Bøger udgivet af Practical Action Publishing

Renewable energy can present a baffling array of options to aid agency managers, government officials, and advisers. This publication contrasts the relative merits of biomass, solar, hydro, and wind power, as well as detailing some direct applications.

What is - and what should be - the role of rural credit in developing countries? The author steers the reader though this discussion and towards sound practical conclusions, using examples from India, Brazil, Cameroon, Malawi and the Philippines.

The book draws on the experience of farmers' own enterprises, combining superior production along with enhancement of biological diversity. It is based on work in 12 countries with collaborating scientists and farmers, showing how its authors perceive and quantitatively analyse agrodiversity, and how they work together with farmers.

The author addresses the major areas of tension existing between headquarters and field offices, which will be familiar to those working for NGOs, including flexibility and consistency in administrative practice, diversity and similarity of NGO staff, and field-orientated and organizationally-oriented attitudes of those staff.

Urban Sanitation covers all stages of the planning process and shows how unified urban sanitation planning is a vital weapon in the war against disease. This book is for all decision makers and their advisers with a direct or indirect interest in urban sanitation. It can be used at international, national, state or provincial, municipal and local levels. It is also suitable as a text for infrastructure planning courses. The first five chapters outline the nature of urban sanitation problems, identify effective strategic responses to them and set out practical ways in which these strategic principles can be applied. Four chapters cover critical aspects of the strategic planning process: sanitation and hygiene promotion; information collection and analysis; technology choice; and participatory workshops. The final chapter provides guidance on putting the plan into action. The book goes beyond simplistic formulae to suggest ways in which formal plans, market forces and actions at the local level can be brought together to provide a viable response to sanitation problems. The approach is simple but has potential to bring about significant impacts if regularly applied by all stakeholders, from local groups through to international agencies. It draws on a wealth of field experience and in doing so provides tried and tested findings and recommendations in 32 case studies. Supplementary sections set out the links between sanitation and health, review sanitation technologies, provide information on participatory methods and detail sources of further information.

This publication should be of special interest to all people working on programmes related to small enterprise development, including representatives of business associations, financial institutions, universities, business schools, research organisations,

Electricity is highly desired by low-income households, but it is all too often only obtained by the richer people in developing countries. The tremendous sacrifices and high payments that low-income households are often prepared to make to obtain even small amounts indicate the importance that they attach to electricity. Low-cost Electrification looks at why, in most developing countries, efforts to provide electricity to poor households have had only limited success and recommends some appropriate solutions. This Working Paper draws on the experience of experts involved in low-cost electrification snd evidence collected from six developing countries. The paper contains a complete review of the problems faced by poor users which include high connection costs, high costs of house wiring, and houses failing to meet standard requirements, as well as a review of the constraints faced by power utilities such as high capital costs and high revenue-collection costs. The paper suggests a number of new and practical approaches, and ways to implement them, which can make electirifcation more economic for the utility, and spread the benefits of electrification more equitably across the social spectrum. Low-cost Electrification is part of the Intermediate Technology Working Papers series which is designed to make the information that Intermediate Technology is generating about technology and development accessible to a brader readership across the development sector.

This book looks at how an increasingly urban world can also be a world where the ideas of sustainable development are put into practice. The book looks first at concepts, theories and problems of sustainable development - from a developed and a developing world perspective. It then considers regional perspectives, with contributions from Southeast Asia, North America and Eastern Europe. Finally the book presents local answers to the problems of sustainable urban development, with examples from Iran, Poland, Canada, Finland and elsewhere. This book will be of interest to urban planners, those involved in furthering the Agenda 21 debates, and all those concerned about the future of cities.

This is the first book to focus on farmer-led extension, drawing on the experiences of over 70 farmers, community workers, NGO staff, researchers and policy makers from throughout the world.

This book covers pest and disease damage, causative agents, and methods of combatting them and also covers protection against larger animals and wind.The examples are illustrated stories presented as strip cartoons for extension staff or teachers to show and hand out to farmers and students.

* essential addition to the microfinance armoury

These books promote appropriate innovations and environmentally sound solutions which can help reduce consumption. All of the new technologies and scientific breakthroughs described in the books can be applied by individuals and entrepreneurs at a reasonable cost to themselves and to the community.

At the heart of effective irrigation lies the problem of lifting or pumping water, and this handbook, newly revised and reformatted, surveys the water-lifting technologies that are available and appropriate for smallholdings.

Global warming and climate change pose a dire threat to life, demanding urgent global action. The Kyoto Protocol is the United Nations treaty committing signatories to dealing with climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Clean Development Mechanism, Article 12 of the Protocol, is a complex trade mechanism which is unique in its promotion of sustainable development. It gives rich and poor countries the opportunity to combine forces through projects in the developing world. Climate Change is a non-technical account of what inspires people to transform the dry language of this international climate change treaty into measurable improvements in people''s lives. The projects described have reduced the emission of greenhouse gases through sustainable development in four countries: Brazil, Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Africa. This book shows how the elegant creativity of science can be combined with the delightful unpredictability of politics and human behaviour. These stories come to life through a kaleidoscope of colour photographs and children''s artwork. This beautifully illustrated, inspirational book brings the case studies to life and shows what can be achieved by small groups with the desire and the know-how.

About one billion people now live in the slums of the towns and cities of the developing world. And their number is set to double by 2030, unless concerted efforts are made to the contrary. Slums provide an unhealthy and dangerous living environment, and improving the living conditions of slum dwellers is therefore an important international goal. Unfortunately, the official target for doing so falls far short of the numbers affected. Already, the slum residents themselves are the major actors in upgrading their living environment, and there are many good examples of decentralized upgrading. In order to improve the lives of much larger numbers, these examples need to be scaled up. This book examines how this can be done successfully, by investigating a number of case studies and the lessons to be derived from those. It takes as a starting point that the social networks of the urban poor are an important source of information as well as means of communication. But they cannot provide answers to every problem, and one of the key questions is therefore how these networks can be stimulated to link up with other networks or external information sources.

Understanding globalization is key for the future of development. Increasingly globalized patterns of economic exchange and political interaction shape the possibility of reforms to benefit the poor. There is an urgent need to assess what challenges this new context poses for development. In particular, what are the challenges to the objective of poverty reduction implied by globalization? The aim of this book is to take a critical look at the trends associated with globalization and assess what they mean for traditional practices of development. Going beyond attempts to quantify the pros and cons of globalization and the ideological tenor of much of the polemical debate, the approach is to focus on the actors, institutions and processes by which the relationship between globalization and poverty is mediated. This is important for understanding who the winners and losers from globalization are likely to be, given the current political and economic constraints under which practitioners operate. Such an approach helps to clarify the sense of the obstacles and opportunities that will shape any attempt to promote poverty elimination in a context of globalization. The book explores how the relationship between globalization and poverty is handled by institutions and actors that govern social and economic interactions at every level of society. The focus is on the consequences of globalization, the actors, institutions and movements that are operating in the new global political space, and on the strategies that are being developed to contest the impact of globalization on people''s lives. The chapters examine three broad areas: production and exchange in the context of small scale producers; changing gender relations and feminist movements; and the environmental consequences of globalization and the movements that have emerged to challenge these. This reflects the editors'' concern with the consequences of globalization as well as the politics of resistance to its negative outcomes.

This is the first book to look at gender issues in disasters in the context of South Asia, where disasters have a crucial impact on the development process. It shows how exploring the specific capacities and vulnerabilities of men and women in disaster situations will improve the chance of success in development projects.

This book is intended as a starting point for those considering lime as a building material, and as a general reference to the broad range of uses for lime in construction. It shows how to make the best use of different types of lime, whether extracted locally or transported from further afield.

This book shows how research in Southern Africa has shed light on why conventional wells and boreholes fail, on the potential of the groundwater resource to support production through improved siting and selection of more appropriate well designs, and on the positive impacts and some problems that can emerge at productive water points.

This book covers in depth the design, construction, and operation of a particular type of lime kiln: a continuous, natural draught, mixed feed, vertical shaft kiln (VSK), focusing on 'small-scale' production and is aimed at lime-burners, technologists and fieldworkers in developing countries.

''Somesh Kumar has compiled this useful collection with the intention of promoting creativity, experimentation and growth. This is, then, a source of ideas and advice, not a set of marching orders.'' - Robert Chambers. This book combines the concept, practice and application of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) in a comprehensive manner. The author views PRA as a means of opening up new ways of approaching various problems within the development process. He defines it as a growing body of methods to enable local people to share, enhance and analyse their knowledge of life and conditions in order to plan, act, monitor and evaluate their actions. The basic premise of PRA is that poor and marginalized people are capable of analysing their own realities and that they should be enabled to do so. The book provides examples from experiences, material with directions for use, as well as possibilities for innovation. It is rich in insight from actual practice in the field, and contains useful tips on the best practices which readers and practitioners will find extremely valuable. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 deals with the concept of participation and explores its multiple dimensions. Parts 2 and 3 deal with the methods of PRA. Each method is explained with an introduction, applications, examples, a process outlining the steps, the time and material required, and the advantages and limitations of using these methods. The final part provides a summary of the concept of PRA. Somesh Kumar joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1989, after a brief stint as a psychologist in the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Mr. Kumar has worked in various capacities with the most backward communities in Andhra Pradesh and has implemented a number of innovative programmes including externally funded participatory development projects. He has also served as Director of the PRA Division of ActionAid India (1996-2000). As its first chief executive, he established Praxis - Institute for Participatory Practices, Patna, as a centre of excellence in participatory development. A leading PRA practitioner, he has contributed significantly to the repertoire of PRA methods. He has conducted extensive training programmes in participatory development in India and abroad for grassroots activists and senior level NGO professionals as well as for government agencies in varied fields.

Planning in Cities is an innovative collection which bridges theory and practice to explore the conflicting challenges of the increasingly rapid scale and speed of city growth with providing effective urban planning policies and management strategies.

The New Middlewomen is the result of extensive research funded by the British Department for International Development and the Ford Foundation in Kenya and India and will be essential reading for bankers who wish to support the poor profitably and effectively, and all those with an interest in microfinance issues.