(RPG-011) “SYNERGY VILLAGE”

How should the government head towards the direction of meeting its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations? There are many possible approaches, but I think the best way is to enable each village to comply one at a time, just like laying individual bricks in building a castle.

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I am now inviting suggestions from all those interested, for them to submit ideas as to how an MDG compliant village should be built and evaluated. Bear in mind however that the MDGs are just frameworks that could still be expanded and improved as national conditions would allow it.

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To start the ball rolling, I am bringing out my own ideas. To add to the MDG framework, I think that compliant villages should be self-sufficient as they are self-contained. Its architecture should be similar to the design of the Internet, wherein each network is independently working by itself, but is interconnected to the bigger functioning global network.

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Just to cite a few examples, I think that compliant villages should be self-sufficient in their needs for energy, food, water, housing, health and sanitation. As resources would allow, the delivery of these resources should be integrated with each other, in a way allowing these localities to become “synergy villages”, so to speak.

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Take the case of energy for instance. With a good water supply, sanitation could be improved by installing flush toilets that would feed biogas chambers, thus ensuring a supply of cooking gas. Water would also enable the villages to grow their own food, an activity that could also reduce solid wastes and prevent hunger.

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Although home ownership is ideal, it is more practical to give villagers access to rental housing. After all, they could just buy or build their own homes as their incomes would increase. Food production could give them this income, another example of synergy.