country offices based in Lima (Latin America), Harare (Southern Africa), Nairobi (East Africa), Khartoum (Sudan), Colombo (South Asia), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kathmandu (Nepal). Together, these offices manage over 100 development projects at any time. ITDG’s current strategy (2003-2007) defines the Group’s mission as the eradication of poverty in developing countries through the development and use of technology, by demonstrating results, sharing knowledge and influencing others. ITDG’s core principles are: putting people first; working in partnership; a concern for future generations; and respect for diversity.

The lack of access to technology is a key feature of living in extreme poverty. Whilst the world is being transformed by rapid development in ‘new’ technology, large numbers of people are left behind, without having access to even the most basic technologies. For example, 2 billion people do not have access to modern, efficient forms of energy and 3 billion still rely on biomass for cooking; 1.5 billion live in inadequate shelter; 1 billion have no access to safe water; and 2.4 billion have no sanitation. ITDG’s new strategy has four key aims, addressed by international programmes of work:

1. To strengthen the ability of poor women and men to use technology to cope with threats to their livelihoods from natural disasters, environmental degradation and civil conflict.

2. To enable poor women and men to use technologies in systems of production, processing and marketing that can provide secure livelihoods.

3. To improve the access of poor women and men to decentralised infrastructure services and shelter.

4. To enable poor women and men to assess and respond to the challenges of New Technologies, and to develop and adopt applications that contribute to poverty reduction.

Of the above, the third aim is particularly geared to improving the quality of life in human settlements. This aim enables improved access to locally managed basic infrastructure services and shelter for poor men and women living in informal settlements, urban and peri-urban slums and rural areas by supporting the development and dissemination of, e.g.: more sustainable cooking technologies; clean sustainable energy services; locally managed water and sanitation services; appropriate transport technologies; appropriate housing and building technologies; technologies for solid waste management; and locally managed communications services. ITDG has been working in all of these sectors for many years, and received international recognition for its work, e.g. from UN-Habitat who allocated its Scroll of Honour to ITDG’s Shelter Programme ten years ago, whilst the Shambob project in Sudan won a Best Practice Award in 2000.

It is important that, under ITDG’s new strategy, all these services have been brought under one umbrella. ITDG realises that poverty, and particularly urban poverty, is complex. To alleviate it requires the integration of various sectors, as well as a range of partners, in development projects. ITDG has been working on integrated urban development since the mid 1990s, when a first project took place in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. Lessons from that work fed into a larger project, starting in 1999, with components in Nakuru, Kenya and Alwar, India, with the Indian component being managed by a new partner: SDS. The work in Nakuru has been recognised as good practice by UN-Habitat and features on its Best Practices database. This project focused on three informal settlements, where participatory methods were used to establish the poor’s priorities, essentially access to credit, better and affordable shelter and sanitation, building skills, and income generating opportunities. Effective partnerships were established, involving the municipal council, CBOs and their umbrella organisation NAHECO, and several support agencies. As a result, more than 400 community members are now participating in savings and credit schemes, around 50 have accessed housing or business credits, 11 groups have established micro-enterprises and are slowly increasing incomes, and houses and toilets are being built or improved, using appropriate designs and technologies which can lead to cost savings of up to 50%. There are regular exchange visits with the project in India, which allows lessons to be shared and replicated.

ITDG is currently scaling up its work on urban development, through new work in three more towns and cities in Kenya, two in Zimbabwe and one in Sudan. The new locations are benefiting from the previous work through exchange visits and city-to-city co-operation. Additional partners and funding agencies have come on board. ITDG also attaches great importance to the documentation and dissemination of its experiences, and those of others, e.g. via its web site (http://www.itdg.org.uk) its subsidiary ITDG Publishing (www.developmentbookshop.com), the basin network (www.gtz.de/basin), and the UN-Habitat Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (www.bestpractices.org).

Contact:

Theo Schilderman
Intermediate Technology Development Group
Schumacher Centre for Technology Development
Bourton Hall
Bourton On Dunsmore
Warwickshire
CV23 9QZ
Tel: +44 - 01926 634400
Fax: +44 - 01926 634401
Email: theos@ITDG.org.uk

http://www.itdg.org