Practical Action, an international NGO working in Africa, Asia and Latin America, has 40 years experience of approaches to technology development with small-scale producers in low-income communities.  Starting from existing skills and knowledge, Practical Action supports Participatory Technology Development processes, with a wide range of partners. Examples include the development of improved ploughing techniques in Sudan , and community-based extension workers in Bangladesh .

The role of Appropriate Technology organizations nowadays is to empower people to make their own choices about the technologies they want to use in pursuit of their livelihood.