x

Preface

There is a growing awareness of the need for better rural structures and services in many developing countries.
For many years, rural buildings and structures in numerous countries have been built either traditionally with few
improvements, or in an inadequate and often overly expensive way, guided by people with insufficient knowledge of
the special technical, biological and socio-economic problems involved.
Rural buildings and structures have become an important part of integrated rural development programmes. As
a large proportion of the food grain produced in Africa is stored on-farm, it is very important to develop effective
storage methods and structures, especially for the modern, high-yielding grain varieties being adopted by farmers,
which are more susceptible to pests than traditional types.
Improved management and breeding programmes to increase livestock production have also created a need for
more appropriate animal housing.
The subject of rural structures and services needs to be included at all levels of the agricultural education system to
assist the rural population still further in raising their standard of living. Specialists in rural structures and services need
to have a thorough knowledge of farming systems, crop and livestock production systems and climate factors, as well as
a genuine understanding of rural life and the farmer’s social and economic situation. They should also be familiar with
the full range of building materials and types of construction, from traditional indigenous to industrially produced, as
they apply to rural structures. They must be able to select appropriate installations and equipment for rural buildings.
This knowledge will enable them to produce specifications, in cooperation with the farmer, for functional building
designs that provide a good environment and durable construction, thereby contributing to efficient and economically
sound farm operations. Further important tasks for specialists in rural structures and services are interpreting and
explaining the drawings and technical documentation to farmers, as well as supervising the construction work.
However, they should be aware of the need to consult other specialists in related fields where necessary.
This book is an effort by FAO to compile an up-to-date, comprehensive text on rural structures and services in
the tropics, focusing on structures for small- to medium-scale farms and, to some extent, village-scale agricultural
infrastructure. The earlier edition, entitled Farm structures in tropical climates. A textbook for structural engineering
and design, was published in 1986, and was based on material developed as part of the FAO/SIDA Cooperative
Programme: Rural Structures in East and South-East Africa. The programme was established to help member
countries to develop functional, low-cost rural structures using locally sourced construction materials and skills
wherever possible.
For over two decades, the earlier edition has been used as a standard textbook for teaching undergraduate and
postgraduate courses on rural structures and services in universities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. As part of its
normative programme on rural infrastructure development, the FAO Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries
Division (AGS) commissioned a team of three professional engineers who participated in teaching courses on
rural structures and services to review and rewrite the earlier edition, whilst examining the socio-economic and
technological developments that have taken place over the past 25  years. This team, which worked during the
period 2010–2011 under the direct supervision of former AGS Director, Professor Geoffrey C. Mrema, comprised
Professor  Lawrence  O. Gumbe and lecturer Januarius  O. Agullo from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and
Dr Hakgamalang J. Chepete from Botswana College of Agriculture.
We trust that this second edition will help to improve teaching – at all educational levels – on the subject of rural
buildings in developing countries of the tropics and that it will assist professionals currently engaged in providing
technical advice on rural structures and services, from either agricultural extension departments or non-governmental
rural development organizations.
We also trust that this book will provide technical guidance in the context of disaster recovery and rehabilitation,
for rebuilding the sound rural structures and related services that are key to development and economic sustainability.
While this book is intended primarily for teaching university- and college-level agricultural engineering students
about rural structures and services, it is our hope that resources will be made available to produce textbooks based
on this material for teaching at other educational levels. Although parts of the background material relate specifically
to East and Southeast Africa, the book’s principles apply to the whole of tropical Africa, Latin America and South
Asia because, while building traditions may vary, the available materials are similar.
 xi

Acknowledgements

This book is based on the FAO publication Farm structures in tropical climates, published in 1986. The original
material and documentation was produced by the FAO/SIDA Cooperative Programme: Rural Structures in East
and South-East Asia. The lecturers underwent two six-month intensive training courses by the SIDA programme
between 1981 and 1983.
Our grateful thanks go to the University of Nairobi and the consulting firm LOG Associates, Nairobi, Kenya.
In the University of Nairobi, we wish to thank: Prof. Francis W.O. Aduol, Principal, Kenya Polytechnic University
College; Prof.  Bernard N.K.  Njoroge, Principal, College of Architecture and Engineering; Prof.  Washington
H.A. Olima, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, College of Architecture and Engineering;
Dr Duncan O. Mbuge, lecturer, Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering, College of Architecture
and Engineering; Robert  M. Mathenge, technologist, Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering,
College of Architecture and Engineering.
Further special thanks go to: Josef  Kienzle (FAO) for overall project coordination; Rachel  Tucker (FAO) and
Jenessi Matturi (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation – CTA) for facilitating the copublishing
agreement between FAO and CTA; Andrea  Broom, Jim  Collis and Madeline Grimoldi for language editing;
Larissa D’Aquilio (FAO) for production process management; Francesca Komel for redrawing most of the original
illustrations in vector format, and Simone  Morini for reproducing drawings in high-resolution, for desktop
publishing and cover design.
xii

About the authors

Geoffrey C. Mrema
Prof Geoffrey C. Mrema, holds a [Link]. degree in Engineering (Hons) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya; an
[Link]. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; and a Ph.D. in Agricultural
Engineering from the National University of Ireland. From 1973 to 1984, he lectured at the Department of
Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Dar-es-Salaam,
Morogoro, Tanzania. This Faculty of Agriculture became, in July 1984, the Sokoine University of Agriculture
(SUA). In addition to advancing from Lecturer in 1979 to Professor by 1987, he also was head of the Department
of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning (1979–1987) as well as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture
(1985–1987) until he was appointed the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Botswana
and Professor of Agricultural Engineering, where he served during the period 1987–1995. From 1995 to 2001, he was
First Executive Secretary of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa
(ASARECA) in Entebbe, Uganda. In 2001, he joined FAO as Director of the Agricultural Support Systems Division
at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. During the period 2005/06 he served as the Subregional Representative of
FAO in Eastern and Central Africa based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He returned to Rome in August 2006 as Director of
the Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries Division (AGS), and he held this position until 31 March 2011, when
he retired from FAO service on reaching the UN mandatory retirement age. He is now based at the Department
of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning of SUA, where in addition to lecturing he undertakes consultancy
missions for international and national agencies.

Lawrence O. Gumbe
Prof Lawrence O. Gumbe is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering at the
University of Nairobi, Kenya. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Ohio State University, USA; a [Link]. degree from
Cranfield University, UK; and a [Link]. degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He is a Registered Consulting
Engineer with the Engineers Registration Board of Kenya. He has been a member of several learned societies
including the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK); the Association of Consulting Engineers of Kenya (ACEK);
the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK); the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE); the Kenya
Society of Agricultural Engineers (KSAE); the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE); and the Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS). He has been a visiting scholar in
several universities and has worked as a consultant in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda,
Zambia, the UK and USA.

Hakgamalang J. Chepete
Dr Hakgamalang J. Chepete is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning
at the Botswana College of Agriculture, an associate institute of the University of Botswana. He holds both Ph.D.
and [Link]. degrees in Agricultural Engineering from Iowa State University in USA, and a [Link]. in Agriculture from
the University of Botswana. His area of concentration is Agricultural Structures and Environment. He is a member
of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He has been a visiting research scientist at Iowa State
University, USA.

Januarius O. Agullo
Januarius O. Agullo lectures in the Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineeering of the University of
Nairobi. He has [Link]. and [Link]. degrees from the University of Nairobi and is a Registered Graduate Engineer and a
member of the Kenya Society of Agricultural Engineers. He has taught courses in thermodynamics, solid mechanics,
structures, information technology, engineering graphics and post-harvest technology. He has also consulted in the
areas of irrigation engineering, data analysis and systems optimization.
 1

Chapter 1
Introduction

The subject of this book is rural structures and services improved livestock housing and services. For instance,
in tropical regions. Although it has been written with in parts of eastern Africa many small-scale farmers have
a special focus on the situation in eastern and southern invested in intensive dairy projects where the dairy
Africa, the principles apply to most of the tropics, albeit cows are zero-grazed. In addition, general development,
with some modifications to cater to local conditions. In which has led to improved standards of living for
many parts of Africa rural structures, including farm the rural population, has led to increased demand
buildings, have been built using traditional methods for durable, comfortable and healthy dwellings with
and materials. However, rural development and clean water, sanitation facilities, telecommunications
globalization are bringing about significant changes in and community infrastructure. Most of these facilities
rural areas of Africa. would normally be owned by the individual farmer,
Whereas in the past it was common to find only while some may be communally owned.
small thatched and/or mud houses, nowadays brick- All these rural structures and services play a
walled houses roofed with corrugated iron sheets and/ significant role in increasing agricultural production,
or tiles are quite common in many rural areas of eastern helping countries to achieve food security. These are
and southern Africa. Some of these new structures some of the most important investments that rural
are an improved traditional design constructed using dwellers will make in their lifetime. FAO projections
industrial building materials. Others are replications show that, over the next 40 years, significant investment
of urban building designs and often fail to cater to the must be made in rural infrastructure if the world is to
special technical, biological, physical and economic feed a global population of more than nine billion.
characteristics of rural areas, where in most cases The general thinking on the future of rural areas,
agricultural production is combined with processing and countries in general, is reflected in the various
and dwelling. policies of developing countries, such as: Vision 2030 in
There is therefore a growing need for improved Kenya; Vision 2025 in Tanzania and Uganda; Growth,
rural structures in most parts of Africa. In urban Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) in South
areas, there are town/municipal engineers responsible Africa; Vision  2016 in Botswana; and Vision  2020
for enforcing the building code, while in rural areas, in Nigeria. All these policy statements include the
rural development officers are normally called upon to primary objective of accelerating rural development.
provide technical advice on improving rural structures. As an example, the aim of Vision 2030 is to transform
Rural dwellers, who in most parts of Africa are either Kenya into a newly industrializing, “middle-income
crop and/or livestock farmers, rely on the technical country providing a high quality life to all its citizens
advice of agricultural extension workers who, in most by the year 2030”. The vision aspires to a country firmly
countries, also serve as general rural development interconnected through a network of roads, railways,
practitioners. Improved rural structures and services ports and airports by the year 2030. According to the
are becoming increasingly important parts of the rural vision statement, it will no longer be possible to refer to
development agenda. any region of Kenya as “remote” as investments in the
Rural structures also play a major role in increasing nation’s infrastructure will be given the highest priority.
agricultural productivity and overall production. Rural Increasing value and incomes in rural areas by
buildings are used not only for storing agricultural inputs transforming agriculture and making it more
such as fertilizers, but also for preserving agricultural productive is a major objective of most planners and
outputs. In Africa this is particularly important because policy makers in developing countries, especially
a significant percentage of grain production is stored on those in eastern and southern Africa. They all aim to
the farm for own consumption. It is therefore important raise incomes in crop, livestock, forestry and fishery
to develop methods and structures for effective storage, production, as industrial production and the service
especially for the modern high-yielding grain varieties, sector expand. This will be achieved partially through
which tend to be more susceptible to pests than the processing, which will add value to agricultural
traditional types. produce before it reaches the market.
Improved management and breeding programmes to All countries of the region want agricultural
increase livestock production have also created a need for producers to be competitive not only nationally, but
2 Rural structures in the tropics: design and development

also regionally and globally. The aim is to accomplish climate factors and a genuine understanding of rural life
this by means of an innovative, commercially oriented, and the farmer’s social and economic situation. They
modern style of agriculture that includes the crop, should also be familiar with the full range of building
livestock, forestry and fishery sectors. Agricultural materials and types of construction, from traditional
production should also be sustainable and every effort indigenous to industrially produced, as applied to rural
should be made to protect the environment. structures. They must be able to select appropriate
The transformation of agriculture and other rural installations and equipment for such buildings.
enterprises and livelihoods will require the planning, This knowledge will enable them to produce
design, construction, operation and maintenance of specifications, in cooperation with the farmer,
a broad range of rural structures and infrastructure. for functional building designs that provide a good
Innovation is a key factor in the success of this environment and durable construction, thereby
endeavour because it will lead to the efficient and contributing to efficient and economically sound farm
effective design and construction of rural structures. operations. Further important tasks for the engineers
This is essential as there are major challenges, in responsible for rural structures and services are
particular limited financial resources. interpreting and explaining the drawings and technical
The development of rural structures may be divided documentation to farmers, as well as supervising
into four phases: planning; design; construction; construction work. However, engineers should be
operation and maintenance: aware of the need to consult specialists in related fields
• Planning: This phase involves consideration of where necessary.
the various requirements and factors that affect This textbook is intended for the design and
the general layout and dimensions of the desired development of rural structures for agricultural
structures. It leads to the selection of one, or production in the tropics. This single volume covers the
perhaps several, alternative types of structure that basic procedures for planning, designing, constructing,
provide the best overall solution. operating and maintaining rural structures. Other
The primary consideration is the structure’s topics include rural water supply, rural sanitation, rural
function. Secondary considerations include energy and minor rural roads. In line with current
aesthetics, sociology, law, economics and the and future requirements, the book presents modern
environment. In addition, structural and methods of developing structures and infrastructure.
constructional requirements and limitations
may affect the type of structure to be selected. Scope of the textbook
Equipment and machinery to be installed in the This textbook is intended as a resource for practitioners
structures also need to be factored in during the engaged in the planning, design, construction, operation
planning phase. and maintenance of rural structures and services in
• Design: This phase involves the detailed support of agricultural production. It focuses mainly
consideration of the different options involved on the structures and services required by smallholder
in the planning phase. It leads to the definition farmers in rural areas of Africa. It is also designed to
of the most suitable proportions, dimensions serve as a textbook for students enrolled in agriculture
and details of the structural elements and and engineering courses at colleges and universities.
connections required for constructing each option The book is divided into four main parts. Part one
under consideration. Details of equipment and deals with the fundamentals required by a professional
machinery to be installed in the structure also responsible for providing technical advice on rural
form part of the designs. structures and services, such as graphical and geospatial
• Construction: This phase involves the techniques and the properties of construction materials.
procurement and transportation to the site of Part  two deals with the principles of designing rural
materials, equipment, machinery and personnel, structures and services, including basic mechanics and
as well as actual field erection. During this structural design.
phase, some redesigning may be required due to Part  three deals with the elements of actual
unforeseen circumstances such as unavailability of construction and building production. The final part,
specified materials or foundation problems. which is the largest, deals with the specifics of designing
• Operation and maintenance: During this period, and constructing different types of rural structure
the structure is in use. It requires planned and (structures for livestock production, rural dwellings,
unplanned maintenance. Experience gained in this structures for produce handling, conditioning and
phase leads to the design of better structures in storage; rural infrastructure, such as rural roads, water
the future. and sanitation, and external services, such as fencing).

Engineers who specialize in designing rural buildings