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Annual Highlights 2005

Annual highlights 2005

More recent reports and accounts are available: Latest annual report

download Practical Action Annual Highlights 2005 (PDF, 801k)
Welcome to Practical Action's annual highlights for 2005, which review our work around the world supporting poor communities, and look to the challenges of the future. These can be read online, below, or downloaded as a full-colour PDF file.

Highlights from around the world:

Download Annual Highlights 2005 as PDF   ~801k

The right idea, however small, can change lives

Rapid developments in technology are transforming our world, yet much of humanity is still deprived of even its simplest forms. At Practical Action we know that appropriate, sustainable technologies can improve the lives of people living in poverty. Working in partnership with communities, we are striving for long term benefits that will transform the lives of poor people, while conserving the precious resources of our planet.

This has been a very successful year for Practical Action. With your help we have increased our income by 10%. There has been significant growth in our Southern Africa office, which is now implementing large projects in Mozambique. In Sudan our work is expanding and we continuing to run projects in Darfur, despite the ongoing conflict.

We are extremely grateful to all our supporters for their continued generosity, which makes our work possible. Our thanks go also to our staff, partners and communities who enable our work to continue and to grow.

Jenny Borden, Chair, Practical Action

Surviving the cold of the Andes

Farmers in the high Andes of Peru rely on alpacas for their livelihoods
Last winter was exceptionally harsh in Peru. The cold wind brought the temperature down to -35°C and there was a heavy snowfall, which covered pastures for weeks. Farmers in this area of the high Andes breed alpacas, which are very hardy animals. However in these harsh conditions their animals began to suffer both from the cold and lack of available food, resulting in the death of over half the stock. This was devastating to these remote communities, who rely on their alpacas for milk, fibre for clothing and transport of goods to market.

Practical Action in Peru has built a network of kamayoq, local people specially trained in animal husbandry, who are working to safeguard the alpacas. A simple shelter has been designed, constructed of locally available materials, which can easily be built and maintained by the community. This protects the alpacas from freezing wind and snow and the animals are able to share warmth by huddling close together.

A special food has been developed to build up animals after the winter. Barley grown in the valley is milled, enriched with syrup and sprouted hydroponically. It grows quickly and is ready for use in only two weeks.

At Kamayoq training, leaders chosen by their communities, undertake basic veterinary training. They share their skills with their friends and neighbours to help to lessen the harsh effects of the local climate. More ...

Bringing light to the village

Reservoir for a pico-hydro plant serving the village of Kyantung, Nepal
Luprang is a small village in the Gorkha district of Nepal. Like many other villages in the area, until recently it had no electricity. Although the lines of the national grid run 3 km away, the terrain is difficult and connection to a village of this size is simply too costly.

Practical Action is working with communities to install a variety of small-scale energy plants in remote villages in Nepal. With a choice of available technologies - wind, solar, biogas and pico-hydro - local energy needs are carefully assessed so that the best technology can be selected. Practical Action also ensures that the community is able to operate and maintain it.

Luk Man Praja dreamt that one day his village would have bright lights like those he had seen in Kathmandu. He persuaded his community and Practical Action discussed the options with the villagers, who chose a hybrid wind and solar system. Construction was a major undertaking because each part had to be transported to the village on an aerial ropeway over a raging river. It took the villagers six weeks to bring all the necessary equipment to the site.

When the lights were turned on the villagers were thrilled, especially Luk Man Praja, whose dream had come true.

Tsunami and its aftermath

The terrible events of 26 December 2004 shocked the world. Practical Action staff in Sri Lanka immediately went to affected areas to distribute medical and other essential supplies they had personally bought. Now we are working with these devastated communities to help them rebuild their lives.

Practical Action is supporting communities in a variety of ways, by helping with house building, putting in place water and sanitation systems, repairing roads and bridges, providing bicycles and trailers for transport and helping to re-establish boat yards to make and repair traditional fishing boats.

Our new web-based Technical Information for Reconstruction Service has an invaluable array of technical information ranging from how to build a school to designs for local boats. Using our years of experience in country, we are also working to influence and strengthen government plans for reconstruction and disaster preparedness. More ...

Community pride in Kenya

Members of the women's group at their spring in Kipsongo, Kenya
Kitale is a small town in western Kenya with a rapidly growing population. Some residents are refugees from Turkana, driven out of their traditional lands by hunger. They eke out a living scavenging in the town. Cut off from their pastoral way of life, many have a deep sense of hopelessness.

Practical Action brought key decision makers together with the community to find ways to improve the area. The residents identified water and sanitation as their most important needs. The first task was the rehabilitation of the local spring, heavily polluted by a nearby river. With the support of Practical Action the Kipsongo Spring Women's Group was formed and its members now take a week in turn to ensure the newly protected spring stays clean. This has given them, and the rest of the community, a new sense of direction.

The health of the community has improved and cholera and diarrhoea have become less common. Community pride has been an additional benefit. Monica Ekirata, one of the group comments:

'Now we have clean water, which everyone desires, more and more people are coming to our spring. When we walk in the neighbourhood we feel dignified and proud; we have uplifted the reputation of Kipsongo.'

Fuel saving is life saving

Shortage of fuel for cooking is one of the many problems faced by the 2 million internally displaced people in Darfur, Sudan. Gathering fuel is generally women's work and is dangerous. Women have been attacked, raped or killed during their search for firewood. Sources of firewood near the camps are now completely depleted, leading women to travel further and further afield or to dig up tree roots, eliminating any chance of the trees growing again.

Various alternative cooking fuels such as kerosene or LPG have been tried but both the stoves and the fuel proved too costly for people living in the camps.

Practical Action is tackling this problem through the use of improved woodstoves, which are both affordable and easy to use. Over 150 women have been trained to use the new stoves and are now able to teach these techniques to others. Essential fuel saving tips such as using dry wood, pre-soaking beans before cooking, using a weighted lid and controlling the air supply to the fire are included in the training programme.

These methods cut fuel use in half and as a result the incidence of violence towards women has significantly reduced.

Caring for orphans in Zimbabwe

Nelly Siwela, 65, started the Chakohwa Voluntary Mothers Group in 1998. She began with 15 volunteer mothers and 30 orphans, whom she supported by growing and selling mushrooms.

Practical Action was able to help Nelly and the orphans in her care by providing training in techniques to improve mushroom productivity. She also learned new skills to help to sell her produce.

As Nelly says: 'When Practical Action first came to the district, they saw us producing mushrooms on a small scale. I challenged Practical Action to help us expand production and the result is the building of the Mushroom House in Chakohwa. They have also helped us to help the orphans through providing us with training. This has included how to grow and market oyster mushrooms and how to maintain hygienic conditions in the Mushroom House. We have also been taught how to make the children aware of HIV/Aids.

'At the moment, we are paying for 15 orphans to attend school and my hope is that the project will continue so that we can educate more children. The major challenge is that the number of orphans is increasing as a result of HIV/Aids and we therefore want to be able to generate additional income.'

Vegetable growing yields a better life

A skill taught by the training scheme - hand pollinating a gourd flower
Sahida Begum lived with her husband and three children at Nilkuthi Dam in the Gaibanda area of Bangladesh. They owned a small patch of land with a house and some cattle and poultry. Although poor they made enough to live on and Moksed Ali, her husband earned some extra money as a rickshaw puller.

Their lives were turned upside down when the river changed course during the monsoon season, washing away both their land and their house.

Without land and with no savings to fall back on, Sahida was forced to sell her livestock and borrow money to survive. For months her family went hungry. Then Sahida joined one of Practical Action's vegetable cultivation training schemes. She learned to prepare a seedbed, to make compost and organic methods to control insect pests. Then she was given a packet of specially chosen fast growing vegetable seeds.

She rebuilt her house inside the new flood protection dam and began to cultivate a nearby plot with the fast growing seeds. In a few months she was picking beans and gourds from her plot - enough to feed her family and have a small surplus to sell. In the future she plans to preserve the seeds from her garden to sell in the market as well.

Our changing climate

a wind turbine in Sri Lanka
Climate change is not just a threat - it's a reality. And while rich countries continue to contribute most to climate change through increasing greenhouse gas emissions, it is the world's poorest people who feel the devastating effects. A change in rainfall pattern can mean that farmers' crops fail to mature and people have less food; it is a real struggle for poor communities to cope with the burden of more frequent severe weather events.

Around the world Practical Action is working with communities, helping them to adapt to the effects of climate change. In Gwanda, a semi-arid area in Western Zimbabwe, we have worked with rural people to develop methods for capturing scarce rain, using ridges of soil along the contours of fields. These ridges prevent rainfall from running off the hard-baked soils too quickly, so that crops have enough water to grow. Thus, even when rainfall levels are low, families can harvest enough food. Practical Action also works in partnership with communities to help them access clean, renewable energy such as micro-hydro and wind power - alternative technologies which bring huge benefits and don't contribute to climate change.

Practical Action benefits from many years of experience in this field. It is crucial that we use this to influence the people making decisions about climate change. We play a key role in the Working Group on Climate and Development, which has produced two policy reports illustrating the effects of climate change faced by people in the developing world. It offers suggestions for dealing with the problems, so that when governments consider what can be done the needs of poor communities are considered as well as rich. More ...

New steps in development education

The highly regarded Sustainable Design Award has expanded and more than 300 UK schools are now enrolled in this scheme. 2005 also saw the launch of the award in the Netherlands. One way in which students are helped with their design projects is through case studies. One new study concerns organic cotton production in Peru and features Ulysses, an organic cotton farmer in Canete. He describes his reasons for changing to organic farming and the effect this has had on his land and cotton yields. Teachers and students are offered activities about the topic and links to a variety of information on subjects such as fair trade and manufacturing processes. It is an invaluable resource for students and teachers of design and technology from whom it has received glowing praise. More ...

Intermediate Technology ConsultantsRural electrification in Mexico

An estimated five million people in Mexico are without electricity. The majority of these live in remote rural communities of less than 100 people and around 60% of those with no electricity are indigenous people who are among the poorest in Mexico.

ITC, the consulting arm of Practical Action, were asked by the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) to analyse how existing structures operate, to evaluate designs for State Energy Commissions in the southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero and Veracruza, and to suggest how integrated rural energy solutions could be implemented.

This is one example of how ITC is helping Practical Action achieve wider impact. ITC website

ITDG Publishing

A further successful year included the publication of The Humanitarian Handbook. It covers issues including safety and security in the field, staying healthy, managing stress and coping with the trauma of others. An extensive appendix includes a checklist of 'what to do and what to take with you', a brief first aid manual, and much practical information and advice. This book will be an invaluable companion for all humanitarian workers and an essential tool for those training them. ITDG Publishing website

Summary of Income and Expenditure 2004/5

Totally yearly income 2000-2005 

Income 2004-2005

Expenditure 2004-2005

Full Report & Accounts 2004-5 (PDF, 2.2Mb)

Our warmest thanks go to all the local communities, staff and supporters who made our work possible this year

Practical Action, The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Rugby, CV23 9QZ, UK
T +44 (0) 1926 634400   F +44 (0) 1926 634401

Patron HRH The Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB
Registered Charity no. 247257 Company registration no. 871 954, England

Practical Action Annual Highlights 2005 (PDF)

Download printed version

These annual highlights can also be downloaded as a six-page full colour document, in PDF format.

Download Annual Highlights 2005 as PDF   ~801k

Trustees' Report & Accounts 2004-5 (PDF, 2.2Mb)

Further information

Previous years

The following editions of our annual highlights are still available:

Please note that prior to 2005, Practical Action was known as ITDG (Intermediate Technology Development Group).

More recent reports and accounts are available: Latest annual report

ITDGPractical Action East Africa's Annual Report 2002-2003
Highlights of ITDGPractical Action's work in Eastern Africa over the last year, including project summaries and financial reports, available to read online as a text-only version , or as a fully illustrated PDF.

ITDGPractical Action Latin America
ITDGPractical Action Latin America's report for 2002-2003 is available in Spanish from www.itdg.org.pe

To read these reports, you will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader.
Find out more about PDF files.

                 
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