id21 Economic Development

id21 viewpoint: Linking sustainable livelihoods approaches to policymaking in China

id21 — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:37:29 +0000

As the largest developing country in the world, China faces enormous challenges in rural areas. Peasants comprise the overwhelming majority of the country’s impoverished. Poverty alleviation and the advancement of rural life in this highly diversified transitional society require multiple approaches

Realising the potential of African aquaculture

id21 — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:26:04 +0000

Despite 40 years of research, development and investment, aquaculture in Africa is struggling to realise its high potential. African governments need to remove the constraints to aquaculture, and encourage economically viable commercial investments in the sector, to encourage growth

Grouper aquaculture and livelihood security in Thailand

id21 — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:18:26 +0000

Many fishing practices occur on a large scale, causing environmental destruction. The small-scale farming of high-value fish has been suggested as an alternative, but does aquaculture (fish farming) play the same role in livelihoods as conventional fishing? And do poorer households really benefit from aquaculture

Which factors are most important for sustainable tourism in southern Africa?

id21 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:52:26 +0000

Many experts agree that sustainable, nature-based tourism is an opportunity for developing countries to boost their economic development while supporting conservation efforts. Achieving sustainable tourism development depends on many factors, but which of these are the most important?

Can non-timber forest products provide a way out of poverty?

id21 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:34:34 +0000

Over the last three decades, policymakers and conservation non-government organisations have focused on the sustainable production and commercialisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Some have seen this as a potential way forward for rural development in tropical forested areas, with the possibility of achieving both conservation and development outcomes

The commercialisation of non-timber forest products: what determines success?

id21 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:07:55 +0000

The commercialisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been widely promoted as an approach to rural development in tropical forest areas. However, the expected benefits of poverty alleviation and natural resource conservation are often hard to achieve.

Putting people at the centre of informal settlement upgrading in Pakistan

id21 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:44:04 +0000

The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) has transformed sewage systems in low income, informal settlements (‘katchi abadi’), where 60 percent of Karachi’s population lives. OPP has challenged development approaches, which are very technical and overly-dependent on government and donor support. Such approaches treat poor communities as objects, rather than drivers, of development.

Improving staple crop boosts women’s influence in northern Nigeria

id21 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:17:37 +0000

Research from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, based in Nigeria, looks at how programmes to improve cowpea have benefitted women in Kano and Kaduna, two states in northern Nigeria. These states are home to the Muslim Hausa tribe

Millions in Cairo remain homeless while houses stand empty

id21 — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:39:46 +0000

Cairo is the largest city in Africa and the Middle East. It houses over 11 million people illegally in roof-top slums and its infamous ‘Cities of the Dead’, where thousands of people live among the gravestones of cemeteries. At the same time, nearly two million apartments stand empty

Rising food prices entrench children in poverty trap

id21 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:25:41 +0000

Food prices have increased dramatically in both world markets and local markets since 2006. Children are suffering as a result. In Ethiopia, where food prices have risen by more than 50 percent in the last year, around a third of rural children are chronically malnourished. As a result, these children are gaining lower grades at school. Malnourishment is impacting their cognitive development and their reading, writing and maths skills. Poor and malnourished children from Ethiopia, Peru, India and Vietnam also have fewer friends at school than their peers, lower self-esteem and lower aspirations for their lives. They are caught in a poverty trap.

Changes in trade policies

id21 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:38:23 +0000

2006/06 - id21 [There is little understanding of the effects of trade policy changes on urban and rural communities. However, gathering evidence confirms links between levels of trade liberalisation, urbanisation and inequality. Is it becoming possible to forecast how a trade policy change might affect the balance between rural and urban economies in a particular country?]

Macro-economic policies may worsen inequalities between groups

id21 — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:56:27 +0000

2008/11 - id21 [There has been much analysis of the impact of macro-economic policies, such as those prescribed by the International Monetary Fund, on poverty and inequality among individuals. But there has been almost no consideration of how such policies affect inequality between different social groups, or horizontal inequality]

Slum improvement should involve local people and create jobs

id21 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:51:58 +0000

2008/08 - id21 [More people are moving to cities and slums are growing. Traditional government planning practices cannot solve the problems of slums. A Kenyan project shows how government, business and the community can successfully work together to upgrade slums and enable inhabitants to take part in the decisions that affect their lives]

UK qualification suppliers in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe

id21 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:49:00 +0000

2008/08 - id21 [Liberalisation allows foreign qualification suppliers to operate in states from which they were previously excluded. Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have both attempted a process of economic liberalisation, but with varying results. Do UK-based qualification suppliers operate in the same way across these two countries or vary their operations in response to the local context?]

In defence of Africa's informal sector

id21 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:44:17 +0000

2008/09 - id21 [For decades, development theorists and African leaders stigmatised informal employment as an unfortunate reality set to disappear as ‘modernisation’ spread. The police often harassed street traders, petty artisans and inhabitants of unauthorised settlements. By the 1990s attitudes were often more tolerant, but is South Africa returning to former prejudice?]

Water supply projects succeed when villagers want and maintain them

id21 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:40:08 +0000

2008/09 - id21 [n villages in Peru, Bolivia and Ghana water supply systems are still working up to 12 years after construction. They succeed because villagers request them, manage them, and can get spare parts and technical help. However, some people still use unsafe water sources and the water systems do not pay for themselves]

The risk of vascular disease in rural South Africa

id21 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:34:40 +0000

2008/10 - id21 [Non-communicable diseases, including vascular diseases, are set to become a serious economic burden in low-income countries this century. Hypertension and strokes are already common in adults in sub-Saharan Africa. Identifying risk factors is an essential first step in preventing epidemics of vascular diseases in countries ill prepared to deal with them]