The Bicipeladora: Pedaling Towards Women's Empowerment

The bicipeladora is a bicycle-powered feather plucking machine that will significantly improve the lives of female poultry breeders by decreasing processing time, increasing profit, and empowering women as entrepreneurs. Through implementing simple, sustainable, and human-powered machines, women everywhere can use culturally appropriate technology to increase their quality of life.

In Cochabamba, Bolivia, women suffer from disproportionate rates of poverty and domestic violence, exacerbated by economic dependence on their husbands. Women who breed poultry animals in Cochabamba currently process their meat by hand, which is an extremely laborious process: they can spend up to 45 minutes plucking the feathers from a single duck. Because of this, their business and products are less competitive, and their profits stay low. The women have great motivation to expand and commercialize their business, but face many barriers, including financial need, lack of access to education and technology, and low self-esteem.

La Criollita, the association of female poultry breeders in Cochabamba, published a report with UNDP support that outlined their need for technological development to expand their business. The bicipeladora will allow the women to process their animals in one minute instead of 45. Numerous academic papers, online videos and blogs demonstrate the efficiency of motorized feather plucking machines. By replacing the motor with a human-powered bicycle, the bicipeladora will be environmentally and economically sustainable without losing efficiency. CECAM has built many bicycle powered machines that support this. The bicipeladora will decrease labor, increase profit, and empower women as entrepreneurs.  

The bicipeladora prototype will be made available for La Criollita women to use for their meat processing in a centralized location. The machine will decrease the time and labor required for animal processing, leading to decreased health problems among the women, and increased production and profit for their business. The business success will increase the quality of life of the women and their families, and increase the women’s self-esteem as entrepreneurs. Once the bicipeladora is commercialized, the machines can be sold or rented to the broader community, generating more income and impacting more people.

Track number of animals processed and sold by each women per month - Increased production and profit

Survey women before and after using the bicipeladora about their physical health (injuries, fatigue, pain) and mental health (self-esteem, happiness) - Improved physical and mental health

Track number of machines deployed and number of users - Commercialization of bicipeladora

CECAM is the only known organization in South America that builds bicycle-powered machines. Most of the materials used in the machines are locally sourced and recycled, which increases the machines’ environmental and economic sustainability. Furthermore, there are very few examples of bicycle-powered feather plucking machines on the internet. Because our model is human-powered, it requires no electricity and little to no water, both of which are scarce resources in Cochabamba. In this way, the environmentally-friendly and affordable bicipeladora model will allow individual families in the poor and rural areas of Cochabamba to access and benefit from locally appropriate technology.

CECAM’s organizational philosophy centers on social consciousness and prioritizing the immediate needs of local individuals and families. The bicipeladora project was born when La Criollita women approached CECAM with the idea. The women who will benefit from the solution believe in and support the project wholeheartedly, as they were the ones who articulated the need for the machine. Throughout the research process, CECAM is working with the women, observing their current food processing and sale processes and collecting information about how best to implement the bicipeladora. Ultimately, CECAM believes in addressing local problems as a model for positive global change.

We will build the bicipeladora using predominantly locally sourced and recycled materials, making it as affordable as possible. The prototype will be centralized for the women to use, and will be promoted through word of mouth and social media. After the trial period, the machine model will be improved and commercialized for the women and the broader community to purchase for group or individual use. CECAM will also run workshops for Bolivians and internationals to learn how to build and use bicycle-powered machines. Local and international donors will subsidize the costs of the machines and classes for the financially needy.

Our team has already fundraised the necessary amount to build our prototype. The first bicipeladora will be centralized at CECAM’s office for sharing amongst the 40 La Criollita women. Initially, the women will pay a few cents per animal, providing CECAM with a monthly income that will pay for machine improvements and maintenance. By centralizing the machine, CECAM can gain feedback from the women in order to improve the machine for commercialization. Within a few months the machine will have been promoted to the larger community via word of mouth, and more people will be interested in buying the machines for their personal or shared use. At this stage, those who are economically able can purchase machines, and those with greater financial need can continue using the machine at a subsidized cost. Finally, CECAM will earn additional income through offering workshops to teach others to build bicycle-powered machines.

Lack of education and environmental consciousness in the community complicate the development of bicycle-powered machines. Until people see the machine in action, some distrust its working ability or doubt their own abilities to manage it. By teaching them about the machine and the work that CECAM does, the organization and its projects will be perceived as more trustworthy by the communities and local donors. It is also difficult to acquire some materials; some are currently purchased from the US, which is unsustainable. Finally, CECAM is not well-known in Bolivia or internationally, which limits the financial and technical support we receive.

http://www.cecambolivia.org/web/

CECAM aims to create real impact by developing solutions that address the immediate needs of communities. To achieve this goal, we are applying to Solve to gain access to the Solve community, which would provide us with the necessary network to expand and improve our project. Solve community members can offer a constructive perspective, technical capacity, mentorship, and funding to effectively develop the bicipeladora solution. CECAM is always looking for new ideas to build more machines, and hopes to establish relationships around the world. The Solve challenge is a great platform for exposure and an opportunity to create new partnerships.

CECAM currently partners with AIESEC and La Escuela de Idiomas Carmen Vega, both of which provide CECAM with international volunteers. We also partner with Aaron Faust, who is responsible for the Cochabamba Pedal Project in the United States.