Cities, Poverty and Food

Marielle Dubbeling, Henk de Zeeuw, René Veenhuizen

The numbers of the urban poor are on the increase; at the same time their position has been made more vulnerable by the recent food and economic crises. City authorities need to find innovative strategies to eradicate urban hunger and improve the livelihoods of the urban poor. Urban agriculture prov...

Lessons from Aceh

Jo da Silva

The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 devastated the coastline in Aceh province on the northern tip of Indonesia leaving 167,000 people dead and over half a million people without homes. This resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian response. Over the next three years the Disasters Emergency...

What Works for the Poorest?

David Lawson, David Hulme, Imran Matin, Karen Moore

Poverty reduction has become the central goal of development policies over the last decade but there is a growing realization that the poorest people rarely benefit from poverty reduction programmes. Microfinance programmes can help poor people improve their lives but generally such programmes do no...

Uncharted Territory

Sara Pantuliano

Disputes over land often start conflicts; and land is often a key issue when refugees and internally displaced people attempt to return home when the conflict is over. Access to land affects people’s choice to return and their prospects of recovery. Yet humanitarian agencies largely neglect these wi...

Sugar production from Sugar Cane

This brief describes the process of sugar production, explaining yields, crushing, juice treatment, juice boiling and cleanliness.

Recycling Plastics: Starting a business

An introduction to plastic recycling looking at the reasons for recycling and the practicalities of small-scale businesses.

Serpentine Solar Water Heating: Guidelines for Fabrication

The Serpentine is a solar thermal collector developed as part of a low cost water heating system by the AIDG for households in Xela, Guatemala.

Strawberry Flavoured Jam

Strawberry flavoured jam can be made from ash gourd and artificial strawberry flavouring.

Coffee Processing

This fact sheet describes the types of coffee, and the techniques and equipment needed for small-scale coffee production.

Mud as a Mortar

Clay is the inherent binder of soils which are used in building. Such mortars are generally used with adobe and compressed soil blocks.