The Multifunctional Platform in Ghana
Currently, 83% of rural households in Ghana are not connected to the country's electrical grid. As a result, women in rural villages across the country spend a large portion of their time processing food by hand—pounding cassava, grating gari and grinding grains. These women expend large amounts of time and energy to complete these tasks, leaving little of either to invest in taking care of themselves and their families, or to generate income.
By integrating the multifunctional platform (MFP) into these communities, EWB volunteer Monica Rucki hopes this tool will reduce the time and energy spent completing these tasks and provide women with alternate opportunities.
The MFP is a 10 hp diesel engine mounted on a steel chassis that can power various agro-processing machinery such as a corn mill and oil press. It can also drive an alternator to charge batteries, power a water pump, and light up to 200 bulbs. The MFP is low in cost and can be maintained and run by local technicians.
EWB's Role:
EWB volunteer Monica is identifying communities well-suited for the adoption of the MFP. This, more so than the installation and continuous monitoring that will follow, is arguably the most critical stage of the entire process. In order for the project to be successful, selecting communities whose needs are being met by the MFP is essential to ensure that their financial investment in the project will bring about widespread benefits.
To promote the MFP, Monica, along with staff from her partner organization, KITE, have used various communication channels including radio, district assemblies, mosques, churches and community visits. Interested communities are encouraged to make a request by letter or in person. The volunteers then visit the community, speaking with community members to ascertain if the village is a good site for the project (determined in part by the interest of individuals as well as its population, income-generating activities associated with agro-processing, and road accessibility). Findings from the visit coupled with the community's request are then used to conduct a feasibility study, determining the community's suitability for an MFP. They plan to tweak this selection process after assessing the technology's integration into the first communities selected.
EWB, who has been working on this project almost from the start, has now sent nine volunteers to work with KITE on the MFP Project.
