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Until I get to write a full report on SPIN 2012, here is a short video/photos from the project. Click here.
INTRODUCTION
During my travels in Northern India and Nepal, while watching local farmers and their children using sickles, it occurred to me that a scythe would enable them to accomplish the task much faster and with less exertion.
Upon return to Canada and subsequent research I eventually connected with Chris Evans of Himalayan Permaculture Centre -- and my vision began to take shape...
First, a brief note on existence in rural Nepal.
Life in the remote mountainous areas of Nepal is physically very demanding. It was so for generations, but it is becoming ever more difficult for these hard-working people -- whose primary source of livelihood is small scale agriculture -- to make ends meet. In recent years some of the young, have left the family farms to seek some less strenuous future in the cities, and thus the land-working hands became fewer.
Many families now live continuously on the edge of bare sustenance; inclement weather during harvest can easily tip that balance between having enough to eat, or not. With the intensifying effects of climate change, unpredictable weather patterns are becoming more frequent.
A means to speed up the harvest (to make the best of the relatively short spells when the elements do cooperate) would be of decided benefit to these people; they, as well as everyone else concerned with their well-being would agree with this as a general statement. However, the relationship between expediency and quality calls for qualification, and I do not necessarily equate faster with better.
THE MISSION
The intent of SPIN (Scythe Project in Nepal) is to present for evaluation by Nepalese farmers an ancient harvesting implement of many non-oriental cultures -- the scythe.
As a pilot initiative it will be carried out in close co-operation with Chris Evans from the UK, the founder and advisor to the Himalayan Permaculture Centre (HPC) in Baragaun, Surkhet district, Mid-Western Nepal. Involved with permaculture in Nepal for more than two decades, Chris perceives that use of the scythe would benefit Nepalese farmers; hence his willingness to help with the project.
MORE SPECIFICS
In Nepal’s agriculture the sickle has been the primary harvesting implement for centuries. In recent years motorized grain-cutting alternatives have begun to make the initial inroads. I do, however, think that at this point in history, with oil prices on the rise and climate change taking place, it is not wise to bring in industrial modernization to those cultures who until recently managed to practice the sustainability concept at a level that western environmentalists can only dream and talk about.
THE SCYTHE AND ITS PERTINENT FEATURES
From historical perspective the scythe is a close relative to the sickle. It represents the very next step in evolution of forage cutting tools. In existence since the dawn of the Iron Age (presumably first conceived by the Celts), by 12th century its use had spread like wildfire throughout Europe and the Near East.
The reason for such enthusiastic acceptance by so many tradition-rooted agrarian cultures is rather plain -- the scythe is among the real jewels of discoveries in the realm of tool design. Long after the Industrial Revolution was already in full swing, the scythe remained on the scene -- the backbone of haymaking and grain harvesting. Thousands of small family farms in the “poor” regions across Europe, Russia, Middle East and elsewhere, are still using it on regular basis.
Regarding the level of technology required for their respective production, or the input to maintain or repair, the sickle and the scythe are more or less on par. Although for the last four to five centuries the bulk of scythe blades as well as sickles have been produced in factories, both tools can be made out of either new or scrap steel, and within a set-up of a village blacksmith. Furthermore, both run -- as Wendell Berry once put it -- “on whatever the mower ate for breakfast”. However, somewhere along this point the sickle and the scythe part company, at least during most tasks that either of them can be used for.
Namely, if Energy Return On Energy Invested (EROEI) is taken thoroughly into the equation, the scythe is a more efficient tool than the sickle or, for that matter, the motorized harvester. The difference between the Nepalese sickle and the European/Near Eastern style of scythe is not one of more complicated technology per se, but of a more sophisticated design. What I mean is that instead of employing the strength of only one hand (as with a sickle) the scythe is powered by both hands, along with the movement dynamics of the rest of the body, particularly the legs. Consequently, each calorie processed by the body yields more accomplishment in the field. In fact, the difference can be so great, that a properly trained child of 10 years of age given a tailor fit scythe with well-maintained edge would readily out-cut her/his sickle-wielding father.
For a true to life demo of something along these lines please take a look at The Rise of the Scythe -- of which I was a co-producer. The mowing girl in the video, admittedly, was 14 years old (not 10). But still, what man could cut grass with a sickle at anywhere near this rate? The girl was using an 80cm long blade on a homemade snath of poplar and was cutting a swath 2.7 meters wide with a 20cm advance at a stroke.
I see no reason why the Nepalese teenagers could not learn to swing the scythe this well. Yes, they will initially need a little help from friends -- but precisely to that end the SPIN was conceived.
I honestly believe that, given the opportunity, the scythe could help the Nepalese farmers to withstand the outside pressure to “globalize” and thereby sustain their cultural integrity.
NOTES ON THE CHANCES OF SPIN's SUCCESS
I am confident that our project can avoid the common pitfalls associated with similar undertakings , and the reasons are:
a) Having Chris Evans and the Permaculture centre involved, negates the issue of initial caution that can sometimes really slow progress. Chris have an established relationship of trust with the local people and I feel very thankful for being given an opportunity to work with them.
b) I have absolutely no monetary gain connected to SPIN in mind.
c) I understand how to make this tool perform well .
PARTICULARS OF OUR APPROACH
Chris and I are aware that several key elements are paramount to realizing the project’s goal. These are:
a) our ability to listen – with other words, being open to continuous feedback from the locals
b) providing very good equipment to begin with
c) thorough instructions on how to make best use of it
Our objective is to support lasting self-reliance to the degree realistically possible. The scythe fits within such a mandate very well because no more resources from outside the region are necessary to make and maintain it than is the case with a sickle.
Yes, it does take more blacksmithing skill to make a blade of a scythe than one of a sickle and somewhat more training for the average person to learn how to operate it really well. But the potential to learn is a local resource and I trust that working together we can make it blossom.
With the help and guidance of Chris, local instructors-to-be can be selected and offered an intensive hands-on course. They in turn will take on the role of presenting the tool further afield and thereby multiply the benefits of our courses most expediently.
PROJECT TIMELINE (the first phase)
September 2011: Chris already took a couple of sample blades to Nepal so that the blacksmiths can begin considering their reproduction.
March 2012: During the harvest time for wheat and barley I'll travel to Nepal and take the rest of the supplies to HPC's working area in Surkhet where I will spend time working with Chris and the local farmers.
PROJECT BUDGET (the first phase)
- Traveling expense - $ 2,000.00
- 30 scythe blades at cost - $ 1,200.00 - until the local production reaches an acceptable level, this, we feel is the minimum inventory needed in order to successfully proceed with the initial demonstrations, the trials of the various blade models, the instructional courses -- which will leave each participant with a blade etc. of his own -- as well as few to pass among the smiths.
- Accessories - $ 300.00 - this includes sharpening equipment -- peening anvils, whetstones and watertight holders -- as well as the rings for attaching the blades to (locally-made) snaths.
- Magna Grecia hoes - $ 100.00 - as samples of an extremely efficient deep tillage tool, with long history in the rocky soils of southern Italy -- but practically unknown around the world. The unique design deserves to be reproduced in all regions where people are still willing to work with their hands -- and Nepal is certainly one of them.
- Extra shipping cost - $ 200.00 - depending on luggage weight restrictions, I might have to send a portion of the supplies by mail, or pay a fee for extra luggage.
Total expenses - Canadian $ 3,800.00
A full report will be available upon my return. Any leftover funds will be used towards the next phase of this project, or donated to HPC to help defray their associated costs.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
If you wish to donate a scythe blade for the project In Nepal - $40.00
Here are a few more photos from rural Nepal.
