Reconstructing Agriculture in Afghanistan

Jacky Sutton, Adam Pain

The book raises critical questions relating to both humanitarian intervention and development agendas in crisis states. It supports a growing literature that interrogates past and present interventions, but does so by putting food security at the heart of both short- and long-term responses to crisi...

Springs of Participation

Karen Brock, Jethro Pettit

Learning from others in the form of fusion and adaptation of existing tools and approaches is very much part of evolving new participatory methods, and is a key component of the process of creating fresh approaches to new challenges. Springs of Participation brings together the experiences and refle...

Voices from the Margins

Roger Lewins, Stuart Coupe, Francis Murray

Describes the work of Practical Action in introducing consensus-based planning approaches in villages that are poor even by Bangladesh standards, where 90 per cent of people live under the poverty line and over 60 per cent are illiterate. These methods work on raising the voice and confidence of the...

Where There is No Artist

Petra Rohr-Rouendaal

A simple to use catalogue, containing a wealth of illustrations, with a unique combination of written text and visual aids.Visual aids can provide information, provoke discussion and discovery, and make difficult ideas easy to understand. They can also improve the accessibility of a book or a poster...

Drying of Foods

The drying of food results in longer preservation and ease of transport (lighter). This technical brief describes some of the requirements for food drying to retain maximum nutrients and aesthetics, and summarizes information on the various drying equipment.

Solar Photovoltaic Energy

This Technical Brief looks at the background of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy (in which sunlight is directly converted into electricity), the design of PV cell, modules and arrays, and configuration of PV systems.

Mushroom Growing

Developing commercial cultivation of mushrooms is growing throughout Africa. This brief focuses on this practice in Zimbabwe.

Solar Drying

Drying using sunshine - a brief description of the basic principles behind it and how to determine the rate of drying.

Ginger Processing

Ginger is valued for the dried ginger spice and preserved, crystallised ginger.

Fruit Preserves - Jams, Jellies and Marmalades

An introduction to small-scale jams, jellies and marmalades making, Known collectively as preserves.