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• The Norwegian fast start climate finance contribution

  Posted:11 Dec 2013 20:10:28 GMT

  This Working Paper is part of a series of studies initiated by The Overseas Development Institute, ODI, scrutinizing how developing countries are defining, delivering and reporting on fast start finance - FSF. Norwegian climate finance, unlike most other developed countries, is solely based on public grants. The main share of Norwegian bilateral climate finance has gone to mitigation measures under the REDD+ program. The Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICF) was launched at the COP 13 at Bali in 2007. Over the five years from 2006 to 2011, the Norwegian total ODA budget increased to NOK 27.7 billion, or some 4.6 billion USD - around 1 per cent of Gross National Income. Over the same period bilateral climate finance increased from 3 to 23 per cent of Norwegian ODA. The total Norwegian grants-based contributions to climate finance adds up to some USD 709 million for 2010, and some USD 773 million in 2011 according to official accounts.

  Norwegian authorities reports according to decision 1/cp.16 (Cancun Agreements - AWGLCA outcome). These are public, transparent and readily available on the UNFCCC web page.

  

• The Last Straw? The additional burden of climate change on food security in the Himalaya | GRID-Arendal - Publications - The last straw

  Posted:11 Dec 2013 19:42:17 GMT

  The food price spikes of 2007–08 brought food security into sharp focus on the global agenda. Declines in international commodity markets, financial speculation in low cereal stocks, dramatic weather events, soaring oil prices, and growth in biofuels competing for cropland merged to produce a global crisis. Coupled with the growing impacts of climate change, the question of whether we would have enough food to feed a growing world population in the future vaulted to the top of political agendas.

  However, as with so many global issues, some regions are far more vulnerable to food insecurity than others. Mountain regions are particularly hard hit. In places such as the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH), food security is not only a question for the future but for today. Here, vulnerability is a fact of life. Around half of the world's undernourished people live in Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, and in all these countries, the mountain areas have the highest degree of food deficiency.
  
  
   

  

• Exposing and limiting the global trade in conflict diamonds

  Posted:11 Dec 2013 19:22:03 GMT

  Stopping the international trade in conflict diamonds has become nearly impossible under the current Kimberley Process framework as new smuggling routes through India expose its structural weaknesses. Thankfully, a simple and cost-effective solution is at hand: Mandating mine-to-market tracing for all newly mined diamonds.
   

  

• Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and corruption

  Posted:25 Nov 2013 10:32:26 GMT

  There is evidence that corruption takes many forms and facilitates IUU fishing in Africa throughout the fisheries chain. From the payment of bribes to use prohibited fishing gear or to continue fishing in illegal areas without punishment, to conflicts of interest between law enforcement officials and IUU fishers, corruption is hampering law enforcement in Africa and allowing IUU fishers to operate to the  detriment of small-scale fishers, the environment and citizens in general.

  

• Distributing mining wealth to communities in Ghana: Addressing problems of elite capture and political corruption

  Posted:25 Nov 2013 10:20:52 GMT

  In the context of a mining boom in Africa, a critical consideration is how governments use increased mineral wealth to foster development, particularly in rural communities where mining takes place. While many African countries do not have a strong track record of managing mineral wealth well, Ghana is often considered a model of best practice, based on its policy of distributing a proportion of mining rents to local authorities and traditional leaders in mining affected communities. In this paper the authors review this policy and, contrary to the positive view of some experts, they explain that forms of corruption and mismanagement undermine it. The paper considers the policy implications. Two complimentary policy goals represent the usual remedies for combatting corruption; increasing transparency and improving social accountability. Both of these objectives are important, but the authors identify a number of potential limitations to their implementation. A third policy that is gaining more international support is also considered, which involves using the wealth from natural resource sectors to fund a universal cash transfer scheme. The paper considers the feasibility and potential benefits of this in Ghana, not only in terms of improving the developmental contribution of mineral wealth, but also how a cash transfer scheme may overcome corruption and poor governance.

   

  

• Leaking projects: Corruption and local water management in Kyrgyzstan

  Posted:25 Nov 2013 10:13:19 GMT

  Poor water infrastructure in Kyrgyzstan from the Soviet era led international donors to support investments in agricultural irrigation and potable freshwater systems. The financial investments made, however, did not always underpin improvements in local water delivery and the Kyrgyz Vice President once noted that “the lion’s share of the credit was stolen”. This U4 Practice Insight contrasts two project approaches to local water management in Kyrgyzstan from an anti-corruption perspective. It examines the extent to which project goals were affected by issues of corruption and fraud, and identifies lessons for future donor engagement in the country’s local water sector.

  

• Project Leaf and addressing corruption in REDD+

  Posted:25 Nov 2013 10:04:16 GMT

  Project Leaf (Law Enforcement Assistance for Forests) was launched on 5 June, 2012 – on World Environment Day. It is an initiative to counter various aspects of forest crime, including corruption, illegal logging and timber trafficking. The project is a consortium led by Interpol and the United Nations Environment Programme, intended to provide a coordinated global response to organised and transnational forest sector crime. Effective forest law enforcement in countries that implement REDD+ schemes is crucial to the success of REDD+. By involving actors aiming to prevent forest crime and corruption, Project Leaf hopes to generate an improved governance platform to aid country implementation of REDD+. Project Leaf counts on development donors for financial and operational support.

  

• The search for a negotiated peace in Colombia and the fight against illegal drugs

  Posted:24 Nov 2013 19:45:48 GMT

  The issue of illicit drugs has played a radically different role in the ongoing peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana compared with the peace process in El Caguán ten years ago. There are two differences. Firstly, while in El Caguán President Pastrana aligned himself with the war on drugs as it stood at the time through the design and implementation of Plan Colombia in order to strengthen the state’s military apparatus, President Santos has adopted a more revisionist attitude by calling for a global debate intended to produce changes to the current war on drugs. And secondly, in contrast to Pastrana, Santos has chosen not to dwell on claims about the close links between the FARC’s insurgent activity and the production and trafficking of illicit drugs. Additionally, the report suggests that these differences are explained by the role the U.S. played in both negotiations: while it was active and crucial in El Caguán, its absence from the Hav ana talks has been notable, but also rather convenient. This absence, in turn, is explained by the fact that Washington has fewer interests at stake and more limited resources for intervening, at the same time as the Colombian government no longer has an urgent need for aid.

  

• The integration of natural resource markets as a means to peacebuilding in Latin America

  Posted:24 Nov 2013 19:38:29 GMT

  The rising prices of natural resources and generally stronger economies in Latin America have led to deeper economic integration among the countries of the region. Former foes have now become economically interdependent, reducing the risk of serious conflict. However, the potential of exporting natural gas and hydroelectricity from the Andean region to the energy deficient local superpowers of Brazil and Chile is still untapped. Resistance to large-scale projects by indigenous groups and regional politicians empowered by treaties protecting indigenous rights, combined with a commitment to decentralisation in general, implies that central governments lack full control of their territories. The large-scale investments needed for such projects are hence perceived as risky, because expensive infrastructure is needed on both sides of the border. In addition, the cash-abundant consumer nations are expected to fund the necessary investments in producer nations through public-private partnerships. They are hence vulnerable to accusations of “foreigners and multinational companies stealing our resources”, which fuel local resistance. Norway could contribute to overcoming the tense conflict level that prevents the realisation of both economic and climate-friendly cross-border energy co-operation by sharing its experience on indigenous rights and the geographical distribution of income from natural resources. Currently, Norway cannot respond to requests for assistance due to a lack of organisational capacity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This report therefore proposes the creation of an independent unit to deal more efficiently with delegations requesting assistance.

  

• Who rules Nigeria?

  Posted:24 Nov 2013 19:27:07 GMT

  Nigeria has experienced military coups, a civil war and very poor economic development, and its population is more impoverished today than at independence. Behind this lies the “oil curse”. The ruling elite has captured the rents generated from oil for personal enrichment and power purposes. Nigeria’s elite formation has three distinct characteristics. It is based on a fusion of elites, with the military dominating. It is consolidated through power diversification (with the conversion of political power into economic power as the most important), and it is enriched through economic extraction (where the usurpation of the country’s oil wealth is pivotal).

  The excessive centralisation of power, authoritarianism, and the pervasiveness of patronage and rent-seeking cultures have developed a political or ruling class. Oil resources have given this class the incentive to control the state apparatus (and thus the income), and the means to retain control of the state. The main  beneficiaries, and thus the main constituent components of the oil-rich elite, are the “big men” (the inner circle of the ruling elite), the military and state governors. Since formal democratisation at the turn of the century, various reforms have been half-heartedly attempted. Despite the nomination of economic reformers to prominent positions, the vested interests of the political class have not been challenged. The current president, Goodluck Jonathan, has nominated a few reformers, but his use of power politics and patronage (in particular to win the 2011 elections demonstrates that his government is not a particularly reformist administration.

  

• Wildlife Management in Tanzania: State Control, Rent Seeking and Community Resistance

  Posted:24 Nov 2013 19:00:17 GMT

  Despite a decade of rhetoric on community conservation, current trends in Tanzania reflect a disturbing process of reconsolidation of state control over wildlife resources and increased rent-seeking behaviour, combined with dispossession of communities. Whereas the 1998 Wildlife Policy promoted community participation and local benefits, the subsequent policy of 2007 and the Wildlife Conservation Act of 2009 returned control over wildlife and over income from sport hunting and safari tourism to central government.

  These trends, which sometimes include the use of state violence and often take place in the name of ‘community-based’ conservation, are not, however, occurring without resistance from communities. This article draws on in-depth studies of wildlife management practices at three locations in northern Tanzania to illustrate these trends. The authors argue that this outcome is more than just the result of the neoliberalization of conservation. It reflects old patterns of state patrimony and rent seeking, combined with colonial narratives of conservation, all enhanced through neoliberal reforms of the past two decades. At the same time, much of the rhetoric of neoliberal reforms is being pushed back by the state in order to capture rent and interact with villagers in new and oppressive ways.

  

• Neglected displacement: human mobility in Pacific disaster risk management and climate change adaptation mechanisms

  Posted:08 Nov 2013 18:29:17 GMT

  This paper reviews laws and policy documents from 15 Pacific countries and territories, in order to analyse how:
  

  • Pacific Island countries and territories identify their risks and vulnerabilities to natural hazards and climate change
  • displacement risks are addressed and the extent to which wider human mobility issues (including migration, planned relocation and resettlement) are considered
  • displacement risks and human mobility issues are incorporated into action plans, strategies and proposed projects

  The document makes separate recommendations for governments, regional organisations, NGOs and civil groups, as well as media organisations.
  

  

• Situational analysis of indigenous social institutions and their role in rural livelihoods: the case of selected food insecure lowland areas of Southern Ethiopia

  Posted:06 Nov 2013 18:39:17 GMT

  Close examination and analysis of these social institutions is very important not only from the household economic point of view but also because of its significant role in other livelihood aspects. The data for this study was collected from 453 household heads that were selected through a random sampling technique. Qualitative data was also collected from 98 key informants and by three Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in each village, giving a total of 48 FGDs.

  On the basis of the information collected through the qualitative and quantitative approach, it was concluded that the informal social institutions are playing a significant role in enhancing food security and smoothening other livelihood aspects having a long history and interwoven with the livelihood of the community. Moreover, households are members of various social institutions at a time, mainly due to social and economic reasons. Some of these social institutions have more power to influence the behavior, decision-making, values and practices of community members. The study has also identified that the institutions are facing various challenges, which adversely affect the effectiveness and efficiency of their performance. Due to the dynamic nature of the environment, the role of informal social institutions is also changing.

  Finally, on the basis of the findings, several policy recommendations are given, which include:Enhancing and promoting some of the informal social institutions in the course of the project development (project identification, implementation, monitoring and evaluation); empowering the informal institutions to enable and rebuild capacities (technical and financial support andproviding a legal entity) of the local communities to assume greater responsibilities in the management of natural resources and decisions regarding essential community resources;Improving accountability is one important strategy to sustain the indigenous social institutions thorough formal institutions; and creating a working forum for local government mechanisms and concerned institutions so that they can work together (Yejoka, Gedana, Aba Timba, Idir etc.).

   

  

• Strengthening the Africa Environment Information Network: a framework to increase access to environmental information and to support Africa's development planning processes

  Posted:06 Nov 2013 18:17:21 GMT

  The Africa Environmental Information Network (AfricaEIN) seeks to support African countries as they keep their state of the environment under review; to improve and provide integrated environmental assessment products that support national development planning processes; to strengthen the capacities of countries to meet environmental reporting obligations, including State of the Environment (SOE) reports and the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) to which they are party; to facilitate the exchange of environmental information nationally, in Africa and globally; to enhance the incorporation of environmental considerations into national development planning, as well as in decision-making processes through improved access to data and information; and to support the preparation of relevant reports on policy and other products for use by governments, the AMCEN and other regional bodies and institutions.

  The AfricaEIN focuses on identifying national strengths and weaknesses in the management of environmental information through a comprehensive set of performance indicators. The performance assessment will facilitate the monitoring of national progress towards achieving the objectives set out by the institutions engaged in environmental information management in Africa. It is intended that the performance of the various national environment information networks meets international standards.

  Launched during the first quarter of 2013, the AfricaEIN’s initial phase is expected to run over a five-year period (from 2013 to 2017). Anticipated milestones for the first two years of the project include: the establishment of a new AfricaEIN governance structure; the development and regular update of an AfricaEIN website; the training of National Focal Points (NFPs) so that activities are consistent and comparable across the region; the publication of national information products; and the regular assessment of the performance of environmental information management institutions in order to ensure that their activities are continuously improved and aligned with best practices.

  

• Project final evaluation report. Climate Change Adaptation Capacity in Madagascar.

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 19:39:44 GMT

  As stated in the TOR, the primary purpose of the final evaluation is to assess mainly the impact, effectiveness and relevance of the project in relation to its stated purpose, objectives, target groups, partners and other affected parties. It is also to assess project progress towards its stated purpose and identification of constraints hindering such progress. The analysis of the results will be based on the criteria of Quality and Relevance of Design, Effectiveness; Efficiency of Planning and Implementation; Impact; and Potential for sustainability, replication and magnification. Moreover, the final evaluation indentifies key lessons and experiences that have resulted from the project during the four-year implementation. Linked to the findings under the above sections, overall conclusions will be drawn and listed in terms of importance. The evaluation is expected to make clear and detailed recommendations for the way forward: how to increase effectiveness of implementation if activities are to continue.

  

• Chinhoyi Food Security and Livelihoods Project Low Input Gardening funded by IOM. Final project evaluation report.

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 19:25:49 GMT

  Save the Children (SC) has been implementing a Food Security and Livelihoods project in Zvimba and Makonde districts since November 2010. Funded by ECHO, the intervention had two phases (1 & 2) which aimed to improve the livelihoods and food security situation of the targeted households through Cash Transfers (CT) and Low Input Gardens. The end of phase 2 project in November 2011 initiated another phase funded by IOM which seeks to impact on the Internally Displaced Populations living in two of the previously targeted communities of Makonde District, i.e. Alaska (ward 14) and Shackleton (ward 15). This phase continued with the same beneficiaries as targeted in the previous project funded by ECHO. The main components of this phase are Strengthening of the LIGs, formulation of ISAL groups and Capacity building. A baseline survey was conducted prior to implementation to gather benchmarks. The implementation of the IOM phase ended in June 2012 and it required an internal evaluation. The objectives of the evaluation were to evaluate the 5 criterions of evaluation, i.e. appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability for this last phase of the project.

  

• Final report. FOKUS: External evaluation of the East African Program for the Empowerment of Grassroot Women (EAGWEN).

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 19:15:42 GMT

  Norwegian Women and Family Association (NWF) has a history of supporting organisations whose main focus is on vulnerable groups. With its prior linkage to Companionship of Works (COWA) and Gender and Development Centre (GADECE) and a preference by FOKUS for a programme approach, the EAGWEN programme was developed by NWF and its partners in Uganda and Kenya in 2009 with a common goal of empowering rural and urban grass-root women and young girls through networking and alliance building, community mobilisation, awareness raising, advocacy and capacity strengthening. The programme focuses on skills, knowledge and attitudes, capacity building and strengthening of partnership amongst the East African women organisations accessing FOKUS funds through the NWF.
  Within the EAGWEN programme, each of the organisations addresses issues within its comparative advantage but then takes on other issues that are of relevance to their beneficiary or target groups. The partners under the EAGWEN programme under ‘normal’ circumstances would not have had the opportunity to work with each other despite possible synergies.

   

  

• WWF Mara River Basin Management Initiative, Kenya and Tanzania. Phase III - final evaluation report

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 18:52:37 GMT

  The scarce water resources of the transboundary Mara River Basin (13,750 km2), in Kenya and Tanzania are essential to more than one million people, multiple water uses and the world-famous Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem and its economically very important tourism industry. These water resources are under threat due to increasing competition for water, pollution, environmental degradation and climate change. Improved management of the water resources is essential. Tanzania and Kenya have undergone water sector reforms and changed policy, legislation and institutions in order to implement the new approach of integrated water resource management (IWRM). WWF and partners implemented the Mara River Basin Management Initiative (MRBMI) to pilot the water sector reforms’ IWRM approach and to address threats and opportunities to the water resources.
  The main purpose of the evaluation was to provide WWF and stakeholders with an independent assessment of the project achievements and to guide WWF in the design of similar future projects. The evaluation focussed on phase III of the MRBMI.

   

  

• Evaluation of Norwegian Church Aid Livelihoods and Trade Programme final report

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 18:43:09 GMT

  In Tanzania NCA works with poor communities and local partners (FBOs), resource partners and strategic partners in 41 districts of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. NCA started its Tanzania operations in  2006. Between 2011 and 2015 the NCA-Tanzania will be implementing a new country strategy. This strategy contributes towards achievement of the NCA’s national and NCA’s Global Program’s selected results for the same period.  During the next five years the NCA will selectively integrate most of the activities like PETS, social mitigation of HIV and AIDS, GBV and Climate change adaptation into the VICOBA groups. VICOBA groups will be viewed as vehicle for bringing about social transformation.  In order to effectively monitor and deliver results on this strategic plan, NCA has planned to under systematic evaluations of each of its program areas. It  was for this purpose that NCA  conducted an evaluation of its  Livelihoods and Trade program.

   

  

• Facing the resource curse: Norway's Oil for Development Program. Final report.

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 18:28:35 GMT

  Oil for Development (OfD), begun in 2005, is a comprehensive program addressing resource, financial and environmental dimensions with a focus on capacity development in the public sector but including larger sector governance concerns. It is a flagship program in Norway’s development cooperation as it addresses a strategic sector at high policy, institutional and organisational levels.
  Results have been most important in the resource sector by strengthening institutional frameworks and key public sector actors. Environment often suffers from lack of local capacity and will, and by not investing enough in building larger local partnerships with non-state actors. Organisational development may be fragile as capacity building has been too limited to specific actors rather than addressing larger labour-market imbalances, and the governance concerns have been too public sector focused.
  The petroleum sector is increasing in importance world-wide: the number of producer countries is growing, including in poor states with weak governance systems, and prices remain high. The threat of the “oil curse” where private companies and corrupt elites capture most of the benefits for themselves is posing global governance challenges, including to democracy and gender gains. The importance of OfD is thus greater than ever, and should be supported and developed in light of this.
   

  

• Why women farmers are left out of the programs. Lessons learned. Evaluation of Norway's bilateral agricultural support to food security

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 18:09:54 GMT

  Norway’s Bilateral Agricultural Support to Food Security 2005-2011 was reviewed in 2012-2013. This Lessons Learned document was prepared as a continuation of that review. Its purpose is to identify lessons learned regarding women’s rights and gender1 issues in the projects/programmes2 reviewed, in order to achieve more gender equality in Norwegian-funded agricultural programmes. The paper is intended for Norad, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Embassies, and implementing partners.
  A total of 25 projects/programmes were reviewed under the global evaluation, twenty country-level projects and five regional/global programmes. Due to time constraints, the regional and global programmes were excluded from the current review. In most cases the regional and global programmes included a high number of sub-projects, and there was not always documentation available for the subprojects. The twenty country-level projects included a case study of Fredskorpset Norway (FK Norway). Agriculture and environment/sustainable development were, however, relatively minor in FK’s annual portfolio3, and that case study was therefore also excluded from this review4. A list of the 19 country-level programmes that were reviewed can be found in Annex 1.
  The review was based on the case study reports prepared for each project as part of the global evaluation. As the gender dimension was only partly included in the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the global evaluation, some additional documentation, mainly project proposals, was also reviewed.

  

• Local perceptions, participation and accountibility in Malawi's health sector

  Posted:04 Nov 2013 17:54:59 GMT

  This report has been prepared as part of a study commissioned by Norad’s Evaluation Department, the overall objective of which is to develop and pilot test a methodological framework that can be used by international development agencies (and others) to improve understanding of the importance of local ownership and participation for aid effectiveness.

  
  This pilot study report presents the findings from an application of this framework to the health sector in Malawi, and provides substantive findings on local ownership and participation in this sector. These are intended to be of value to the Malawian government, its development partners, and wider civil society, in terms of strengthening participation and improving service provision.

  
  The pilot study examined community participation in the health sector in Malawi, to identify and characterise the forms that participation takes, the factors influencing this, the results of this participation in terms of its impact on service delivery and community ownership, and finally the implications of these findings for the design and implementation of government programmes and of donor support to these programmes.

  
  The pilot study was based on qualitative community-level fieldwork across six districts, supplemented by a district-level study of the political economy context in two of the selected districts. The six selected districts for the study are Rumphi and Nkhata Bay in the North, Mchinji and Nkhotakota in the Centre, and Balaka and Neno in the South.

  

• Non timber forest products to deal with climate change in Tanzania

  Posted:03 Nov 2013 19:37:51 GMT

  Over 20 million Tanzanians depend on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) for their livelihood. One CCIAM project is looking into how NTFPs as part of peoples´ livelihood strategy is connected to climate change, so that this information can be spread and forest dependent people can more easily adapt to the effects of climate change. - Output from the Norwegian funded Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation (CCIAM) Programme in Tanzania.

  

• Economic valuation of climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation in Tanzania

  Posted:03 Nov 2013 19:24:18 GMT

  Securing long term climate change mitigation continues to be a global problem and the magnitude of the problem is very profound in developing countries where the majority is poor, confronted with food insecurity and highly natural resource-dependent. - Output from the Norwegian funded Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation (CCIAM) Programme in Tanzania.

  

• 3 decades of land reform in Zimbabwe: perspectives of social justice & poverty alleviation

  Posted:01 Nov 2013 19:42:13 GMT

  Zimbabwe 'land invasions' of the early 2000's are what stand out in many people's minds as the beginning of the country's slide into what is generally understood as chaos. Drawn from a very narrow source, the story has been presented through the experiences of displaced white farmers, and some former farm workers facing the prospects of displacement.  Whether it is realistic to imagine such views would be impartial let alone broadly representative is a question which has not animated much discussion.  The result has been a tendency to dismiss Zimbabwe's land reform as a 'deviant' case and to disregard its transformative effects in terms of social justice, poverty alleviation and economic revival especially in the rural context.

  On the other hand, well substantiated research emanating from a variety of sources presents important evidence of major popular struggles, a renewal of urban rural linkages, and the emergence of a diversified, commercially orientated rural economy led by the majoritarian small farm sector.  This reality stands considerably at odds with the dominant story line.

  The aim of this presentation will be to consider what is at stake by looking at the issue of land, poverty factors which have shaped the key demands for land reform over time and locating what has been achieved against the wider discourses about poverty today.

  

• Review of three programmes for natural resource management and disaster risk reduction in Departement du Sud, Haiti. Final report.

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 18:57:54 GMT

  This report presents a review of three programmes that were set up to address natural  resource management and disaster risk reduction in the aftermath of the January 2010  earthquake in Haiti. The Government of Norway funds the programmes through the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF). The programmes are:
  - Haiti South West Sustainable Development Programme (SWSD), executed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS);
  - Vulnerability reduction in watersheds/agriculture, executed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); and
  - Natural Disaster Mitigation in the Southern Department, executed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development (MARNDR).

   

  

• Terminal review of the Sustainable Use of Wildlife in Namibia Project

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 18:45:17 GMT

  Building on the foundations prepared over several years by pioneers in the field of rights-based CBNRM, and operating within the broader Namibian CBNRM Programme, the Sustainable Use Project supports the Namibia CBNRM Natural Resources Working Group to build capacity in natural resource management and monitoring capabilities in the CBNRM staff of member NGOs and the MET.
  The terminal review lists outputs from the project, and gives the following recommendations:
  Expansion of the currently over-stretched project team, with the required funding, is strongly recommended. Frankly, the “cracks are showing” as this dedicated core struggles with an increasing work load under often arduous field conditions;
  - As a corollary to the point above, efforts should be made to secure funding and an ultimate career path for promising young Namibians who are currently exposed to an initial one year of training and mentorship programme, but are not assured of further gainful employment or suitable employment contracts following their second year of attachment to a partner organisation;
  - Continue with investigating and implementing ways of working more strategically and time/cost effectively through clustering, advanced calendar planning, etc.;
  - Optimize income from consumptive use, including facilitating co-operation between tourism and hunting operators and ensuring that trophy quality animals are not under-used by ‘shoot and sell’ or own use. Further to this, continue with investigations into replacing ‘shoot and sell’ over time with value adding activities such as smoked meat, biltong and hide production, retaining non-prime cuts on conservancies for own use and developing greater business acumen within conservancies to ensure economic sustainability;
  - Investigating the deployment of a carcass tagging system to minimize paperwork in the field and address loopholes whereby unscrupulous operators can abuse the ticket system;
  - Conservancies should be encouraged to phase out one year contracts, establish relationships with reputable hunters, and offer at least 3-5 year contracts based on the new contracts being prepared. This is likely to help alleviate problems with ‘less scrupulous’ operators;
  - Acceptance by all concerned, including donors, that technical support to conservancies will be permanently needed and that creative, sustainable finance mechanisms will be required to allow Namibia to fund these costs independent of external donor support. This in view of the responsibility assumed by conservancy management structures for ensuring sustainable resource use, equitable use of income, managing wildlife populations in communal areas, and the need to ensure that MET is assisted in developing appropriate ‘extension’ and support services in this regard;
  - The widespread success of the conservancy support systems should be recorded in the relevant scientific and semi-popular literature. The meticulous attention to fulfilling identified needs of conservancy management, on an ongoing and adaptive basis, is worthy of recording for all potential interested parties (academic, political, administrative and conservation managers), including the process involved. In order not to add to the workload of project personnel, this could be prepared in collaboration with a commissioned expert, much in the way that the paper on Buffalo in Caprivi was produced.

  

• Using time-to-event analysis to complement hierarchical methods when assessing determinants of photographic detectability during camera trapping

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 18:08:13 GMT

  Camera trapping, paired with analytical methods for estimating occupancy, abundance and other ecological parameters, can yield information with direct consequences for wildlife management and conservation. Although ecological information is the primary target of most camera trap studies, detectability influences every aspect from design to interpretation.
  Concepts and methods of time-to-event analysis are directly applicable to camera trapping, yet this statistical field has thus far been ignored as a way to analyse photographic capture data. To illustrate the use of time-to-event statistics and to better understand how photographic evidence accumulates, we explored patterns in two related measures of detectability: detection probability and time to detection. We analysed camera trap data for three sympatric carnivores (snow leopard, red fox and stone marten) in the mountains of northern Pakistan and tested predictions about patterns in detectability across species, sites and time.
  We found species-specific differences in the magnitude of detectability and the factors influencing it, reinforcing the need to consider determinants of detectability in study design and to account for them during analysis. Photographic detectability of snow leopard was noticeably lower than that of red fox, but comparable to detectability of stone marten. Site-specific attributes such as the presence of carnivore sign (snow leopard), terrain (snow leopard and red fox) and application of lures (red fox) influenced detectability. For the most part, detection probability was constant over time.
  Species-specific differences in factors determining detectability make camera trap studies targeting multiple species particularly vulnerable to misinterpretation if the hierarchical origin of the data is ignored. Investigators should consider not only the magnitude of detectability, but also the shape of the curve describing the cumulative process of photographic detection, as this has consequences for both determining survey effort and the selection of analytical models.Weighted time-to-event analysis can complement occupancy analysis and other hierarchical methods by providing additional tools for exploring camera trap data and testing hypotheses regarding the temporal
  aspect of photographic evidence accumulation.

  

• Setting the agenda. Chinese NGOs: scope for action on climate change

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 17:45:15 GMT

  The Chinese state and society are frequently engaged in an area of shared concern: the increasing threat of climate change. This report explores how a specific set of societal actors – environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) in China – interact with state actors in dealing with issues of climate change mitigation. Drawing on two case studies of Chinese ENGOs, China Civil Climate Action Network (C-CAN) and China Youth Climate Action Network (CYCAN), this report sheds light on how societal corporatist mechanisms and state corporatist mechanisms are evident in the ENGOs’ agendas. It asks to what extent Chinese ENGOs can set and pursue their own agendas, and to what extent it is the state or other factors that determines those agendas for them. Throughout the report examples of how state corporate mechanisms are still evident for social organisations’ expansion, legitimacy and credibility in China are given. It further shows that the growth of societal corporate mechanism that target combating climate change is gaining a stronger foothold and withhold the ENGOs’ political interaction possibilities, especially through the media, financial independence and international climate change negotiations. Furthermore, the report contributes to research on the autonomy for Chinese ENGOs and elucidates how they are balancing on the thin border between setting agendas that do not threaten the state’s authority and agendas that can echo and gain credibility within a less climate change concerned Chinese society.

  

• Climate change mitigation in Tanzania: agricultural production systems in Njombe. Work report from a study in a high altitude farming area.

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 17:07:47 GMT

  In Tanzania agriculture is almost entirely driven by smallholder farmers still depending on the hand hoe, traditional rain-fed agriculture, and animal husbandry practices. Women account for more than 70% of the agricultural production especially food crops, and they play an important role in the efforts to transform Tanzanian agriculture. Productivity of agriculture remains low compared to Asia and Latin America. Frequent droughts and unreliable rainfall patterns aggravate food and livelihood insecurity for the majority of the rural population and the urban poor. Another challenge of the 21st century is climate change. Tanzania is endowed with different ecosystems and a variety of ecosystem services. The vulnerability of these services and to what extent they will be impacted by climate change is not well known. This report is written to describe the current farming situation in Njombe, one of the study areas for two Norwegian funded programmes. The report will be a basis for studies of changes in the farming systems both with respect to profitability to farmers in the area and their effects on GHG emissions. Similar studies are also planned for other parts of Tanzania.

  

• Improving smallholder livelihoods through local value chain development: a case study of goat milk yoghurt in Tanzania

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 16:39:29 GMT

  Smallholder farmers have difficulties entering established value chains with value-added products. In this paper, we look at smallholders’ capability to establish and sustainably manage a competitive and economically viable local dairy value chain through the case of Twawose, a small dairy goat co-operative in Tanzania. The analysis uses a value chain approach as a frame-work to identify the possibilities for upgrading and the determinants of competitiveness in value chains in which smallholder farmers can participate. Results highlight the benefits Twawose participants receive, but caution that a multitude of constraints could impede scaling-up in the future.

  

• Variation in malaria transmission in Southern Ethiopia: the impact of prvention strategies and a need for targeted intervention

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 16:09:51 GMT

  In Ethiopia, 60 per cent of the population is at risk of malaria. The transmission of the disease is unstable and the possibility of epidemics demand continuous vigilance and preparedness of the health system. The complexity of the transmission of the disease has become an impediment to retain the effectiveness of prevention and control strategies. This thesis analysed the local variations in the link between potential determinants of transmission – meteorological factors and malaria incidence. With the understanding of a need to incorporate non-meteorological factors, in an attempt to predict disease incidence, a detailed investigation was carried out in Chano Mille Kebele – one of the malarious Kebeles of Arba Minch Zuria district, Gamo Gofa zone, south Ethiopia. The local variations in meteorology-malaria link, the heterogeneous risk carried by different population segments and the observed effect of prevention strategies may help to revisit the approaches towards malaria – for which the author forwarded specific recommendations. (PhD dissertation)

  

• Can Climate Change Negotiations Succeed? In: Politics and Governance, vol.1(2013) no. 2

  Posted:27 Oct 2013 15:39:56 GMT

  More than two decades of climate change negotiations have produced a series of global climate agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accords, but have nevertheless made very limited progress in curbing global emissions of greenhouse gases. This paper considers whether negotiations can succeed in reaching an agreement that effectively addresses the climate change problem. To be effective, a climate agreement must cause sub­stantial emissions reductions either directly (in the agreement's own lifetime) or indirectly (by paving the way for a future agreement that causes substantial emissions reductions directly). To reduce global emissions substantially, an agreement must satisfy three conditions. Firstly, participation must be both comprehensive and stable. Secondly, participating countries must accept deep commitments. Finally, the agreement must obtain high compliance rates. We argue that three types of enforcement will be crucial to fulfilling these three conditions: (1) incentives for countries to ratify with deep commitments, (2) incentives for countries that have ratified with deep commitments to abstain from withdrawal, and (3) incentives for countries having ratified with deep commitments to comply with them. Based on assessing the constraints that characterize the climate change negotiations, we contend that adopting such three-fold potent enforcement will likely be politically infeasible, not only within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, but also in the framework of a more gradual approach. Therefore, one should not expect climate change negotiations to succeed in producing an effective future agreement—either directly or indirectly.

  

• REDD+, Indigenous peoples, The role of the state, NGOs and other actors, Monitoring, Implementation and tenure rights

  Posted:05 Sep 2013 17:18:10 GMT

  This brief summarises relevant findings regarding the emergence
  of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
  Degradation (REDD+) scheme in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
  It draws evidence from several Masters theses published by
  Norwegian institutions between 2009 and 2012 as well as from
  presentations in the Beyond Carbon conference organized by
  the University of Oxford in March 2012. The various studies show
  how REDD+ is introducing new actors and new mechanisms in
  order to access benefits derived from forests. At the domestic
  level, the new actors and mechanisms translate into diverse
  contexts of entrenched inequalities and information asymmetries
  and are thus leading to very different outcomes: whether
  enhancing community-based forest management, promoting
  forest peoples’ dispossession. We here shed some light on the
  plurality of contexts and outcomes so far examined:

  • Although most countries implementing REDD+ acknowledge the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ participation, long histories of discrimination have led to Indigenous inclusion characterized by a paternalistic attitude and a lack of legitimacy among those who represent indigenous communities in national REDD+ policy arenas.
  • With the exception of Brazil, poor technical capacity remains the main barrier to ensure adequate monitoring and implementation of REDD+ programmes.
  • National and international NGOs are seen as experts in many cases and play crucial roles in shaping REDD+ national strategies, introducing their own interests and agendas. Lack of investment in capacity building among local government institutions is evident and may contribute to the failure of REDD+ projects in the long-term.
  • Tenure rights to the land and the forest remain unclear in all regions. Expectations of the economic benefits from REDD+ have led to increasing conflicts between and within local communities, including violent dispossession of land in Indonesia and dubious contracts for carbon rights by private companies in Amazonia. The opportunity cost of activities associated with deforestation such as mining, hydrocarbon extraction, hydroelectric development, logging, agribusiness and ranching remains a political issue at the national level in many cases, and risks outcompeting the economic benefits from REDD+.

  Insights from the fiels, December 2012. Norwegian REDD Research Network

  

• Monitoring in REDD+

  Posted:05 Sep 2013 17:03:27 GMT

  KEY MESSAGES

  • Measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) must move beyond a focus on measures of outcome to include measures of performance (procedural and distributional) in all phases of a REDD+ project, including social impacts. A future REDD+ mechanism must secure environmental and social safeguards, and assess the full range of social, environmental, political and economic impacts of REDD+.
  • In outcome monitoring of the forests (e.g. carbon) local involvement should not be an option to “reduce” costs but rather to ensure greater voice and decision making power to those who will ultimately bear the greatest burden of forest conservation.

  

• REDD+ and tenure rights

  Posted:05 Sep 2013 16:56:37 GMT

  KEY MESSAGES
  REDD+ is to be introduced into areas with complex, conflictual tenancy claims concerning potential agricultural land and forests, but it is also an arena for introducing new interests, stakeholders and power relations. REDD+ might foster local processes that can help clarify and strengthen property and tenure rights, but it may also exacerbate local land conflicts.

  CONCLUSIONS
  There is still uncertainty in many countries on how carbon rights
  will be managed and regulated. Land or forest tenure might not
  be directly linked to carbon rights.
  Disentangling the different rules concerning access and resource
  rights is paramount when considering incentives and the
  potential distribution of costs and benefits in REDD+ projects.
  Resource tenure is a highly political field and REDD+ itself will
  contribute to a changing and highly conflictual context,
  affecting claims over benefit streams.
  In many cases there are conflicts between de facto and de jure
  tenure rights. The capacity to legitimize and enforce tenure
  claims is essential for marginalized groups.
  Formalizing resource rights and access may also lead to
  increased contestation and conflicts. Ensuring a fair and just
  process which avoids elite capture but ensures local legitimacy
  will take time, resources and - in the face of powerful vested
  interests – political will.
  Securing forest land tenure vs. agricultural land tenure is a critical
  matter, since insecure agricultural land tenure impacts local
  livelihoods and adds pressure on the remaining forest.

  Insights from the field, December 2012. Norwegian REDD Research Network

  

• REDD? and the role of local actors

  Posted:05 Sep 2013 16:46:42 GMT

  KEY MESSAGES

  • Decision making and control of REDD+ funds should be transferred to more downwardly accountable and inclusive institutions – both to ensure a fair distribution of costs and benefits and to support long term goal of good governance.
  • National REDD+ activities should be organized in a way that prevents the exclusion of weaker groups and the monopolization of information and funds by elites and professionals (such as consultants, NGOs and “specialists”), and that addresses local historical dynamics. 

   Insights from the field, December 2012. Norwegian REDD Research Network.

  

• REDD+ and indigenous people

  Posted:05 Sep 2013 16:36:52 GMT

  1 KEY MESSAGES

  • Conflicts between indigenous peoples with territorial rights and other local groups like landless and migrants should be taken into account when planning REDD+ national strategies and action plans.
  • Acknowledging that indigenous communities are also engaged with markets and external actors, and may prioritize “immediate needs”, is important for the understanding of their livelihoods, decision-making processes and positions regarding REDD+.
  • Assessments and information about the possible consequences of REDD+ in local areas should be presented in local languages. Participatory budgeting provides interesting experience for fair benefit sharing schemes, which could also be included in REDD+ activities. The participation of women is essential.
  • Indigenous peoples organizations and local communities in favor of REDD+ see it as a possibility to strengthen territorial control and self-management, and demand respect for their rights, territories and autonomy, with adequate consultation processes.

  

• Zambezi River Basin - atlas of the changing environment

  Posted:04 Sep 2013 16:10:58 GMT

  
  The Zambezi River Basin Atlas of the Changing Environment is a basin collaborative initiative with the objective of providing scientific evidence about changes that are taking place in the natural resources and the environment. The Atlas, with climate change as its running theme, is for use by policy makers and other stakeholders, and the general public, to generate action towards climate resilience through adaptation and mitigation of the impacts of climate change.
  The Atlas discusses the impacts that these changes are having on the basin’s people and resources, thus contributing to the documentation and study of the relationship between human populations and the environment.
  The Zambezi River Basin represents the best of what southern Africa has in terms of shared natural capital. The river and its dense network of tributaries and associated ecosystems constitute one of southern Africa’s most important natural resources. Within the Basin’s large expanse, there are a number of natural resources ranging from water, land and soils, and minerals, to forests and wildlife. The natural capital in the basin defines the economic activities that range from agriculture and forestry, manufacturing and mining, to conservation and tourism, as well as scientific monitoring and research.
  The Zambezi River Basin Atlas of the Changing Environment contains five chapters. The chapters make use of satellite images, maps, tables, graphs, photographs and illustrative text to present the key issues in the Basin.

  

• Large-scale land acquisition in Africa

  Posted:04 Sep 2013 16:02:51 GMT

   Large-scale land investment is not a new phenomenon in Africa, but the speed and scale at which it is occurring today makes it one of the most pressing issues on the continent. These land investments are promoted by advocates as “win-win” solutions - benefiting national economies, rural development and ensuring food security at the same time. Critics on the other hand view large-scale land acquisitions as “land grabbing”, a process that undermines local land rights and that disproportionately affects the socially and economically vulnerable who bear the bulk of the costs while reaping few of the benefits of the transactions.

  This fact sheet has been produced by GRID-Arendal in collaboration with partners to highlight some of the key aspects of large-scale land investments in Africa.

  

• Regional Scientific and Technical Capacity Building Workshop on the World Ocean Assessment. Bangkok, Thailand 17-19 September 2012. Workshop report: South China Sea

  Posted:04 Sep 2013 15:54:45 GMT

  In large marine regions undertaking integrated assessments can be expensive and time consuming, but sound information is critical to understanding the state of the marine environment and achieving or maintaining ocean health. Most importantly, such large scale and integrated assessments must not be overly influenced by information that is limited only to either places or issues that are well studied, since this might result in outcomes that are not balanced or properly represent conditions across the whole of a region. The purpose of the workshop held in Bangkok (17-19 September, 2012), was to build capacity to undertake regional integrated marine assessments. A previous workshop, to support the United Nations World Ocean Assessment, held in Sanya City China, identified a regional capacity gap in this area.

  In large marine regions undertaking integrated assessments can be expensive and time consuming, but sound information is critical to understanding the state of the marine environment and achieving or maintaining ocean health. Most importantly, such large scale and integrated assessments must not be overly influenced by information that is limited only to either places or issues that are well studied, since this might result in outcomes that are not balanced or properly represent conditions across the whole of a region. The purpose of the workshop held in Bangkok (17-19 September, 2012), was to build capacity to undertake regional integrated marine assessments. A previous workshop, to support the United Nations World Ocean Assessment, held in Sanya City China, identified a regional capacity gap in this area.

  

• Big cats in our backyards: persistence of large carnivores in a human dominated landscape in India

  Posted:04 Sep 2013 15:37:44 GMT

  Protected areas are extremely important for the long term viability of biodiversity in a densely populated country like India where land is a scarce resource. However, protected areas cover only 5% of the land area in India and in the case of large carnivores that range widely, human use landscapes will function as important habitats required for gene flow to occur between protected areas. In this study, we used photographic capture recapture analysis to assess the density of large carnivores in a human-dominated agricultural landscape with density .300 people/km2 in western Maharashtra, India. We found evidence of a wide suite of wild carnivores inhabiting a cropland landscape devoid of wilderness and wild herbivore prey. Furthermore, the large carnivores; leopard (Panthera pardus) and striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) occurred at relatively high density of 4.861.2 (sd) adults/100 km2 and 5.0361.3 (sd) adults/100 km2 respectively. This situation has never been reported before where 10 large carnivores/100 km2 are sharing space with dense human populations in a completely modified landscape. Human attacks by leopards were rare despite a potentially volatile situation considering that the leopard has been involved in serious conflict, including human deaths in adjoining areas. The results of our work push the frontiers of our understanding of the adaptability of both, humans and wildlife to each other’s presence. The results also highlight the urgent need to shift from a PA centric to a landscape level conservation approach, where issues are more complex, and the potential for conflict is also very high. It also highlights the need for a serious rethink of conservation policy, law and practice where the current management focus is restricted to wildlife inside Protected Areas.

  

• Tropical tree diversity and multi-functions in agroforestry

  Posted:04 Sep 2013 15:21:48 GMT

  FUNCiTREE addresses the functional roles of trees in the Sahel and dryland regions in Central America, based on the trees' attributes, for the design of locally adapted multi-functional agroforestry. In these regions, farmers are heavily dependent on agroforestry to provide them with dry season fodder production, shade provision, soil stabilisation, soil fertilisation, food and fuel production, and the potential for adaptation to climate change. However, these agroforestry systems are often based on a small number of widely-disseminated tree species, reducing the stability and adaptability of these systems to climate uncertainty.

  

• Lineage and land reforms in Malawi: do matrilineal and patrilineal landholding systems represent a problem for land reforms in Malawi?"

  Posted:04 Sep 2013 14:29:41 GMT

  This paper is about land tenure relations among the matrilineal and patrilineal cultures in Malawi. Data from the National Agricultural and Livestock Census are used to characterize marriage systems and settlement and landholding patterns for local communities. Marriage systems correspond to customary land tenure patterns of matrilineal or patrilineal land holding. The differences between the two major ways of land holding represent a particular challenge for land reforms intending to unify rules for land tenure and land devolution.

  The paper discusses the problems of formalisation and the idea of maintaining the diversity. If diversity is not respected there is a chance that some sections of society, especially communities with matrilineal land holding, might be victims of formalization. Based on analogy of the resilience of the patrilineal land holding system in Norway it is argued that a democratic system will have difficulty removing the preferential rights of linage members and it is recommended that the existing land rights are formally recognized and circumscribed by fair procedures.

  In a situation of diversity one goal of a well-designed land holding system should be to ease the transitions of the diverse customary tenure systems towards systems adapted to the requirements of a modern large scale society rather than to a unified national system.

  

• The proxy challenge: why bespoke proxy indicators can help solve the anti-corruption measurement problem

  Posted:16 Aug 2013 14:55:31 GMT

  The 2013 Proxy Challenge Competition invites academics and practitioners to present specific proposals for indicators that would be good proxy measures for anti-corruption results. Proxy indicators are alternatives to “direct” indicators that more directly measure the phenomenon under study but that may be hard to operationalise or require overly costly data collection.
  
  Practitioners working in anti-corruption face perennial challenges in measuring changes in corruption levels and evaluating whether anti-corruption efforts are successful. These two challenges are linked but not inseparable. To make progress on evaluating whether anti-corruption efforts are having an impact, the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre and the UK Department for International Development are launching an exploration into the use of proxy indicators.
  

• Forward looking review of the regional strategy on scaling up access to modern energy services in the East African Community: final report

  Posted:12 Aug 2013 18:14:46 GMT

  The East African Countries (EAC) Secretariat’s Energy Division supports regional knowledge coordination and has become a common forum for exchange of best practices and discussions on joint development, and improved regionalisation.

  Norway has provided development assistance to several East African countries for a considerable period of time. In recent years assistance has also been extended to the EAC Secretariat in support of regional integration. The EAC is seen by most stakeholders as a regional harmonization vehicle to unite its Partner States through closer economic cooperation. However, the added value of the regional dimension and the EAC’s involvement are not always clear, neither to the EAC Secretariat, the Partner States nor to the development partners. Specifically, it has been noted that the EAC is experiencing challenges in finding its footing in the energy sector.

  This report provides a retrospective end-review of the performance of the Project Development Officer during 2010-2012 when Norway provided funding. The report also offers a prospective exploration in a broader context of on-going and possible future energy-related activities of the EAC. Finally, it elaborates on how Norway can provide future development assistance.

  

• Rule of law and environmental justice in the forests: The challenge of 'strong law enforcement' in corrupt conditions

  Posted:12 Aug 2013 18:02:14 GMT

  Widespread illegal forest activities have contributed to deforestation, forest degradation, economic losses to nations and injustices for forest communities in many countries. Promoting rule of law, particularly through ‘strengthening law enforcement’, is an important part of improving forest management and ensuring justice for forest dependent communities. This includes strengthening police and the courts to better detect and punish illegal forest activities. However, available evidence has shown that strong law enforcement activities often fail to address broader systems of illegal activities and can lead to further injustices. Corruption is one reason for these failures and is the focus of this U4 Issue Paper, which draws lessons from Cameroon and Indonesia. Efforts to strengthen law enforcement in the forests need to consider how corruption may interfere with successful detection and suppression of illegal activities. If they are to be successful, programmes promoting forest law enforcement in corrupt contexts also need to be sensitive to how they are implemented, with particular focus on the rights of forest dependent communities.

  

• A qualitative reframing of private sector corruption: considerations from the natural resource sectors in South Africa

  Posted:12 Aug 2013 17:57:21 GMT

  The currently used concept of private sector corruption does not cover new types of corruption that have emerged in response to the increasing complexity of the public-private boundary and the effects of more liberalized markets. Transparency initiatives are largely ineffective in cases such as South Africa, where the market and state are entwined and political connection is a critical gatekeeper for economic opportunity. The paper advocates both redefinition of the concept of corruption and reform of the process of policy design in anti-corruption work.

  

• China, Russia and Central Asia: the energy dilemma

  Posted:12 Aug 2013 17:46:11 GMT

  How China will satisfy its rising energy demand will have impact on the availability and market price of energy resources such as oil and gas, but also on foreign policy. Of special interest is the role of rising neighboring countries and region – Russia and Central Asia countries – who can supply China by way of pipelines. In this paper important factors influencing Chinese energy decision-making are discussed, with a particular focus on energy investments abroad. The state capitalism framework is used to explain the long-term policies of Chinese energy investments as well as discuss the importance of State-Owned Enterprises and National Oil Companies to the Chinese economy. On this background the energy relations between Russia, China and other Central Asia states is discussed. The main focus is on the influence Chinese Energy Based Loan (EBL) agreements have on the Chinese presence both economically and politically in the region. The objective is to present the current situation and outlook for Sino-Russian-Central Asian energy relations as well as the economic implications a closer Chinese presence could have for the region. China’s EBLs with Central Asian countries illustrate the preferred Chinese approach in expanding trade relations and should be considered as important examples for future bilateral agreements.

  

• Social impacts of IPM-FFS on urban and peri-urban vegetable producers in Cotonou, Benin

  Posted:12 Aug 2013 17:15:39 GMT

  Shifting from scientist-led top-down approaches in agricultural development to participatory approaches putting farmers and their knowledge in the center requires scientists and farmers to play new roles, changing social relationships between them, and among farmers themselves. Using mainly qualitative data and analysis, this paper reports social impacts (social relations, social empowerment and sharing of IPM information, and sustainability and institutionalization of IPM) for vegetable producers in an integrated pest management (IPM) project using farmer field schools (FFS) in Cotonou. Forty-three vegetable producers were chosen for semi-structured interviews. The project led to social empowerment of the vegetable producers and initiated a process of creation and sharing of IPM knowledge and building of social relations within and between the vegetable gardens. The participants realized they were sources of information for each other, and IPM knowledge was shared without the benefit or restriction of social networks. However, this study revealed several factors hindering the development of improved social relations among the vegetable producers and between these and the scientists and steering committee members, which in turn may result in lack of continuation and institutionalization of IPM activities. To overcome these obstacles, this research suggests that similar IPM-FFS projects encourage (1) a transparent selection process, (2) improvement of the Trainer of Trainers’ facilitation skills for better quality FFSs and improved sharing of complex information like agro-ecosystem analysis and beneficial insects, (3) building trust and confidence between the participants and scientists, (4) giving the ToT participants, community organizers and farmer organizations ownership of the project by giving them responsibility for creating post project plans to spread and institutionalize IPM of IPM-FFS activities and (5) facilitating the participants during and after the project in improving social relations and
  accountability. The results also draw lessons on how scientists and vegetable producers have or should have changed their roles to sustain and institutionalize IPM, such as the scientists and project leaders need to focus even more on their interactions with vegetable producers, enhancing their role as facilitators in initiating equitable processes of sustaining and institutionalizing IPM in the vegetable gardens.

  

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