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In memory of Ricky Phiri
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Sadly, on 26 July, our dear colleague Ricky Phiri passed away. He was a member of our team since January 2025, but it felt as if he had been part of Jacana for years.
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In the short time Ricky worked at Jacana, he made a huge contribution to the 'Partners for Water' project. He worked closely with Rik, director of Jacana, and laid the foundations for the Zambia-wide roll-out of the project.
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The aim of this project is to set up a distribution channel for portable solar pumps. The first year saw the launch of the project in Chipata. Two NGOs, a distributor and seven small retailers were involved. In total, the NGOs distributed 70 partially sponsored mobile pumps to farmers. These farmers received a discount coupon, which they could use to purchase the portable solar pump from one of the shops. The farmers paid the retailer a small contribution, and the rest was paid for by the project.
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Using an app (self-supply.com), the discount coupon were scanned by the local retailer and, if everything was OK, the farmer could take the pump home. If there are any problems with the pump, the farmer knows where to go for repairs.
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The local retailer can use the coupon to pick up a new mobile pump from the wholesaler.
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Of course, it is not only NGOs that provide these pumps to farmers. The great thing is that neighbours and friends see the portable solar pump in action at the farmer's and want to buy a pump themselves. Because the farmer knows the retailer, he will be happy to refer this friend and neighbour. The friend or neighbour pays the full amount to the local shop. With that money, the shopkeeper can buy another new mobile pump from the distributor. In this way, more than 400 portable solar pumps (see: https://portablesolarpumps.com/customers) have now been sold without sponsorship, which we call Self-Supply.
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The entire supply chain is supported by the app. This app monitors the distribution line, allowing small businesses to communicate with their customers and NGOs to see the impact of their projects, both sponsored and non-sponsored.
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Ricky demonstrates the portable solar pump for farmers in Central Province
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This first phase of the project has resulted in the system being refined and improved, ready to be expanded to other provinces. Ricky has made a huge contribution to this. He established contacts with NGOs working in Zambia's Southern and Central Provinces, such as DAPP, World Vision, SNV, Camfed, and Plan International. Together with Rik, he introduced the project in Central Province to numerous smallholder farmers and NGOs. He was just about to introduce the project to Southern Province when he became ill. Sadly, he can no longer see how the project will develop further. Jacana and countless smallholder farmers are very grateful for the wonderful and good work Ricky has done.
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World Water Week
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Ricky was also scheduled to travel to Sweden this month to present Jacana's work during "World Water Week".
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While we continue Ricky's work in Zambia, the portable solar pomp will be presented in Sweden by MetaMeta and the SMART Centre group. If you happen to be there, find this booth and have a chat with Henk Holtslag or Reinier Veldman.
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