REPORT OF THE MALAWI HANDCART PROJECT

MAY – JUNE, 2002

May 20-24, 2002.  The Malawi Handcart Project (MHP) sent two representatives to the “International Workshop on Modernizing Agriculture:  Visions and Technologies for Animal Traction and Conservation Agriculture,” held in Jinja, Uganda on May 20-24, 2002.  Wells Kumwenda, M.Sc. (707-090) National Research Coordinator and Chief Agricultural Scientist and Agricultural Engineer in charge of the Farm Machinery Commodity Team at Chitedze Agricultural Research Station (CARS), Lilongwe, Malawi; and Arnold Wendroff, Ph.D., Research Associate, Department of Geology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and founder of the MHP from the U.S.A.  They sponsored the construction and display of a Malawi Cart and an accompanying poster, and distributed fliers describing the Malawi Cart and its uses.  On the evening of May 23^rd, Dr. Wendroff presented a paper entitled “The Malawi Cart:  An Affordable Bicycle-Wheel Wood-Frame Handcart for Agricultural, Rural and Urban Transport Applications in Africa.”  [Note:  This paper and numerous other allied documents and photographs are available on the Malawi Handcart Project internet web site at www.malawihandcartproject.org ]  They met with many African agricultural equipment experts, and visited the AETRI campus near Kampala.

            May 25.  Mr. Kumwenda and Dr. Wendroff traveled from Uganda to Malawi, and after a few nights at the Chitedze Rest House, Dr. Wendroff and his research assistant Mr. Chika D. Mughogho, (368-222) Grade I Automotive Mechanic, moved into quarters at the Natural Resources College (NRC), where they remained till the 30^th of June, when Dr. Wendroff returned to the U.S.A.  They spent the afternoon at CARS, where they would be based for the duration of Dr. Wendroff’s stay in Malawi.

            May 26.  The MHP joined forces with Hendrex Kazembe, M.Sc., (707-222) Principal Agricultural Scientist and Agricultural Engineer at CARS.

May 27.  Messrs. Kazembe, Kumwenda, Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff  met with Mr. Jepthah Chagunda, (832-092) a Civil Engineer currently heading up the Ministry of Local Government’s  Malawi Rural Travel and Transport Programme (MRTTP).  In August of 2000, the MHP had met with Mr. Chagunda’s predecessor, Mr. Arthur Chibwana, and suggested to him the applicability of the Malawi Cart handcart design to the MRTTP.  Mr. Chibwana acted on their suggestion, and ordered sixteen Malawi Carts from the Livingstonia Technical College (LTC), which had been manufacturing them for the MHP and other clients, including CARE Malawi.  Unfortunately the sixteen carts, although completed in December of 2001, had yet to be delivered to the MRTTP in Lilongwe.  However the MRTTP is committed to exploring their applicability to rural transport in Malawi.

            May 28. Mr.Mughogho and Dr.Wendroff  met with Mr. Patrick Chisi, Head Carpenter for CARS, and Mr. Joto Kasambala, Assistant Carpenter, and inspected their workshop facilities.

May 29. Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho visited the Agricultural Engineering Department of Bunda College and briefly met with Mr. Singah, one of their instructors.

June 2. Messrs. Mughogho, Kazembe, Kumwenda and Dr. Wendroff had a working luncheon at the Capital Hotel to plan out their strategy for the remaining month of Dr. Wendroff’s stay in Malawi.

June 3.  Mr. Chisi, Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff drove to Lilongwe, and purchased sufficient wood, bicycle wheel components and fasteners to build a prototype Mark II Malawi Cart.

June 4.  Work commenced on building the prototype Malawi Cart as Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho instructed Mr. Chisi and Mr. Kasambala in the handcart’s design details and their execution.

June 5.  Mr. Kasambala, Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff drove to Lilongwe to purchase a 10mm drill bit required for drilling the frame holes for the wheel axle and connecting bolts.

June 6.  Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho instructed the carpenters on how to correctly restore the shape of a screwdriver with a file, so that it would not slip when driving the many #10 wood screws employed in building a Malawi Cart.  In addition they were shown how to make a 10mm transfer punch from a rear hub spindle, and how to employ it to ensure accuracy and save labour in laying out the many (36) 10mm holes that need to be drilled in the wheel frame spacer blocks.

In addition, the MHP’s Kazembe, Mughogho and Wendroff met with Messrs. Chiumia and Mwangolera (753-650) of the Lilongwe City Assembly, where they discussed the use of the Malawi Cart as a replacement for the wheelbarrows currently used to collect municipal solid waste in Lilongwe.

That afternoon Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Kumwenda addressed a meeting of senior scientific staff at CARS, and invited them to apply for individual grants of up to US $100 to be used in assessing the impact the Malawi Cart could make to farm families raising the crops that they were currently investigating.

June 7.  The prototype chassis was completed at 12:30pm. Dr. Wendroff designed, an improved stand, which Messrs. Chisi and Kasambala built and fitted to the chassis, rather than to the body as in the Mark I version.

June 8.  Messrs. Kazembe and Mughogho drove to several nearby trading centres to recruit carpenters for a one-day training course in handcart construction.

June 9. The cart was completed, and included an improved stand, which was designed, built and fitted to the chassis, rather than to the body as in the Mark I version.  A second working luncheon was held at the Capital Hotel, with Messrs. Kazembe and Kumwenda of CARS, Mr. Clement Kamanga of ICRISAT, and Dr. Wendroff.

June 10.  Six carpenters attended the MHP handcart-building training session at the CARS carpentry shop, and were welcomed by Mr. Kazembe.  They were given handouts describing the Malawi Cart, and were instructed in the cart’s design and construction by Messrs. Chisi, Kasambala and Mughogho, and Dr. Wendroff.  The carpenters filled out a questionnaire on the tools they possessed.  Lunch was provided at the Chitedze Rest House restaurant, and each participant received a certificate of attendance.

June 11.  The MHP introduced a significant modification of the Malawi Cart converting it to the Mark II-A version.  The four (two on each side of the body) vertical cleats, which had served to laterally locate the body on the chassis, as well as to prevent outward movement of the body walls, severely diminished clearance between the wheels and the body side walls.  We removed them, and fitted a triangular gusset to the front of each side of the body.  These were screwed on, and any outward force was resisted by the base of the gusset pressing on the top of the chassis corner joint.  Lateral positioning was ensured by clench-nailing a longitudinal cleat on each side of the bottom of the flooring of the body.  Clearance between wheel and body was thereby increased by some 20mm.  Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff  met with Mr. Chagunda of the MRTTP, and communicated their design modification to him, suggesting that he have the carts ordered from LTC modified to bring them up to the Mark II-A standard.

June 12 Mr. Kazembe, Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff drove to Blantyre and met with the Malawi Industrial Research and Technology Development Centre (MIRTDC), represented by Messrs. Sandy Kachale and John Taulo (623-805).

June 13.  Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff met with some 30 technical assistants at CARS, and made a similar request for proposals from them to evaluate the Malawi Cart in the areas they were working in.  They met with an enthusiastic reception.  Afterwards they briefly demonstrated the prototype cart to Messrs. Kachale and Taulo of MIRTDC who were visiting CARS for the day.

June 14.  The MHP was invited to participate with the Lilongwe City Assembly’s municipal rubbish collection exhibit at the World Environment Day ceremonies sponsored by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs.  Mr. Mughogho and Mr. David Chilembwe demonstrated the Malawi Cart to the public, and Dr. Wendroff explained its potential uses to the Guest of Honour, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs, the Hon. Harry I. Thompson, M.P..

June 16.  The MHP again met for lunch at the Capital Hotel, and Messrs. Kazembe, Kumwenda and Dr. Wendroff met with Professor Desire Simango (???- ???) of Bunda College to discuss having their agricultural engineering students and faculty investigate and assess the Malawi Cart design.

June 17.  Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff inspected the workshop facilities of several of the carpenters we had trained the previous week.  They found, as expected, that their facilities were fairly rudimentary, and their tools few and in poor repair.  They gave each a set of small twist drills, so they could drill tight-fitting holes for the many wood screws the Malawi Cart requires.  They also invited them to return to Chitedze the next day, so we could distribute the components to them.  They then met with Messrs. Tamanda Chidvanja (772-866) and Ronald Ngwira, senior officials of the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM), who not only placed an order for ten Malawi Carts, but invited them to exhibit the Cart at NASFAM’s Annual Meeting.

June 18.  The MHP again met with the six carpenters who had attended the training session of June 10^th.  Each was given a 10mm twist drill bit, and those who we had not met with earlier were given a set of small twist drills (2-9mm).  They briefed the carpenters on the improvements we had made to the design, eliminating the vertical side cleats and adding the triangular front gussets.  Each was given a notebook and pencils, and was asked to measure and sketch the relevant construction details.  Each carpenter (including Messrs. Chisi and Kasambala) was then given a complete set of components needed to build one Malawi Cart.  They were to supply (and cost) the wood and the labour, and agreed to sell the carts they built back to the MHP.  They all thought that they could build a cart in 3 to 4 days time.

Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff visited the Lilongwe offices of World Vision later in the day, and gave a talk and video presentation to several of their staff.

June 19.  Mr. Mughogho spent most of the day demonstrating the prototype Malawi Cart, Mark II-A to the NASFAM members at the NRC.  There was considerable interest, and a plea for proper working drawings.

June 20.  Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho visited the World Bank office and attempted to ascertain why the MRTTP was so tardy in obtaining, assessing and disseminating handcart technology.  They then visited the Technical, Entrepreneurial, Vocational Education and Training Authority (TEVETA), and met for about an hour with Mr. Robson B. Chakwana, (773-784) their Director of Technical Services.  He expressed his intention to incorporate the Malawi Cart handcart technology into the TEVETA programme.  Wendroff and Mughogho next visited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO) and met with Mr. Des A. Fortes, (773-255) their Administrative Officer.  He was impressed with the design, and gave us introductions to several other colleagues in FAO and in the private sector.

June 21.  Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff met briefly with Mr. Hara of Save the Children, U.K. (771-433).  Next, they met with Mrs. Isabel Matenje, (770-411)  Director of Gender Affairs for the Ministry of Gender, Youth, and Community Services.  She was extremely interested, and introduced us to colleagues at the Appropriate Technology Training for Income Generating Activities (ATTIGA) department.

June 22.  Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff spent most of the day demonstrating the Malawi Cart and distributing some 400-odd fliers describing the Malawi Cart (and where to obtain further plans and information on building it) to the delegates to the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) convention at the NRC.

June 23.  A luncheon at the Capital Hotel was attended by Messrs. Robson Chakwana and Dick Chitema of TEVETA, and Mr. Kazembe and Dr. Wendroff of the MHP.  They discussed possible inter-ministerial and inter-agency/organization collaboration and potential funding sources.

June 24.  In the morning, Mr. Mughogho and Dr. Wendroff met briefly with Mr. Lemekeza Mokiwa (774-637) of CARE, and later held a lengthy meeting with Mr. Alfred Osunsanya (832-949) of Adaran Johnson Associates, agriculture and agro-industry development management consultants.  In the afternoon, they met with Mr. Hyghten Mungoni (753-193) of Africare.  In addition, literature was left with the secretaries of Ms. Mags Gaynor (772-4000) of the Department for International Development (DFID) and Mr. Maurice Munyenyembe (751-785) of the FAO’s Special Programme for Food Security.

June 25.  Dr. Wendroff met with Messrs. Chisi and Kasambala, and devised a new method of fixing the handles to the side walls of the cart.  He employed sets of two bicycle rear axle adjuster bolts.  The “Sawan” brand we employed which is longer than some other makes, with a threaded shank 6mm in diameter and 35mm long, and a washer-like ‘head’ of 20mm diameter having a 10mm hole in its centre.  These bolts, with attached hexagonal nut and rectangular-shaped-cupped washer (to fit the end of the chain stay) sell for only K5 apiece.  Two 6mm holes were drilled, one on each side (top and bottom) of the handle, near its lower end, and as close to the handle as possible.  An adjuster bolt was then fitted through each hole from the outside, so as to straddle the handle.  Holes were punched into the wooden handle through the center of each of the washer-like ‘head’ of each bolt.  A 4mm hole was then drilled through the handle connecting the two punch marks, and a 3” nail fitted through the top bolt ‘head,’ handle, and lower bolt ‘head.’  The washers and nuts were then fitted to the end of the bolt, and were tightened up; thereby pulling on the nail passing through the handle somewhat in the manner of a “U” bolt.  The rectangular cupped washer was positioned in an up and down orientation, at right angles to the fibres of the wood, so as not to be pulled through it.  This resulted in a very rigid and easily tightened handle attachment.

Dr. Wendroff then met briefly with Mr. Kazembe and with Mr. Kumwenda.  He and Mr. Mughogho then made an inspection trip, visiting all six of the carpenters building sample Malawi Carts at Mpingu, Nsundwe, and Likuni trading centres.  Several mistakes were noted and were communicated to the carpenters.  Most were minor, and those that were not were easily rectified.  It was evident that a proper set of drawings and instructions would be of great assistance in building the carts to the proper standard.  Only one carpenter had fully completed his cart.  All the rest were in various stages of construction.  A variety of woods were employed, in a variety of thicknesses. 

June 26.  Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho met with Mr. Lemekeza Mokiwa, of CARE (774-637).  He was the supervisor of the handcarts employed in the CRIMP road maintenance project that CARE sponsored in 2001.  As it transpired, each of the eight carts purchased from the LTC, although given to an individual contractor, was actually used by labourers employed by the contractor, and not by the contractor his or her self.  It was therefore not surprising that there was excessive breakage of the wheels, as there was an inadequate sense of responsibility on the part of the labourers, as well as insufficient attention paid to their training and oversight.  This analysis was conveyed to Mr. Mokiwa, and it was suggested that CARE should reassess the role that Malawi Carts could play in its several aid programmes.  The next NGO visited was UNICEF, where a presentation was made to Dr. Adebayo Fayoyin, their Communication Officer.  He was quite familiar with the steel framed handcarts used in Nigeria, agreed that they would be too costly for widespread implementation in Malawi, and that the Malawi Cart design would be considered by UNICEF for use in Malawi.  Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho then had an appointment with Ms. Monica Djupvik, (773-329) a medical geographer and a Programme Officer with UNAIDS.  She saw the several possibilities of handcarts in the assisting families impacted by HIV/AIDS.  Finally, a brief visit was paid to the World Food Programme, where Mr. Masozi Kachale, their Information Officer was most receptive to the concept of employing handcarts not only for distribution of famine relief food, but for enhancing long-term food security.

June 27.  Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho met with Dr. Jeffrey Luhanga, (789-275) Deputy Director of the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’s Department of Agricultural Research & Technical Services (DARTS).  He was not merely receptive to the use of the Malawi Cart but suggested that DARTS (with funding from World Bank) inaugurate a revolving loan fund to furnish the capital needed by rural carpenters to obtain tools and supplies needed to build them.  He asked Dr. Wendroff to prepare a prospectus, and a sample business plan which a carpenter might submit.  He suggested that the administration of such a fund should be based at CARS.

June 28.  Dr. Wendroff and Mr. Mughogho met with Mr. Jepthah Chagunda of the MRTTP, and apprised him of the current state of the MHP.  He was about to depart for Mozambique, for a meeting of the several participants in the World Bank sponsored Sub Sahara Africa Rural Travel and Transport Programme (SSARTTP), of which the MRTTP is a partner.  Dr. Wendroff gave him several papers and reports to transmit to Mr. George Banjo, the SSARTTP coordinator.  Later on, a meeting was held with Mr. Girward Zimba, (795-046) Project Manager of Concern Universal.  He saw many applications of the Malawi Cart in their several programmes.  Dr. Wendroff later met with Mr. Patrick Chisi of CARS, who provided him with a model business plan to incorporate into the one being prepared for DARTS.

June 29.  A farewell luncheon was hosted by Dr. Wendroff at the Capital Hotel.  In attendance were Messrs. Wells Kumwenda,  Patrick Chisi, and Joto Kasambala of CARS,  Dick Chitema of TEVETA, and Chika Mughogho of MHP.

June 30.  Dr. Wendroff departed for home, and was seen off at the Lilongwe International Airport  by Messrs. Kumwenda and Kazembe of CARS.