Training on Rope Pump Manufacture

The Practica Foundation has introduced in Madagascar a family rope pump that conforms to the standards outlined in the National Procedures Manual for water and sanitation technologies while significantly reducing the cost of lifting water compared to established pumping technologies. Voahary Salama is a platform of Malagasy NGO which promotes an integrated vision of rural development including using low-cost, appropriate technologies for increasing access to water supply.

Training local workshops to manufacture the family rope pump will facilitate the dissemination of a package of low cost water drilling and pumping technologies at both the community and household levels by Voahary Salama partner NGO. In August 2008 Voahary Salama funded a 5-week training on manual well drilling using Rota Sludge for 4 NGO teams from 3 regions in Madagascar. This project will select 4 workshops from these 3 regions to attend a 4-week training on rope pump manufacture. These workshops will then be contracted out by Voahary Salama to supply the family rope pumps to be installed on wells drilled using Rota Sludge. Benefits of this approach are a reduction in costs by establishing a network of local pump suppliers and creating a durable spare parts supply chain in the vicinity of target communes as a strategy to reduce downtime and improve longevity of the pumps.

Other Results:
Dissemination of low-cost pumping technologies through the private sector will permit USAID to advocate to the Malagasy government at both national and local levels to adopt low cost drilling and pumping technologies as a key strategy for achieving the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and ambitious objectives outlined for the sector within in the MAP (Madagascar Action Plan).

This project will select 4 workshops from these 3 regions to attend a 4-week training on rope pump manufacture. These workshops will then be contracted out by Voahary Salama to supply the family rope pumps to be installed on wells drilled using Rota Sludge.

Voahary Salama will ensure sustainability by integrating these trainings into the ongoing cadre of activities within the “Improving Family Planning and Increasing Access to Safe Water and Sanitation Project in rural Madagascar” funded by USAID. These trainings are complementary to rota sludge trainings previously funded by Voahary Salama to introduce and disseminate low cost drilling technologies in their target regions. Voahary Salama and its local partners will continue to monitor the quality of the products produced by the local workshops for the remainder of the project. All workshops will be encouraged to become members of regional DIORANO-WASH committees that coordinate the water and sanitation sector activities in their respective regions.