The Rope Pump - The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

promotion campaign is a heavy costfor the manufacturer and the industryto assume alone. A recent study bySDC, Poverty Alleviation as a Business,recommends the launching of a significantpromotion and marketing campaignfor the pump. The study suggeststhat this could be done as a publicinvestment and that such a campaigncould be a good investment for donorwater and sanitation programs.ConclusionThe Nicaraguan rope pumphas significant potential.Its low cost, efficiency and reliabilityWILLINGNESS TO PAYWillingness to pay by users is alsoimportant, and this has been foundto exist where financing for themis available. The national publicutility (ENACAL) in Nicaragua hasimplemented a pilot project withCARE and SDC in which microcreditis made available for thepurchase of family rope pumps.This pilot, carried out in a poorerarea of the country, has shown thatthe population exhibits both a willingnessand a capacity to repay theloan for the pump in one year.Demand for the pump for bothdomestic and small-scale gardeningpurposes exists, provided thatsuitable credit is available. It is alsonotable that the pump is notregarded as an inferior good – a“product for the poor”. Manymiddle-class families also use it,and ownership comes with nosocial stigma.have given it high social acceptancein Nicaragua and elsewhere, whileits low-technology nature permitslocal manufacturing. Experience hasshown that it exhibits significantpotential for ‘direct’ technologytransfer from company-to-companyand should be of great interest topolicy-makers and the private sectoralike. Several key issues remainregarding the dissemination andtransfer of this technology:• the role of external agencies, thegovernment, and the private sector insupporting the process• the types of arrangement betweenprivate companies from Nicaragua andother companies in the world to facilitatedissemination and assure a sustainablehigh quality production• the extent of demand and potentialfor similar transfers in other countries.These and others issues will be discussedin two upcoming events:1) May 2001: Workshop in Nicaragua,organized by the HandpumpTechnologies Network (HTN), SDC,and BOMESA in partnership with theInternational Resource Center (IRC)and the WSP. The workshop is designedto inform national rural watersupply policy-makers and internationaldecision-makers of therope pump technology. Structuredactions to support the rope pumptechnology transfer process will bealso defined. The workshop shouldincrease the visibility of the ropepump across the international ruralwater supply sector.2) End of 2001: Workshop inGhana, led by CWSA, private sectorinvestors and others with the supportof the WSP. Opportunities forstimulating market demand throughoutWest Africa will be discussed.Water and Sanitation Program1818 H Street NWWashington DC 20433 USAPhone: +1 (202) 4739785Fax: +1 (202) 5223313, 5223228E-mail: info@wsp.orgWeb site: http://www.wsp.orgCommunity Water andSanitation Agency (CWSA)Fidelity HSE. RING ROAD CENTRALPMB, KIA, ACCRA, GHANATel: 233 21 779102Fax: 233 21 24 58 46E-mail: cwsd@ghana.comBombas de Mecate S.A.Technology Transfer DivisionP.O. Box 3352 Managua, NicaraguaFax: 00-505-278 4045E-mail: ropepump@ibw.com.niWater and Sanitation ProgramFrançois MüngerE-mail: fmunger@worldbank.orgOther publications in this series:1. The Treadle Pump: An NGO Introducesa Low-cost Irrigation Pump toBangladesh2. Afridev Handpumps in Pakistan3. Arsenic Mitigation in West Bengaland Bangladesh4. The Growth of Private SectorParticipation in Rural Water Supplyand Sanitation in BangladeshFebruary 2001The Water and Sanitation Program isan international partnership to help thepoor gain sustained access to improvedwater supply and sanitation services.The Program’s funding partners are theGovernments of Australia, Belgium,Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy,Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and theUnited Kingdom; the United NationsDevelopment Programme, andThe World Bank.6Created by Write MediaE-mail: writemedia@vsnl.comPrinted at PS Press Services Pvt Ltd