August 06, 2003
Multifunctional Platform in Benin
The UNDP has for some time been running a multifunctional platform project in Mali. This platform is built around a simple diesel engine that is connected by belts to various tools, such as a cereal mill, seed press and battery charger. Unfortunately, many of the platforms we saw in Mali were out of order and had the appearance of being neglected for some time. Here in Benin, we've found locally-made, motor-driven mills chugging away in just about every village. Kemon alone had at least four such mills. I found this large mill at the small marche in Parakou.
In this case, the mill was being used to grind dried corn into flour. This machine took about fifteen minute, and four passes, to completely grind a large bowl of corn.
According to the mill owner, the diesel motor was over 30 years old, and had been in constant operation.
Similar to the UNDP MFP installation, the motor was cooled using a pair of water tanks.
It was hard to get good pictures of the mill, due to the sudden appearance of a mob of extremely excited little kids who all wanted their picture taken. Digital cameras like the one I brought, with a little LCD display on the back, were a big hit with kids and often caused these kinds of mob scenes.
I would very much appreciate any additional site vist-based information that you may have on the multi-function platform: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have heard that some (many?) of the platforms in West Africa have operating problems and that the maintenance and repair infrastructure is often not adequate.
Thanks very much.
Jerome Weingart
International Resources Group, Ltd.
Washington DC
jmweingart@aol.com
I am a graduate student at Monterey Institute of International Studies. I am currently researching gender mainstreaming within the UNDP in Mali for my Gender and Development class. It is my responsibility to analyze to what extent gender is being mainstreamed in the MFP project in Mali. I am also examining the national response to the program/project and am examining the degree of UNDP and the Malian's government collaboration. I read about the Multifunctional platfrom for village power project while searching the web. If you have any additional information available related to my paper, it would be greatly appreciated. I will send you an attachment in another email with a report about the MFP that I received from a UNDP worker.
Cheers,
Mary Graham
Posted by: Mary Graham at November 13, 2003 04:06 AM
