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Evolution in engineering – the survival of the fitter
01.06.1990
The motor mechanics or 'fitters' of Ghana display great ingenuity repairing old vehicles but are often limited by the tools and equipment at their disposal. This article describes the work of the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit in Suame Magazine, Kumasi, where fitters can come and learn engineering techniques and purchase more advanced workshop machinery, so as to equip them to manufacture a wider range of products. -
Kumasi University's involvement in grassroots industrial development
01.06.1991
This article describes the twenty-year-long collaboration between academics and artisans in the Technology Consultancy Centre at Kumasi in Ghana. What began as a small campus-based consultancy group grew into a workshop and training centre at the heart of the informal sector area of Suame Magazine and is now spreading into all of Ghana's ten regions as Intermediate Technology Transfer Units. The growth of institutions has been matched by a change among the artisans from a concentration on repair work to a growing number of manufacturing engineering businesses. These businesses now produce machinery and wood-working equipment which was previously imported, often at high cost, and for which there is a considerable and expanding demand.