AIDG
Appropriate Infrastructure
Development Group
Sustainable Solutions to the Infrastructure
Needs of the Rural Poor

• Mission
• Method
• Motivation
• Technologies
• Xela Teco
• Our Partners
Overview

Mission
• AIDG seeks to increase the use of appropriate technologies in developing countries through education, training, outreach, and business incubation

Appropriate Technology:
Affordable

Appropriate Technology:
Environmentally Sound

Appropriate Technology:
Repairable

Our Method

A Business Model to Create
Change
• Market based development strategy
• Spreads appropriate technology solutions through incubation of small employeeowned businesses
• After 3 yrs, business is transitioned to a worker-owned cooperative

Assistance to Workshop
• Financial Assistance
– Seed capital
– Community exposure through grant supported and prenegotiated projects
• Material & Equipment
Procurement
• Business Planning
– Market Analysis
– Client Procurement
– Financial planning Fine casting sand, power tools

Assistance to Workshop
• Technical Assistance
– Access to Technology,
Training, Product
Development, Quality
Control, Good
Manufacturing Practices
– Computer training, Web development

Model Sustainability
• Post-incubation temporary agreements
– Profit-sharing agreement: 10% of profits incubate next AIDG business
– Sole product distribution rights in N. Amer,
Europe, Japan
• Previous workshops help AIDG techs to train new workshop employees

Motivations

Cuba Experience I.
• 2 pig farms about 20 miles outside of Havana
– Farm A. One with a biodigester for treating pig excrement
• Farm was clean with an uncontaminated source of well water.
• Biogas used for lighting, a stove and a hot water heater.
• The fertilizer bolstered the productive capacity of soil.
• Tree cover maintained

Cuba Experience II.
– Farm B. No biodigester
• Pig excrement contaminated the nearby water source
• Inefficient wood fires which created a good deal of smoke
• Most of the surrounding trees were cleared.
• Cost of kerosene for lighting
– Issue: Nowhere Farmer B could purchase this technology

Sustainable Development
• “ Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
– The Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future (Oxford :
Oxford University Press, 1987).

Sustainability Triangle:
Economic Development

Sustainability Triangle:
Ecologic Integrity
Creation of small scale foundry for casting recycled aluminum

Sustainability Triangle:
Equity

Our Technologies

Biodigester

Windmill

Micro-hydroelectric

Water

AIDG in Guatemala

• 08/2005 AIDG began training at its 1st manufacturing facility.
• Team: 10 engineering, electrical, & metalworking specialists
• 2008, Xela Teco will transition into a worker-owned cooperative

Quetzaltango, Guatemala

Guatemala Assessment:
Electricity & Water
• Electricity
– 50+ % non-electrification rate among rural villages
– Households using trad alternatives for lighting pay about 80 times the price of electricity.
• Water
– 50+ % rural households no access to water service; use natural sources
– 75% of home w/ piped water, buy bottled or treat water
– Lack of access to clean water major contributor to <5 mortality

Guatemala Assessment:
Cooking
• Liquid propane gas (LPG) most common in urban areas.
• Firewood is used more often in rural locales
– Purchased firewood is also common; costs more than LPG
– Cooking with biomass fuels (e.g. wood, dung, etc.) is linked to acute respiratory tract infections, particularly in children.

Guatemala Assessment:
Sanitation in Animal Husbandry
• Most common solutions
– Construction of pigpens near rivers or creeks
– Use of PVC pipe to transfer waste to a river or creek
– Daily collection of manure
– Creation of a waste lagoon in a field. Waste Lagoon

Opportunities provided by
Guatemalan Law
• Law of Promotion of New and Renewable Sources of Fuel
– Compels the Bank of Guatemala to offer a credit line for the financing of certain renewable energy projects
• Article 129 of the Constitution declares the country's electrification a national urgency
•
Electricity Law (Decree 93-96) of 10/06/96 demonopolized the energy sector & opened it to full private-sector participation.

Local Partner: CEDEPEM
• Experimental rural technology development organization
• Largest development agency in Xela
• Has done significant greenhouse & water pump projects with EU support.
• AIDG installed 2 windmills at CEDEPEM demonstration centers in Rancho de Teja and Chichaclan

Recruiting

Starting the Business
• Starting a corporation was prohibitively expensive
– $1200, mostly notary public fees
– Compared to $50 in Massachusetts
• Started Xela Teco as a sole proprietorship
– $300

Changes in Wages by Sector (1990-1999)
Source: World Bank, 2001 $1=7.5Q; 3000Q= $400; 1000Q=$133

Existing Protection for Workers in Guatemala
• Living Wage
• IGSS
– Social Security
– Health Insurance
– Worker’s Compensation

Potential Customer Base
• Advantage: low cost products, installation & repair/maintenance services
• Infrastructure development NGOs
• Public institutions
• Large farming operations
• Private contractors
• Private individuals

Barriers to Uptake
• Lack of knowledge of technologies
• Ease of use
• Cultural practice or other needs
– Wood fire: energy, warmth, light
• Pricing:
– Significant efforts to make base products affordable to an individual rural family using a micro-loan
• HPDE biodigester, high efficiency stove, ram pump
– Typical micro-loan about $70

The Xela Teco Team

Our Partners

Casa Guatemala

Biodigester Project

Comunidad Finca Nueva Alianza

Biodigester Project

Rancho de Teja & Chicaclan

Windmill Projects

For more information
• AIDG
– www.aidg.org
– info@aidg.org
• Appropriate technologies
– www.aidg.net
• Xela Teco
– www.xelateco.com