SUSTAINABLE
LIVELIHOODS FROM
SMALL-SCALE BRICK PRODUCTION
BUILDING IN PARTNERSHIP: THE STORY OF SHAMBOB
Introduction
This is the story of brick producers and
their families in Eastern Sudan. The local
brick production sector is traditionally in
the hands of middle-class businessmen,
who reap the main profits and pay little to
the workers. Practical Action worked with
a group of people from the peri-urban
village of Shambob to establish and
manage their own brick enterprise.
Technological capacity-building aimed to
improve brick quality, increase energy
efficiency, and establish production in
order to meet the demand of urban
markets. The establishment of a formal
co-operative assisted in small enterprise
development. The significant rise in the
incomes earned resulted from an
enhanced asset base, improved linkages
with local markets and public sector
Figure 1: Small-scale brick producers.
Photo: Practical Action / Lucky Lowe
bodies and has enabled the members of
Shambob community to establish a
primary school and improve health services. As relationships and development interventions
have broadened, women in the village have become co-operative members, acquired donkey
carts and are now making an income from transporting and selling water. The single sector
intervention initially focused on brick production, and has led to a broad range of initiatives
affecting positive change in local livelihoods.
Shifting scenes – an
increasingly vulnerable
environment
Shambob is a village at the foot of
the mountains which lie on the
outskirts of Kassala town, in Eastern
Sudan. Today’s inhabitants know
their grandfathers used to be
nomads in the far north of Kassala
State where they sought water and
grazing for their livestock: cows,
sheep and goats. Their people
settled in the area 100 years ago,
before living memory, but believe
their grandfathers chose this place
for many reasons:
“In the dry season I’d take my herd to an island in
the middle of the dried-up riverbed for grazing, and
then in the rainy season when the river swelled I’d
bring them back here. When this area started to be
cultivated, the land was fenced, I couldn’t bring them
any more “Movement was restricted to the seasonal
grazing grounds in order to avoid conflict with the
agriculturists. When cattle ate crops the owners would
have to pay compensation. Some people felt they had
benefited from the irrigated farms in two ways: they
could harvest the weeds for animal fodder and those
farms also became the source of free water for
domestic and livestock consumption.”
Mohammed Irai Adam
Practical Action, The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby,
Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ, UK
T +44 (0)1926 634400 | F +44 (0)1926 634401 | E infoserv@practicalaction.org.uk | W www.practicalaction.org
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