Current Sponsored Research Projects

Power is Knowledge, Field Tests of Mobile Phone Chargers for rural Kenyans

Effective dates: 2009 Pilot Study
Funding Source: Tulane’s Newcomb Foundation 
Region or Country (ies): Kenya
Principal Investigators: Laura L. Murphy, PhD (lmurphy2@tulane.edu)

The mobile phone is taking off among low-income consumers at the “bottom of the pyramid”. In rural Africa, the boom is visible and remarkable. Yet, rural electrification is stalled and small commercial charging kiosks are inconvenient. If the devices are to really work for the poorest, they need better ways to charge their phone batteries. How do we know this? My research on technology change in a Kenyan village, while research on mobile phones in the developing world hints at this gap.“Solar!” seem to be the answer. True? For whom? Where? With which devices? Let’s identify simple battery-charging products already on the market that work “well enough” and get those into markets and small shops. Let’s go further, and improve designs and durability, and link devices to local entrepreneurs, jobs and incomes. This project will field test Hand-Crank/Dynamo chargers with real women and see how they work.