From Chinese village scale production to South African large scale industry.

The first VSBKs (Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns) originated in China in the 1960s and were further optimised until the end of the 1980s. About 100,000 VSBK shafts (50,000 kilns) were established and operated during several decades.

The initial attempts to transfer the technology outside China started in early 1990s, in Nepal, Pakistan, India and Sudan, by various organisations, mainly funded by the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ). These technology transfers were stopped prematurely after a few years, when the GIZ closed its brick programme.

In 1995 the VSBK technology was introduced in India as an action research project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project adapted the design to the local context, and since 2000, disseminated the technology commercially. In 2001 the technology was successfully introduced in Vietnam. After commercial success in India, the technology was introduced in Nepal in 2003. VSBK designs were further improved in Nepal and the encouraging results in energy, environmental and economical performances revived the interest on VSBK technology across other South Asian countries. With improved design, the technology has been then transferred to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa. While in South Asia mainly small and medium scale enterprises (SME) operate VSBK on a fully manual basis, in South Africa, mechanised large scale brick factories are shifting to the VSBK technology, further optimising the workflow and the economic performance of the technology.

VSBK in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan the first VSBKs were built in 1995, in the Herat Area. With the support of GIZ, several Chinese first generation VSBKs were established and engineers of a local NGO (AREA) were trained as a side activity of GIZ project in Pakistan. After the (premature) closure of project, local brick makers built more than 100 VSBKs, out of which few are still in use. However, built with little heat-resisting material, most shafts are broken and have been replaced by bigger BTKs.

After 2007, brick-makers from Kabul approached Skat’s VSBK team in Nepal, asking for technical support for establishing improved VSBKs, as they are operated in Nepal. With the support from SDC and technical advice from Skat and its Nepali and Afghan engineers, the first entrepreneurs built their “Nepali”-VSBKs in the vicinity of Kabul. The Swiss support phased out in 2010, after five kilns were erected and were being adjusted to the local context and the technology’s performance (fuel costs and emissions reduced by more than 50%, as compared to a traditional kiln) was being demonstrated. However, similarly as in Herat in the 1990s, the entrepreneurs only invested modestly in the establishment and optimisation of a permanent full scale production as long as the donor agency was present in the field. As a result, the supply and preproduction tuning process will have to be completed by the entrepreneurs independently, in order to turn the fuel cost savings into a net benefit, which is certainly possible for motivated entrepreneurs. However, external incentives and punctual engineering support would certainly stimulate this process and avoid another interruption of the VSBK story in Afghanistan.

* AREA, Agency for Rehabilitation & Energy Conservation in Afghanistan