More ideas than time

It is certainly then case that coming somewhere like here fills the imagination about what can be done - simply as the needs are so evident. Personally I have found that I am really good at generating socially beneficial project ideas, its like my brain is a big factory of ideas, Especially if I have a large amount of input from books or the web, my brain takes one idea and spins it into something slightly different for another place. Its a shame that I don't seem to have the same insights for money making ideas as I potentially could have made some money by now. Maybe its just that I am really not interested in flogging people some new bit of shit that they don't really need in their lives and more interested in solving different types of problems.

Anyway, there are obviously a significant amount of things that need to be done in a place like Zimbabwe, many of them are very feasible and fairly cheap to do. All of the technology is already there, it (in theory) should be a matter of getting people to implement those solutions themselves - if they want them. This last point is very important as it is a waste of time giving someone something that they don't really, really, really need or want. They will always take it, but if you go back in a year's time it'll probably be broken, under-used, or sold for cash. The other factor is don't give people things - ie get out of the Aid mentality. Get people to pay for stuff - loans that they pay-back are ok if they can't afford it up-front. The reasoning is that people won't buy something that they don't see is absolutely essential (not when they have so little money), and Aid just breeds dependency and a 'give-me' mentality - people start to lose self-determination in other parts of their lives as they get dependent on hand-outs; just like in welfare dependency in the UK & Oz.

So onto what I would love to get done here, and some of the things we are working on.

Microfinance - It looks like most funds have left the country (probably with fairly good reason), but this is one of the most important things that is needed. Hyper-inflation (the highest rate in the world, ever) over the last couple of years has wiped out any capital or businesses that people had saved up or running in earlier years. Drought in 2006 & 2007 meant that a lot of small agricultural enterprises that were running (e.g. small livestock projects with 20 - 30 animals) collapsed as people could not grow food for their stock, nor afford to buy the food from elsewhere. Other money making projects collapsed they couldn't afford the raw materials.
Hence there are a lot of skills residing in the rural communities, lots of ideas and know-how, just no start-up capital. 80% unemployment means no chance of getting any money together to start-up small businesses, so without credit it is a dead end situation.
We are looking at the Grameen Bank model as the framework for getting a small-scale scheme to run with the communities that Kufunda already works with, with a trial to be run with the Ruwa community that is closest to Kufunda.

Ferro-cement & bamboo-cement water tanks - people in the rural communities and in the cities have difficulty accessing clean, safe drinking water, as well as additional water for gardens & livestock. There is little infrastructure in the way of pipes in rural communities or peri-urban townships. Infrastructure in cities hasn't been maintained, leading to the cholera outbreaks from last year. Bores can be expensive to put down, and can't necessarily be located next to homes. Seven months of the year here are very dry, but there is a decent amount of rain that falls Nov-March. Water tanks catching roof run-off kept outback communities in Australia hydrated for many years (and still do in more remote areas; water tanks are making a comeback in urban areas as well as authorities realised that they were unnecessarily over-regulating and nannying), and there is no reason why it can't be done here.
Ferro-cement water tanks can be constructed relatively cheaply - tough steel mesh frame, chicken-wire around that, and then cement plastered on. These tanks can be small to large and capture roof run-off during the wet season. Cost is around $100 for a 5000L tank, which will provide enough safe drinking water for a family for the dry season. Two or more tanks can be placed in series as people can afford more, overspill can be fed into garden beds & swales.
Bamboo-cement tanks are a cheaper version developed in Indonesia in the early 80s. A bamboo framework is made, and the cement plastered onto this. Cost around $50, the largest structurally sound size it can achieve is around 4500L. Bamboo is another wonder plant (anyone that has been to northern Thailand or Laos can see the number of different ways it can be used) but isn't really that well used here. It would be brilliant to get a bamboo construction expert from there to come here and run some workshops - could save thousands of trees!
Tank construction could be a very viable small business for someone, and tank costs could be paid off over a few months or shared between neighbours to make them more affordable.

Small-scale Biogas - Most rural communities either have no electricity or intermittent electricity. Most cooking is done over the fire, often in a small kitchen hut separate to the living hut. These huts have poor ventilation and are therefore very smoky, with all the associated health problems, especially for children. Firewood is also a major cause of deforestation, the bush around the outskirts of Harare is now grassland due to firewood cutting. Women & children have to spend hours each day in search of firewood, reducing time for other productive activities such as gardening, education or income generating projects.
Rural households have good potential for small scale biogas units to be set-up. This can be done for as cheaply as $100, again a loan could be made that can be repaid over a few months, and such infrastructure is easily shared between a few households. Human, animal and other organic waste is mixed with water and put into the unit. The waste is digested by bacteria anaerobically and methane is produced. The methane is trapped and piped to a stove for cooking gas. It can also power lights and gas refrigeration. For a small unit the waste from 2 pigs can generate enough methane for 6 hours of cooking each day - plenty for a family. If there are no pigs or more gas is required latrines can be diverted to the system.
90% of pathogens are killed through the digestion process, and the post-digested sludge can be used in compost or put onto fields.
Again the implementation of such systems could be a good business for a few people and a loan scheme could enable households to pay more easily.
For a further idea a social business could be run to achieve more rapid roll out; this idea is as follows: a household is sold a digester unit and 2 pigs through a loan. They look after the pigs, and benefit from the methane. The 2 pigs produce a litter of 8-12. The household give 8-10 pigs back to the company and keep 2 or 3 for themselves, thereby paying for the loan and now they have 2 pigs through which they can generate and income. The company uses the additional pigs to provide more small business units and additional pigs are slaughtered for pork, which is sold and profits go back into the company. Benefits are biogas, employment, use of waste and reduction in deforestation. Training and other assistance would be needed, but that is the essence of the scheme.

Water harvesting through swales - there is a lot of potential to swales (water harvesting ditches on contour) to make crops more productive, reduce erosion and provide enough water for a greater diversity of crops. This could be done on the farm that Kufunda is based at, and everywhere that has a little bit of slope (see www.permaculture.org.au/greeningthedesert for a quick overview)

Income generating projects at Kufunda - mainly around meeting local needs and utilising the skills and resources that are here. In-brief:
Upgrade of workshop facilities to enable more diverse use of the village for hosting higher paying organisations (need regular power, basic conference facilities)
Use of fields for productive cropping to produce sale-able crops.
Establishment of a permaculture nursery to sell seedlings & trees to local communities
Eco-building / appropriate technology consultancy
Permaculture consultancy
Animal production (chickens, pigs, goats)
Hosting / facilitation services
Aquaculture
Compost, vermiculture, other soil ammendments
Herbal remedies and consultation
etc

Internet-café social business - set up an internet cafe in Epworth township, where profits go back into the company to expand. Continue expansion, set up in cities & compete with existing companies; use profits to provide internet services to more remote areas; double up as a resource library and training centre. All profits go back into company to provide more training and new services for people without access. Use Ubuntu software & 2nd-hand computers initially to get started.