Get the latest tech news

Scythe Works Without Borders

Scythes are a form of appropriate technology that can make significant improvements to the lives and livelihoods of small farmers and agroecologists worldwide, increasing their personal capabilities, self-reliance, and resilience, while avoiding fossil-fuel burning and debt-creating mechanization.

In recent decades — sometimes under the cloud of ignorance and/or a profit-oriented agenda and pretense to ‘help the poor’ — machines of all sorts have been introduced into the most remote and pristine corners of this precious Earth where the inhabitants do not yet understand the long range side effects and the price their children will need to pay for the present ‘convenience’. And though I have long been puzzled by the apparent fascination with them, with this valid concern regarding snakes entering the equation, I can begin to appreciate why so many farmers in India, for instance, would be willing to strain their family resources in order to become dependent on a tool which needs continuous supply of petrol and replacement parts. As has been proven enough times, both in Europe and overseas, a somewhat haphazard public/village demo, followed by an open invitation to a scythe course is usually relatively unsuccessful; only a small fraction of the volunteer participants end up learning enough to make good use of the tool for even their own purposes, never mind passing on the skill (at any acceptable standard) to others.

Get the Android app