Donate for Appropriate Technology

Donations to CRACYP's fund for appropriate technology will make a lasting difference to the lives of sugar cane farming families here in Ecuador.  The revolving loan fund will provide and install stainless steel distillation tanks which are safer to use, produce more alcohol of better quality and cost less in the long term than cheap steel tanks.  The farmer gradually repays the cost of the tank, so the money can be used to buy a tank for the next family. 

The appropriate technology fund will provide these tanks to the members of CADO, our organic sugar cane farming cooperative, who are committed to organic and sustainable agriculture.  They will sell their organic alcohol via CADO, where they receive training and advice on organic farming practices and the use of appropriate technology.  CADO designed the tank specifically for local conditions and it heats more cane juice, faster, with less fuel than the ordinary tanks.

We provide and install the tanks, rather than lending cash, so we know the money is used for its intended purpose.  The cooperative's social network provides a strong incentive to repay the loan on time so that friends and neighbours can benefit next.  The farmers are paying for the tanks, so they value their investment and learn how to use it efficiently.  

Technology for agriculture is limited in Ecuador.  Most farmers use thin steel tanks to distill the sugar cane juice.  The fermented juice is put into the tank and a fire is lit underneath.  These tanks only last about 3 months before rusting through, leaking boiling cane juice everywhere and scalding anyone standing too close.  Each time, the week's production of sugar cane juice is lost.  

The low-quality tanks cost around $20 each.  The week's lost production, depending on market prices, is worth $30 to $70.  Allowing for the costs of transportation and time spent installing the new tanks, these tanks are costing the farmers around $250 to $350 per year.  They do not comply with organic certification regulations.  The farmers keep buying them because that is all they can afford with the cash flow they have.

The heavy-gauge stainless steel distillation tanks that the donations fund will provide do meet the organic certification regulations, so the organic farmers can get a higher price for their alcohol.  The tanks will last for at least 5 years, probably longer.  The risk of scalding when the tank fails happens only once every 5 years or so, rather than 4 times a year.  The stainless-steel tanks produce better quality alcohol and less is lost through leakage - a sustainable and appropriate technology solution. 

The cost of each new stainless steel tank is around $1200, including transportation and installation.  Because this is a CRACYP sustainable development project, it also includes the planting of 5 trees.  Over the 5 years (or more) of its life, the tank is cheaper, safer and more efficient for the farmers and their families.  The more donations the fund receives, the sooner more families can benefit from appropriate technology to make the most of their agricultural production.

All donations will be gratefully received, however large or small.  You can donate online via ammado.com, at CRACYP's ammado page: http://www.ammado.com/Nonprofit/cracyp.  For donations over $300, please contact help("at")progresoverde.org to explore the most cost-efficient way to transfer money to us.  We will use your donations to help provide families here with the appropriate technology they need to escape from poverty.

In this area of extreme poverty, most families live from hand to mouth.  When a tank fails, they must replace it immediately because they will have no income without it.  The $20 tank, the only technology they can afford at the time, is actually the most expensive and inefficient.  A good quality, purpose-built stainless steel tank is cheaper in the long run, but most farmers have no way to save up the hundreds of dollars needed up front to buy one.  

Your donations to the appropriate technology fund will help farmers step out of this vicious circle of poverty and invest in their own future.  As they repay the cost of the tank, we can give another family the same opportunity, so your donations will continue to improve lives for years to come.

Charitable donations needed for CADO's appropriate technology loan fund.
Donate to the fund for stainless steel distillation tanks, sustainable agricultural technology for sugar cane alcohol production.
Donating will change the lives of sugar cane farming families in the western foothills of the Andes in the provinces of Cotopaxi and Bolivar and help them escape from poverty.  Monies donated (after any bank charges incurred) will be used for the revolving loan fund, firstly for distillation tanks as described above.  In the future the fund will use the repaid money to provide loans for other appropriate technology with a similar approach relevant to circumstances and costs at that time.
A Green Progress organic farming and appropriate technology project from CRACYP.