Innovating green products as a mean to alleviate poverty in Upper Egypt

Abstract Beginning from August 2010, EGYCOM decided to devote its efforts to combat poverty in Upper Egypt. Based on the UN Human Development report for Egypt, EGYCOM found that 762 of the poorest villages are in the governorates of Assuit, Sohag and Menya in Upper Egypt. Of those 44% are in Menya alone. Poverty has alarming consequences, one of which is migration of youth to big cities or abroad in search for regular wages and better life. A team of 22 members undertook additional research and developed a point system to evaluate the poorest 10 villages in Menya governorate, and the final result pointed to the village of Al Qayat. Palm trees were recognized as an abundant unutilized resource in the village. Many households owned palm trees, and they are an important economic resource for the villagers. In addition, villagers possess a rich cultural and technical heritage, being an accumulation of centuries of their interaction with local resources for the satisfaction of their basis needs. Yet, the drastic change of life style in the village has decreased the need of palm secondary products. This, in turn, has led to the neglect of regular pruning of palm, which has resulted in the increase of danger of fire in palm gardens, as well as the infestation by the red palm weevil threatening the life of the palm. Here innovation has emerged as a necessity to rediscover those neglected palm secondary products with the purposed of alleviating poverty in the villages. New techniques and machinery have been innovated to suit the conditions of work in the village. A wide array of techniques and machining have been innovated for the transformation of palm midribs into strips and mats of regular dimensions to be used as a substitute for imported wood. In order to reach the market, it was necessary to close the loop of innovation. Here the intervention of designers was crucial. Four renounced designers have joined our endeavors by designing new marketable products from palm midrib mats using the uniqueness of palm midrib texture-in comparison with wood- as a competitive advantage. The joint synergetic interaction between the project team responsible for technology development and machine design, on one hand, and the creative product designers, on the other hand, has resulted in successful participation in international furniture and building materials exhibitions paving the route for marketing of palm midrib green products in the local and international markets.