Economic and Financial Crisis

The current economic and financial crisis is not going to go away in the near future and we may have it with us for a long time.  Government authorities will be strapped for funding and they will be looking for ways to cut costs, at the same time they have to develop projects that will employ large number of unemployed (as China proposes to do), and continue towards achieving "green and sustainable" objectives.  A tall order.

However this should be a good time to get development agencies, whether national or international, to start applying the Vetiver System on a larger scale - particularly for state sponsored infrastructure programs.  VS reduces capital cost and long term maintenance, it improves quality of life - cleaner water, less pollution, and cash benefits to farmers and others. It also could be a mass user of labor not only for infrastructure projects but also for the repair of point source erosion and pollution sites that have short to long term negative impact on people and resources downstream.  

This economic crisis is going to be devastating for many, many people, and will be particularly bad for the rural poor in developing countries.  As unemployed stream back from the cities to their rural villages unemployment and economic stress will get even worse at village level.  The Vetiver System is a technology that could be available to most villagers and could be used effectively by communities and government agencies as one of many means towards employment.

Dick Grimshaw