Böcker utgivna av Practical Action Publishing

Value Chains in Development charts the rise of value chain analysis from the sub-sector approach and takes the long view of a discipline that has recently become an essential tool for economic progress in developing countries. It is essential background for students and practitioners of the market-based approaches to development.

Based on extensive field research and in-depth interviews, Achieving Water Security draws conclusions for policy and practice of relevance not just for Ethiopia, but for sub-Saharan Africa more widely, linking findings with current international debates on service delivery in rural areas. Published in association with ODI.

The relationship between scientific and technological change and development has altered with the changing character of developing countries and with advances in technology. High tech, appropriate technology, technology transfer and diffusion all serve to complicate further the already complex task of guiding socioeconomic development in the Third World. The technological fix is no longer seen as a viable solution to the problems of under-development. The authors of this interdisciplinary book stress that a full understanding of the many aspects of the introduction of new technology is the only way to achieve a workable compromise regarding science, technology and development.

Maximum transparency, a profitable structure for saving, access to small loans and an annual lump sum of capital are the hallmarks of the Savings Group methodology. The outcome: empowered groups, made up mostly of women, who manage themselves as tiny financial institutions.Today there are Savings Groups in 60 countries with over 6 million members

Strong financial management skills are essential to promote high standards in international development organizations. Many non-finance people find numbers and financial techniques difficult, however, NGO managers and staff are responsible for sound financial management and without full understanding their programmes will be at best less effective, and at worst vulnerable to going unfunded. Poor communication about financial information, by both finance and non-finance people, often seems to cause a block. This book helps people speak and write financial information better, avoiding jargon, and preventing listeners from ΓÇÿswitching offΓÇÖ. It explains why messages about finance may not be received as they were intended when working cross-culturally and outlines how information can be tailored to different audiences and how to improve understanding and collaboration between finance and non-finance people. It shoud be read by non-finance and finance managers and staff within non-profit organizations internationally, as well as other organizations.

Bridging the Finance Gap in Housing and Infrastructure concentrates on how groups of poor people - coalitions of the poor around the world have been able and been enabled to lead the process of transforming slums into vibrant and stable neighbourhoods. It showcases the strategies and the dedication, commitment and achievement of one northern NGO - Homeless International - as it has pioneered new approaches to analyzing and helping to arrange finance for community-led slum upgrading. This is a very encouraging story. It confirms that the homeless poor in the world''s slums should never be dismissed as the helpless victims of urbanization.Technically, this book is valuable for the explanation of how innovative financing packages can be arranged for slum upgrading programmes. But primarily, it is about human rights and how institutions and organizations respect and help people to realize their rights.

This collection of articles includes case studies of attempts to improve small-scale food processing, remembering that ''small is beautiful, but difficult''. Case studies cover grain and fruit processing, baking, beekeeping, and small-scale oil production.Marilyn Carr is Chief of the Economic Empowerment Section of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. She is a development economist with over 20 years experience in Asia and Africa and specializes in the fields of small enterprise development and technology choice and diffusion.

Calls for a redirection of the economic strategy of the last twenty years. Identifies and measures the impact of an alternative approach through small-scale development projects run by non-governmental organizations.

A handbook of simple methods for rural areas in developing countries. This corrected and revised impression includes an appendix on planning in developing towns.

This book represents the first publication of the Regional Dialogue on the Information Society (REDIS-DIRSI), a regional network of leading researchers concerned with the creation and dissemination of knowledge that supports effective participation in the Information Society by the poor and marginalized communities of Latin America and the Caribbean. It reflects a diverse set of studies undertaken by DIRSI researchers under the common theme of pro-poor, pro-market ICT policies. This supports next-generation reforms that build on the achievements of market liberalization efforts but at the same time address the realities of what we call digital poverty a concept that grasps the multiple dimensions of inadequate levels of access to ICT services by people and organizations, as well as the barriers to their productive use.

The international development agenda remains dominated by economic and institutional priorities of the North. Research used to determine and justify development priorities should be both Southern-driven and Southern-based. This book fully reflects southern-driven networking principles for policymakers and development practitioners.

This practical manual is a major new addition to the resources available for micro-hydro power project and programme managers worldwide and represents excellent value for such a detailed technical reference handbook.

Part one describes the necessary preparations for a fundraising campaign: the role of the leader, the board, volunteers and strategic alliances, and ways to fight fear of fundraising. Part two outlines the practical essentials of an effective communications program, from personal contacts to obtaining good media coverage and making the Internet work for you.This book describes preparations for a fundraising campaign: the role of the leader, the board, volunteers and strategic alliances, and ways to fight fear of fundraising, the practical essentials of an effective communications programme, from personal contacts to obtaining good media coverage, and making the Internet work for you.

The publication includes selected case studies from four different countries in Latin America. These address key issues regarding crop cover integration in LEIA systems. A wide range of agroecosystems are covered by the case studies, so that the information can be adapted for use in other regions.

Modern Irrigation Technologies reviews the experience of smallholders with irrigation technologies in a range of diverse conditions in many different countries. Some people argue that modern irrigation technologies are the key to increased food production. However, projects introducing modern irrigation technologies in the developing world have often failed because the irrigation hardware, which has been developed for high-technology commercial agriculture, cannot be easily adapted for the use of the smallholder. The author identifies the pre-conditions relating to water availability, institutional support and economic opportunity that must be satisfied before smallholders in developing countries can adopt irrigation methods and benefit from them. The circumstances in which modern technologies were introduced are identified, and the relative success or otherwise of the initiatives are summarized. The book also contains a practical review of the range of irrigation hardware that is available and indicates the types of equipment that are more likely to meet the requirements of the smallholder sector. G.A.Cornish is an irrigation engineer with wide experience of technology transfer and staff training on irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa and south and southeast Asia. He currently works at the Overseas Development Unit of HR Wallingford, UK. Modern Irrigation Technologies will be an invaluable guide to project workers, planners and smallholders involved in planning and designing irrigation projects.

Millions of slum residents across the world suffer the hazards and misery of frequent flooding of their streets and homes, which may result in savings of a lifetime being washed away in a few hours, damaged property, loss of work and time, and higher risks of diarrhoea, worm infection and other health problems. This manual is written to help engineers, aid and agency workers understand drainage problems more clearly in the developing world, so that they can work towards finding practical solutions. It focuses on three questions of particular relevance to low-income urban areas in developing countries: what is drainage performance? how can we evaluate a drainage system, to access how best to improve its performance? what are the effects of solids in drains upon performance? This manual is the outcome of two-and-a-half years of fieldwork in the city of Indore, in Madhya Pradesh, India and can be used as a practical aid by municipal engineers, consulting engineers and engineering instructors and students, as well as development and aid workers involved in drainage systems.

Rural transport in developing countries has received increasing attention in development policy, and research and field experience has generated a number of books, articles and documents from organizations working in a variety of locations throughout the developing world. The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development and the International Labour Organisation have collected and annotated details of well over 100 of these books and documents. Information is also given on where to acquire or gain access to much of this material, including some of the most interesting and significant work which exists in unpublished and inaccessible form. The present book brings together the abstracts of a selection of relevant documents on a number of transport-related areas, namely, infrastructure, intermediate means of transport, transport services, policy and institutional issues, financial and planning issues and gender issues.

Miombo forest occurs in a swathe across central and southern Africa. Traditionally shifting cultivators have farmed in miombo, and allowed it to regenerate, but increasingly the demands for land and for fuelwood have resulted in deforestation. This book provides comprehensive details of the climate, environment, ecology and species characteristic of Miombo, and describes methods for assessing the timber and other resources, through inventories, in order to use the forest sustainably.

Weaving together philosophical, historical, legal, scientific and personal viewpoints, this book gives a rich sample of the vast web which makes up our cultural, spiritual and social diversity. It demonstrates how many cultures see Nature as an extension of society, and how sensitive stewardship is an integral part of existence.

Originally prepared for an Expert Meeting organised by UNESCO in 1980, this paper outlines Intermediate Technology''s basic approach to development work; and assesses the lessons learned from 15 years'' experience in development activities (Published in the ITDG Occasional Paper series).

A summary of the state of the art in micro-hydro with a section on the economics of micro-hydro installation and operation. Invaluable to engineers, consultants and field workers in the developing world.

A training book for drawing techniques related to the subjects covered in the other volumes of the Rural Building Course, and general drawing training.From foundations, walls, doors and windows, to roofs, plaster and render, locks and painting.Contains information on tools, maintenance of tools, rural building materials, rural building products, tables of figures and a glossary.This official text book is designed purposely to meet the needs of trainees who are pursuing rural building courses in various training centers administered by the National Vocational Training Institute.The main aim of this book is to provide much need trade information in simple language and with illustrations suited to the understanding of the average trainee.It is the outcome of many years of experiment conducted by the Catholic F.I.C. brothers of the Netherlands, and the German Volunteer Service instructors, in simple building techniques required for a rural community.The National Vocational Training Centre is very grateful to Brothers John v. Winden and Marcel de Keijzer of F.I.C. and Messrs. Fritz Hohnerlein and Wolfram Pforte for their devoted service in preparing the necessary materials for t he book; we are also grateful to the German Volunteer Service and the German Foundation For International Development (DSE) - AUT, who sponsored the publication of this book.We are confident that the book will be of immense value to the instructors and trainees in out training centers.

From sociocultural, political-economic, and environmental as well as biomedical viewpoints, the book presents reviews and case studies of traditional veterinary knowledge and practice, along with historical perspectives, theoretical discussions and research methodologies. The 23 chapters span 10 major species of animal domesticates raised by more than 80 ethnic groups in nearly 40 nations of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, covering nearly 100 diseases and more than 300 medicinal plants and other traditional materia medica. Provides researchers, development professionals, and policymakers working in agricultural and rural development with insights,ideas and approaches to the subject. Published in the Indigenous Knowledge and Development series.

From foundations, walls, doors and windows, to roofs, plaster and render, locks and painting.Contains information on tools, maintenance of tools, rural building materials, rural building products, tables of figures and a glossary.This official text book is designed purposely to meet the needs of trainees who are pursuing rural building courses in various training centers administered by the National Vocational Training Institute.The main aim of this book is to provide much need trade information in simple language and with illustrations suited to the understanding of the average trainee.It is the outcome of many years of experiment conducted by the Catholic F.I.C. brothers of the Netherlands, and the German Volunteer Service instructors, in simple building techniques required for a rural community.The National Vocational Training Centre is very grateful to Brothers John v. Winden and Marcel de Keijzer of F.I.C. and Messrs. Fritz Hohnerlein and Wolfram Pforte for their devoted service in preparing the necessary materials for t he book; we are also grateful to the German Volunteer Service and the German Foundation For International Development (DSE) - AUT, who sponsored the publication of this book.We are confident that the book will be of immense value to the instructors and trainees in out training centers.