How to use the DRYIT Semi-continuous Tray Dryer

A comprehensive guide on how to use this tray dryer - you can dry herbs, fruit, vegetables, and even colouring materials and textiles.

A Woodworking Bench

This technical brief shows how a woodworking bench with vice can be made without the use of steel components.

Small-scale Oilseed Processing

Discusses refining oilseed on a small-scale; topics include raw materials, health and safety and processing.

Floating Gardens in Bangladesh

A floating garden is built using aquatic weeds as a base on which vegetables can be grown.

Lime Production

There is a long history of production and use of lime in Sri Lanka. Its main use has been as a cementing agent and as a decorative whitewash in the building industry.

Culture is Our Weapon

Patrick Neate, Damien Platt

Brazil is a conundrum; even as its culture enjoys an ever higher profile in the West, an undeclared, vicious and often ignored drug war is being fought on the streets of its cities' favelas (shanty towns). Culture is Our Weapon: AfroReggae in the Favelas of Rio is a unique and remarkable book. It te...

Developing Groundwater

Alan MacDonald, Jeff Davies, Roger Calow, John Chilton

In many rural areas, groundwater is the only feasible way of providing safe, reliable water supplies. However, developing groundwater is not always straightforward. To meet the targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals, more attention needs to be paid to finding and developing groundwater...

Building Bridges with the Grassroots

Otto Ruskulis

Theo Schilderman

About one billion people now live in the slums of the towns and cities of the developing world. And their number is set to double by 2030, unless concerted efforts are made to the contrary. Slums provide an unhealthy and dangerous living environment, and improving the living conditions of slum dwell...

A Farmers' Jury

Stuart Coupe, Jon Hellin, Absolom Masendeke, Elijah Rusike

This ITDG Working Paper analyses the experience of a farmers' jury in Zimbabwe. Representatives of poor farmers mapped out their vision for the future of agriculture in their country after hearing from policy makers and technical experts of every shade of opinion. The ITDG Working Papers are designe...

Funding Local Governance

Jo Beall

International development is replete with examples of failure. This has led to notes of cynicism being struck in commentaries on development, whether in relation to failed states, donor ineptitude or the unaccountability of NGOs. Precisely because the grand visions have not been realized and macro-l...