Practical Action Publishing
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Small-scale Rural Biogas Programmes
Renewable energy is becoming crucially important, as concern over burning fossil fuels is increasing and the price of oil continues to rise. Biogas technology has undergone great developments since the first designs in the 1970s. Large national projects are working very effectively in countries such...
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Small-scale Soapmaking
Making soap in the context of protracted economic difficulties has meant not only the development of a simple method that could meet rural conditions, but one that could survive the temperament of the wildly fluctuating marketplace as well. Peter Donkor’s book describes the development of soapmakin...
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Small-Scale Water Supply
Small-scale Water Supply provides non-specialists with an overview of the technologies available for water supply in low-income communities in rural areas of developing countries. Focusing chiefly on point supplies such as wells, boreholes, springs and rainwater catchment systems, the book also intr...
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Smallholder Agriculture and Market Participation
Small-scale agriculture is the main livelihood of the majority of the world’s rural poor. Smallholder farmers in the global South play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity, as well as contributing to food security in their countries. However, they need to be connected to markets to see sustain...
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Smart Risks
Jennifer Lentfer, Tanya Cothran
As never before, international aid is in the hands of ordinary people. Concerned citizens in wealthy countries are starting philanthropy groups, joining giving circles, and travelling internationally to lend support. Yet, they are torn between the feelings that ‘something’ must be done about global...
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Smoke - the Killer in the Kitchen
Over two billion people in developing countries use only traditional biomass wood, dung and crop waste for their basic energy needs. The pollution from the burning of these fuels for cooking and heating is linked to the deaths of over 1.6 million people each year (more than three people a minute). I...
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Smoke Free Nepal
Traditional cooking fires are still used in more than half the households in Nepal. But they are a silent killer, with their smoky fumes responsible for the deaths of nearly 23,000 people every year. The Government of Nepal was one of the first to recognize this problem and has a target to eradicate...
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Social Progress and Sustainable Development
Neil Thin sets out to clarify the meaning of the social dimensions of development, with an emphasis on sustainability. He outlines a conceptual framework to facilitate better communication and understanding as a basis for improved policies, implementation strategies and learning strategies. Thin rev...
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Solar Energy for Rural Communities
Gil Yaron, Tani Forbes Irving, Sven Jansson
In Namibia, as in many developing countries, a high proportion of rural communities lack access to the national electricity grid. A major reason for this is the fundamental problem of providing a service, which cannot recover its costs, to areas of low population density. Little use has been made of...
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Solar Heating in Cold Regions
This book is primarily a technical guide to the design and production of solar installations in regions where heating is an issue of utmost importance. This book is written mainly for technicians, architects and designers who are interested in solar heating systems in cold regions of developing coun...