Bookbox

Waste and Water
Housing and Roofing
Harvest Problems
GATE Publications
Work from Waste

This book, written by Jon Vogler, brings together details of appropriate technologies being employed all over the world to recycle paper, iron and steel, tin, non-ferrous metals, plastics, textiles, rubber, minerals, chemicals, oil and human and household wastes. All these materials are suitable for labour-intensive processing, often requiring little capital, and providing a cash income plus other environmental and community benefits.

The book also describes how to set up and run a small waste recycling business. Although "Work from Waste" is written primarily for use in developing countries, the technologies described will also be of interest to communities and groups practicing local self-reliance in industrialized countries.

"Work from Waste - Recycling wastes to create employment", by Jon Vogler, 1981. 396 pages, English. ISBN 0-903031-79-5. £ 6.50. Available from: Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., 9 King Street, London WC2E 8 HN, United Kingdom (prepayment required).

Rural Water Supply

More than 15 years of activities in drinking water project implementation have been condensed in the manual presented here. Despite the fact that actual field experience is compiled from one country only (Cameroon), the material is certainly very useful also in the context of other countries and provides a guideline on how to identify, plan, organize and execute drinking water projects.

The material is especially intended for use by engineers and construction supervisors but serves also to give a comprehensive overview of all aspects of rural water supply for the layman. The technology that has evolved and that is documented here is first class craftmanship using proven methods and materials. Detailed plans of actual project examples are included.

"Manual for Rural Water Supply with many detailed constructional scale-drawings", 1980. 175 pages, English. SFr. 34,- (US-$ 2O,-). Available from: SKAT, Swiss Center for Appropriate Technology, Varnebuel-Stra 14, CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Appropriate Building Materials

This publication gives a wideranging survey of appropriate building materials and methods. It deals with traditional building technologies as well as new technologies, some of them still at the development stage.

The first section gives basic information about building materials, dealing individually with various construction elements of building technology (roofs, walls, foundations). The second section contains examples of their use, giving specific instructions; they contain full information on how to apply certain technologies, the qualifications required to use them, the necessary tools and environmental conditions.

In some cases, instructions for producing building materials are given, and construction elements described; there are also drawings of simple buildings or parts of buildings. The chapter of the two main sections can be located3 by means of a chart; by coordinating two sets of key concepts on the chart, the reader can locate the appropriate place in the text to answer a specific question.

"Manual on Appropriate Building Materials", by Roland Stulz, 1982, 200 pages, English. Available from SKAT (see above).

Post Harvest Problems

The 1 4th meeting of the OAU/ STRC Interafrican Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC), held in Cairo from 22nd to 28th November 1978, was attended by a guest delegation from the GTZ. Representative of both IAPSC and GTZ agreed to hold a joint seminar on the prevention of post harvest damage and to thus intensify the cooperation between the two organizations.

The book documents the meeting and shows up experiences and opinions of the participants in the field of general storage methods, storage buildings, preventive and hygienic measures in crop storage, traditional m3ethods of insect pest control in stored grain, natural insecticides of plant origin, chemical insecticides, fumigation, residue problems, and the control of rodent pests in grain storage.

"Post Harvest Problems Documentation of a OAU/GTZ Seminar". 291 pages, French and English. DM 15,40. GTZ publication No. 113 (French) and No. 115 (English). Available from: TZ-Verlagsgesellschaft, Bruchwiesenweg 19, D-6101 Rossdorf, Federal Republic of Germany.
Animal Traction in Africa

Keeping traction animals, for a long time the relic of a bygone age, has slowly been acquiring new importance in the last few years. The book's main aim is to provide information on using traction animals under African conditions. It is intended for technical and professional staff, and for development planners in national and international organisations.

The book is divided into three sections. Section A (50 pages) gives a brief survey of the history of animal traction in various African countries; section B (318 pages) deals with certain aspects of animal traction; section C suggests suitable approaches to its promotion illustrated by four examples.

"Animal Traction in Africa ", edited by Peter Munzinger, 1981. 496 pages; German, English and French; more than 100 illustrations. GTZ publication No. 111 (German), No. 120 (English) and No. 121 (French). DM 60. - each. Available from: TZ-Verlagsgesellschaft (see above).

Water Purification

Dr. Samia Al Azharia Jahn has been living in the Sudan for many years. Through direct contact with the women of the Sudan and the Sahel countries she became familiar with local purification techniques for converting dirty water into drinkable water, especially in the rural areas.

During years of work in collaboration with colleagues from the Sudan, Germany and Denmark, she was able to develop optimal conditions for and methods of purification. Her target group are women in the Third World with neither the means nor the opportunity to obtain water by advanced technical methods in a familar, natural environment.

Her book meets scientific standards in every respect, and yet it is written in an easy-to-understand way. Two of the chapters contain practical suggestions for improving water purification methods in the home, and for building small purification plants in villages.

"Traditional Water Purification in Tropical Developing Countries Existing Methods and Potential Applications", by Samia Al Azharia Jahn, 1982. 284 pages, English. ISBN 3-B8085-116-6. DM 35.-. GTZ publication No. 117. Available from: TZ-Verlagsgesellschaft (see above).

GATE Publications

The publications described below were prepared as part of GATE's work. They can be obtained from GATE upon request (for address see "Editorial").

Roof Constructing. Since inadequate roofing in regions susceptible to disasters has cost thousands of lives, a report was drawn up, as part of a nine-month research project, which sets out to give an account of the present situation with respect to roofing materials, building systems and production methods in Latin America and elsewhere. As well as describing the situation as it is, the report also looks at potential new roofing materials and systems in Latin America. Title of the report: "Hoof Constructing for Housing in Developing Countries " (English and German).

Low-Cost Housing Manuals. To enable people to build their own houses at low cost, that is the aim of building manuals compiled for GATE and completed in autumn 1982. Each manual contains instructions for one - steel pipe house,

- concrete skeleton house,
- adobe brick house,
- concrete panel house, - wooden frame house, - and a sanitary unit.

Comprising some 40 pages, the manuals are available in English, French, Spanish or German.

Mud Architecture. An exhibition entitled: "Mud Architecture - the Future of a Forgotten Building Tradition" took place in Frankfurt-on-Main from 25th March to 14th May 1982. During the exhibition, GATE organised an international symposium. Its aim was to contribute towards the dissemination of traditional techniques and self-help technologies. The symposium brought together, for the first time, experts in mud construction for an in depth exchange of experience. Invitations were sent principally to members of higher education establishments, development aid institutions, architects and ethnologists. GATE's brochure contains the lectures given at the symposium (only in German).

Waste Water Treatment. Every day some 25,000 people in the Third World die of infectious diseases because sanitation is either inadequate or non-existent. Millions are rendered incapable of working for the same reason, and 85% of people living in the rural areas of the developing countries have never known any kind of waste water or excrete treatment plants. A planning manual has been drawn up showing simple, practical methods of waste water treatment and excrete disposal for small to medium-sized communities (2,000 to 20,000 inhabitants). Title: "Waste Water Treatment and Excreta Disposal in Developing Countries" (English).

German Appropriate Technology Exchange
Centro Aleman pare Technologias Apropiadas
Centre allemand d'inter-technologie appropriee
Deutsches Zentrum fur Entwicklungstechnologien

GATE is not only the name of this quarterly. It also stands for German Appropriate Technology Exchange, founded in 1978 as a special division (Division 21) of the government-owned Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German Agency for Technical Cooperation).

Tasks

GATE is a centre for the dissemination and promotion of appropriate technologies for developing countries.

GATE defines "appropriate technologies" as those which appear particularly apposite in the light of economic, social and cultural criteria. They should contribute to socio-economic development whilst ensuring optimal utilization of resources and minimal detriment to the environment. Depending on the case at hand a traditional, intermediate or highly-developed technology can be the "appropriate" one.

Activities

GATE focusses its work on three key areas:

- Technology exchange (Section 211): Collecting, processing and disseminating information on technologies appropriate to the needs of the developing countries ;as certaining the technological requirements of Third World countries; support in the form of personnel, material and equipment to promote the development and adaptation of technologies for developing countries.

- Research and development (Section 212): Conducting and/or promoting research and development work in appropriate technologies.

- Cooperation in technological development (Section 213): Cooperation in the form of joint projects with relevant institutions in developing countries and in the Federal Republic of Germany.

For several years GATE has been an active supporter of the SATIS network (Socially Appropriate Technology Information Service) and has entered into cooperation agreements with a number of technology centres in Third World countries. In addition, GATE participates regularly in exhibitions and trade fairs both in the Federal Republic of Germany and abroad.

Service

GATE offers a free information service on appropriate technologies for all public and private development institutions in developing countries, dealing with the development, adaptation, application and introduction of technologies.

N.B.: The more precise your query, the better the answer GATE can give you. At the same time you help us cut down costs. Thank you!

German Appropriate Technology Exchange
Dag-Hammarskjold-Weg 1/ Post Box 5180
D-6236 Eschborn 1
Federal Republic of Germany