Slash/Mulch Systems

H. David Thurston

This informative overview and analysis of slash/mulch practices from around the world, particularly from the tropics, shows that they have generally shortened the necessary fallow periods and have restored degraded soils, thus increasing or stabilizing yields. These improvements, in turn, have allow...

An Annotated Bibliography on Rural Transport

Niklas Sieber

Rural transport in developing countries has received increasing attention in development policy, and research and field experience has generated a number of books, articles and documents from organizations working in a variety of locations throughout the developing world. The International Forum for...

Building with Earth

John Norton

This handbook provides practical help in choosing whether to, and how to build with earth, from soil selection to construction and maintenance. Earth can achieve very high quality and durability as a building material. It is also frequently used by people with few other resources for building. In ma...

Capacity-Building

Deborah Eade

Capacity-building is an integral part of development theory and practise. However, aid agencies that ignore people's existing strengths may create dependency and so make people more vulnerable than before. This book considers specific and practical ways in which NGO's can contribute to enabling peop...

Community Water Supply

Saul Arlosoroff

In recent years, efforts to bring water to the rural poor have produced dramatic changes around the world. The concept of community management has established itself as the most sustainable approach. Technologies have been adapted to widely varying conditions and rigours and, most important, for the...

Contested Lands in Southern and Eastern Africa

Robin Palmer

Questions of land tenure and land reform and their impact on poor and vulnerable communities are of vital importance throughout Southern and Eastern Africa. From the vast literature on the subject, Robin Palmer has selected and summarised more than 300 recent books, articles, academic theses and rep...

How to Make Carpentry Tools

Aaron Moore, Musaemura Sithole

Squares, gauges, clamps and planes are among the tools whose construction is described in detail in this book, along with useful guidance on the maintenance and repair of woodworking tools. These low-cost tools are suitable for use in large training institutions or small workshops and are designed t...

The Flavour of Latin America

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz

Jane Smith

Forget the mass-produced tortilla chips and E-flavoured salsa dips. Discover the taste of real Latin American food, as diverse as its beautiful landscapes, drawing on age-old indigenous recipes with influences from Spain, Portugal and Africa. From the snow-capped mountains of the Andes there is drun...

The Boulder Concept in Building Walls

This brief was written BY the Building Advisory Service and Information Network (BASIN) providing information resources on low-cost building technologies.

Brazil In Focus

Jan Rocha

Brazil is depicted as a land of global superlatives, boasting the best football, the largest rainforest, and the world's worst social and economic inequality. It's vibrant culture is best known for Carnival and samba and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The Carnival capital of Rio also show...