The web: a thing of the past, or here to stay?

How relevant and useful are web tools for ICT4Ag today? Are they on their way out, or on the contrary, is the web a nucleus from which other channels spread

Opportunities for private sector participation in agricultural water development and management

Irrigation management / Private sector / Public sector / Public policy / Private investment / Participatory management / Privatization / Financing / Farmers / Households / Water harvesting / Africa South of Sahara

Tanzania ICT sector performance review, 2009/2010

The general public lacks awareness on developments in the telecommunication sector. There is need for education regarding the telecom sector, particularly on availability of broadband communication facilities, and how these developments can be used to harness and enhance economic development. Research and Development (R&D) activities are limited, while telecommunications usage data and statistics are not regularly collected, making it difficult to establish or predict trends without carrying out extensive research. The telecommunications regulatory environment survey was aimed at gaining general perceptions of sector stakeholders on regulation of the sector operations

Tracing the emergence and deployment of the 'integrated water resources management' paradigm

The unequal distribution of water quantity and quality in space and time severely burdens the livelihoods of billions of people on this planet, the vast majority living in developing countries. ‘Integrated Water Resources Management’ (IWRM) is a normative policy paradigm that holds the promise of a holistic management of this unfair distribution. In two decades time the paradigm has gained an apparently hegemonic status in the network of water development actors worldwide. The article traces the emergence of the IWRM paradigm in the network of development actors and describes its deployment in Mali. Both the governmental and non-governmental pathway of deployment in Mali are accounted for. Harnessing Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as descriptive tool, the article describes how actors create alliances in support of the paradigm, including academics, multi-lateral agencies, non-governmental organizations, and actors in Mali’s water sector. ANT is helpful in showing that the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of the development paradigm depends on the strength of the alliance, not the strength of the paradigm. It shows how policy making and practice are actively geared one to the other