Till recently, modern science and technology served mainly the interests of the organised industrial sector. Due to introduction of mechanisation, automation and methods of mass production, goods produced by the organised industrial sector became so cheap that rural artisans could not compete with them. Destruction of the traditional rural enterprises led to pauperisation of rural India. The recent changes in economic conditions, such as increase in the cost of fossil fuels, increase in the cost of transport and the increased overhead expenses of operating modern industrial units, offer a chance to revive rural, family owned enterprises, which would use locally available raw material and sell their products locally. ARTI was founded in 1996 by a group of about 20 scientists and technologists to develop innovative and environmentally friendly rural technologies based on modern scientific knowledge. ARTI endeavors to help the rural people in establishing new enterprises. ARTI also maintains a Rural Entrepreneurship Development Centre in a rural location in the State of Maharashtra, India. Potential rural entrepreneurs are trained at this Centre in the technologies developed by ARTI. Those who start their own enterprises are provided with technical backup support and marketing support.
Contact Information
Our Focus
ARTI is currently working mainly in India. The target population is mainly rural.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
Being traditional fuels and stoves, there are no social or cultural barriers in the rural areas. In the urban centres, the traditional fuels and stoves are not used, because they produce smoke and soot, which are not acceptable to modern housewives living in modern urban houses.
ARTI has established a network of NOGs for making propaganda and creating awareness in the minds of the rural inhabitants about improved cooking technologies. The programme fits into the aims and objectives of most NGOs working at grassroots level in the villages. They are requested to select potential entrepreneurs and to send for training to ARTI. ARTI trains them in whichever technologies they wish to start a business (e.g. fuel briquettes made from charred biomass, new compact biogas technology, production of feedstock for the new biogas technology, production of improved cookstoves, etc.). Whenever the concerned NGO organises a meeting in villages for conducting propaganda for improved cooking technologies, the trained artisans and entrepreneurs accompany the representatives of the NGO and participate in the programme. In this way the artisans and entrepreneurs reach ever new customers. ARTI also informs representatives of banks about these programmes so that the banks may finance the entrepreneurs. In case the users of these technologies lack money to pay the artisans, local women's savings groups are encouraged to lend money to the users.
The improved cookstoves are made out of clay or cement, by using a mould, so that the dimensions cannot be arbitrarily changed by the artisans. Accessories such as grates, chimney pipes, chimney cowls, as well as metallic stoves are made centrally in factories, where strict quality control is observed. Correct procedures of fuel preparation, burning of the fuels, cleaning the chimney, etc. are taught to users in users training programmes. The dimensions and material used for kilns used in charring of biomass for making charcoal, and biogas plants used in producing methane have been standardised. However, ARTI does not have much control over the quality of briquettes and also that of biogas because their quality depends upon the source material from which they are made. ARTI also does not have any control over the ventilation in the kitchen, because the kitchen is a part of the house and any constructional changes in the house would not be tolerated by the residents. Whenever ARTI receives complaints from consumers about the quality of products supplied to them, ARTI representatives look into them and offer solutions.
ARTI possesses a set of instruments for measuring carbon monoxide and particulate matter in the atmosphere. A programme is underway to measure these parameters in households having traditional cookstoves and in those having improved cooking devices, and to correlate the measured parameters with the health of the residents of theconcerned household. This work is being conducted in different agroclimatic regions of Maharashtra state. The health is not assessed by actual medical examination of the residents but by just asking them questions about their health status.
Relevant Publications or Studies
None noted
Our Contribution to the Partnership
ARTI has developed many technologies, which are quite new and not yet available to other partners. They encompass new types of cookstoves, processed fuel, as well as techniques of monitoring indoor air quality. Therefore, ARTI can conduct training courses to transfer the technologies to other partners. ARTI has also been successfully marketing these technologies. The marketing techniques can also be transferred to other partners.
