Building indicators to address community sustainability: learning from the Mixteca region,Mexico

This article reports on an indicator model to assess sustainability at the community level that was developed by an interdisciplinary work group. We applied this model in a case study of the Mixteca region in Oaxaca, Mexico, and provided a tool guide to measure the effectiveness of community-based actions. Two innovative aspects are presented: an iterative process with the community to develop a locally appropriate set of indicators drawn from the literature, and a baseline diagnostic assessment of the community’s performance on these indicators. This assessment may serve as a basis for future research and community-driven projects.     

Does women’s empowerment increase accessibility to healthcare among women facing domestic violence?

This article aims to understand whether women’s empowerment increases access to healthcare among women facing domestic violence within the Indian context. It reports on a multi-centre cross-sectional study covering 18 states of India, with 14,405 women respondents through a systematic multi-stage sampling strategy. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Despite substantive possession of the existing attributes of empowerment, women fail to receive necessary healthcare services. This reflects a situation of biased policy processes and institutional frameworks, which are a manifestation of existing patriarchal norms and which result in the piecemeal processes of entitlements.     

Implementing national food policies to promote local family agriculture: Belo Horizonte's story

Policies in Brazil promoting family agriculture such as the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) and the 30% minimum procurement law for the National School Meals Programme have had varying success across the country. To understand why these policies work effectively only in some areas, the implementation processes must be clarified. This exploratory, ethnographic study identifies the causal mechanisms involved in implementing PAA and the 30% law in the city of Belo Horizonte. The findings reveal that although beneficial, large supply volumes and transportation costs are challenges faced by farmers in the implementation process.     

‘Listening to the rice grow’: the local–expat interface in Lao-based international NGOs

Generally speaking, NGO studies have focused their attention on the organisational unit and its role in shaping development outcomes. With few exceptions, the analysis of development partnerships, in which NGOs play a crucial role, has largely been confined to examination of ‘donors’ and ‘receivers’ and not the dynamics within organisational settings. This article is concerned with the interface between local and international staff operating within Lao-based international NGOs. The research relied on interviews with local and international staff and sought to examine how staff themselves interpreted the process of ‘localisation’ in the context of their own professional experience.     

Enhancing the effectiveness of international development: a systems approach

Every day 25,000 people die of hunger and hunger-related causes. While it is recognised that the international development system is not as effective as it should be, years of endeavours to achieve greater harmonisation of international aid and to create an effective architecture pass by without adequate results. The article introduces a framework for enhancing the effectiveness of the international development system, based on fundamental concepts of Systems Thinking. It discusses the complex systemic challenges to development and suggests that more effective control is a key precondition for greater effectiveness in development as a whole.     

Integrating gender into index-based agricultural insurance: a focus on South Africa

Index insurance is an agricultural risk management tool that can provide a safety net for smallholder farmers experiencing climate risk. While uptake and scale-out of index insurance may be slow among smallholders, we can learn from experiences that demonstrate where crop insurance can protect smallholders’ livelihoods from climate risk. Integrating gender into climate risk management is necessary to ensure that the benefits of index insurance are experienced by both men and women. A dedicated intention to integrate gender may be required. Taking South Africa as a case study, the potential for gender-sensitive index insurance scale-out among smallholders is investigated.     

Polarised narratives and complex realities in Tanzania’s Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor

This article assesses the controversy surrounding a high-profile agricultural investment initiative, the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), which aims to modernise, commercialise, and transform Tanzania’s agricultural sector. Drawing on a review of SAGCOT literature and findings from consultations with SAGCOT stakeholders and intended beneficiaries, the article outlines the polarised narratives of “opportunity” and “risk” informing SAGCOT debates, and presents research findings that challenge these narratives. The findings suggest that agricultural investments are rarely as glamorous or as gloomy in practice as the polarised narratives around SAGCOT suggest, and illustrate the challenges involved in directing agricultural investments in ways that balance multiple interests and objectives in practice.     

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.     

Does microfinance alleviate poverty and inequality? Studying self-help groups in Bodoland,Assam

This article aims to assess the impact of microfinance through a government-sponsored SHG–bank linkage programme (SBLP) of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in India, on poverty alleviation, employment, and achievement of financial inclusion in the Bodoland area of Assam. Empirical results from an impact evaluation showed that the programme had a positive and statistically significant impact on the monthly income, employment days, and financial inclusion level of participants of the SHG programme, compared to a control group of non-participants.     

Why is basic service access worse in slums? A synthesis of obstacles

Many residents of urban areas face joint obstacles to basic service access, but these barriers are more prevalent and severe in slum settlements. Analyses of obstacles have typically been conducted in a piecemeal rather than synthetic framework and have focused on access to single services rather than the range of services needed to support household welfare. By contrast, this study uses data from fieldwork in four slum settlements situated in Hyderabad, India to develop a typology synthesising the obstacles – economic, spatial, social, institutional, and political – to the full range of service access desired by residents. Economic differences explain little of the access deficit within this population. While social and institutional obstacles are more likely to explain slum formation and residence over the long term, variation in spatial and political factors present the most acute short-term access barriers. The article concludes by suggesting the most promising means for slum residents and supporting stakeholders to overcome multi-faceted obstacles.