Handbook of Rural Technology
Revised: Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Preface
This manual is based on my knowledge obtained from 25 years of living in Mozambique. It is being published on the Internet in parts, so it will appear as a magazine written up about every 2 weeks in our Internet site <theafricanexperimenter.org>. It will mostly be concerned with practical technology, often connected with agriculture but more basically on possible improvements to the lives of poor rural people.
It will show that rural life need not be poor and that people living in rural areas can live a good life there and should not aim to go to towns and cities.
There is great potential in the rural parts of Mozambique. There are sources of power at present not made use of. There is no need to suffer from drought and floods; technologies exist to deal with these. A family need not be limited to cultivating one and a half hectares with a hoe and a catana.
The manual is aimed mostly at young people - our future generation. Many of the technologies can be created by young people, as we will show by examples. Many young people have greater abilities than we think.
Chapters

1 Introduction
2 Agriculture, soil
3 Agriculture, water
4 Agriculture storage
5 Water, Sanitation, Rain collection
6 Health, Medicine
7 Animals, insects
8 Food, Cooking
9 Heat, light
10 Clothes
11 Mechanical stuff
12 Electricity, power

13 Tools
14 Construction
15 Transport
16 Substances
17 Education
18 Music, sound
19 Sport Games, Crafts
20 Miscellaneous
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Mozambique’s resources
Mozambique is a rich country. Sources of oil, coal and gas have recently been discovered and are being exploited. However it has another potentially very rich resource, one whose riches would reach the poor but is at present very underused: fertile agricultural land.
The United Nations recently said that 70% of Mozambicans live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming for their survival, added that Mozambique has the most farming potential of all African countries and that the central and northern provinces of Mozambique have greater agricultural potential, more fertile soil and more abundant rainfall than other parts of the country.
Mozambique has vast areas of fertile land, which could produce enough food for the nation, as well as exports.
'Our statistics show that only four per cent of the thirty-nine million hectares with agricultural potential are cultivated. In other words, there are thirty-five million hectares lying idle.'
About 70 percent of Mozambicans live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming for survival. According to the United Nations, Mozambique has the most farming potential of any African country. Parts of this are indeed being exploited, largely through land concessions to outside investors, but producing food for export rather than feeding hungry local people.
But it is not only a matter of the availability of fertile land but of a failure of rural people to take up the opportunity to increase their income. A recent President said: ‘Over sixty per cent of our people do not eat well, much less have money enough to resolve their basic problems such as buying medicine. How on earth can it be possible in a country blessed with such a vast area of fertile ground through which so many rivers and sources of water run?’
The flight from the rural areas to the cities
Since Independence, people have flooded into the cities from the rural areas, believing that life will be better there. They perceive, rightly, that the rural areas are backward in many aspects of life. Some of the reasons are as follows:
Old-fashioned methods of agriculture and general lack of knowledge of improved agricultural methods.
Lack of technology and knowledge of possible technologies.
Little use of animal transport and animal traction, such as for ploughing, raising water, etc.
Lack of education for children and youth.
No entertainment, for example TV.
They cannot earn enough in rural areas. People do not know methods for increasing rural income.
Poor roads to take produce to market.
Low prices from merchants for products.
Inefficient methods of transporting water, wood, agricultural products etc - both personal carrying and by carts or similar.
The belief that people can earn more in towns. - a common general belief.
Lack of communication, for example cellphone systems and the internet.
As a result of these problems, rural life is not attractive, especially for young people.
Some examples
An obvious example is the continuing use of the hoe as the common method of tilling the soil. This method is at least 4,000 years old. Newer and much more efficient methods exist, as, for instance, a group of farmers buying a motorised cultivator, or even a tractor and plough plus maintenance and fuel. The problem is perhaps not so much the raising of the finance but the idea of forming a cooperative whose members are honest with money, and fair in sharing out the machine and costs of upkeep.
There are better methods of irrigation than dependence on the rains or watering crops with watering cans. The making of canals is almost unknown, or the making of terraces so that sloping hillsides can be cultivated and irrigated. The method of making of ‘sand dams’ on streams is generally not understood.
There is often sufficient total rain on an area to irrigate all of the area but generally most of the water is allowed to run into streams and away into rivers. or to disperse into distant ground. The making and use of 'sand dams' is rarely practiced in Mozambique.
The method of farming without first hoeing the ground is not known, nor the treatment of the soil by mixing 'carbon' into it.
There are generally no mechanical power sources, e.g. a windmill to operate a water pump, etc.
In some areas, the water table is near the surface but many farmers do not know easy methods of digging wells. Simple methods of raising water are not practiced.
Some farmers in Mozambique use bullocks to pull ploughs but others do not. One reason for this is that people do not know how to look after bullocks.
In short, improved and modern technologies are not known and used.
Electricity
Mozambique is one of the largest power producers in the SADC region but only 18 percent of Mozambicans have access to electricity.
With electricity you can do so much, e.g have light at night, TV, charging a cellphone, etc. Once you have electricity, you may be able to get a TV set. With a TV set, you have access to education for children and youth. You have entertainment and news. There are educational channels which teach better than most schools.
So getting electricity is essential. There is an easy and cheap way of generating electricity by means of a 'vertical axis windmill', using only bamboo, rice sack cloth, and a battery and an alternator from a scrap car.
Some interesting facts; Did you know?:
All plants and trees are built, not with material from the ground, but from the carbon dioxide in the air.
Water in desert or semi-desert areas comes up to ground level by climbing up from particle to particle of the soil or sand, and can be collected at the surface.
Plants do not use much of the water that they take from the soil; they use it mainly to transport minerals and nitrates. Large Eucalyptus trees take in anywhere between 1000 and 5000 litres of water per day, then they transpire almost all of it from their leaves into the air. If this could be collected it would be major help to agriculture.
What follows is a draft of notes for turning into chapters
CHAPTER 2
Agriculture, soil
The earth under our feet.
Simple soil science. Soil testing
Minerals, clay.
Sedimentation
Measurement of agricultural chemicals,
Balances and volume measure.
Hydroponics, e.g. tomatoes
Digging efficiently
Agricultural tools. Iron, steel
Agricultural machines, Plough,
Liming clay soil. For clayey soils
Limestone, shells to make lime
Lime chemically interacts with the clay and makes the clay molecules stop
sticking to each other so hard. Old gypsum, drywall scraps can by laid on
the ground and covered with cardboard, newspapers, leaves, weeds, etc.
Fertiliser, organic, compost. Fertilizers, commercial.
Agricultural chemicals
Need to replace nutrients
How water goes up through soil
Tilling soil. 'No-till' farming
CHAPTER 3
Agriculture, water
Streams. Dams.
Collecting and conserving rainwater for agriculture
Wells. How to dig a well.
Raising water, wells, pumps. Water-raising wheels.
Pressure experiments
Canals, Channelling water
Terraces
Rotating sprinklers. Spraying,
Pipes. Flow through pipes
Pressure experiments
Floods, droughts
Rain. Measuring rainfall. Volume measure. Graphs.
Tin pipes
Radial irrigation
Force of water in streams
Floating sinking, density.
How water goes up plants, high trees, Quantity that goes up.
How to collect water from ‘dry ground’.
Aquaponics.
CHAPTER 4
Agriculture, storage
Making silage and other foods for animals.
Grain storage. Types of stores
Drying cereals. How to measure humidity
Leaves to repel insects
Weaving bags for maize storage
Rats (see ‘Animals’)
CHAPTER 5
Water, Rain collection, Sanitation
Rain collection for domestic use
Collecting water from the atmosphere (e.g. dew)
Storing clean water
Filtering water
Decontaminating water, pasteurisation
Water delivery by bicycle trailer
Latrines,
Diseases from smoke in houses
Burning plastic
Soap, detergent
Alcohol as disinfectant for wounds
CHAPTER 6
Health, Medicine
The human body
Medicines and pills are specific. Don't use them from any old source.
Microbes and diseases
Children looking after babies. Medicines and Tablets. Medical plants. Microbes and diseases. Bathrooms., latrines, Births. Girlfriends, Contraception.
Malaria. Cures. Quinine. Asprin.
Prevention vs cures.
Restaurants, bars,
Shops.
Beer and other drinks. Making alcohol. The effect of alcohol.
Traditional medicine
CHAPTER 7
Animals, insects
Animal farming - pigs, cows, hens
Fly traps
Malaria
Mosquitoes and stagnant water.
Traps for mosquitoes
Cockroaches.
Bees. Honey. Extracting honey from comb.
Centrifugal force
Tsetse fly. Tsetse fly trap using cow urine.
Types of pesticide. Use of tobacco.
Pesticides. Types. How to measure doses.
Spraying.
Mataquenha, fleas, (Jiggers) . How to remove.
Snakes.
Traps: rats, snakes. Trapping animals for food
CHAPTER 8
Food, Cooking
Buying in the market. Measures and checking you were not cheated
Weighing, balances.
Measuring volume.
Stoves and cooking
The process of combustion. Fanning the stove.
Improved stoves, Ideas of efficiency
Straw box. Insulation.
The process of combustion. Conductivity.
Charcoal
Danger of carbon monoxide
Grass as fuel. Block-making,
Bread
Sugar and sugar cane
Bananas
Potatoes
Local beer.
Keeping flies off. Protection of food
Storage of surplus food over year.
Conservation of food: with salt, sugar, vinegar, smoking,
Balanced diet.
Fruit juices.
Vitamins.
Keeping drinks cool. Evaporatioon
Ashes for scouring plates and saucepans.
Sunlight as disinfectant for plates, cutlery, etc.
Distillation. Making alcohol
Spices
CHAPTER 9
Heat, light
Lamps,
Lamp wicks and how kerosene goes up, etc
Stoves
Saucepans. The Physics behind these aspects involves:
Heat flows
Conduction
Radiation
Convection
Evaporation
Thick clothes of desert Arabs
Thermometers
Other temperature indicators
Units used to measure heat.
Heat and the human body
Keeping temperature constant - sweating, etc
Dryers for food
Heats houses with zinc roofs
Idea of 'hot day'
The heat from the sun.
Solar cookers.
Evaporation cooling. Zeer pots
Country bars want to keep beer cool
Market traders want to keep their products cool. Bars want to conserve ice
Fishermen want to keep fish cool
Cooking: many aspects, e.g. Boiling at 100 degrees
Above a certain temperature, using an electric fan may not cool you off because it may be directing air warmer than you at you.
Spectacles, lenses
Mirrors, how to make. With bowl. Smoked glass
Sun dials
CHAPTER 10
Clothes
Clothes, History.
Use of tree bark
Repairing clothes.
Shoes, Footwear in general
Sandals made of motor tyres.
Cosmetics,
Hair straighteners
Missangas.
Earrings,
Obol for Charon across the Styxs
Spinning and weaving, simple. Inkle loom.
Laundry irons
CHAPTER 11
Mechanical stuff
Pulling, pushing
Things that connect with inertia
Walking, jumping
Throwing
Pouring water
Volume, overflowing,
Water finding its own height
Friction
Stability, balance, weighing
Catapults, throwing, spears, bows and arrows
Toys illustrating mechanical effects.
Pulleys,
Rope, string, thread, knots
Needles
Clippers, Shears
Cutting, chopping, sawing
Keys, locks, bolts
Screws
Blacksmith work
Tinsmith work
Breaking glass. Cutting glass
Strength of materials
Swings, seesaws
Maypoles
Plastic things, types of plastics: bottles, pens, bags,
Toy cars, tin lids as wheels
Toys of other kinds
Strength of the wind
Chains
Roads, paths, surfaces
Balls: inflating, making balls, dented ping pong balls
Bicycle inner tubes
Rubber bands
Stilts
Nets and netting
Avoiding rust: sacrificial cathodes.lobster pots,
Tripods
Pressure boy on board, suckers (glass lifters), blungers, drinking glass supports.
Levels. Horizontal e vertical.
Knots.
Raising heavy weights.
Levers. Pulleys,
Tools
CHAPTER 12
Electricity, power
Batteries
Use of small motors as generators
Generators that work by treadles or on bicycles or sewing machines
Wind-driven generators
At first it is not to be expected that households can make their own vertical axis windmill to generate electricity. The first step is to train a District-based team to make them. Then this team can go and build the windmill generators for individual households.
The households pay the team but this cost will be small because the work is easy and the materials are usually locally available. There is generally enough wind to operate these generators. If the wind is weak, it is just necessary to build a bigger windmill.
Use for radios, for charging batteries, for providing light at night
Ordinary phones
Cell phones
Radios
Domestic electric appliances
Electric wires and cables
Mains electricity. Electric meters and costs.
Fuses
Plugs and sockets
Electric lamps, stoves, meters
CHAPTER 13
Tools
Carpentry and wood tools
Hammering, nails
Metal working tools
Sharpening knives, catanas, axes, scissors
CHAPTER 14
Construction
Construction of houses
Bricks. Moulds
Cement. Proportions to make mortar, to make concrete Proportion of sand, gravel Types of sand and gravel.
Reinforcing of concrete
Rustic cement.
Tests of concrete
Quicklime
Thatch.
Whitewash
Heat coming from hot iron ('zinc') roofs
Ventilation of house
Padlocks
Lightning
Stopping heat radiation coming down from roof
Protection against floods, houses on stilts
The form of villages, habitaçôes, towns,
Climb a tree to see the plan of your village, bairro
Preparedness for disasters. culture of preparedness
CHAPTER 15
Transport
Wheelbarrow, sled,
Bicycle trailer. stretchers, palanquins, wheelbarrows atrelados. Use of shirt.
Boats, rafts, sails, oars
Going uphill and downhill.
Carrying water, firewood, ets. Shoulder yokes
CHAPTER 16
Substances
Ivory.
Gold, how to recognise it.. Price of gold
Touchstone
Gold panning
Metals, how to recognise.
Soapstone.
Uranium in Mozambique. (See references in DuckDuckGo)
The separation of substances.
Plastics
Use of scrap plastic.
Bamboo
CHAPTER 17
Education
Light at night
Quiet place
Preparation for understanding
CHAPTER 18
Music, sound
Percussion, guitar, wind, instruments
Mouth organ, Jew's harp, ocarina,
Vuvuzela
Rattle
Bells,
High and low notes, frequency, period
Pendulum
Tuning an instrument
Bands, music groups
Speaking, shouting over distance.
Speed of sound
Silence
Noise in meetings
Thunder
Ears and hearing
Electronic instruments for playing
Mikes, loudspeakers, amplifiers
CD players
Telephone wires
Selecting wood for xylophones ('marimbas')
CHAPTER 19
Sport Games, crafts
Spinning and weaving.
Rope making
Knots
Maths, sport distsance measurement. Football field. Race track.
Making a right angle
Measuring by rolling wheel.
Land, measurement, level
CHAPTER 20
Miscellaneous
Earthquakes
Map on the ground.
Rubbish in and outside the home.
Ideas of re-cycling. Returnable bottles versus plastic. The re-cycling of plastic
The characteristics of plastics of different kinds
Conservation of the environment for tourism
People have invented a word for 'what surrounds'. It is 'meio-ambiente'.
Ideas about the Earth in space. A bit of astronomy.
Mobile cinemas
Toys illustrating mechanical effects
Climate change, drought and floods
Bird scarers
Land mines
Computers
The Internet and Web
Globalisation of information
Sources of information
Newspapers and books