Visiting Card

consultants on appropriate technology

Address:

WASTE Consultants on appropriate technology

Crabethstraat 38 F 2801 AN Gouda

The Netherlands

Telephone: +31 - 1820 - 22625 Fax: +31 - 1820 - 11296

Telex: 20010 (pms nl) attn. WASTE

WASTE Consultants approach development projects in which their expertise is requested by:

• research into field experience (even in history) to identify developments (social, organizational, technological) which may be useful for a (partial) (re-)application cooperating with local (smallscale) industries in industrialized and Third World countries to combine traditional and existing expertise and skills with new research and developments,involving and linking with local organizational (formal and informal) structures to embed the new developments in local society and circumstances in order to ensure continuity and support (financial, organizational, political) for the project.

The data collected from this research, supported by sociological field studies, are then translated into a project which best suits the local applicant organization. Such organizations are actively involved in the creation, planning, execution and running of the project. Too often (local) experience and capabilities are not considered and a technological input is overstressed, while socio-economical and political facts are overlooked.

The project described here provides a clear illustration of the way in which WASTE Consultants operate.

Solid waste recycling

At the request of an NGO in Nairobi, Kenya, WASTE Consultants are developing alternative options in the recycling of solid waste to create employment in urban low-income areas. Since a growing number of people are being forced into the informal sector of the economy and there is no need for more people making more of the same type of products, new developments are needed: products of higher qualityand precision, and import substituting. A proportion of the informal sector could move to the'formal' sector, thus creating a gap to be filled by newcomers.

Data are being collected on various types of products, markets and technologies in Europe (basis processes and technologies), in Mediterranean countries (second-hand, locally adapted technologies and standards) and other Third World countries, particularly in Asia (labour intensive, large variety of products and techniques). Third World entrepreneurs and organizations will be engaged for research, but also for the transfer of technology to the Nairobi pilot project. Smallscale business advisors of the NGO concerned will train and assist the entrepreneurs in the new recycling businesses on a commerical basis.

WASTE Consultants operate as a registered foundation, i. e., as a nonprofit organization. Their staff are experienced in the technology (equipment construction, implementation), socio-economic applications and management of projects in the fields of:

WASTE Consultants provide services in project implementation and execution, backstopping, training and evaluation. Links with a number of other organizations, companies and data networks (including SATIS) guarantee experience and quality from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, not least from the Third World perspective itself. The organization also offers sound technology development. Training opportunities are arranged in industry in The Netherlands and Belgium as well as on the job in the recipientcountries.

Address: Deutsches Zentrum fur Internationale Fortbildung in der Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft (DZWA) Gluckstr. 2 D-5300 Bonn 1 FRG

Phone: 0228/631446

Fax: 0/228/6341 92

Telex: 8/861153 dvwk d

The "German center for International Training in Water and Waste Management (DZWA)" was founded by eight technical and scientific associations in the Federal Republic of Germany. German Government agencies responsible for cooperation with developing countries are also involved. The center has well established links with similar organizations in other countries. The DZWA operates internationally and is a non-profit organization. It promotes cooperation between German companies and water management organizations on the one hand, and similar institutions and experts on the other (in particular in developing countries) through a mutual exchange of information.

The DZWA can draw on years of accumulated experience of its member associations in the transfer of knowledge and technology. Services are provided by experts with appropriate backgrounds in research or practical fields. Altogether, there are more than 20,000 specialists and technical institutions representing water management and hydraulic engineering, water protection, flood protection, coastal engineering, irrigation and drainage, sewerage, waste management, hygiene etc.

The task of the DZWA is to prepare and hold international seminars, to offer training courses and further training, and, on request, to establish contacts with interested technical experts and management personnel in developing countries.

Present activities

This year the DZWA held two seminars, on water supply and agricuitural drainage.

The international seminar entitled "Operation and Maintenance of Urban Water Supply Schemes" took place in Lusaka(Zambia)from May 8 to 13, 1989. It was arranged in cooperation with the Lusaka Urban District Council on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit(GTZ) GmbH . Twentyfiv e representatives from Ethiopia, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda heard lectures delivered by 12 speakers, from the Ivory Coast, Zambia and the Federal Republic of Germany.

The seminar was designed in particular for technicians, waterworks engineers and decision-makers of the administrative authorities of Zambia and other African countries. It communicated by lectures, videos, slides, excursions, practical experience and field training both modern and adapted methods of maintaining municipal water supply systems.

In contrast. the training seminar "Drainage"` held at Kenitra (Morocco), from 15 to 19 May 1989 (in French), concentrated on the agricultural sector. This seminar was organized in cooperation with the Moroccan Government agricultural agency "Office Regional de Mise en Valeur Agricole du Gharb (O.R.M. V.A.G.)", and was attended by participants from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. It was held on behalf of the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft e. V. and was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation. Six experts from German universities, public authorities and companies and four Moroccan experts lectured on practical engineering and drainage in semi-arid areas.

The productive agricultural areas in the climatically favored coastal regions and the central plains of Morocco are very rich in water resources. Numerous dams have been constructed to create reservoirs. Ninety-three per cent of this water is used to irrigate land.

However, the largest area irrigated by water from dams, in the Gharb plain, suffers from salination due to insufficient leaching. Both these problems can be solved by proper installation and correct maintenance of a drainage system.