R4D Tanzania

Poverty and growth in remote villages in Tanzania (2004-2008): insights from Village Voices film research. CPRC Working Paper No. 153.

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:29:00 GMT

Miscellaneous L. da Corta and L. Price 2009 CPRC Working Paper No. 153, Chronic Poverty Research Centre, London, UK, ISBN: 978-1-906433-55-0, 61 pp. This working paper accompanies Village Voices, a film which covers the lives of people in five remote regions of Tanzania over five years (2004-08). The paper examines specifically why high economic growth during the period of Tanzania's poverty reduction strategy (MKUKUTA 2005-2010) has not translated into the expected reduction in poverty, as there has been a rise in one million people living in poverty over the period 2001 to 2007. The official response has been a call for broad-based growth by stepping up efforts to green revolutionise agriculture through an Agriculture First (Kilimo Kwanza) strategy.

Africa Power & Politics. Annual Report 2 (2008-9)

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:44:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 38 pp.

Progress is being made in all 4 areas of the programme:

Research

the empirical scope of the programme has been refined and the work has been organised in six firmly led 'research streams';
initial thinking about research approaches (concepts, methods) has been carried into the streams, so that it frames the empirical work;
fieldwork has begun, in teams of various sizes, in 11 African countries;
the programme has started engaging actively with researchers working on cognate topics in other research programmes.

Research-training

research training of five fully-funded fieldwork-based PhD candidates has been overseen;
a number of additional doctoral students have been associated with the programme; and
tailor-made short practical training exercises and/or 'collective enquiries' (preliminary joint fieldwork exercises which serve training objectives) have been mounted.

Organisational capacity strengthening

staff and associates of all member organisations drawn into a relatively high-grade discussion about how to link empirical enquiry, theoretical innovation and policy implications;
this has been applied in specific research streams, with African researchers participating to some extent in training and research activities in countries other than their own;
relevant and accessible library and information resources have been provided to the Southern organisations; and
major investments have been made in the communications and policy engagement capacities of two Southern partner organisations.

Policy influence and policy development.
The APPP's approach to policy influence and policy development has been developed in a revised updated Communication and Policy Engagement Strategy, key elements of which were implemented in Year 2. They include:

a reinforced communications team with clearer roles and responsibilities;
training sessions, workshops and investment in technical equipment;
construction of an 'APPP friends' database;
engagement with key stakeholders to prepare the ground for adoption of policy lessons based on research findings; and
development of the APPP website to provide improved access to the programme's web-published papers, news and events.

Malaria risk and access to prevention and treatment in the paddies of the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:01:00 GMT

Miscellaneous M. W. Hetzel, S. Alba, M. Fankhauser, I. Mayumana, C. Lengeler, B. Obrist, R. Nathan, A. M. Makemba, C. Mshana, A. Schulze, and H. Mshinda 2008 Malaria Journal (2008) 7: 7 [doi:10.1186/1475-2875-7-7] BACKGROUND: The Kilombero Valley is a highly malaria-endemic agricultural area in south-eastern Tanzania. Seasonal flooding of the valley is favourable to malaria transmission. During the farming season, many households move to distant field sites (shamba in Swahili) in the fertile river floodplain for the cultivation of rice. In the shamba, people live for several months in temporary shelters, far from the nearest health services. This study assessed the impact of seasonal movements to remote fields on malaria risk and treatment-seeking behaviour.

METHODS: A longitudinal study followed approximately 100 randomly selected farming households over six months. Every household was visited monthly and whereabouts of household members, activities in the fields, fever cases and treatment seeking for recent fever episodes were recorded.

RESULTS: Fever incidence rates were lower in the shamba compared to the villages and moving to the shamba did not increase the risk of having a fever episode. Children aged 1-4 years, who usually spend a considerable amount of time in the shamba with their caretakers, were more likely to have a fever than adults (odds ratio = 4.47, 95% confidence interval 2.35-8.51). Protection with mosquito nets in the fields was extremely good (98% usage) but home-stocking of antimalarials was uncommon. Despite the long distances to health services, 55.8% (37.9-72.8) of the fever episodes were treated at a health facility, while home-management was less common (37%, 17.4-50.5).

CONCLUSION: Living in the shamba does not appear to result in a higher fever-risk. Mosquito nets usage and treatment of fever in health facilities reflect awareness of malaria. Inability to obtain drugs in the fields may contribute to less irrational use of drugs but may pose an additional burden on poor farming households. A comprehensive approach is needed to improve access to treatment while at the same time assuring rational use of medicines and protecting fragile livelihoods.

Child survival gains in Tanzania: analysis of data from demographic and health surveys

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:14:00 GMT

Miscellaneous H. Masanja, D. de Savigny, P. Smithson, J. Schellenberg, J. Theophista, C. Mbuya, G. Upunda, T. Boerma, C. Victora, T. Smith, H. Mshinda 2008 Lancet (2008) 371 (9620) 1276-1283 [doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60562-0] BACKGROUND: A recent national survey in Tanzania reported that mortality in children younger than 5 years dropped by 24% over the 5 years between 2000 and 2004. We aimed to investigate yearly changes to identify what might have contributed to this reduction and to investigate the prospects for meeting the Millennium Development Goal for child survival (MDG 4).

METHODS: We analysed data from the four demographic and health surveys done in Tanzania since 1990 to generate estimates of mortality in children younger than 5 years for every 1-year period before each survey back to 1990. We estimated trends in mortality between 1990 and 2004 by fitting Lowess regression, and forecasted trends in mortality in 2005 to 2015. We aimed to investigate contextual factors, whether part of Tanzania's health system or not, that could have affected child mortality.

FINDINGS: Disaggregated estimates of mortality showed a sharp acceleration in the reduction in mortality in children younger than 5 years in Tanzania between 2000 and 2004. In 1990, the point estimate of mortality was 141.5 (95% CI 141.5-141.5) deaths per 1000 livebirths. This was reduced by 40%, to reach a point estimate of 83.2 (95% CI 70.1-96.3) deaths per 1000 livebirths in 2004. The change in absolute risk was 58.4 (95% CI 32.7-83.8; p<0.0001). Between 1999 and 2004 we noted important improvements in Tanzania's health system, including doubled public expenditure on health; decentralisation and sector-wide basket funding; and increased coverage of key child-survival interventions, such as integrated management of childhood illness, insecticide-treated nets, vitamin A supplementation, immunisation, and exclusive breastfeeding. Other determinants of child survival that are not related to the health system did not change between 1999 and 2004, except for a slow increase in the HIV/AIDS burden.

INTERPRETATION: Tanzania could attain MDG 4 if this trend of improved child survival were to be sustained. Investment in health systems and scaling up interventions can produce rapid gains in child survival.

Experimental hut evaluation of the pyrrole insecticide chlorfenapyr on bed nets for the control of Anopheles arabiensis and Culex quinquefasciatus

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:01:00 GMT

Miscellaneous F. W. Mosha, I. N. Lyimo, R. M. Oxborough, R. Malima, F. Tenu, J. Matowo, E. Feston, R. Mndeme, S. M. Magesa, M. Rowland 2008 Tropical Medicine & International Health (2008) 13 (5) 644-652 [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2008.02058.x] Objective: To determine the efficacy of chlorfenapyr against Anopheles arabiensis and Culex quinquefasciatus in East Africa and to identify effective dosages for net treatment in comparison with the commonly used pyrethroid deltamethrin.

Methods: Chlorfenapyr was evaluated on bed nets in experimental huts against A. arabiensis and C. quinquefasciatus in Northern Tanzania, at application rates of 100500 mg/m2.

Results: In experimental huts, mortality rates in A. arabiensis were high (46.063.9%) for all dosages of chlorfenapyr and were similar to that of deltamethrin-treated nets. Mortality rates in C. quinquefasciatus were higher for chlorfenapyr than for deltamethrin. Despite a reputation for being slow acting, >90% of insecticide-induced mortality in laboratory tunnel tests and experimental huts occurred within 24 h, and the speed of killing was no slower than for deltamethrin-treated nets.

Conclusions: Chlorfenapyr induced low irritability and knockdown, which explains the relatively small reduction in blood-feeding rate. Combining chlorfenapyr with a more excito-repellent pyrethroid on bed nets for improved personal protection, control of pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes and pyrethroid resistance management would be advantageous.

Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria and anaemia control in Tanzanian infants; the development and implementation of a public health strategy

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:59:00 GMT

Miscellaneous F. Manzi, J. Schellenberg, Y. Hamis, A. K. Mushi, K. Shirima, A. Mwita, A. Simba, N. Rusibamayila, M. Kitambi, M. Tanner, P. Alonso, H. Mshinda, and D. Schellenberg 2009 Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2009) 103 (1) 79-86 [doi: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2008.08.014] Minimizing the time between efficacy studies and public health action is important to maximize health gains. We report the rationale, development and implementation of a district-based strategy for the implementation of intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) for malaria and anaemia control in Tanzania. From the outset, a research team worked with staff from all levels of the health system to develop a public-health strategy that could continue to function once the research team withdrew. The IPTi strategy was then implemented by routine health services to ensure that IPTi behaviour-change communication materials were available in health facilities, that health workers were trained to administer and to document doses of IPTi, that the necessary drugs were available in facilities and that systems were in place for stock management and supervision. The strategy was integrated into existing systems as far as possible and well accepted by health staff. Time-and-motion studies documented that IPTi implementation took a median of 12.4 min (range 1.628.9) per nurse per vaccination clinic. The collaborative approach between researchers and health staff effectively translated research findings into a strategy fit for public health implementation.

Newsletter 7, Religions and Development Research Programme

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 Newsletter 7, Religions and Development Research Programme, University of Birmingham, UK, 3 pp. September 2009 News on events and publications from the RaD programme is presented.

Household ownership and use of insecticide treated nets among target groups after implementation of a national voucher programme in the United Republic of Tanzania: plausibility study using three annual cross sectional household surveys

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:23:00 GMT

Miscellaneous K. Hanson, T. Marchant, R. Nathan, H. Mponda, C. Jones, J. Bruce, H. Mshinda, and J. A. Schellenberg 2009 BMJ (2009) 339: b2434 [doi: 10.1136/bmj.b2434] OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of the Tanzania National Voucher Scheme on the coverage and equitable distribution of insecticide treated nets, used to prevent malaria, to pregnant women and their infants.

DESIGN: Plausibility study using three nationally representative cross sectional household and health facility surveys, timed to take place early, mid-way, and at the end of the roll out of the national programme.

SETTING: The Tanzania National Voucher Scheme was implemented in antenatal services, and phased in on a district by district basis from October 2004 covering all of mainland Tanzania in May 2006.

PARTICIPANTS: 6115, 6260, and 6198 households (in 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively) in a representative sample of 21 districts (out of a total of 113).

INTERVENTIONS: A voucher worth $2.45 ( pound1.47, euro1.74) to be used as part payment for the purchase of a net from a local shop was given to every pregnant woman attending antenatal services.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Insecticide treated net coverage was measured as household ownership of at least one net and use of a net the night before the survey. Socioeconomic distribution of nets was examined using an asset based index.

RESULTS: Steady increases in net coverage indicators were observed over the three year study period. Between 2005 and 2007, household ownership of at least one net (untreated or insecticide treated) increased from 44% (2686/6115) to 65% (4006/6198; P<0.001), and ownership of at least one insecticide treated net doubled from 18% (1062/5961) to 36% (2229/6198) in the same period (P<0.001). Among infants under 1 year of age, use of any net increased from 33% (388/1180) to 56% (707/1272; P<0.001) and use of an insecticide treated net increased from 16% (188/1180) to 34% (436/1272; P<0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, household ownership was positively associated with time since programme launch, although this association did not reach statistical significance (P=0.09). Each extra year of programme operation was associated with a 9 percentage point increase in household insecticide treated net ownership (95% confidence interval -1.6 to 20). In 2005, only 7% (78/1115) of nets in households with a child under 1 year of age had been purchased with a voucher; this value increased to 50% (608/1211) in 2007 (P<0.001). In 2007, infants under 1 year in the least poor quintile were more than three times more likely to have used an insecticide treated net than infants in the poorest quintile (54% v 16%; P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The Tanzania National Voucher Scheme was associated with impressive increases in the coverage of insecticide treated nets over a two year period. Gaps in coverage remain, however, especially in the poorest groups. A voucher system that facilitates routine delivery of insecticide treated nets is a feasible option to "keep up" coverage.

Protective efficacy and safety of three antimalarial regimens for intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:09:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. D. Gosling, S. Gesase, J. F. Mosha, I. Carneiro, R. Hashim, M. Lemnge, F. W. Mosha, B. Greenwood, and D. Chandramohan 2009 The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 17 September 2009 [doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60997-1] Background: Administration of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine at times of vaccination - intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) - is a promising strategy to prevent malaria. However, rising resistance to this combination is a concern. We investigated a short-acting and long-acting antimalarial drug as alternative regimens for IPTi.

Methods: We undertook a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of IPTi in an area of high resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine at sites of moderate (n=1280 infants enrolled) and low (n=1139) intensity of malaria transmission in Tanzania. Infants aged 8-16 weeks were randomly assigned in blocks of 16 to sulfadoxine (250 mg) plus pyrimethamine (12·5 mg; n=319 in moderate-transmission and 283 in low-transmission sites), chlorproguanil (15 mg) plus dapsone (18·75 mg; n=317 and 285), mefloquine (125 mg; n=320 and 284), or placebo (n=320 and 284), given at the second and third immunisations for diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, and for measles. Research team and child were masked to treatment. Recruitment was stopped early at the low-transmission site because of low malaria incidence. The primary endpoint was protective efficacy against all episodes of clinical malaria at 2-11 months of age. Analysis was by intention to treat.

Findings: All randomly assigned infants were analysed. At the moderate-transmission site, mefloquine had a protective efficacy of 38·1% (95% CI 11·8-56·5, p=0·008) against clinical malaria in infants aged 2-11 months, but neither sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (−6·7%, −45·9 to 22·0) nor chlorproguanil-dapsone (10·8%, −24·6 to 36·1) had a protective effect. No regimen had any protective efficacy against anaemia or hospital admission. Mefloquine caused vomiting in 141 of 1731 (8%) doses given on day 1 (odds ratio vs placebo 5·50, 95% CI 3·56-8·46). More infants died in the chlorproguanil-dapsone and mefloquine groups (18 and 15, respectively) than in the sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine or placebo groups (eight deaths per group; p=0·05 for difference between chlorproguanil-dapsone and placebo).

Interpretation: IPTi with a long-acting, efficacious drug such as mefloquine can reduce episodes of malaria in infants in a moderate-transmission setting. IPTi with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine has no benefit in areas of very high resistance to this combination. The appropriateness of IPTi should be measured by the expected incidence of malaria and the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of the drug.

RTS,S/AS01E Vaccine against Malaria

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:46:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. D. Gosling and D. Chandramohan 2009 New England Journal of Medicine (2009) 360 (12) 1253 [Correspondence: Author reply 1253-54] This Correspondence article is a comment on a trial of a malaria vaccine carried out in Kenya and Tanzania.

Domestic Resource Mobilisation North-South Institute (Phase 2) (DRM)

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Current Sub Saharan Africa faces significant financial resource gaps in meeting its developmental needs. These gaps can be financed through external resource mobilization (e.g. through ODA and FDI) and through enhanced domestic resource mobilization, which entails increasing and enhancing domestic savings mobilization, improving financial sector performance and enhancing public sector revenue collection and expenditure. For sustainable growth and poverty reduction to take place in Sub Saharan Africa, it is essential that a coherent, dynamic and domestically driven capital accumulation, intermediation and mobilization process take root in the region. This is necessary to wean countries away from aid and other unpredictable and volatile external flows that can be problematic even when well intentioned.

The overall purpose of the research is to enable Sub Saharan African countries to enhance mobilization of domestic financial resources to finance domestic developmental priorities.

Phase 2 of the project is intended to build on the analytical work done in phase 1, and to address the key questions through a country focused approach via 5 in-depth country case-studies on DRM in Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda.

5 in-depth country case-studies

Production of a synthesis paper that brings together key findings from each case-study

Donor Handbook on Resource Mobilization

A final publication to be undertaken jointly with other project partners

Five in-country stakeholder engagement workshops

End of project conference and report

Preliminary work on a Television Drama Series (Makutano Junction).

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:13:00 GMT

Completed Approximately 10.5 million people (5 million in Kenya, 2.5 million in Uganda, 3 million in Tanzania), many of whom live in peri-urban areas, will be reached with information relating to pest management in horticultural crops and donkey draught power, through the development of a thirteen part television series which will be broadcast across the East African region. This is a brilliant opportunity to reach farmers who are thirsty for additional information on horticultural crop production that will enhance their income generating potential, as well as information on labour-saving techniques through the use of donkey draught power. Currently, CPP are funding projects that focus on promotion of technologies relating to pest management (see above), using Farmer Field Schools and training of private service providers, as well as through the production of manualsl, leaflets and posters. This initiative will reinforce and broaden the promotion of recommendations still further. The project will also liaise with KENDAT who promote issues such as how to care for donkeys (treatment, feeding etc.), how to harness a donkey properly and donkey management.

Contested development?: intimate partner violence and women's employment in urban and rural Tanzania

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:16:00 GMT

Current Women form the majority of the world's poor, and their social and economic empowerment is a central tenant of DFIDs and many other development agencies programming. Violence against women is a global problem, with between 15% and 71% women having ever been physically or sexually assaulted by their partners at some point in their lives. Physical and sexual violence within intimate partnerships - intimate partner violence (IPV) - is recognised as an important but neglected development, health and human rights concern, and a central constraint to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In Tanzania poverty is widespread, with 20% of the population live on less than US$ 1 a day. It is recognised that women play an important role in contributing to the country's domestic economy (TGNP). However, as well as widespread norms condoning violence and promoting traditional gender roles, there is substantial inequality between the sexes with women's income being 70% that of men, and some of the lowest gender empowerment scores in the world. 1) Examine the association between household poverty; women's social and economic empowerment and risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya; and explore the influence of contextual factors on the associations documented;

2) Document how poor women engaged in formal or informal employment activities outside the home describe the impact of their work on their household roles and relationships, including their partner's perspective on their work; the extent to which financial autonomy and/or social mobility seems to support or threaten the family unit, reduce or exacerbate the risk of violence; and whether these have changed over time.

3) Document the strategies that poor women engaged in formal and informal employment use to mediate the potential risk of violence within their partnerships; including the extent to which women are able to seek help or try to leave a violent relationship in each setting; and their assessment of the extent to which employment increases their ability to address IPV.

4) Document community and local stakeholders perceptions about the relationship between women's economic and social empowerment and IPV risk, and the possible implications of the findings for development and poverty alleviation strategies in Tanzania, and other similar settings regionally, and for interventions aiming to prevent IPV in the region.

5) Use the findings to develop a revised conceptual framework for the relationship between women's social and economic empowerment and risk of IPV.

Finance and formalisation as mechanisms for poverty reduction in Africa

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:01:00 GMT

Current The project is designed to establish how far credit and formalisation at the level of the individual can impact on poverty either directly by raising consumption or indirectly by increasing the productivity of employment opportunities available to the poor. We propose to research this question by extending existing data sets and by investigating two interventions in Ghana and Tanzania. The proposed project will use, and extend, data which has been collected for three years in both Tanzania and Ghana at the individual level seeking to compare the incomes of wage earners and the self-employed in urban areas. These data sets are based on a random sample of those working in urban areas in both countries and are panel so the same individual can be followed over time. From them we can know how incomes of the self-employed compare with wage earners and the factors affecting these earnings. We propose to evaluate how access to micro-finance and processes of formalisation can impact on poverty by investigating two policies in Ghana and Tanzania. The first is the expansion of micro-credit services into randomly selected communities by several partner NGOs. The second is the implications of a process of formalising business structures currently underway in Tanzania. A three year panel of workers in the urban areas of both Ghana and Tanzania has already been created so a base line exists with which to compare the outcomes. It is proposed to re-survey the individuals in this panel in both countries to show how these changes have impacted on their livelihoods. Both interventions provide a unique opportunity to measure the causal impact of particular interventions on poverty. A common factor across the activities of the poor whether it be those who own micro firms, those who work on farms or the self-employed is the problems they face in being able to increase the scale of their activities. In this project we propose to ask how far micro-credit and processes of formalisation enable the scope of such enterprises to be expanded.

Student Performance in National Examinations: the dynamics of language in school achievement

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:38:00 GMT

Current A significant number of children in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to show how well they have learned school subjects (e.g. Maths) through formal examinations in English. This is a direct consequence of a language policy that states that English should be used as the language of instruction in the secondary school phase (e.g. Tanzania). However, for the vast majority of these students, English will not be their first language, but a second or a third language. These examinations have high stakes: in Zanzibar, currently 50% of students underachieve, and fail to progress beyond basic education based on their examination performance. This reflects recent World Bank research (Alidou et al. 2006) which reports that more than 55% of pupils in Africa leave at the end of primary school labelled as unsuccessful learners. Whilst a country's language policy may be clear about the required language of instruction, classroom realities are likely to be different. Research from a range of sub-Saharan countries (e.g. Botswana, South Africa) shows how teachers and students switch between languages and how a home language is used alongside English in the development of subject knowledge. Significantly, the use of an unfamiliar second language emerges as a factor in school ineffectiveness and poor achievement levels, thus contributing to school dropout rates. There is also an indication that girls may be particularly disadvantaged by the use of an unfamiliar language. Much less is known, however, about how students may be disadvantaged in demonstrating subject knowledge through English in formal examinations. This research proposes to fill this gap and to investigate language factors in examinations and how these affect students' performance. This research has the following objectives:

1. to investigate the extent to which language may be a factor (positive or negative) in how school age learners demonstrate their academic achievement.

2. to explore the impact and potential benefits of different examination formats, tasks and accommodations to extend the repertoire of ways in which children's understanding is examined as the basis for developing innovative examination formats that have both instructional and curricular validity for the specific research context

3. to investigate the extent to which whether there are factors other than language that impact on learner performance in national examinations

4. to track the development of formal examination processes within Zanzibar as a specific case and to identify features of best practice in other sub-Saharan educational contexts

5. to develop processes in examination construction and products that can potentially be applied in other contexts within sub-Saharan Africa and world-wide where learners are studying through the medium of a foreign or second language

6. to contribute theoretical insights to:
(1) the field of language testing and assessment, in relation to the development of an evidential base for the validity of assessment processes and procedures and to the identification of challenges for examination development in non-industrialised countries); and
(2) language education in respect of teacher formative and summative assessment of learner performance, and relationships (i) between curriculum content and assessment and (ii) between the languages of instruction (i.e. English/Kiswahili medium classrooms) and the demands of formal examinations.

7. to develop professional knowledge through the understanding of teachers' conceptualisations of subject learning and assessment and how these are manifested in pedagogical practice with specific reference to the development of understandings in Science and Maths, and academic literacy skills in Kiswahili and English.

8. to develop guidance for the Ministry of Education to establish and further develop a scheme for systematic collection and analyses of assessment data in order not only to improve the quality of the national curriculum assessment procedures (the key focus of this proposed study), but also to monitor the quality, effectiveness and equitable provision of its secondary education, drawing on findings from all five studies.

9. to connect with national policy development by providing high quality in-depth data. This will address the paucity of data currently available thereby enhancing understandings of facets of teaching and assessment (particularly in relation to language) that impact on learners' ability to demonstrate fully their subject knowledge and understandings.

10. to connect with MDG goals: valid and fair examining processes will provide a sound basis for decisions taken in respect of transition of students to the next phase of education or any future employment opportunities, thereby contributing to quality education in the domain of assessment and its potential impact on teaching and learning, as a key factor in the drive towards poverty alleviation.

African Community Access Programme (AFCAP)

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:49:00 GMT

Current AFCAP funds applied research to rural access problems, communicates the research outcomes to stakeholders, and supports the mainstreaming of the research results into practice. A six-month inception phase was completed in December; projects are now in operation or in planning in several sub-Saharan African countries.

Programme Goal: Sustained economic development, poverty reduction and improved livelihoods of the rural poor through more effective, efficient and equitable access to socio-economic opportunities (employment, healthcare, education, etc.).

Programme Purpose: To create sustainable access for rural communities to external opportunities and services (including health, education, employment, markets and social and political networks).

Best practice on Rural Roads Technology mainstreamed in Africa
Evidence of impact of appropriate rural road technology disseminated
Sustainable ownership mechanisms for construction and maintenance of local road systems
Knowledge and research capacity in Africa improved and key knowledge disseminated and adopted
Status of improving access to basic infrastructure for poor in Africa reviewed and further developed

AFCAP has made substantial progress in establishing a robust research programme for the rural transport sector in Africa. National co-ordinators have been appointed in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya, national steering groups have been identified, initial projects have been developed, and contractors for these projects are being procured.

Discussed with International Institute of Water and Environment Engineering of Ouagadougou University possible development of a short course for rural road engineering. There is potential to collaborate with KNUST in Ghana and the opportunity to offer course material across the French West African region.

Letters of Agreement have now been secured with the governments of Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya. AFCAP is supporting study tours for the Ethiopian Road Authority and a strategic planning workshop in Tanzania.

The contribution of post-basic education and training to poverty reduction: evidence from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:28:00 GMT

Current

For 25 years within the World Bank, and increasingly within other multilateral and bilateral agencies, education and particularly primary education have been held to have a powerful relationship with many other development outcomes, and, through these, with the reduction of poverty more generally. This primacy of primary education is symbolised in its position as a Millennium Development Goal (MDG), and hence within DFID as an element in their Public Service Agreement (PSA).

The present research builds directly on this foundation role for basic education, but extends it to examine in what ways and under what conditions post basic education and training (PBET) can also be expected to contribute to poverty reduction. It considers the extent to which PBET can provide skills and knowledge necessary for countries to develop capacity to reduce poverty and to ensure that the full benefits of basic education can be harnessed.

To synthesize state-of-the-art research on the potential contribution of post-basic education (secondary, tertiary and skills development) to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and poverty reduction.

Dissemination of project outputs will be promoted throughout the project's lifecycle, and beyond.
Outline the project ideas to an international meeting on capacity development in JICA, Tokyo.
Present the findings of the first data collection phase to the annual meeting of the Working Group on International Co-operation of Skills Development.
Use the Centre of African Studies Occasional Paper series to publicise findings from all the teams.
A special project meeting will be organised end-on to the major Oxford Conference to review a preliminary result from both phases and to feed selected papers into the main conference. Project dissemination will occur.
A special issue of Norrag News will be published (and aid policy bulletin) on the theme of learning capacity and poverty reduction.
Encourage submission of articles by junior team members to some of the following journals with which they are closely associated: Compare, IJED, Journal of Modern African Studies, BOLESWANA Educational Research Journal, African Affairs and NIEPA Journal.
At the end of the project, the main DFID report will be submitted and it is expected that the project would also feature as part of the DFID Education Papers.

Organisation of a special panel in the 2004 Conference of the Development Studies Association. This first paper was published, in 2005, in a special issue of the Journal of International Development supported by DFID, appropriately entitled 'Bridging Research and Policy'. Our DFID research chapter will also appear in the book of the same title to be published in the summer of 2006.
Six country studies were all completed in near to final draft by March 2005. It was possible for them all to be available as background papers, by the time of the Centre of African Studies' (CAS) International Conference in Edinburgh in April 2005. This CAS Conference was itself deliberately oriented around the key themes of the DFID project, and hence the published volume from the CAS conference, Revisiting Education, Training and Work in Africa (CAS October 2005) set the DFID research on five African countries within a larger African context.
Workshop (April 2005) with high level policy makers from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and India in order to get early feedback on the research from these senior members of the policy community.
The individual country studies were versioned into academic papers for the UKFIET's Oxford International Conference on Education and Development, September 2005. This panel was entitled 'Educating and Training out of Poverty', and thus was organised in large part around our DFID research theme. All the DFID country studies that were presented in Oxford were also accepted by the International Journal of Educational Development.
Country studies translated into short, sharp Policy Briefs. These are on the website (http://www.cas.ed.ac.uk/research_and_publications/projects/projects-2006.htm) along with the country studies and the academic versions of the papers. But packages containing the Policy Briefs, the Executive Summaries of our country studies and the country studies themselves have been sent to carefully selected policy makers in each of our research countries. The same package was also sent to the DFID advisors' meeting in Nairobi in early 2006.
It also proved possible for our DFID research to be fed into the main donor agencies concerned with the relationship of skills and poverty reduction. Both in the Working Group for International Cooperation in Skills Development and in the European Training Foundation in November and December of 2005 respectively, major presentations on Skills and Poverty Reduction were made at these agency meetings in Italy. While a little earlier in the year, the results of our DFID work were also presented to a meeting of all of USAID's education advisors in Washington.
The summaries of our six country studies along with many other articles on the Education-Poverty Reduction relationship have been a key element in the Aid Policy Bulletin, NORRAG NEWS NO. 37, which was published in May 2006.
A further opportunity to present the results of the research was in the biennial conference of the African Studies Association of the UK in SOAS in September 2006.
Final synthesis report

Religions and Development Research Programme Consortium (RaD)

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:14:00 GMT

Current Research will be based in comparative analysis of world faiths (especially Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, but also Buddhism, Sikhism and traditional belief systems) across Africa and Asia, with a focus on Nigeria, Tanzania, India and Pakistan. Select additional cases will enrich the research's international comparative dimensions. Engagement with international agencies, governments and non-governmental users, especially faith groups, at international, national and local levels, will drive the research, provide audiences for the findings and create opportunities for outputs to ease dialogue and collaboration.

Director: Professor Carole Rakodi Through interdisciplinary research, the RPC will develop the shared concepts and analytical tools currently lacked, in order to improve understanding of relationships between faiths and development. It will enable positive dialogue between development partners to facilitate achievement of development goals, especially the MDGs. Interconnected projects will generate new knowledge on·relationships between
* religious values and beliefs and development concepts and practices, including perceptions of well-being and attitudes to corruption;
*faiths, governance and development, for example in Poverty Reduction Strategy processes, post-conflict development and movements for social change;
*the involvement of religious organisations in development activities and the delivery of services such as education and health care;
*religious transnationalism and development

Power and Politics in Africa

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:16:00 GMT

Current There is growing recognition that in low-income Africa the way power is exercised needs to change if widespread poverty reduction is to be achieved. This is supported by a well established general analysis of African states. But existing knowledge is of limited practical use. It does not tell us which types of hybrid formal-informal power structures may be capable of providing "good enough governance" and which are irremediably anti-developmental. This knowledge is essential because developmental states have invariably emerged out of neopatrimonial ones, and within contemporary Africa there is significant variation in outcomes across places, times and institutional spheres. We hypothesise that there is scope for reforms that work "with the grain" of the prevailing (often corrupt) practices to mitigate their most negative consequences and harness unexpected strengths. We propose a systematic study of this issue, based on intensive case studies and linked survey work in a range of African countries. This is proposed as part of an integrated programme, combining 1) research, 2) research training, 3) organisational capacity strengthening, and 4) policy influence and policy development. The research will be carried out in a way that helps to create constituencies for the needed changes in thinking and practice

Crisis States Research Centre - Phase 2

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:59:00 GMT

Current Continuation of Phase 1 To examine and provide an understanding of processes of war, state collapse and reconstruction in fragile states, and to assess the long-term impact of international interventions in these processes. Ultimately, to advance understanding of the processes of state collapse that are at the heart of problems of insecurity and poverty. To examine and provide an understanding of processes of war, state collapse and reconstruction in fragile states and to assess the long-term impact of international interventions in these processes. Through rigorous comparative analysis of a carefully selected set of states and of cities, and sustained analysis of 'global and regional axes of conflict', to identify the symptoms of state collapse, why some fragile states collapse while others do not, and the ways that war affects future possibilities of state building. It is planned to distil the lessons learned from past experiences of state reconstruction to inform current policy thinking and planning.