Qualitative Impact Study of Credit With Education in Burkina Faso

The objective of this qualitative study is to investigate and document program ef­fects for participants and program communi­ties after two years of activities. Three com­munities were visited for approximately one week each, and an attempt was made to in­terview all current members of the Credit Association in each village as well as com­munity leaders and other nonparticipants

Innovations in Compassion - The Faith-Based and Community Initiative: A Final Report to the Armies of Compassion

[Excerpt] This Final Report to the Armies of Compassion prepared by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives offers an account of President Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI or Initiative) to the dedicated faith-based and other community organizations (FBCOs) that have joined in the battles against poverty, disease, and other social ills. The report emphasizes what matters most about the FBCI: measurable results achieved for millions in need across America and around the world through vibrant partnerships with the “armies of compassion” – the thousands of FBCOs that have partnered with government to serve their neighbors in need. It also offers a look at key government reforms and innovations that made these results possible. The report finishes with a glimpse toward the future of the FBCI and the foundation upon which the next generation of government and community leaders can build to achieve even greater good in the decades to come. Changing Lives highlights twelve areas of critical human need that have been particularly affected through expanded Federal partnerships with faith-based and other frontline nonprofits. The chapter highlights key results across these wide-ranging areas of need and stories revealing the deeper impact of the FBCI for individual organizations and the people they serve. Transforming Government explains how reforms led by the FBCI have secured a level playing field for faith-based organizations and reduced barriers to help small FBCOs or those new to partnering with government compete for Federal funds. The chapter also highlights some of the innovative funding models advanced by the FBCI that enable more effective partnerships between government and grassroots nonprofits, such as vouchers, mini-grants, and intermediary model grants. Strengthening Partners describes the Initiative’s diverse methods for building the capabilities of nonprofit organizations and the social entrepreneurs who lead them. These efforts range from technology-based instruction and in-person training events to the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in capacity- building and technical assistance grants. Volunteerism and Private Giving highlights President Bush’s efforts to expand volunteer service and private financial support for America’s FBCOs. Taking Root in States and Cities reveals how the principles of the FBCI are being replicated outside of Washington. Governors and mayors across America are embracing the vision championed by the FBCI as a practical way to engage the toughest challenges faced by their communities. These “laboratories of innovation” will play a key role in the future of the FBCI

Shaping globalization for poverty alleviation and food security:

CONTENTS: Brief 1. Introduction / Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla and Sherman Robinson Brief 2. The Nature of Disagreements / Ravi Kanbur Brief 3. Growth and Poverty / Manohar Sharma, Sam Morley, and Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla Brief 4. Trade and Food Security / Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla and Marcelle Thomas Brief 5. Nutrition / Julie Babinard and Per Pinstrup-Andersen Brief 6. High-Value Agriculture / Christopher Delgado, Nicholas Minot, and Nikolas Wada Brief 7. Food Safety and Food Quality / Laurian J. Unnevehr Brief 8. Technological Change / Peter B. R. Hazell Brief 9. Intellectual Property Rights and Agricultural R&D / Philip G. Pardey and Brian D. Wright Brief 10. Environment / Stanley Wood Brief 11. Democracy and Civil Society / Marzia Fontana and Yukitsugu Yanoma Brief 12. Conflict and Food Insecurity / Ellen Messer and Marc J. Cohen Brief 13. Governments and Public Policy / Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla and Sherman RobinsonNutrition., Intellectual property., Conflict management., Food security., Poverty alleviation., Afghanistan., Globalization,

Sounds of the jungle: Re-humanizing the migrant

This article examines the cross-border tensions over migrant settlements dubbed ‘The Jungle’ in Calais. The Jungle, strongly associated with the unauthorized movement of migrants, became a physical entity enmeshed in discourses of illegality and violation of white suburbia. British mainstream media have either rendered the migrant voiceless or faceless, appropriating them into discourses of immigration policy and the violent transgression of borders. Through the case study, Calais Migrant Solidarity (CMS), we highlight how new media spaces can re-humanize the migrant, enabling them to tell their stories through narratives, images and vantage points not shown in the mainstream media. This reconstruction of the migrant is an important device in enabling proximity and reconstituting the migrant as real and human. This sharply contrasts with the distance framing techniques of mainstream media, which dehumanize and silence the migrant, locating the phenomenon of migration as a disruptive contaminant in civilized and ordered societies

From Seers to Sen: The Meaning of Economic Development

inequality, poverty, employment, growth, neoclassicism, entitlement, famine

Thinking Outside of the Cereal Box: Breeding Underutilized (Pseudo)Cereals for Improved Human Nutrition.

Cereal grains have historically played a critical role in sustaining the caloric needs of the human population. The major cereal crops, wheat, rice, and maize, are widely cultivated and have been subjected to biofortification to enhance the vitamin and mineral nutrient content of grains. In contrast, grains of several other cereals as well as non-grass pseudocereals are naturally rich in micronutrients, but have yet to be explored for broad-scale cultivation and consumption. This mini review focuses on the micronutrient and phytochemical profiles of a few emerging (pseudo)cereals and examines the current constraints of their integration into the global food system. Prospects of leveraging whole genome sequence information and modern breeding technologies to promote the breeding and accessibility of these crops are also discussed

Modernizing peasants and 'master farmers': all-India crop competitions and the politics of progressive agriculture in early independent India

In the years following independence, looking toward agricultural self-sufficiency, India's national leadership sought to identify cultivators endowed with the daring, grit, and experimental character needed to actualize the promise of plenty. Drawing on Western modernization theory and the idioms of colonial and nationalist economics, India's bureaucrats and politicians contrasted the nation's “progressive farmers” with the passivity and superstition alleged to be characteristic of the majority of peasants, establishing crop competitions and the title of Krishi Pandit—“master farmer”—to reward and trumpet these qualities. Yet the progressive farmers winning these titles were not the agrarian poor, but rather an ascendant, self-cultivating peasantry armed with the capital and connections needed to raise their yields. In a subsequent era of egalitarian reform, exemplified in the Community Development Program, these same progressive farmers continued to bag awards but bucked planners' expectations that they would serve as natural leaders in villages. As these producers mobilized politically, and India's bureaucrats and politicians moved toward the Green Revolution consensus that agricultural productivity would require an inequitable concentration of inputs, progressive farmers emerged as “bullock capitalists,” a demand group that would transform national politics but do little for the aims of equity and rural development.Accepted manuscrip

Global Innovations in Measurement and Evaluation

We researched the latest developments in theory and practice in measurement and evaluation. And we found that new thinking, techniques, and technology are influencing and improving practice. This report highlights 8 developments that we think have the greatest potential to improve evaluation and programme design, and the careful collection and use of data. In it, we seek to inform and inspire—to celebrate what is possible, and encourage wider application of these ideas