Video / Audio
BSP Biogas Sector Partnership, Nepal, Domestic biogas
The Biogas Sector Partnership (BSP) in Nepal managed the installation of over 124,000 domestic biogas plants in Nepal between 1992 and 2005. The plants use cattle manure to provide biogas for cooking and lighting. In addition, about 75% of the plants incorporate toilets. About 80% of the 4.2 million households in Nepal use fuelwood, cattle-dung cakes and agricultural residues for cooking, and kerosene for lighting. Demand for fuelwood substantially exceeds the rate of regrowth, and this is leading to degradation of the land and damage to vital watersheds. Cooking indoors over open fires, and lighting with kerosene, gives dangerous exposure to air pollutants and a high risk of fire, particularly for women and young children who spend much of their time indoors. In addition, women and girls have the drudgery of collecting fuelwood, which typically takes three hours each day. The Ashden judges commended this project for the many benefits which it provides. The biogas plants replace nearly all the use of fuelwood, and make cooking easier, cleaner and safer. In 20% of houses biogas provides safer lighting as well. This saving of unsustainable fuelwood use also reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The provision of toilets improves sanitation; and the effluent from the biogas plant is a valuable organic compost. The use of cattle dung to generate biogas is well known in the Indian subcontinent, but in no other place has it been used with such success as in Nepal. The scale of the programme is remarkable. Biogas already serves about one million people (4% of the population of Nepal), and the biogas sector provides about 11,000 permanent jobs in the country. If anyone needed to be convinced that 'small scale can be big' then they need look no further! The Ashden judges also recognised the excellent collaboration between different organisations (BSP, government, construction companies, donors, finance organisations) in order to achieve such outstanding results.
Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation
Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. has developed and installed newly designed ram pumps in 68 hillside villages in the Philippines. They won an Ashden Award in 2007.
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, Bangladesh, solar pv boats
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha was founded in 1998 to help poor, marginalised communities living in the remote Chalanbeel region of Bangladesh to develop sustainable livelihoods. Shidhulai has achieved this by building up a fleet of flat-bottomed boats, all made with locally available materials, that make their way through the shallow rivers and canals of the Chalanbeel to bring a range of educational services and renewable energy supplies to water-side families. The boats use solar PV modules to generate all the electricity they need to provide daily classes in primary education for children, libraries, training in sustainable agriculture, health advice, mobile phone and internet access and battery-charging facilities. Shidhulai has also provided villagers with 13,500 solar-home-systems, 2,500 lanterns and 15,000 bicycle pumps that deliver between 60 and 100 litres of water per minute - enough to irrigate half a hectare of land during the dry season. By putting into practice the agricultural techniques they have learnt on the boats and using the renewable energy devices, farmers have been able to significantly increase their income and reduce the use of synthetic pesticides, with about one third of farmers eliminating their use altogether.
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, Bangladesh, solar pv boats
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha was founded in 1998 to help poor, marginalised communities living in the remote Chalanbeel region of Bangladesh to develop sustainable livelihoods. Shidhulai has achieved this by building up a fleet of flat-bottomed boats, all made with locally available materials, that make their way through the shallow rivers and canals of the Chalanbeel to bring a range of educational services and renewable energy supplies to water-side families. The boats use solar PV modules to generate all the electricity they need to provide daily classes in primary education for children, libraries, training in sustainable agriculture, health advice, mobile phone and internet access and battery-charging facilities. Shidhulai has also provided villagers with 13,500 solar-home-systems, 2,500 lanterns and 15,000 bicycle pumps that deliver between 60 and 100 litres of water per minute - enough to irrigate half a hectare of land during the dry season. By putting into practice the agricultural techniques they have learnt on the boats and using the renewable energy devices, farmers have been able to significantly increase their income and reduce the use of synthetic pesticides, with about one third of farmers eliminating their use altogether.
IBEKA, micro hydro power in Indonesia
Off-grid hydro schemes are bringing the benefits of electricity -- like good quality light, TV and power tools -- for the first time to remote communities in Indonesia, creating new livelihood opportunities and a window on the wider world. The not-for-profit People Centred Economic and Business Institute (IBEKA) is responsible for developing the schemes, which are owned and managed by communities. IBEKA also develops on-grid schemes, which provide an income to communities from selling electricity to the grid. With 61 hydro schemes installed so far, 54,000 people currently benefit and 7,400 tonnes of CO2 a year are being saved.
Land Grabs
What are land grabs? Why are they happening, and what are their impacts? Indigenous communities around the world are seeing their lands threatened by the extractive and agro-industries, by conservation schemes and by tourism developments. This video looks into the scale, drivers, and impacts of the global rush for land. In this video we hear from indigenous peoples from Asia, Latin America and Africa who have first hand experience of the impacts of land grabs.
Company Tactics
'Company Tactics' describes the tactics that companies use to convince communities to accept and support their projects, and shows that these tactics are used across continents and industries. When communities are aware of these tactics and are prepared for how to counter them, they are more likely to be able to maintain their position in dealing with land decisions concerning outside developments. The video is based on the experiences of communities in Cameroon, Indonesia and Paraguay. It can be screened in communities where plantations, mining or large scale developments are happening or could happen in future.
Land Rights
'Land Rights' is especially for communities whose land rights have not yet been recognised, to help them compare the benefits and drawbacks of three common types of rights, and to discuss what type of rights they seek. This video, based on experiences from Latin America, Africa and Indonesia, discusses community concessions on state land and individual certification, both approaches that many governments and international institutions are promoting. It compares these with the recognition of communal rights over territory, which indigenous peoples around the world feel best reflect their cultural and spiritual connections to their lands, resources and territories.
Women Champions of Buffalo River
This video is about a powerful women-led movement for indigenous land rights, from Loliondo, Tanzania. Without the community’s consent a large part of their lands were occupied. When the women in the community realised that the efforts to defend their territory were failing, they decided to take matters into their own hands. The women used awareness-raising, protests and political pressure to lead a movement in defence of their territory.