R4D Disasters

Reforming the process of humanitarian response: involving NGOs in the debate

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:00:00 GMT

The United Nations has been leading a process of reforming the way that humanitarian aid is delivered, aimed at improving the efficiency and reach of humanitarian response for beneficiary populations. With a growing awareness of the need to better involve NGOs particularly national and local NGOs in the various aspects of reform, DFID-funded research is helping to engage NGOs in the reform process.

This is Open Access Week

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:00:00 GMT

This week, 19-23 October 2009, is the first International Open Access Week, which aims to broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access.

Exploring the broader use of Community Therapeutic Care

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:32:00 GMT

Current High levels of poverty, food security, childhood illness and HIV/AIDS combine to increase the risk of malnutrition, which is associated with more than 50% of childhood deaths. Services to treat severe acute malnutrition in many areas of the developing world are often not able to reach those most in need and have failed to achieve a sustainable impact. To produce and disseminate evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of CTC in multiple contexts through research, programme development and documentation of best practice.

This proposal aims to achieve outputs as follows:

A. Substantial evidence of where CTC is appropriate and how to maximize its effectiveness
1. CTC will be the internationally accepted approach and practice for a nutrition response in humanitarian emergencies and will be incorporated into policy and programme documents of international, national and local institutions and organisations
2. Evidence will be generated to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of integrating CTC within primary health care services as part of emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation, as well as treatment of severe malnutrition in non-emergency/development context as demonstrated by increased number of MOH-run integrated CTC programmes.
3. Refined CTC models for different country contexts (e.g. conflict, disaster preparedness/mitigation, HIV/AIDs, development) incorporated into policies and programmes in five (5) target countries at national, regional and district levels

B. Improved, affordable therapeutic products available for use in CTC programmes
1. Credible published evidence that local recipe RUTFs made from local crops are as effective as Plumpynut® in promoting recovery from acute malnutrition.
2. Locally produced RUTF integrated into new and ongoing CTC programmes thereby increasing stability of supply and eliminating cost of RUTF importation.
3. Alternative compositions of Ready to Use Supplementary Foods (RUSF) developed and proved to be effective
4. A growing body of evidence of the effectiveness of RUTF consumption on the rehabilitation of severe acute malnutrition in PLWHA
5. Evidence of the effectiveness of the addition of Synbiotic to RUTF in promoting recovery and decreases mortality and morbidity in acute malnutrition and HIV/AIDS.

C. Dissemination of results/best practices and expanded capacity to implement CTC
1. Broad dissemination of CTC best practices through national and international training and workshops
2. Key international and national organisations involved in translating results into policies and practice
3. Cadre of health professionals trained in CTC implementation in target countries

AIDS: the makings of a development disaster?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Garnett, G. P.; Grassly, N. C.; Gregson, S. 2001 Journal of International Development (2001) 13 (4) pp. 391-409 [DOI:10.1002/jid.794] This article describes the pattern of the AIDS epidemic that led to its becoming a development issue, and discusses the causes of the epidemiological patterns observed and their impacts on families, companies and governments.

Computer modelling could help to reduce the human cost of cyclones

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Research carried out following Cyclone Nargis which caused extensive flooding and loss of life in Myanmar in May 2008 is being used to develop software to predict the extent of of future storm surges

DFID releases a new project database

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Information about projects funded by DFID, ranging from emergency aid for countries affected by conflict or humanitarian crises, to ongoing support to improve health, education and sanitation in the poorest countries, is now available online.

NERC publishes Science into Policy booklet

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:00:00 GMT

The second edition of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) booklet "Science into policy Taking part in the Process" has now been published.

DFID seeks applications for three posts in the Research Uptake Team

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:00:00 GMT

DFID is seeking to fill three posts in the Research Uptake team within the Policy and Research Directorate - Team Leader and two Research Evidence Brokers

Recipe for disaster: A growing population and climate change. Can science serve up a solution?

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:33:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Fahn, J. 2009 1 pp. (session review) The recipe for feeding and supporting the world's growing population will require using all the ingredients available in the scientific pantry, a group of agricultural experts contended at session held as part of the Development Strand of the World Conference of Science Journalists 2009. Click 'view documents' above for the link to the session and to read the session review.

World Conference of Science Journalists 2009 (WCSJ 2009) Development Strand

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:55:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 DFID provided most of the funding for the Development Strand of the Conference. This consisted of:

the workshop 'Food security and sustainability - Can we avert a food crisis?'
the parallel sessions:
-Great talent, but are they credible?
-Four Journalists who changed the world
-Recipe for disaster: A growing population and climate change. Can science serve up a solution?
-Does science need to be highbrow?
-The future of science news?
-A drought or a flood? Climate change reporting around the world
-Covering a disaster from Sichuan to Sri Lanka
and the lunch Session 'Friendship or Friction: How the media relates to the research community '

DF85. Overview of innovative techniques in environmentally-aware recovery for infrastructure, and reducing future risk and serving the poorest most vulnerable communities.

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:31:00 GMT

Miscellaneous D. Salter 2009 Presented at the International Recovery Forum 2009 Building Back Better and Greener, 26 - 27 January 2009, Kobe, Japan. 20 pp. The International Recovery Forum is an annual event organized by the International Recovery Platform (IRP) to help ensure that disaster risk reduction approaches are systematically incorporated into the design of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery programs. This presentation deals with recovery of road infrastructure in the context of slope instability in Laos. It deals with preparation, mitigation, response and recovery.

Final Report Desakota, Part II B. Vulnerability, Disasters and Poverty in Desakota Systems.

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:51:00 GMT

Miscellaneous M. Pelling and D. Mustafa 2008 25 pp. This contribution to the NERC-DFID Desakota project aims to review linkages between Desakota and vulnerability, disasters and poverty. Approaching this task required work on the conceptualisation of Desakota, the outcomes of which are also summarised in this work. The discussion provides a framework for the analysis of interactions between development and disaster risk under Desakota conditions. This is then applied in detail across nine Desakota criteria; finally, integrated case studies show how the Desakota criteria interact with each other. The authors identify research gaps and challenges for understanding the influence of Desakota on vulnerability and poverty, with particular emphasis on the role played by ecosystem services.

New Director at ODI

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Alison Evans is announced as the new Director at the Overseas Development Institute.

Better plans are needed to anticipate food crisis in Kenya

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:00:00 GMT

A DFID and DANIDA-funded study could help policy makers take the threats of climate change seriously

id21 highlights. Climate change adaptation.

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:56:00 GMT

Miscellaneous id21 2008 id21 highlights special edition, Climate change adaptation, December 2008. 4 pp. Included in this edition of id21 highlights are articles on: Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation; Adapting to flood risks in urban Africa; Responding to the risks from climate-related disasters; and Linking climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

id21 insights 70. The island advantage: Practices for prospering in isolation.

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:23:00 GMT

Miscellaneous id21 2007 id21 insights 70, IDS, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, 6 pp. This issue of id21 insights illustrates approaches available, successes witnessed and challenges overcome for building and maintaining healthy and viable island communities. Contributors to this issue highlight the positive aspects of island life as well as real threats facing islands and islanders. The objective is to showcase successful experiences and tested ideas which exemplify 'good-practices' and could be adopted by other islands. Topics covered include sustainable tourism, coping with global restructuring, Islands as World Heritage Sites, the Chinese in the Solomon Islands, autonomy without independence, routes to island disaster resilience, and pooling technical and political resources.

Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:00:00 GMT

A special edition of id21 Highlights focuses on the need for convergence between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation policies.

China's food production is vulnerable to climate change

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Climate change will present a major challenge to China in feeding its growing population by the middle of the century according to a report from a three-year bilateral project between the UK and China

Panos media toolkit on communicating research, No. 7. Sorting fact from fiction: Improving media reporting on TB

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:28:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Panos London 2008 Panos Media Toolkit on Communicating Research No. 7, Panos London, London, 6 pp.

Imagine a natural disaster hitting 14 million people around the world and killing almost two million. It would be headline news. But when TB threatens the lives of the same number of people every year, it goes largely unreported.

By drawing attention to research, making it accessible and raising questions that policymakers and the public engage with, journalists can lead the way in the fight against TB.

The public need information based on evidence from research to sort 'fact' from 'fiction' and they need questions asked of government on their behalf. What is the extent of TB? Who is most vulnerable? How much do politicians and decision-makers know about TB? What are they doing to prevent it? Are there common myths or stigmas? Good research has been done which needs to be publicly discussed so that the right decisions are made about how to tackle TB.

This briefing document sets out the main issues around communicating TB research and provides tips and ideas for journalists to develop powerful stories with a human face.

Podcast: The bottom billion.

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:12:00 GMT

Miscellaneous P. Collier 2008 5:44 + 3:38 min In these video clips, Paul Collier explains why exporting natural resources has been a disaster for many African countries in the long run, and says that the real problem is not global poverty, but the widening divergence between the rising fortunes of most of the world and the billion people stagnating at the bottom.

Reviewing 'Emergencies' for Swaziland: Shifting the Paradigm in a New Era

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Whiteside, A; Whalley, A; Naysmith, S (ed) 2007 Health Economics & HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), 2007

The world's highest HIV prevalence and the increasing number of deaths due to AIDS is having unprecedented impact on Swaziland. Worryingly, with a generation of orphans and rapidly escalating poverty, this desperate situation is being accepted as 'normal'. HIV/AIDS in Swaziland has been characterized by a slow onset of impacts that have failed to command an emergency response. With insufficient resource allocation and a lack of capacity, slow onset events can become emergencies. The absence of an agreed definition of "disaster" or "emergency" has helped to sustain this characterisation. The nature of these terms is changing. The case of Swaziland emphasizes that they can be long-term, complex, widespread events that evolve over years.

Swaziland is experiencing a generalized epidemic. National sero-sentinel surveillance prevalence increased from 3.9% in 1992 to 42.6% in 2004 (MOHSW, 2006). HIV prevalence is estimated at 19% among the entire population and 26% among productive adults (CSO, 2007). Currently, there are around 220,000 people living with HIV. At similar prevalence rates, this would equate to 56 million and 92 million infected individuals in the USA and EU respectively. Prevalence is similar in rural and urban areas, and all districts. Unless the trajectory changes, AIDS may claim the lives of two thirds of all 15 year olds (UNAIDS, 2000).

HIV/AIDS is different from past diseases. Previous epidemics were short-term and worked their way through society or were treated and eliminated. HIV/AIDS is a long-term event. Rising HIV prevalence predates intensified impact. The multidimensional impact of infections will last generations. Negative effects on families become embedded within Swazi society, altering the future development path of the country. Although dramatic, the estimates cited in this paper are conservative. Effective interventions will require an emergency response aimed at building capacity for long-term programmes founded on the realities driving Swazilandís epidemic.

HIV/AIDS is permanently altering the structure of Swazi society. By 2025 there will be a thinning of the older age groups and the very young. Deaths among productive age groups are increasing the dependency ratio, constraining coping mechanisms and economic growth. Life expectancy fell from 60 years in 1997 to 31.3 years in 2004 - the worldís lowest. Mortality has risen significantly across the entire population over the past fifteen years. Infant mortality increased from 79 per 1,000 births in 1992 to 108 in 2004. Maternal mortality has increased from 230 per 100,000 births in 2000 to 370 in 2004. The crude death rate has doubled from 11 deaths per 1,000 people in the early 1990ís to 21.2 in 2004. Recent analysis show deaths rates in all regions in Swaziland now exceed emergency thresholds.

HIV/AIDS is negatively impacting Swaziland's health systems, as rising morbidity increases the patient loads at all levels. While demand for services increase, there is a parallel reduction in the capacity to supply them. Rising TB prevalence is compounding this public health disaster. The provision of ART is placing significant strain on current public health systems.

Hospitals are working beyond capacity. Since the late 1990s there has been a rapid increase in the demand for beds. HIV/AIDS patients are more susceptible to opportunistic infections, thus complicating medical treatment they must receive. The demand for services over the next ten years will grow. This increased demand will place additional strain on staff, effectively crowding out other health and support services. This will further foster demoralization among remaining staff and contribute to the migration of health workers from Swaziland.

In addition, TB prevalence rose from 263 cases per 10,000 in 1990 to 1262 in 2005. Increases of this magnitude and a low treatment completion rate raise the risk of MDR and XDR TB outbreaks. As TB can infect the general population, it has the potential to turn the HIV epidemic into a wider public health emergency.

ART roll-out could avert many deaths and reduce impacts across society. Currently, only 28% of those in need are receiving treatment. More resources dedicated to building capcity are required to ensure the success of treatment programmes.

HIV affected households become further impoverished as income-earning adults die. In 2001, 69% of the population - 80% in rural areas - were living below the poverty line. It is likely that this has increased further. Swaziland's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking has fallen sharply since 2000, reflecting an overall fall in socio-economic conditions. This is despite a per capita GDP ranking that is 3 times higher than what is considered 'low human development'. The impact of HIV/AIDS has reduced Swaziland's social indicators (for example: life expectancy and crude death rate) to the point where the country is only slightly above the lowest HDI category.

There are 130,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Swaziland - 31.3% of all children. This number is projected to increase to 200,000 by 2010. The impact of this on community and household structures cannot be overstated, as 43.4% of households are hosting orphans (Swazi VAC, 2006). At present, grandparents are masking the true extent of the orphan problem. However, as these elder caregivers die, this vulnerable population will be left without a support network. Inadequate socialisation of a large group of orphans may result in the creation of a dysfunctional generation of Swazi citizens. Increasingly, Swazi society has come to see the OVC status of one-third of all children as 'normal'. This abnormal 'normality' is reflective of a desperate society that has run out of options.

Swazi households are forced to use drastic coping strategies in order to survive. The number of people reducing meal sizes fell between 2006 and 2007, but those not eating for an entire day or selling assets for food increased. Households are no longer vulnerable to, but rather suffer from, livelihood failure (Swazi VAC, 2004). In turn, this has created a societal exhaustion that decreases individuals ability to care for those in need or plan for the uncertainty of their future.

There has been a downturn in the Swazi economy over the past ten years. A reduction in annual growth rates from 6% in the 1990's to a current level of around 2% has resulted in negative per capita growth. The average loss in GDP growth attributable to HIV/AIDS is around 1.6% per year (Muwanga, 2004). However, this estimate is from the early 1990s when prevalence rates had not reached the levels seen in the past four years. Current figures may starkly highlight the negative impact of HIV/AIDS on economic growth.

Swaziland has experienced a significant reduction in agricultural production. Bad weather exacerbated by climate change is in part to blame. The multi-dimensional impacts of HIV/AIDS are also responsible. AIDS affected households experience a 54.2% reduction in maize production and a 34.2% reduction in the area of land cultivated. The national cattle population is estimated to have fallen by 11% between 2000 and 2002. Reductions in agricultural output and livestock ownership have led to increasing vulnerability and food insecurity. In 2007, over 400,000 people in Swaziland required food aid - approximately 40% of the entire population.

AIDS emergency in Swaziland hits like a tidal wave

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Swaziland is experiencing an HIV/AIDS emergency on the scale of traditional emergencies such as tsunamis and earthquakes

Production and distribution of electronic training materials

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed Provide free access to current and readily updateable healthcare information and training materials for health workers through electronic distribution on CD-ROM. Provide opportunities for Southern partners to exchange experience and distribute their own health information without cost. Provide service for other NGOs to distribute health information and training materials on CD-ROM through their own networks. Recipients gave the first CD an enthusiastic welcome and the demand for copies has been great, indicating that this project is filling a broadly felt gap. Below is one among many comments received after the first CD-ROM was sent: Dr CJC Igboanusi - Paediatric Registrar - Nigeria "I got a copy of your CD-ROM from a friend of mine and immediately fell in love with it. It is so useful and educative especially for those of us here in the developing world where access to current medical literature is very difficult and unaffordable. It is a masterpiece." CD-ROMs are clearly an effective and appropriate means of distributing important information and overcome for many the problem of lack of Internet access and the lack of up-to-date medical/health textbooks and journals. The e-talc project is helping to fill the vacuum of health information that health workers operate within in the South. There is a desire by many NGOs north and south to distribute health information as widely as possible to those who can use it, without cost or restriction. TALC is now making this possible. To date 4 issues of the e-talc Health Development CD-ROM have been produced and distributed. After initial promotion of the CD-ROM, awareness of it has grown quickly. From the growing demand and from feedback received from users we are aware that many health workers have access to a computer and can make use of this material. Users have made a particular point of stating that this format is much more useful than the internet; most

either have no access to the Internet or find accessing it very difficult and costly - a situation that is unlikely to change for a long time.

A survey of users found the following: more than 75 % said they had access to a computer less than 5 years old. Over 95% found all or some of the material of direct benefit. More than 90% said the CD-ROM was very easy to load and the instructions for use easy to follow. A similar proportion said the search engine facility was also useful and easy to use. Over 90% printed off some of the material for reference purposes. More than 75% share the CD-ROM with colleagues. Feedback has been extremely positive and users have stated that the content is meeting a need.

The CD-ROMs are being used by a wide variety of health workers in a wide variety of fields including the following:

HIV/AIDS workers, doctors, surgeons, community health workers, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, lecturers and teachers, nurses and midwives, medical and nursing students, clinical officers, medical laboratory technicians, environmental health officers, paediatricians.

Fields of interest of the users include:

TB and HIV/AIDS, women and child health, surgery, anaesthetics, community health, teaching, pharmacology, research, midwifery, water and sanitation, disaster relief, nutrition.

Design and construction of buildings and structures to withstand natural disasters

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed To produce a concise practical guide for engineers in developing countries.

Development of glacial hazard risk minimization protocols in rural environments

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed To develop and facilitate cost-effective, socially acceptable, and sustainable disaster preparedness and risk minimization strategies through improved glacial hazard assessment and socio-economic vulnerability analysis. Procedures for semi-quantitative glacial hazard and risk assessment were developed in Nepal and have been tested in Peru. The models are being updated. Strategic management methods are presently being developed with the Peruvian authorities.

Mainstreaming mitigation to reduce urban poverty

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed Improving livelihoods of vulnerable urban communities by mainstreaming low cost disaster mitigation measures into policy and community practice. Policy efforts which integrate disaster and risk into urban planning are vital, but of greater importance is integrating community participation into the structure and processes of governance to promote community-driven mitigation, and spread the burden of cost and effort. The degree to which communities are able to mitigate against their own risk is not absolute: often people have the know-how and/or resources and/or the interest to invest in mitigation, but are hindered by the existence of certain kinds of livelihood-based barriers. These barriers might include

Single or multiple asset deficiency

governance-related barriers

the scale of the risk to be reduced.

Often external actors will try to help without understanding the particular barrier that people face. Given the complexities of why risk is often not reduced in urban areas, the research found that many attempts to reduce risk by external actors began under an incorrect understanding of the situation, and therefore used an inappropriate approach. The degree to which municipalities and other levels of government are able to mitigate risk is restricted, primarily, by the level and mechanisms of engagement they create to share responsibility of risk reduction with their constituents, as well as the policy framework surrounding those activities.

One of the principal methods of unlocking people's interest and capacity to invest their livelihood assets into risk reduction is by tying risk reduction techniques to income generation. Adopting multiple strategies for reducing vulnerabilities, e.g. improving financial capital, social capital, physical capital,

in an integrated manner contributes to risk reduction in a more holistic way than adopting measures which only focus on structural measures.

Finalize report

Develop Code of Conduct for mainstreaming risk into community and government practice.

Impact of Climate and Sea Level Change in Part of Indian Sub-Continent

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Ongoing Adapt models and methodology to assess water resources availability and zones under water stress (lack of water resource or flooding risks) and their potential change due to global warming in regions of monsoon/tropical climate, with special application to case studies in the Indian subcontinent It was clear from the high attendance (some 70 people) at the Initial Workshop in Dhaka on 31st January 2003 that there is considerable local interest within Bangladesh in the impacts of climate change. The subsequent delay in project implementation is unfortunate, but we are confident that the various governmental and NGO bodies who expressed interest in the project outputs will still be enthusiastic about contributing knowledge and data, and upon getting access to the project's final outputs. The project was formally launched during a one-day workshop in Dhaka on 31st March 2003 attended by 70 people. The workshop was hosted by BUET, with support from CEGIS, and a total of 10 papers were presented; six by local participants, and four by staff of CEH and POL (Met Office staff were unable to attend). Unfortunately following this initial workshop and associated planning meetings with partners, the project was "suspended" for 8 months, and not re-started until the beginning of September 2003. Consequently, progress during the year has been less than originally planned.

The GWAVA model has needed modifying to enable it to utilise the daily RCM data which will be provided by the Hadley Centre's PRECIS model. This work has been completed and partially tested on a sub-catchment, although final testing on the whole study area remains to be done. The drainage network has been prepared at the 0.5o scale for the entire Ganges and Brahmaputra basins, and also at the 6 minute scale for Bangladesh. Local partners will be asked to check these networks.

No work has been possible on the deployment of the PRECIS model, as DFID Bangladesh have still not approved the necessary training as part of the proposed Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme. Unless this other project is approved soon, we will have to think of other ways of us obtaining the necessary regional climate change data that is at the core of the CLASIC project. If we are unable to obtain up-to-date outputs from recent PRECIS runs, CLASIC will have to rely on earlier RCM model output from the Hadley Centre, but this data is based on outputs from the older HadRM2 model, rather than the more recent HadRM3 model. Unless this funding impasse can be resolved, the outputs from the CLASIC project will inevitably be compromised to some extent.

The Bay of Bengal storm surge model is being updated by POL to take account of the improved bathymetry data that will be available to the project through collaboration with IWM in Bangladesh. The model will be tested using the older HadRM2 data, and we hope that the newer HadRM3 data will become available over the coming months.

A second visit to Dhaka is currently being planned having been postponed on advice from our local partners because of national holidays followed by political unrest. During the visit, the next six month's data collection by local partners will be planned in detail, and full details provided to them on how we plan to use the GWAVA model. Once the local data has been assembled and verified, the water resources modelling work, using GWAVA, can begin, as can the storm surge modelling.

In addition, we will be planning the visit to the UK by Bangladeshi partners during the late summer, at which time in-depth hands-on training on the use of the two models will be provided. Following this, a second training course on use of the two models will be held in Dhaka.

NGO natural disaster mitigation and preparedness projects: An assessment and way forward

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed Encourage increased awareness among NGOs of the scope for applying disaster mitigation and preparedness measures in ongoing development and post-disaster rehabilitation programmes.

Working with farmers to control sweet potato virus disease in East Africa

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed In Africa, sweet potato is grown particularly by poorly-educated, resource- poor farmers, especially women, usually mostly for family consumption but also for cash: the crop is an important means of poverty alleviation. The crop is particularly important in East Africa (Uganda has the largest production in Africa; Tanzania has the second largest area of production but only the seventh largest production due to poor yields). The crop can grow in relatively marginal soils and its ability to yield quickly with the onset of rains, even intermittent ones, is invaluable in times of food insecurity. It is important in disaster relief in areas of East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya) where cassava mosaic disease has destroyed crops of cassava and resistant varieties have not yet been established. Sweet potato virus disease (SPVD) is the most damaging disease of sweet potato in Africa. Affected plants have no worthwhile yield. The disease is particularly common in western and southern Uganda and the western Lake Zone of Tanzania, where the project is focussed. Here, crops with 50% or more affected plants are commonly encountered and average incidences exceed 30%, leading to chronically poor yields and devastating losses to some individuals. The project will provide sweet potato farmers with proven means of increasing the productivity of the crop through integrated control of its main disease (SPVD) and other pests. Because the control measures will involve little or no cost (resistant varieties, phytosanitation) apart perhaps from some additional labour, the methods will favour resource-poor farmers. Poverty in communities is almost always compounded by and maintained by poor nutrition. Sweet potato is a highly nutritious food, especially when both the leaves and the storage roots are consumed. The high vitamin A content of orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties is particularly important in child development and for nursing mothers, in the extreme, preventing blindness and in fighting off common childhood diseases. It may also ameliorate malaria and delay the development of HIV AIDS. The exotic orange-fleshed varieties are susceptible to SPVD so phytosanitation is required to enable their widespread use. The project will take an integrated crop management (ICM), farmer field school (FFS) approach. This experiential method, encouraged by the protocols, manuals and materials developed by the project, will empower farmers through its range of easily accessible information on the causes and control of the disease and pests. The hands-on approach of farmer field schools aims to overcome any literacy barriers. The protocol (ICM FFS) requires extensionists, once trained, to facilitate farmers' experimentation, discovery and understanding, thereby empowering farmers more generally. To increase the returns from sweet potato by decreasing both the indirect and the direct ways in which sweet potato virus disease (SPVD) and other pests constrain the productivity of sweet potato in East Africa. The project has sustained the livelihoods of poor farmers in East Africa through a variety of measures. The project has worked directly with small-scale farmers, mostly women and including refugees, HIV-AIDS affected families and farmers in refugee-affected areas. Planting material of superior varieties has also been provided to such groups. The project has validated through a participatory approach the provision to farmers of a basket of superior disease-resistant varieties backed up by selecting healthy planting material and roguing young crops. The collaboration with farmers also identified that isolation by distance or crop barriers, whilst effective in reducing spread, was difficult to utilise in practice by small-scale farmers with limited access to land. PB has been developed for sweet potato in Africa for the first time. The protocol enabled farmers to make an effective contribution; although more work needs to be done, it appears that some high-yielding disease resistant and drought tolerant accessions have been identified. Training tools and materials have been developed, improved and used to train farmers and extensionists in Uganda and Tanzania to enable information to be disseminated further. Involvement with NPA has allowed increased impact to be leveraged. SPVD-resistant sweet potato varieties required by farmers and other stakeholders identified through farmer participatory research (FPR).

Phytosanitary (eg: clean planting material, isolation, roguing) methods of controlling SPVD adapted and validated through FPR groups in a) Uganda and b)Tanzania by March 2004.

Protocols, manuals and materials for training farmers in the control of SPVD and other pests developed and validated by March 2005.

A farmer participatory breeding programme for sweet potato initiated in the environs of Lake Victoria in Uganda by March 2003 and having completed 4 cycles of farmer selection by March 2005.

Cadre of trainers in national and regional government and non-government organisations in East Africa skilled in the knowledge of SPVD control. The project was based at national agricultural research institutes: Namulonge in Uganda and Maruku in Tanzania. The project collaborated closely with farmer groups, 7 in both countries, providing training for facilitators on-station and farmers through project staff, project-trained facilitators and exchange visits amongst the groups. This training process included knowledge of the causes of sweet potato virus disease (SPVD), how to control it by cultural methods and the use and development of resistant varieties. The training also provided a test-bed whereby the project developed and validated training tools and materials.

The project conducted participatory varietal selection (PVS) with farmer groups in both countries testing 9 and 11 cultivars in Uganda and Tanzania respectively. These cultivars included high-yielding SPVD-resistant and high vitamin A orange-fleshed ones. Farmers generally considered all were useful and it was clear from results that what did well in one location and one season did not necessarily do well in other situations. There were trends, however, e.g., Naspot 1 yielded highly in most places and most situations; Naspot varieties were all generally very SPVD-resistant but some were Alternaria susceptible and SPK004 was the most SPVD-resistant of the orange-fleshed cultivars. Farmers seemed keen to receive a 'basket' of varieties so they can select. SPVD resistance was confirmed as an effective means of control. The project also identified more orange-fleshed local varieties as a contribution to the VITA A project.

The project also tested a range of cultural control measures. Farmers generally selected planting material from plants with a healthy appearance. This measure was therefore not tested but the message to do so was reinforced in training. The main cultural control tested was roguing, and this was demonstrably effective to the farmers, decreasing virus spread, increasing yield and improving the health of planting material. Isolation by distance and by a crop barrier were tested. Whilst both were successfully tested, isolation by distance was unsatisfactory because of land shortages and vulnerability of isolated crops, and the sorghum barrier seemed to reduce the yield of the protected sweet potato.

Working with three farmer groups in Uganda and three farmer groups in Tanzania, the project has made farmers aware of how new varieties develop by growing seedlings of superior families and then selecting them, with national programme breeders, through up to 3 clonal generations in communal participatory breeding (PB) trials. Farmers have also taken material to their own gardens to experiment. Farmers retain a small number of clones which appear to be high-yielding, resistant to SPVD and Alternaria and are now being monitored closely by farmers for other necessary quality attributes.

One general constraint highlighted by the close collaboration with farmers was the importance of drought resistance in sweet potato. Drought destroyed several PVS and cultural control trials and was identified as a major reason why farmers did not continue growing the released varieties. It also severely affected the PB trials and one outcome of this is that the surviving selected accessions are likely to be drought resistant as well as disease resistant. Interestingly, unavailability of land in swamps to maintain planting was also a major constraint identified in a survey of SPVD done in Rwanda. There, SPVD was a major problem in one province.

In both Uganda and Tanzania, poster and leaflets explaining in different languages how to control SPVD were developed and used in training programmes for extensionists; a section on SPVD control was also included in a general Farmer Field School Technical Manual. Extensive training was provided to extensionists in Tanzania, especially through a collaboration developed with the Norwegian People's Aid. Planting material of superior varieties was

CGIAR - Core Funding to The WorldFish Center (ICLARM)

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Current

It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization working in partnership with a wide range of government and non-governmental agencies at regional, national and local levels in the developing world, and with advanced research institutions worldwide.

Its staff are based in 13 offices in 11 countries across Asia, Africa and the Pacific. From these bases, they work in more than 25 countries with more than 200 partners representing 50 countries. We currently have regional or country offices in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Malawi, Malaysia (HQ), New Caledonia, The Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Zambia.

To carry out research-for-development to improve small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. Our key competencies are in Policy Economics and Social Sciences, Natural Resource Management, and Aquaculture and Genetic Improvement. This inter-linked set of disciplines work together to provide a wide range of research and analysis, some of which are summarized below.

Policy, Economics, and Social Sciences

Connecting the fisheries and aquaculture sector to poverty reduction initiatives at local to global scales
Social and economic analysis of the aquaculture and fisheries sectors
Policy and institutional analysis for the improved governance of aquatic resources
Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on fisheries, and adaptive measures that can be taken
Human health consequences of fisheries, reducing risks, and fisheries options that benefit health-impaired populations (HIV/AIDS and malaria)
Working with communities to manage fisheries

Natural Resources Management

Integrated assessment and management of small-scale fisheries
Design and management of global information systems on aquatic resources (FishBase, ReefBase)
Post-disaster livelihood recovery in fisheries-dependent regions
Assessment of impacts of built structures on aquatic resources in river basins
Analysis of external drivers such as climate change on livelihoods of fishery-dependent households

Aquaculture and Genetic Improvement

Methods for breeding improved fish strains for aquaculture
Aquaculture technologies for the poor, including women and the landless
Integrating aquaculture with terrestrial small-scale agriculture
Strategies and options for aquaculture production and national action plans
Connecting small-scale producers to markets
Technologies that improve water productivity while protecting environmental flows

Global syntheses and analyses of the potential impacts of climate change
Analyses of water requirements for fisheries and aquaculture
Analyses of factors affecting supply and demand for fishery products, including demographic change
Assessment of the impacts of epidemic diseases, health and malnutrition of fishing-dependent people on the contribution of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture to reducing poverty and hunger
Policy briefs and tools that promote increased understanding of the values of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture and their contributions to meeting development challenges.
Diagnostic tools and policy advice to inform and support appropriate fisheries and aquaculture marketing investment strategies that benefit the poor
Assessment of barriers to entry by the poor into higher value-added commodity chains
Assessment of the role of public-private partnerships in addressing key market constraints to aquaculture development
Tools, policy briefs and analyses that improve understanding of key policy processes, particularly decentralization, and the opportunities and constraints they provide for small-scale fisheries and aquaculture
Institutions and policies for small-scale fishery and aquaculture development nurtured to create an enabling environment that provides incentives for building resilience
Policy briefs, information products and tools that promote increased understanding and valuation of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture in national and regional policy
Framework and tools to identify target groups, clarify intervention objectives, and design and implement technologies to maximize productivity, profitability and development impact
Technologies established to develop and disseminate quality seed for key aquaculture species and to conserve genetic resources in anticipation of future needs.
Methods to support the development and dissemination of off-farm fertilizers and feeds and feeding guidelines that maximize profitability, that are consistent with an ecosystem-based approach to aquaculture development and that produce nutritionally sound aquaculture products
A framework and tools to assess the relationship between water productivity and aquaculture
Integrated watershed-level tools that facilitate better-informed policies and management for the uptake of sustainable aquaculture
Tools to assess and manage the risks associated with developing and disseminating genetically improved strains of farmed aquatic animals
Mechanisms that connect consumers to small and medium-sized producers and promote the adoption of best ecological management practices
Improved methods for integrated assessment and advice
Management concepts and approaches that mitigate risk tested in a range of ecological and social settings
Livelihood diversification options that reduce dependence on small-scale fisheries

WorldFishs pioneering work on fish breeding very quickly yielded very large increases in growth rates, vigor and productivity of the important tilapia species. Overall, investments in research at WorldFish return 134 dollars per year for every 100 dollars of initial investment, a spectacular rate of return compared to other investments.

Three areas of work have generated particularly large impact, so impressive that the CGIAR Science Council commissioned special studies to further highlight these outcomes:

The breeding of much higher-yielding tilapia fish varieties, widely used in aquaculture across Asia, greatly raising productivity and incomes: $170 returned for each $100 invested per annum.

Integrated aquaculture-agriculture in Malawi that has sharply increased incomes and reduced childhood malnutrition, and helping HIV/AIDS-affected families cope; $115 returned for each $100 invested per annum.

Fisheries co-management in Bangladesh, which is increasing biodiversity, raising incomes by 100% and fish catches by 30%, particularly by empowering women. The Science Council commended co-management as an "eminently replicable model for contemporary rural development." Impact

A review of food security issues as addressed in PRSPs and DFID Country Plans

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed In a DFID-commissioned review of how food security issues were being handled in PRSP documents, it was found that the majority of PRSPs give insufficient attention to food security issues. It therefore identified an important role for donors in bringing food security into the PRSP agenda, and suggested that one way to do this would be to give greater prominence to food security concerns on donor commentaries on PRSPs. This current review is therefore being commissioned to update understanding of how food security issues are being addressed in PRSPs, to suggest ways in which these issues can be better integrated into the analysis of poverty and provide guidance for DFID country offices in promoting food security issues in this context. To enable country offices to analyse PRSPs for food security issues; and to provide practical guidelines, based on best practice, to ensure where appropriate, that food security is fully integrated into PRSPs and DFID CAPs. A key findings sheet was developed by the PASS Management Team in the reporting period. It is hoped that this will result in feedback from DFID and its partners enabling RTVP to develop country guidance notes on integrating food security issues into PRSP processes and the CAP process. To undertake an assessment for DFID of the extent to which food security issues are being addressed in PRSPs (or other national poverty planning process) and DFID Country Assistance Plans (CAPs) as part of the process of operationalising its strategy for achieving the Millennium Development Goal on hunger, contained in the document Eliminating Hunger. A draft report has been produced, which includes the following:
*how food security issues are addressed in PRSPs.
*an analysis of DFID planning and strategy documents (to aid integrating food security issues into CAPs).
*six regional/country case studies.

The document provides a detailed analysis of different aspects of PRSPs in relation to food security, including macro-economic, trade and fiscal policies; agricultural sector policies; rural development, social sector policies; social protection; disaster management; institutional issues; and budgets.

Get ready to rumble...

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Development of an early warning system by DFID-funded researchers could help poor people in Central America farming the rich soils on the slopes of volcanoes

Landslide Risk Warning for Mountain Communities and Rural Infrastructure Planning

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Planning for landslides is critical in safeguarding livelihoods and rural development in many mountain regions...