Participatory system dynamics modelling for dairy value chain development in Nicaragua

The use of system dynamics tools can add valuable insights when identifying and evaluating priorities for pro-poor value chain upgrading. However, to better understand the complex systems in agricultural value chains and to develop useful models, a participatory modelling process is important. This article highlights the group model building process of the dairy value chain in Matiguás, Nicaragua, one of a few examples of participatory model building in developing countries. The results confirm several benefits with participatory system dynamics modelling, including team learning, a greater understanding of the value of modelling, and a tool for decision-making and priority setting.     

Fit for purpose? A review of guides for gender-equitable value chain development

This article presents a review of seven guides for gender-equitable value chain development (VCD). The guides advocate persuasively the integration of gender into VCD programming and raise important issues for designing more inclusive interventions. However, gaps persist in their coverage of gender-based constraints in collective enterprises, the influence of norms on gender relations, and processes to transform inequitable relations through VCD. Guidance for field implementation and links to complementary value chain tools are also limited. The article identifies opportunities for conceptual and methodological innovation to address the varying roles, needs, and aspirations of women and men in VCD.     

Promoting inclusive development in Ghana: disabled people’s and other stakeholders’ perspectives

This article highlights barriers to inclusive development from the perspective of disabled people, as well as staff of NGOs and government agencies. A qualitative study was conducted between August 2011 and September 2012, and in September 2013, in rural and urban areas in Greater Accra and Eastern regions in Ghana. The research shows that inaccessible public infrastructure and services, negative attitudes of service providers, little political will, limited capacity of development agencies, and lack of multi-agency coordination in the disability development sector were barriers to disabled people’s inclusion and participation in development processes.     

Biofuels and inclusive development: the Brazilian experience

This article addresses the question of whether the production and use of biofuels could be appropriate to support productive inclusion. After an overview of the main drivers of biofuels development in the last decade, the article analyses the Brazilian experience, the most ambitious programme to promote inclusive development through biofuel policy. It focuses on the institutional settings and its distributional effects, as well as the organisational dynamics in a semi-arid region, and concludes that even in a country like Brazil, with a long and successful tradition in biofuel policies, the productive inclusion of small-scale family farmers faces severe difficulties.     

Environment and climate mainstreaming: challenges and successes

This paper examines mainstreaming environment and climate change into development policy, planning, and budgeting. It looks at why we should integrate environment and climate and outlines challenges and successes. One result is that governments’ progress pro-poor and equitable development. Governance gains are important too: co-benefits include more transparent decision making and better cross-government working. Ultimately, the impact of mainstreaming has increased awareness, changed perceptions, and improved the way inter-sectoral decisions are made, especially in climate adaptation. This supports countries to achieve their sustainable development ambitions – lessons which could be applied to a post-2015 development agenda.     

The unhealthy divide: how the secular-faith binary potentially limits GBV prevention and response

ABSTRACT

While progress has been made in creating conversations between the secular and faith actors involved in developmental issues, a distinct binary still exists. This could potentially be limiting a holistic response to gender-based violence, a global public health, development, humanitarian, and human rights issue. This article explores how perceptions of this binary – faith versus secular – are understood to impact GBV prevention and response efforts. Drawing on interviews conducted during a scoping study, the opinions and experiences of actors from faith-based organisations and academic institutions are used to shed light on how the faith-secular binary is being upheld and challenged, and how it is perceived to be impacting holistic GBV prevention and response.     

The impact of MGNREGS on child labour and child education: an empirical analysis

This article addresses the persistent claim that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has a negative impact on the availability of labour for agricultural operations, which has significant implications for the induced demand for child labour as a cheaper substitute for unskilled adult labour on agricultural farms in peak seasons. The study contributes to this debate by examining three issues: (i) effects of seasonality on child intensity of labour; (ii) impact of MGNREGS on child intensity of labour; and (iii) impact of seasonality and MGNREGS on human capital formation.     

Improving the effectiveness of Ugandan water user committees

This article outlines issues affecting the functionality of Ugandan water user committees responsible for managing communal water and sanitation (WASH) services. Research undertaken demonstrated that their effectiveness is compromised by poor understanding of their rights and responsibilities by stakeholders within and outside the committees. Following the research, a handbook was produced that explained the rights and responsibilities in a form that is accessible to all community members. Preliminary feedback from committees that have used the handbook suggests that it has the potential to improve the functionality of the water user committees, thereby helping to improve the local management of WASH services in Uganda.     

Pro-poor budget analysis of Kenya's free primary education policy

This practical note outlines Concern's approach to pro-poor budget analysis using the case of the Kenya Free Primary Education (FPE) policy. Analysis conducted on the outcomes of the FPE policy for Nairobi's urban slum-based poor suggests that the policy is not being implemented evenly within the city. The reasons stem from poor allocation and planning approaches, to political interference and unwillingness of teachers to work in slum-based schools. These have the unintended effect of increasing inequities for the urban poor, the reverse of the policy intention. The note outlines the pitfalls and practicalities of conducting this type of analysis.     

One-stop border posts and informal livelihoods in Busia,Kenya

‘One-stop border posts’ (OSBP) are being developed on East African trade corridors to support growth in cross-border trade in the region. This article presents a household survey examining the impact of the OSBP at Busia on the Kenya–Uganda border on the livelihoods of informal traders and workers. It finds positive effects through enhanced access to cross-border trade. However, it also finds negative effects, including reduced work opportunities for unskilled manual workers. Further research is needed into the long-term effects on the price and foreign exchange differentials which currently incentivise the informal trade, before the effects can be fully assessed.     

Endogenous development: some issues of concern

This article aims to provide knowledge and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. The paper gives a theoretical overview of endogenous development, linked to issues of globalisation and poverty, and ongoing work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. It then makes a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, namely endogenous development – using experiences with two NGOs in Ghana and Zimbabwe to locate theory in practice. The paper concludes with some empirical pre-requisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities.

This article is prompted by the requests of my students at the University for Development Studies, Ghana, for knowledge and information, and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. I start by giving a theoretical overview of the concept of endogenous development and link it with current issues of globalisation and poverty. I briefly mention current work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. Encouraged by such developments, I then make a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, endogenous development. I bring to light the experiences with endogenous development in two NGOs – CECIK (Ghana) and AZTREC (Zimbabwe) – in order to locate theory in practice (praxis). I conclude by providing some empirical prerequisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities, which demonstrate one way of conducting experimentation with farmers within the context of endogenous development.     

Community participation and inner-city slum renewal: relocated people's perspectives on slum clearance and resettlement in Addis Ababa

The article explores the process of residential relocation in inner-city slum renewal in Addis Ababa. Drawing on qualitative research methods involving interviews and focus group discussions with members of relocated households, it examines the nature of people's involvement in inner-city renewal and how it affects their lives. The article argues that the process of planning and implementation of relocation is not only top-down, but also does not involve the perspectives, needs, and livelihood strategies of those affected. The article concludes that the city administration needs to work closely with NGOs, the private sector, and community-based organisations in order to meet the housing needs of relocated households.     

Pledges not kept: JICA's project challenges in Ghana

Japan's project aid initiatives for capacity development still occupy a large part of the aid discourse of the country's development cooperation programme. Over the years, Japan's development rhetoric has been significantly adapted to the wider policy shifts of Western donor countries and has introduced in its programme and project documents such terms as ‘ownership’, ‘needs-based approach’, and ‘participatory’ initiatives in order to achieve more ‘sustainable’ results. Furthermore, the importance of ‘institutional memory’ has been repeatedly highlighted by Japan as an important element for greater project effectiveness. This article investigates how this development rhetoric translates in Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) project practice in a three-year community-based initiative in rural Ghana. The results illustrate that despite the short-term benefits the project has brought to the targeted communities, the development practice of JICA falls short of its discursive representation and more effort is needed by JICA toward a more committed and inclusive project practice.     

Tug of war: street trading and city governance in Kumasi,Ghana

Kumasi, Ghana, has witnessed accelerated population growth in the past two decades, leading to a significant increase in joblessness following years of economic decline and labour market liberalisation. As a survival strategy, residents have resorted to street trading, making it an important source of livelihood. However, its associated implications for urban governance and management has placed city authorities in the spotlight over the years. Examining the daily struggles that occur between city managers and street traders, this article finds that various strategies adopted by city authorities to decongest the streets have proved futile. Rethinking what could be a sustainable strategy for decongesting the streets of traders, the article concludes that chasing the traders out of the streets is not the panacea to solving the problem unless well coordinated land-use planning and appropriate regulations are competently enforced.     

非洲经济增长与减贫发展的悖论——兼论非洲从贫困化增长到益贫式增长范式的转变

20世纪90年代中期以来,非洲经济呈现中速增长态势,但增长的质量不高,贫困化并未缓减,反而有所加强。这主要源于非洲经济增长具有的资源投入和出口需求驱动、投资拉动、农业增长低质量、不适于穷人分享增长的低度经济结构等内在特性。当然,它还与制约非洲减贫的长期结构性因素密切相关。益贫式增长范式关注穷人在经济增长中的受益性,强调经济增长不仅要减少贫困,而且要改善收入不平等状况。从长远看,非洲国家若要使总体经济增长有益于减少社会贫困,需向益贫式增长范式转变。     

Under-development in practice: Nigeria and the enduring problem of corruption

Nigeria's abundant natural resource endowments should earn the country's bragging rights as the “Giant of Africa”. Instead, 52 years of corrupt practices among the often recycled ruling elites in post-independence Nigeria have crippled this giant and turned what should be one of the country's strongest assets – its vast oil wealth – into a curse. This article critically examines the concerns for corruption as an enduring obstacle to Nigeria's development writ large. After providing a historical trajectory of corrupt practices in Nigeria from the mid-1980s to the present, it discusses some of the recent corruption scandals in the country, in particular the issues surrounding the US$6.8 billion that was drained from Nigeria between 2009 and 2012 in the fuel subsidy scam. The conclusion makes a case for the reworking of a pervasive system in Nigeria that “pardons” corruption and “recycles” corrupt rulers.     

Coup,riot, war: How political institutions and ethnic politics shape alternative forms of political violence

This article explores how different types of governance systems shape different forms of political violence. We identify four governance types by combining the “institutional” dimension of coalition size represented by a minimum winning coalition (MWC) and the “ethno-political” dimension represented by the size of ethnic groups participating in the governing coalition. This study hypothesizes that (a) an exclusive system (small MWC; narrow-based ethnic coalition) is likely to engender civil war, (b) an oversized system (small MWC; broad-based ethnic coalition) is likely to generate a coup, and (c) an undersized system (large MWC; narrow-based ethnic coalition) is likely to stimulate riots or protests. Statistical analyses confirm all three hypotheses, implying that opposition groups choose alternative forms of conflict that maximize their chances of accessing power under different governance configurations. The article concludes by identifying three possible paths toward inclusive governance and suggesting that institutional reform before ethnic inclusion makes a transition toward inclusive governance far less dangerous.     

Identification and analysis of smallholder producers’ constraints: applications to Tanzania and Uganda

This article puts forward a method for the analysis of constraints faced by developing countries’ smallholder producers. It is consistent with theories of constraints, efficient in terms of cost and researchers’ time, and accessible to a non-technical audience. A hybrid of workshop discussion and individual data collection, it also draws on data and analyses available in most developing countries. The article presents an application to smallholder livestock systems in Tanzania and Uganda, reporting results and analysis relating constraints to households’ characteristics and conditions, and their stated goals. While limitations are identified, it is proposed for application in other development fields.     

Lessons from selected development policies and practices

This article identifies lessons learned from field research and related analysis, to address three fundamental aspects of development that are often overlooked: culture and governance, inclusive development, and market-based approaches. All three cases address issues of poverty and inequality. In addition, the critical role of institutions in governance and development is also highlighted. Finally, by bridging the gap between culture, economy, and society through these approaches, better and more effective development policies and programmes can be formulated and implemented.     

Walking together: the journey of the Non-Aligned Movement and the women's movement

The story of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the way in which women engaged with it, gaining from its overall liberatory calls, as well as its political independence from the UN and other multilateral agencies, is relatively unknown in the world of development and women; and yet it is an important example of multilateral space. This article argues that the NAM, and its engagement with women, has the historical and strategic potential to be the platform from which to launch an inclusive growth paradigm.