Aspirations

Hi, Mona Grieser of HIP addressing some of the discussion that's been taking place.

I do think that the ideal technology for water disinfection has yet to be developed. The flow of information now available to even rural peoples means that their aspirations have risen and many poor rural householders want to emulate their more affluent urban sisters, to reduce their work, to seem "modern". The "appropriate technologies" that experts recommend are often distasteful to rural peoples since they may not correspond to their image of themselves. We may think that an item like a commercial, stainless steel filter with a tap may be too expensive for poor rural people's but it doesn't stop them from wanting one.

In our work in Nepal we found that rural people will take out loans often with high interest rates for aspirational products (to use a marketing term). They also preferred the concept of a filter rather than other disinfection methods although they were indeed willing to consider other methods. Unilever did extensive research on customer preferences before they designed the PURIT filter and while it's the Cadillac of filters (meaning expensive), it does have all the aspirational features householders want, and those that purchase it put it prominently in places where it can be seen by friends and visitors, so proud are they of their acquisition. In Madagascar our discussions with sanitation practitioners informs us that people don't really want Sanplat latrines that smell and encourage flies but prefer the "domed pour-flush pan" even though it's more expensive and uses more water.In other words we do not "know" whether the Unilever filter is too expensive for poor people...we assume it. Perhaps its time to think about program models that put these items within reach---perhaps vouchers for the truly poor that gives them a discount, or micro-credit financing etc...Any thoughts?