Appropriate Technology as a developmental aid
Theo Isaac
Appropriate Technology (AT) is a concept and movement that first sprung up in the 1960s based on E.F Schumacher’s concept of Intermediate Technology, which was popular ized in his famous 1973 book Small is Beautiful . I am writing this essay to explore the economic history of Appropriate Technology and because I want to explore further the legacy of E.F Schumacher. There are a number of slightly different definitions for AT, so in order to avoid confusion, the definition that I will be using is as follows: a technology that meets local needs and increases productivity whilst increasing employment, and at the same time doing no harm to the environment (Goldin, 2018 and my interview with Keith Palmer). There are some examples of AT being effectively employed, such as Practical Action’s work in Malawi building a solar -powered food chiller (Practical Action, 2023). However, the consistent failures in effectively employing AT and the collapse of the movement in the USA have led to it being mostly regarded as unsuccessful and forgotten in the modern day.
The extent to which the concept of Appropriate Technology has been successful
The main aim of AT is to solve the problems that traditional developmental aid can cause, while still improving the standard of living and promoting economic growth in developing countries. Traditional developmental aid often involves large sums of money being invested into specific parts of a country's economy in an attempt to stimulate growth. Schumacher, in his book Small is Beautiful , (1973, pp.135- 7), remarks that these types of investments risk integrating technology that is too advanced for the country, resulting in the creation of ‘ small ultra-modern islands ’ that cannot integrate with the rest of society due to the high capital costs of modern technology (which make it impossible to spread to the rest of the economy). This is demonstrated by the example of Nairobi in the 1970s. Here, the majority of workers worked in small-scale businesses, with jobs such as tinsmiths or cobblers, and had an average of US$15 of investment per workshop. In contrast, the Firestone tyre factory, also in Nairobi, had completely up-to-date and modern technology, clearly showing the inequalities in investment across the country and the inability for the benefits to be widespread (Stewart, 1987, p.102). The potential economic impacts of traditional developmental aid are also significant, since aid projects can create a dual economy in which the few who benefit from the advanced technology become hugely wealthy while the majority remain in poverty. This creates inequality and hinders the development of the country as a whole, with problems such as mass urbanization creating sprawling slums with unimaginable living conditions, as seen in the Rio de Janeiro favelas (Wallenfeldt, 2024). Another example of this is in Italy, where industry was focused in the north of the country during its industrial revolution in the early 1900s, resulting in huge economic growth. On the other hand, the south and Sicily were mostly ignored and were in fact made worse off due to the decreased competitiveness of small-scale businesses that could not compete with the economies of scale that reduced prices for the larger firms (Schumacher, 1973, p.146). As Stewart says, ‘The indiscriminate
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