Mario Varon, BS
Design for Poverty Alleviation
2012
Recent Work
BICYCLE INNOVATIONS
Designing Farm Implements for Small Farmers, presents the work and experiences of Design Impact fellows, Mario Varon and Josh Treuhaft, with India’s National Innovation Foundation using the embedded design process to improve the livelihood of small and marginal farmers in India through the development of low-cost bicycle based human-powered agricultural tools. During 6 months we redesigned a Bicycle Weeder made out of recycled bicycle parts and developed a concept for a multitasking (Weeder/Seeder/Sprayer) device. Initial results showed that the Bicycle Weeder reduced pain associated with traditional weeding postures and saved on average approximately 3 hours of work per day. Design Impact is a non-profit organization that partners designer with community organizations in India.