Goodbye to Projects? ¿ A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) in Uganda

Approaches to projects and development have undergone considerable change in the last decade with significant policy shifts on governance, gender, poverty eradication, and environmental issues. Most recently this has led to the adoption and promotion of the sustainable livelihood (SL) approach. The adoption of the SL approach presents challenges to development interventions including: the future of projects and programmes, and sector wide approaches (SWAPs) and direct budgetary support.This paper `A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture in Uganda¿ is the fourteenth in the series of project working papers.Department for International Developmen

`ICT Policy` for ICT service management - role of business organizations in national reforms agenda for services sector

Several governments around the world have made significant endeavours and allegiances to deliver new National Reforms Agenda (NRA) in order to drive sustained prosperity for their citizens e.g. the cases of Australian, Georgia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) governments etc. In general, the rationale for transformation in NRA has been manifold such as: (a) healthier and more active the population, the stronger the economy; (b) the more skilled the population, the higher the productivity; (c) the greater the degree of social inclusion, the greater the workforce/stakeholder participation and (b) improving individual government’s investment climate and strengthening democratic and political institutions. Notwithstanding, in the present and coming decades nationals of different countries around the world are (to a greater extent due to the credit crunch) and further will be facing immense challenges, due to mounting competitiveness in the global economy. Some governments are highly aware of the magnitude and complexity of these challenges. Nevertheless, resolving these challenges is not merely within the jurisdiction of the national government – success will essentially hinge on a collaborative working relationship within all levels of governments (e.g. local, national, central) and business/trading stakeholders. As a result of this collaboration, formulating and consigning prosperity to citizens. The research carried out in this paper strives to exemplify the objectives of the national reforms in general. In addition, structural change of the reformation policy is presented to the business organisations for the purpose of enabling them by focusing on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based participation and productivity in service management

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

The purpose of the Sourcebook is to act as a guide for practitioners and technical staff in addressing gender issues and integrating gender-responsive actions in the design and implementation of agricultural projects and programs. It speaks not with gender specialists on how to improve their skills but rather reaches out to technical experts to guide them in thinking through how to integrate gender dimensions into their operations. The Sourcebook aims to deliver practical advice, guidelines, principles, and descriptions and illustrations of approaches that have worked so far to achieve the goal of effective gender mainstreaming in the agricultural operations of development agencies. It captures and expands the main messages of the World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development and is considered an important tool to facilitate the operationalization and implementation of the report's key principles on gender equality and women's empowerment

Future directions in urban design as public policy: reassessing best practice principles for design review and development management

his paper reassesses John Punter's ‘Best Practice Principles for Design Review and Development Management’ that were published in this journal in 2007. Placing a focused lens on British and North American practice, the paper argues that design control and review has been profoundly reshaped since 2007 by three contributing factors: the challenges associated with climate change, the growing role that communities can play in local decision making, and the impacts of the global economic crisis upon public sector finances and property development. In light of these trends, the paper uses a review of recent literature and design practices to argue for a series of amendments to the best practice principles. These focus on: (1) the potential for design control and review to be more fully informed by ecological design theory and practice; (2) the need for more rigorous multi-stakeholder collaboration in the design decision-making process; and (3) the opportunity for urban designers to become more competent ‘market actors’ with the necessary abilities to confidently shape property development decisions

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

Gender Aware Approaches in Agricultural Programmes: International Literature Review

This document presents gender aware approaches in agricultural programmes. In response to the persistent inequalities of women in farming despite decades of development assistance, Team Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security at Sida headquarters has initiated a thematic evaluation of how gender issues are tackled in Sida-supported agricultural programmes. The purpose is to increase understanding of how Sida's development assistance in agriculture should be designed, implemented and funded to ensure that female farmers are reached, that their needs as producers are met, and that they are able to benefit from the support to achieve a positive impact on their livelihoods. As part of this, the study also aims to understand the ways in which particular aid modalities impact upon the ability of programmes to reach women farmers effectively. The ILR aims to address the following questions: * Which methodologies and instruments have been used by donors to widen the scope of women's agency in agricultural development programmes? * To what extent has the work of programmes on involving female farmers impacted upon overall agricultural outcomes? * What are the most important lessons? What is working well and what is working not so well (effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability)? Below are recommendations to increase understanding of how Sida's development assistance in agriculture should be designed, implemented and funded to ensure that female farmers are reached, that their needs as producers are met, and that they are able to benefit from the support to achieve a positive impact on their livelihoods

Social Effectiveness of Tertiary Education for Adults in Mid-life

No abstract available

Market-based Approaches to Environmental Management: A Review of Lessons from Payment for Environmental Services in Asia

Market-based approaches to environmental management, such as payment for environmental services (PES), have attracted unprecedented attention during the past decade. PES policies, in particular, have emerged to realign private and social benefits such as internalizing ecological externalities and diversifying sources of conservation funding as well as making conservation an attractive land-use paradigm. In this paper, we review several case studies from Asia on payment for environmental services to understand how landowners decide to participate in PES schemes. The analysis demonstrates the significance of four major elements facilitating the adoption and implementation of PES schemes: property rights and tenure security, transaction costs, household and community characteristics, communications, and the availability of PES-related information. PES schemes should target win-win options through intervention in these areas, aimed at maintaining the provision of ecological services and improving the conditions for local inhabitants

Investing in Sustainable Energy Futures: Multilateral Development Banks' Investments in Energy Policy

Analyzes MDB loans for electricity projects and lays out policy reforms, regulations, and institutional capacities needed to enable public and private investment in sustainable energy and ways for MDBs to address them consistently and comprehensively