Ifda dossier 47, May/June 1985

THE NETHERLANDS : TOOL
Numerous people in the Third World find themselves in 3 very difficult
economic and social predicament. Appropriate technology (AT) can, in
many cases, contribute to solving their problems. By offering knowledge
and technology appropriate to the local circumstances, TOOL wishes to
help improve the position of the less fortunate in society. TOOL is a
Dutch foundation linking eleven (non-profit) groups which together in-
volve about 400 volunteers based in universities, technical colleges and
consulting engineering firms.
TOOL receives more than 600 technical enquiries each year. Here is a
general outline of the areas in which TOOL can assist with technical
advice: chemical technology, irrigation and drainage, low-cost trans-
port, cultivation of crops, fossil energy, plant diseases, biogas, cat-
tle rearing, solar energy, forestry, wind energy, fisheries, water po-
wer, food processing, drinking water supply, small-scale industry, waste
water treatment, building and construction, agricultural equipment, ci-
vil engineering, soil science, mechanical engineering, erosion control,
electrical engineering, primary health care.
If you have a technical enquiry, you should give as much information as
possible on the circumstances and the possibilities in your particular
case and area, so that we can try to provide information suited to the
local situation. Please send us a short description of your project and
the organisation you work for, as well as your name and address.
Finally, a full report on what has already been attempted, and the re-
sults of those experiments is indispensable to the volunteers in formul-
ating advice. Technical enquiries are generally handled free of charge
to the requestor, but since TOOL has to meet its administrative expenses
from grants and donations, please indicate - with your request - if you
have any links with private or official groups in The Netherlands or
elsewhere. We may invite these groups to participate in these expenses.
Send your enquiry to TOOL, Amsterdam, it will pass it on to the group
with the most relevant expertise. The group will contact you in due
course.
Publications: in the last 10 years, and drawing upon their own experien-
ce in responding to recurring specific requests, TOOL volunteers have
compiled a number of practical manuals, construction plans and drawings.
Publications have been produced on, for example, the use of bamboo as a
building material, on rabbit raising and the preparation of soap. In
addition to our own publications, TOOL also sells some 200 books and
brochures from AT and development organisations within The Netherlands
and abroad. Our full publications list will be sent, free, on request.
"Vraagbaak": TOOL publishes a quarterly magazine "Vraagbaak" in coopera-
tion with the Belgian AT organisation ATOL. Each "Vraagbaak" contains 70
pages of practical agricultural and technical information, written for
and by development workers. The English and French editions were laun-
ched in 1984. Annual subscriptions are available for 20 Dutch guilders
(US$7), please remember to specify which edition you want.
(TOOL, Mawitskade 610, ICdS AC Amsterdam, The Scther2and.s)