how to build upon local knowledge, creativity and innovation in the #African context : why not mobilise students to search, spread, celebrate innovations and sense the #unmet #social #needs #honeybeenetwork #gioan #sristi #nif #creativity #

1. Anil gupta, Founder, Honey Bee Network, GIAN, SRISTI, NIF; VF IIM
IITB,CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow
Designing an ecosystem for valorising
grassroots innovations:
The Honey Bee Network perspective

2. Why Grassroots Innovations
In a context of rising income disparity among the have and
have-nots, conversion of the ideas and innovations of
knowledge-rich but economically-poor individuals and
communities into viable means of raising income, addressing
social needs, and conserving the environment is needed
Theemergence, recognition and diffusion of grassroots
innovations helps trigger experimental self-design ethic and
reduce dependence on the government for solving local
problems.
Long tail of innovation: location specific solution
GRI provide frugal heuristics for fertilizing imagination in
other sectors of economy including higher education

3. Frugality born out of material constraints and knowledge abundance is
the way forward at all levels in the society
Engaging students pursuing Higher Education and final year school in
scouting and supporting grassroots innovations and outstanding
Traditional knowledge is the most frugal way forward, It can start
tomorrow without any additional funding though validation and value
addition will need public funds. Link final year projects of students with
unmet social needs as in Techpedia.in
Almost ninety per cent start up ideas die before the Venture funds get
interested in equity investment in commercially viable ventures. Early
stage Micro Venture Innovation Fund is imperative as distinct from
micro finance
Each public sector lab should be mandated to test and give free reports
to grassroots innovators and TK holders and national fund for the
purpose compensate the labs.

4. Matheus M Liyambo
SRISTI natural product lab and GIAN, Honey Bee Network will help him analyze his products,
and if possible commercialize these in India but this can easily be done here,
Will HIGHER Education Ministry kindly issue a circular to public sector labs to help such
innovators and TK holders
Will our students of phytochemistry, Pharmacognosy and chemical engg take up classroom
projects on real life challenges, let us recognize and reward such students

5. Company: Power Six investment cc
Paulina N Alfeus
alfeuspaulina2@gmail.com
power6investment@gmail.com
Ondangwa town
In Oshana Region
northern Namibia

6. Bester
lubata village, Zambezi region, Namibia
a bee farmer hangs bee hives on a thin
wire to keep pests like ants and spiders
away
Could not locate such a practice on the net
though advice to hang beehives on tree is
available to keep pests away
Attended Anamika’s workshop here

7. The Honey Bee Network (HBN)has been leading the
grassroots innovation movement in India and abroad in the
past three decades to strengthen the inclusive innovation
ecosystem of the country but also has become a global
benchmark of frugal, friendly and flexible solutions for men
and women farmers, pastoral and artisan households,
mechanics, forest dwellers, fishermen etc.

10. Drivers of resilient and empathetic
innovations
Frugality
Diversity
Inclusion
Coping with climatic fluctuations, risks and
uncertainty
Networked innovations
Open, reciprocal and responsible innovations;
spawning start-up culture and networking at all levels

11. Frugal
Inclusivesustainable

12. Accessibility
Adaptability &
Modularity,
recombinability
Availability
Redesignability
Acceptability
Affordability
Reliability,
Environmental
suitability

13. A change not monitored is a
change not desired:
towards inclusive FRUGAL
innovations
how often have we scouted and spawned
creative innovative voices from outside the
formal sector in our respective verticals.
Are we listening, learning and leveraging the innovations
from/for Grassroots/shopfloor, vendors, supply
chain and users to reach the unreached
bypassed/neglected
6-S
spaces, sectors, time/seasons,
skills, social groups and
structures of governance

14. Samvedana: driver of
inclusion
Ethical fulcrum of empathy?
Where are the fertile grounds for
sprouting seeds of empathetic
innovations?
-informal sector
-formal sector

15. A frugal, inclusive, extremely affordable public
innovation for public use

16. Drought and water scarcity:
Can we continue use old design of
Handpump wasting so much water
Can the open idea of Swaymbu
Sharma from Rajasthan help local
schools and other communities here?
Cross-pollination of ideas a la hbn
http://www.ifrc.org/fr/nouvelles/nouvelles/africa/namibia/promoting-education-and-
empowerment-through-water-in-namibia/?print=true

17. What can India, Namibia & others
learn from global pool of HBN
innovations
Mr Ubirajara, 47,
slums around Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil,
invented a stand on the
front wheel of cycle
unlike conventionall
back wheel
More stable, easier to
vend things, portable
bench ( The German
postman has similar
stand)

18. A Namibian vendor
can we make his/her bicycle more stable
Source:
https://whatgives365.com/tag/bicyle-empowerment-centres/

19. Honey Bee Network in Limpopo,
South africa
Modified donkey cart
(One among many designs )
Differential-40 kg, what is it
doing here, amrutbhai
What it was????What it became

20. A window of opportunity

21. JKUAT-SRISTI partnership to Transfer three Farmers’
innovations to Kenya
Shujaa/
Bullet Santi
Mansukhbhia jagani
A multipurpose farming
machine for ploughing,
spraying pesticides,
ridge making,
weeding and
interculture.
Fruit and Vegetable
Processing Machine
dharambir
This is an economical
solution for post harvest
value-addition at the
farm. Makes juice, jam,
jelly, and essential
oils.
Seed and Fertilizer
Dibbler
Mansukhbhai
This is a useful
implement to sow
seeds and apply
fertilizer while
reducing drudgery.

22. Few Variations of
Motor-cycle ploughing
machine Santi / Handio

23. Changing the model of food
processing machine
 The basic model was replaced with the newer model
taking into view the ease of use
 All components enclosed in metal jacket
 An inclined cylinder for easier flow
 Precise speed and temperature control

24. Dibbler to Seed Drill
 After several iterations
technical issues of
dropping of multiple
seeds as well as the
scratching of seeds
remained
 Hence, a handpulled
seed drill was
developed and
introduced in Kenya

25. James Kitolo

26. Development of
standards for
Shujaa
On March 14, 2018 in a
national workshop organized
by Kenya Bureau of
Standards, various
stakeholders endorsed the
flexible standards for Shujaa
after thorough deliberations
and inspection—new
standards were created in 4
months, wish, we could be as
fast in India

27. Unleashing creativity
at mass level :
Mapping, monitoring and
mentoring
The hotspots of creativity

28. Hotspots for machinery innovations may not
be same as the ones for say livestock or
agricultural innovations. Within agri, different
sub-domains may have different hotspots

29. Honey Bee Network
founded in 1987-1988
A nameless, faceless innovator or traditional knowledge
holder comes into contact with the Network and gets an identity.
How did hbn evolve and contribute

30. Learning
Leveraging
GIAN
Linking
Legitimization

31. Many grassroots innovators may develop different variations around the same
conceptual theme discovered independently and simultaneously
Pre-heating of kerosene improved fuel
efficiency 35-60 per cent
Late Niranjan Prasad Sharma,
Uttar Pradesh
Late Sarfuddin Amanuddin
Kazi, Maharashtra
Sameerul Hasan Liaquati -up

32. Low Cost Wind mill
Mehtar Hussain and Mushtaq Ahmad, Assam
Over 35 units installed in salt farming regions
of Gujarat to improve livelihood of poor salt
farmers
New heuristics: maximizing output per unit of time and smoothening the flow are
not always sustainable; Innovation by Mehtar Husain and Mushtaq Ahmed from
Assam to Gujarat
Just
70
Euro
Stronger, durable version,
900 euro, saves diesel
worth 700 euro in one
season of salt making

33. Md Rojadeen: cooker for coffee
champaran
Compassion through curiosity, collaboration and co-
evolution

34. Frugality is feasible: while
pushing productivity frontier
Frugality hasto
manifest
in threedimensions
Form
Feature
Function
DHRUV: GANDHINAGAR,
A REFRIGERATOR WHICH GIVES MORE
FOR LESS

35. Mitti Cool
Innovator : Mansukh bhai Prajapati, Gujarat
Non stick earthen pan
• It is a non stick earthen griddle, which has non stick coating.
• It gives advantages of non stick cookware while preserving natural taste
of earthen griddles and is cheaper alternative of metallic non stick
cookware.
• Costs about Rs. 100- 200/- (6-9” dia).
• Have sold over 0.3 million Non stick earthen pan
Mitticool refrigerator
• It is a small natural refrigerator made of clay for storing vegetables, fruits
and water.
• It does not need any external source of energy for giving cooling effect.
• Perishables like milk, fruits and vegetables remain fresh for 2- 3 days.
• Costs Rs 4500/-
• Have sold over ten thousand Mitticool refrigerator

36. Where does the concern for
frugality stem from
access to material, affordability, renewability, adaptability,
customizability, blendability versus ability to bundle, multi-
functionality etc.,

37. Design ecology-PProSeSS
product, process, service, spares and systems

38. Learning from unexpected quarters
Children
Tech students
Bystanders
Users
Supply chain members

39. Children are not just
the
sink of
sermons
but a valuable
source of ideas

40. Reverse mentoring: harnessing naiveté of children

42. Modified walker with adjustable legs
Shalini Kumari (then 8 class)
Bihar
Shalini’s grandfather uses a walker to assist him while he walks. But
she noticed that he could only use the walker comfortably while walking
on a level surface. Shalini came up with the idea of the modified walker
with adjustable legs. NIF got it fabricated and licensed this technology to
a company recently

43. Frugal Innovation: Shalini Kumari, Class 8, Patna, Bihar, Licensed to a
company, Avira Tech and alimico
NIF engaged a design firm
to develop a prototype
Empathetic innovations: learning from children

44. Innovation is simple

45. Source: Honey Bee Vol 17(3) July - September 2006

46. Show freshener from china
Wei zhi chuan, class tenth
• Wei started playing ping pong at the age of six
• After lot of practice in the day, his shoes became wet
due to sweat and left an uncomfortable feeling
• He thought of inventing “bactericidal shoe hanging
machine”
• When the shoes are put on the hooks in the shoe
hanging machine, the ultra violet rays and hot air start
freshening the shoe and the dampness as well as the
odour is removed. The shoes become fresh.

47. www.techpedia.in
• engaging with youth with unmet needs of
society and small and medium industry
techpedia.in, (a portal by SRISTI (sristi.org)
pooling >200,000 engineering projects by
600k students from over 500 institutions)
• GYTI awards given by the President of India
(2018)

48. Honourable President of India awarding tech
students GYTI awards for outstanding solutions -
2018 at the President’s House, FINE

49. Miniaturized Fluorescence Adapter for Fluorescence
Sputum Smear Microscopy using Bright-field
Microscope

50. Vikas Pandey, Dr. Pooja Singh,Saurabh Singh
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
At IIT Delhi, We have developed a unique microscopy
technology, cTIRF:compact Total Internal Reflection
Fluorescence”. The cTIRF converts a simple bright-field
microscope to fluorescence microscope without any hassle of
tedious illumination mechanism, optical filters,and additional
installations. This 3D-printed module is highly compact (~approx
size of calculator), robust, cost-effective and allows rapid
(<2mins) TB diagnosis without additional infrastructure, cost
and training. While the sputum sample processing, smear
preparation remains same as recommended by WHO. In
alignment of Govt. of India mission to eradicate TB by 2025,
cTIRF can be a scalable solution for easy and rapid deployment
across India.

51. TITLE : FEED SUPPLEMENT TO ENHANCE
MILK YIELD
Smt. Chaturiben Prakashbhai Makwana,
Shri. Lakshmanbhai Jakshibhai Desai, Gujarat
DETAILS OF THE INNOVATION:
The feed supplement was given at a dose of 20g
twice daily for 7 days.
CLINICAL TRIAL REPORT
Dairy Cooperative Society, Anand
Significant net gain per animal per day in milk
yield during treatment was found to be 0.917
litre/day
Significant net gain per animal per day in fat
percentage was found to be 0.278 percentage
during treatment

52. National Innovation Foundation
Herbal health drink
Innovator: Community Knowledge| Rajkot, Gujarat|
SRISTI
Brief about innovation :
Herbal health drink from the fruits of Opuntia elatitor
Mill.
Methodology :
Fruits are crushed to paste after removing the fruit skin
as well as the seeds from it. The paste is then mixed with
sugar and heated for 30 minutes to make it concentrated.
Before serving, the concentrated juice is mixed with
water along with lime or ginger juice to get variety in
taste.
1

53. National Innovation Foundation
Herbal banana ripener
Innovator: Shri Budhadeba Sahu| 56 Years | 5th Std | Agriculture
labour | Angul, Orissa | Aama Akha Pakha
Brief about innovation :
Use of a particular plant as a fruit ripener
Methodology :
Fresh leaves of this plant are layered above and
below the unripe fruits of banana in a basket
and kept for 12-14 hours
1

54. National Innovation Foundation
Treatments Total sugars Reducing sugars
Untreated (control) Unripe
Ripe
9.20
12.89
3.71
6.78
Treated:
Ethrel
Ripe 13.24 10.21
Innovative herbal
formulation*
Ripe 19.59 13.39
Neem leaves* Ripe 12.04 7.21
Drumstick leaves* Ripe 16.54 10.92
Caesalpinea spp.
leaves*
Ripe 13.81 9.02
Rice straw* Ripe 12.20 5.61
Sugar (total and reducing) contents (g/100g) in banana fruit
ripened with leaves other than innovative formulation

55. Pterospermum acerifolium
Juice of Pterospermum acerifolium flowers
are relished as a health drink
Mr. Divakar Pathak , Hazaribag, Jharkhand

56. Rhododendron arboreum
Juice of Rhododendron arboreum flowers are relished as a health drink
( community knowledge, Uttrakhnad )

57. Bixa orellana
Natural dye obtained from seeds and used for flavouring puddings and
sweets (Arku Valley)
Jampras: arku valley ( community
Knowledge)

58. 7G biscuits
Nutraceutical properties:
• Rich in calcium, iron,
phosphorus
• Rich in protein
• Rich in Omega 3 fattyacids
• Rich in vitamins and minerals
• Rich in dietary fibre
• Repair the body tissues.
• Energy booster
• Improve General health and
metabolic functions.
• Antioxidant
• Rich in bioactive compounds

59. Mind to market:
the case of herbavate

60. Herbvate: a skin ointment
• It is based on the knowledge of seven innovators from
six districts Sabarkanth, Panchmahal, Dang, Mahsana,
Patan and Bhavnagar of Gujarat. Herbavate exhibits
remarkable properties against eczema and variety of
inflammatory and infectious skin conditions.
Communities: The innovators of Herbavate: 1. Amratbhai
Shankarbhai Rawal, Mehsana Gujarat. 2. Kunjubhai
Kakadiyabhai Bhoya, Dang Gujarat 3. Pujabhai Dabhi,
Sabarkantha, Gujarat 4. Karshanbhai Parmar,
Sabarkantha Gujarat 5. Laxmanbhai Pagi, Panchmahal,
Gujarat 6. Lilabhai Rawal, Patan Gujarat 7. Lakhabhai
Becharbhai Khatana, Bhavnagar Gujarat

63. g2G
grassroots to global
Global GIAN – Building Global Value
Chain for augmentation of Green
Grassroots Innovations

64. Sales made
1. Coconut tree climber- USA (Florida, Massachussets, California,
Hawaii etc.) Australia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Mexico, West
Indies
2. Pomegranate deseeder-Turkey, USA
3. Garlic peeling machine-Pakistan
4. Arecanut husker- Singapore
5. Milking machine-Phillipines, Uganda, Ethiopia
6. Resin grading machine-Peru
7. Cassava peeling machine-kenya
8. Herbal growth promoters-Ghana

65. Product enquiries:
Sl no. Innovation/product Countires
1 Coconut/palm tree climbing device USA, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Australia, Sri Lanka, Mexico,
Iran, West Indies
2 Entech oil expeller USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Phillipines, Canada, Kenya,
Colombia, S. Africa, Switzerland, Poland, Indonesia, Belgium
3 Garlic peeling machine Slovenia, USA, Turkey, Peru, Singapore, Iran , Venezuela,
Pakistan
4 Pomegranate deseeding machine USA, Australia, Turkey, Venezuela, Hongkong, Israel,
Netherlands, Thailand, UAE, Iran, United Kingdom
5 Cassava peeling machine Congo, USA, Benin, Nigeria, Kenya, UAE, Uganda
6 Aaruni tilting cart Uganda
7 Coconut defibring machine China
8 Coconut dehusker Mexico, New Zealand, USA, Philippines, Bangladesh
9 Lemon cutting machine S. Africa
10 Milking machine Bangladesh, Uganda, Ecuador
11 Palm leaf mat weaving machine Fiji
12 Rain Gun (Chandraprabha) Sudan
13 Tea making machine Bangladesh,
14 Tile making machine Bangladesh, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia
15 Trench digging machine Pakistan
16 Zero head water turbine Egypt
17 Arecanut dehusking machine Chile

66. Grassroots innovations reach global markets …..

67. Functions
Scouting
and
Documentation
Dissemination &
Information
Technology
Value Addition
& Product
Development
IPRs
Management
NIF
Enterprise
& Business
Development

68. Scouting
and
Documentation
Dissemination &
Social Diffusion
Value Addition
& Product
Development
IPRs
Management
Functions
Enterprise
& Business
Development
Information
Technology
National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF)
Scouted more than
2,50,000, ideas,
innovations, traditional
knowledge practices
(not all unique, not all
distinct) from over 585
districts of the country
MAINLY WITH THE
HELP OF HBN
Over 1000
projects
supported for
validation/ value
addition
37 Community
workshops/
micro incubator
support in 19
states
193 projects supported
under Micro Venture
Innovation Fund
Transferred 89
technologies to
licensees
Filed >1050 patent applications in
the name of innovators/ knowledge
holders in India, 8 in USA, 27 under
PCT (37 granted in India and 4 in
US)
27 applications under PPV&FR Act
16 Trademark and 14 Design
registration applications

70. Emerging Models of innovations
• New models of innovations:
a) Building upon what disadvantaged people
are rich in: inability to live with
problems unsolved –overcoming inertia
b) Empathetic innovations: samvedana se
srijansheelta, kho kho model of
innovation ( innovation relay )
c) Engaging students with society through
innovation clubs to search, spread, celebrate
innovations and sense the unmet social needs

71. Models of innovations:
d) Inverted model of innovations: children
invent, engineers fabricate, and
companies commercialize
e) Pooling of distributed ideas for innovation and
experimentation : uncommon from common
f) distributed mind management:
www.techpedia.in, transcending the limits of
frugality
g) Moving blackboards: learning from
unexpected quarters

72. The president of India honours the grassroots innovators, launches
National Innovation Clubs and hosts an innovation exhibition at President’s
house, NIF becomes an Institute of Department of Science and Technology

75. Leadership is to see the intertwining of
sacred with profane, in pursuit of
sustainability:
CREATING PUBLIC STANDARDS OF
EXCELLENCE

76. Five Fulcrum of leadership
Passion,
Purpose,
Process,
Platforms
and
performance

77. Shodhyatra
learning from four teachers: from within peers, common people and
Nature

78. Shodhyatra

79. Standing out: Innovators break the trend

80. The day I am not surprised,
I have not learned
Many grassroots innovators are persistent experimenters
and improvisers: that’s why sometimes they don’t
succeed in market place

81. Information/Knowledge/Wisdom
Innovation Playground linking formal and
informal sector
Inside out
High Low
High
Low
DBDB
Sponge
Pollinator ostrich
Outside in
Large heart, big mind,
Dil bada , dimaag bada

82. network is the future:
No one organization/individual is likely to possess sufficient
information or knowledge to enable it to achieve its goals

83. Portfolio of INCENTIVES

84. How to reward:
Portfolio of Incentives
material-individual
Ipr or non ipr based
awards
Awards
R and d grants
Endowments
non-material-individual
Recognition
Honour
Memorial
material-collective
Trust funds
Venture and incubation
funds
Collective awards
Supp for Institution
building
non-material-collective
Policy changes
Pedagogic changes
Forms of incentives
Material non material
Target
Of individual
Incentives
collective

85. Context of innovation
Technology is like words,
institutions are like grammar and
culture is thesaurus

86. Sattvik
Traditional food festival

87. Traditional art

88. Farmers’ mart

89. Database of Published Practices

90. HBN Innovation Clubs:
• Search: Celebrating the decade of
innovation by scouting and mapping the
creativity and innovations in the hinterland
• Spread: Disseminating/Cross-pollinating
innovations across spaces, social segments
and sectors
• Celebrate: Recognising achievers in
different social spheres and
• Sense unmet social needs : Identifying the
roots of persistent problems and the
mindsets that trigger their continued
tolerance in society to solve problems

91. Emerging Models of innovations
• New models of innovations:
a) Building upon what disadvantaged people
are rich in: inability to live with
problems unsolved –overcoming inertia
b) Empathetic innovations: samvedana se
srijansheelta, kho kho model of
innovation ( innovation relay )
c) long tail of innovations leads to inclusive
development

92. Models of innovations:
d) Inverted model of innovations: children
invent, engineers fabricate, and
companies commercialize
e) Pooling of distributed ideas for innovation and
traditional knowledge : uncommon from common
f) managing distributed ideas of tech youth :
www.techpedia.in, transcending the limits of
frugality
g) Moving blackboards: learning from
unexpected quarters

93. Challenges ahead:
• Collaborative and challenge platform around techpedia.in and
gyti.techepdia.in
• Innovation clubs in all educational institutions to search, spread,
celebrate innovation and sense the unmet needs
• Creation of public goods (diy tools, platforms, processes) including
MVIF (micro venture innovation fund) for empowering innovative and
entrepreneurial youth
• Challenge awards for persistent, wicked social problems at GIAN,
SRISTI, others –HBN CRIIA awards
• Invest in major distributed design platform for translational research
• Children first: creativity workshop, MOOCs
• Community innovation labs for urban and rural poor
• Global inclusive innovation foundation
• Multi-language, multi media database of innovations

94. From micro finance to micro
venture finance:
why are most international and
many national financial and
development institutions blind,
deaf and dumb?

95. What are stairs used for: climbing around, into each
other’s heart: horizontal bonding between formal and
informal sector, science and spaces

96. The journey…..
SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH AND INITIATIVES FOR
SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES AND INSTITUTIONS
(www.SRISTI.org ) info@sristi.org
GRASSROOTS INNOVATION AUGMENTATION
NETWORK (wwwGIAN.org)
NATIONAL INNOVATION FOUNDATION
(www.NIFindia.org) info@nifindia.org
Anilg@sristi.org
Honey bee network , informal global social movement,
started in 1987-88,

97. Creativity counts
Knowledge matters
Innovations transform
Incentives inspire
(not just individual, but also collective, not just material, but also
non-material)
Join the Honey Bee Network!
For rewarding indigenous creativity and innovation
www.techpedia.in, www.sristi.org, www.gian.org anilgb@gmail.com