Training trainers to improve farming methods

Peruvian farmer Marcelino Fredy was struggling to make ends meet from his crops and animals. The 37 year-old father-of-three from the Chiara community of Canchis province's San Pablo district then started training to become a kamayoq (local peasant trainer).

He joined other representatives of poor farming communities around the region to study at ITDGPractical Action's Kamayoq School. The school provides training in improved agricultural techniques including animal breeding and health, cultivated pasture management, forage conservation, growing vegetable in greenhouses, production of improved traditional cheese and organic fertilizers.

Trained kamayoqs return home to offer their new expertise and skills to their own communities.

Marcelino is proud to use his kamayoq knowledge and skills to improve his own and local people's farming methods.

"I was a novice but now I am a technician in my community. I am better than other technicians and my contemporaries in Chiara look for me to treat and cure their animals. I have changed thanks to ITDGPractical Action.''

ITDGPractical Action's work on reducing vulnerability

Pots of goodness

Food preservation is an important issue in the harsh climate of North Darfur in Sudan. The heat and dust take their toll of precious crops. When you have a good harvest it is vital to keep produce in a market saleable condition.

In Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, ITDGPractical Action and the Women's Association for Earthenware Manufacturing have been experimenting with a traditional storage container called a zeer, invented by a teacher called Mohammed Bah Abba.

A lidded earthenware pot is fitted inside a larger pot with an insulating layer of sand in between. This sand layer can be kept cool by adding water regularly, thus providing a refrigerated storage space at minimal cost.

The results of these trials were amazing. Carrots, tomatoes and okra could now be kept in good condition for nearly twenty days, whereas previously they would have been unsaleable after two or three.

Seventy-five women, trained by ITDGPractical Action to make and use these coolers, saw their earnings increase by 50%.

There is already a high demand for their pots among the local urban and rural communities. As a result of this project, the Women's Association for Earthenware Manufacturing have begun to produce and market zeers in the Al Fashir area. They are also on the lookout for other ways to put their pots to good use - grain storage is just one possibility.

ITDGPractical Action's work on making markets work for poor people

Healthier home heating

In the harsh winter, the people of Gatlang, in the high hills of the Rasuwa district of Nepal, are dependent on their kitchen stove for heating as well as cooking. However these stoves, fuelled mostly by pine wood, emit much dangerous smoke leading to health and respiratory problems, especially among women and children.

ITDGPractical Action have been monitoring and raising awareness of the dangers of smoke. Along with the community we are developing appropriate methods to reduce smoke levels. These include improvements in home insulation and stove design to reduce fuel use.

Young mother Lemma Tamang took part in the smoke monitoring trials by wearing a personal monitor around her neck. Lemma told a community meeting "I have worn the monitor and had a look at the computer. There is so much smoke - I am amazed - too much to describe." Lemma continued "I am very happy as I now know smoke is harmful and that ITDGPractical Action is helping us get rid of it."

Another problem in Nepal is the transport of goods. The mountainous terrain makes any journey arduous and goods are mainly taken by mule. So the villagers of Marpha in the Mustang district were delighted when ITDGPractical Action installed a new gravity ropeway. During the last apple season, growers were able to save significantly on transport costs for their apples with the added benefit that many hours of travel by mule was only 20 minutes on the ropeway.

ITDGPractical Action's community managed approach to these projects means that technology can be adapted to meet the needs of a specific district. In this instance an novel braking system was successfully introduced. The ropeway technology is also environmentally friendly and is an appropriate alternative to road building in the mountains, which can cause landslides.

ITDGPractical Action's work on improving access to useful services, systems and structures

Smoke and Health: indoor air pollution in the developing world

New technologies for small enterprise

Rural entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are using the internet to develop businesses and improve their livelihoods. At two centres set up by ITDGPractical Action with local NGOs, poor people can access telephone, computer and internet services to gather information and skills to help them run their small businesses.

More than 700 people use the centre in Dinajpur every month, one of whom is Nurnaher. She runs a small business making clothes, "I am able to get very nice and unusual designs from the internet, which my customers like very much. In this way I am able to develop our business and our future income. "

The centres produce over 100 different guidebooks on entrepreneurship and developing small enterprises, which are available for visitors. There are also audio versions provided for illiterate entrepreneurs.

Staff at the centres provide training for people wanting to learn to use the technology. One trainee commented "The training I am getting will be helpful to my future. When I complete my education and I want to start any kind of small business, this experience will be the pillar of my skills".

Many visitors to the centre have family members living and working abroad to supplement the family income. Using email instead of telephone communication, poor people can save on the costs of arranging money transfers and keeping in touch with loved ones.

ITDGPractical Action's work on helping communties respond to new technologies

Voicing small-scale farmers' views

An unprecedented face-to-face meeting between small-scale farmers from across Zimbabwe and the country's national agricultural policy makers was held with ITDGPractical Action's organisational help.

Over four days in February, the Farmers' Jury, comprising 12 active farmers elected by farming communities, discussed a vision for smallholder agriculture's future in Zimbabwe. They heard presentations from top-level national government, agricultural industry and farmers' union representatives. Topics included farming systems, technology, HIV/AIDS, marketing and price-fixing.

Jury members and farmers in the audience questioned policy makers and spoke on many issues These included the thorny problem of service provision favouring newly resettled farmers.

Through the jury, ITDGPractical Action helped deliver the authentic voice of Zimbabwe's small-scale farmers directly to national policy makers who had never received such first-hand input before. The participating farmers are now calling for such juries to happen on a more local, district basis.

ITDGPractical Action's advocacy work

Sustainable Design Award success

ITDGPractical Action's Sustainable Design Award for A-level Design & Technology students has completed its pilot phase. The Award is encouragies students to explore environmental, economic, social and moral issues in Design & Technology. It offers an opportunity for students to work on genuine case studies and product studies within a variety of worldwide contexts, all of which have sustainability issues at their heart.

The pilot scheme ran in nine schools in England and Wales and 90 students have now successfully completed projects. Designs ranged from a cardboard desk for use in emergency situations to sustainable packaging for peanut butter produced by women's groups in Kenya.

Sarah Gaunt, a student from Denbigh School in Milton Keynes, designed a specialist bag to protect the equipment and medicines of Kenyan animal welfare workers. "It is very challenging to design something for another country, it took a lot of research," said Sarah. "The really exciting part of the project is that it could help real people overcome a real problem."

The Sustainable Design Award will launch fully to all schools in England and Wales in the 2003/2004 academic year. The website www.sda-uk.org is now fully live.

ITDGPractical Action Development Education | Sustainable Design Award | STEP

Renewable energy meeting the needs of small islands

Four islands in the UK will soon be producing substantial amounts of their own energy supply after implementing wind, solar and other renewable energy systems recommended by ITC.

The Integrated Renewable Energy Systems for Small Islands (IRESSI) project assessed the islands of Lundy, The Farnes and Brownsea - all National Trust properties off the coast of England - to gauge the potential for exploiting renewable energy to provide for the island's energy supply. As a result, measures are being taken to improve energy-efficiency and to realise wind and solar energy production.

A Renewable Energy Strategy for the Isle of Wight was also developed to explore ways of achieving its target of supplying 10% of its own electricity by 2010 and promoting the idea of the island as a 'Green Tourism' centre. ITCs recommendations have now been approved by the Isle of Wight Council and the island will soon be implementing a community-based wind scheme, solar and biodiesel renewable energy sources and constructing new 'zero-energy' housing.

Rona Wilkinson led the project and commented, "Renewable energy holds much interest for the residents and governors of the islands, because it is economically attractive and provides an opportunity to make use of local, natural resources for local development."

ITC website: www.itcltd.com

New ventures included the production of low-cost editions of some of ITDG Publishing's best-selling titles and developing co-publishing partnerships with South African and Asian based companies. Both initiatives aim to make the books more widely available and affordable for readers in Africa and Asia.

ITDG Publishing website: www.itdgpublishing.org.uk

Gearing up to meet the challenges ahead

Cowan Coventry, ITDGPractical Action chief executive

The world is being transformed by rapid developments in new technologies but the global scourge of poverty and inequality persists. Large swathes of humanity are still deprived of even the simplest technologies. More than a billion people still live in abject poverty. Technology has dramatically failed to fulfil its promise of a better life for a third to half of all humanity. For example:

• Two billion people do not have access to modern, efficient forms of energy supply - although electricity was invented 150 years ago.
• One billion people have no access to safe water and 2.4 billion have no sanitation - yet water supply technologies have been around for as long as civilisation.
• Three billion rely on wood/biomass for their main energy need, cooking - a technology that has changed little since the Stone Age and one that kills 1.6 million people each year.

The early part of 2003 saw us gearing up for the launch of our ambitious new Strategy - "Knowledge, Impact, Influence". This recognises that the world is being transformed by economic globalisation and rapid developments in new and revolutionary technologies. It sets out the need for ITDGPractical Action to continue demonstrating 'practical answers to poverty' and highlights our ambition to become the leading international authority in the use of technology to reduce poverty in the developing world.

I believe that ITDGPractical Action has a vital contribution to make to poverty alleviation; that technology can make a difference in people's lives, helping them build their way out of poverty. I continue to be impressed the very real and tangible difference ITDGPractical Action makes in the world and by the commitment of our staff and the communities we work with. We will continue to strive towards ITDGPractical Action's vision of a world free from poverty and injustice in which technology is used to the benefit of all.

With the continuing and increased help of our supporters, we will work to achieve this aim.

Cowan Coventry, ITDGPractical Action chief executive