Re-Designing Africa's Ox-Powered Farm Tools

Larry W Harms said 2 years ago

Roosenberg, I fully agree that use of animal power needs to be greatly increased. A lot of work in some areas has gone into it. I wonder if a new (new for me) idea merits a major effort. Donkeys are more broadly dispersed than cattle/oxen, and are cheaper in price. They are already work animals. If a pair of donkeys has enough power, shouldn't major work go into testing and building new equipment specific for use with the pair. I do not believe that this equipment exists. If a donkey pair has the power, this would fit well the situation in Africa. Larry

CarrieSusemihl said 2 years ago

Hi Larry,
In some arid areas, donkeys are more widely dispersed than cattle, however, they are not necessarily more numerous. Women sometimes have better access to donkeys than oxen for cultural reasons. Because of the smaller average size of cattle in Africa, the draft power of donkeys and oxen is comparable, and the same equipment can be used for either. The challenge to working donkeys is in harnessing, which is considerably more complicated than an ox yoke. If donkey harness is improved using locally available materials, a process which Tillers has studied in Uganda, the implements developed by Tillers in this project could be used equally effectively for donkeys or oxen.
Good thoughts!

CarrieSusemihl said 2 years ago

For those of you reading this or other proposals and attempting to create a log in so that you can make an endorsement, the site will probably tell you that it's sending a verification email, which you must receive before logging your endorsement. We've had feedback that the email never comes, however, if you wait a few hours and try logging on again, you may be successful and able to vote. Thanks for your persistence!

Lissan said 2 years ago

It looks as though 'jimelsworth' has just posted an idea call "Animal Power for Stationary Machinery"- he makes some mention of using oxen power in a less traditional manner. You should check it out- you two may be able to collaborate.

lamorgan said 2 years ago

Congrats on being the round winner! Good job of mobilizing the troops . . . the PR and the actions it can bring are almost as important as the idea on some fronts. Best to your org and this idea for the future.

kburdick said 2 years ago

Thumbs up, Tillers International!

Kim Burdick
[email protected]

myriamkp said 2 years ago

I think this is a great example of scaling and designing modern technology to suit the needs of village farmers in LDCs and potentially increase their income. To really get the maximum benefit from these draft animals it will be very important to also address their water intake, nutrition, harnesses and animal health care. Some of these can be income generating opportunities for farmers or for the project to help with sustainability. Water intake needs to be looked into as many people in LDCs believe that some animals do not need to drink water. Most animals have very limited access to water, at best a drink in the morning and evening. Limited water intake results in poor nutrient absorption,poor milk production, reduced productivity and less resistance to disease. Animals at the water sources can also contribute to erosion and contamination. This leads to human and animal parasitism and disease transmission. Good luck.

bonny4resty said 2 years ago

am interested in business and technology

roosenberg said 2 years ago

Larry, Sorry I have been away from this site for awhile. We have worked with donkeys as well as with oxen. Each are prefered by some communities. We find the greatest challenge with donkeys is improving harnessing at reasonable costs. Good modern harness cost about 10 times the cost of a donkey in many areas (except that the harness is not offered for purchase there). The solution is frequently working with the basic improvements that can be made at low cost with local resources and incrementally increasing skills and appreciation of the added performance of a well harnessed animal.
The scale of cattle and donkeys is not too different in most areas of Africa. We find that we can usually work with the same equipment with a few basic accommodations. For example, we use the same hitch for the tongues of carts for oxen as for donkeys. Since the donkey needs the evener behind, we place an evener pin at the base of the tongue. Then our ox yokes accommodate this with a pole ring to steer the tongue and a calabash hook to draw a chain from the evener pin. The end result is a cart that serves both and also suffers fewer broken tongues since even oxen pull it from the base of the tongue.
Before I bore everyone with detail, let me just note that both oxen and donkeys seem to have their niches and a promising role.

roosenberg said 2 years ago

Myriamkp, Thanks for the comment and the remind to be attentive to draft animal care in the form of water, nutrition, and harnessing. Tillers International is already working hard on these issues with local trainers in Mozambique and Uganda. Indeed, we recently took a retired volunteer with staff to Uganda where he helped work with a number of dairy farmers. After he was back for a couple of months, I asked Eldon, "What is the single most important change the farmers should make in caring for their cattle?" With but a second of hesitation, he responded, "Give them water at will."
Yet I suppose you understand the constraints. Many time a woman is charged with watering the cows with a 20 liter jerry can and instructions to bring water from the well a half km away. I'm sure these women get tired of this work. A team of oxen can easily carry 200 liters at a time in a cart or on an inexpensive sled. They can also make a contribution to getting fresh forages to cows in quantity.
Yoking can easily be improved with introductions of skills and modest supplies. As we introduce more cross bred cattle to increase milk production, we have been reducing the zebu hump on the neck of local cattle. Without the hump, the traditional withers yoke does not work as well as it did. We have worked with local artisans to find effective ways of integrating concepts from the European lowered-hitch point neck yoke into local yokes. These are much more comfortable for the cattle--especially young ones.

roosenberg said 2 years ago

Lissan,
I have been in touch with Jim Elsworth who submitted the "Animal Power for Stationery Power" idea. He is doing some great appropriate adaptation, especially to the needs of women farmers, in northern Tanzania through a group called Twende. Thanks for helping connect Tillers and Twende.

alisonheins said 2 years ago

I am a huge fan of Tillers International and their amazing work teaching modern agricultural practices using draft animals and modifications of indigenous tools.
Alison H.

KUdesign said 2 years ago

Hello, we are students in the 2009/10 Industrial Design class at The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas USA. We are interested in applying socially directed design to make meaningful contributions to solving everyday problems faced by the majority of people in our world today. We are offering our collaboration as design students to contribute to this IDEA and assist in advancing its presentation or implementation in some way. Inspired by the problem statement posted we have ideas and questions we hope can be clarified by collaborative input from those of you who are experts in your field or have lived or observed the condition the IDEA intends to resolve. Here are some of the initial questions we would like some help with: What specific farm tools need to be re-designed? Why do those tools need to be re-designed? Should tool re-designs be focused more toward donkeys or oxen? What materials would be used and would they be readily available in the local communities?