Cofounder and CEO
| Selected winner: | Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) |
| Solution name: | The Only Way is Up: pumping water uphill and changing lives |
| Origin of the winner: | Philippines |
Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc serves agrarian reform communities with appropriate technologies for basic services and sustainable agriculture. Its flagship technology is the hydraulic ram pump, of which 590 systems are already installed in waterless communities benefitting some 290 000 people.
The Only Way is Up: pumping water uphill and changing lives
The AIDFI ram pump is a device which pumps water from lower to higher elevations without the use of electricity and fuel, therefore without greenhouse gas emission. The pump is installed as an end-to-end solution in waterless upland communities and is under their control. On average, the water consumption of households increase by 10-fold when using the solution and it changes their lives: better health and sanitation, less time and money spent, kids no longer skip classes, laundry done near houses, cleaner houses, vegetables grown and sold, animal and fish raised, and water related livelihoods undertaken. If used for irrigation, the water helps crops survive through dry periods, additional cropcycles can be added or farms can be diversified, resulting in increased income.
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