Water in the Green Economy: Capacity Development Aspects

This book discusses needs related to capacity development for water resources management, including water supply and sanitation, in the context of the green economy. It showcases theoretical and practical approaches with proven success. Most contributions come from members and partners within the interagency mechanism, UN-Water. The 11 case studies in this book range from innovative design and delivery of capacity development programs related to water in the green economy, market mechanisms, and quality control procedures supporting capacity development success towards the practical implementation of programs to enhance individual and institutional capacity

International Energy Technology Transfersfor Climate Change Mitigation - What, who, how, why, when, where, how much … and the Implications for International Institutional Architecture

The goal of the paper is to expand and refine the international technology transfer negotiating and analytic agendas and to reframe the issues. The paper presents concepts, indicators, illustrations and data that identify and measure international transfers of energy technologies that can be used to mitigate climate change. Among the questions on that agenda are how much technology transfer there has been to date, and how much will be needed in the future, especially to assist non-Annex I developing countries in their efforts to mitigate climate change. Before the how much questions can be answered, however, there are several prior questions, and hence the many other elements of the subtitle of the paper: what, who, how, why, when, where. These aspects of international technology transfer vary significantly among three existing institutional settings and among the associated analytic paradigms: North-South Official Development Assistance, Global Private International Investment and Trade, and International Public-Private Cooperation Agreements. The principal sections of the paper focus on features of international technology transfers in these institutional settings and on illustrations drawn from the biodiesel industry, especially the use of jatropha tree as the source of the feedstock. The conclusions are summarized as follows: (i) Technologies include intangible know-how and services, as well as tangible goods in the form of production process equipment and finished products. (ii) International transfers of some types of technology are much easier to measure than others. (iii) International technology transfers are highly industry-specific. (iv) Even for individual industries, it is necessary to use multiple indicators of technology transfers. (v) Patterns in the types of technology and methods of transfer vary across the three institutional settings examined in the paper. (vi) All three of the institutional arrangements are probably under-performing and inadequa

Activity theoretical view on crop rotation planning in organic vegetable farming

Crop rotation is an essential basis of an organic farming system. An activity theoretical concept of object shall be used in examining planning processes of crop rotations. Farmers' object construction means their creating and maintaining the social meaning and purpose of the material farming activity. I shall assume the farmers´ object construction in planning crop rotations to reflect their overall object in organic vegetable farming. First, this paper examines theoretically the object in organic vegetable farming by devising a framework of different types of object constructions. Second, two farms with organic vegetable production will be described, and the farmers´ objects will be shown in the light of the histories of the farms. This will show that the different types of objects have not evolved at random. Third, the dynamic movement of the object construction in the crop rotation planning processes is explored. The results will show that the farmers´ object, although historically understood, is not fixed. On the contrary, the object is in a constant move and even contradictory

Health promotion research: dilemmas and challenges

OBJECTIVE—To analyse dilemmas and challenges in health promotion research, and to generate ideas for future development.
METHOD—The analysis is based on authors' experiences in working in the field of research and action in health promotion and on experiences of others as found in literature.
RESULTS—The assumptions underlying scientific research as based in the biomedical design are difficult to meet in community-based health promotion research. Dilemmas are identified in relation to the possibility of defining the independent and dependent variables beforehand and the intermingling of these variables (the intervention and outcome dilemma), the difficulty in quantifying the desired outcomes (the number dilemma), and the problem of diffusion of the programme to the control group (the control group dilemma).
CONCLUSION—Research in health promotion has specific reasons to reconsider the approach towards research, the selection of outcome variables, and research techniques. Strategies and methods to make activities and their outcomes clear are discussed and criteria to judge confidence and applicability of research findings are presented.


Keywords: health promotion research; research dilemmas; research challenge

AFRICA'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS: BUILDING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEMS

This paper addresses four questions: · What lessons can be drawn from the "rise and decline" of NARS in Africa? · What can African research managers learn from some of the successful reforms of NARS in Asia and Latin America over the past 10 to 15 years? · What are the major challenges facing the NARS in the ASARECA region in the coming 10-20 years? · What are the critical reforms and the incentives needed to develop pluralistic, accountable, productive and financially self-sustaining NARS in AFRICA?Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE KEY DRIVERS OF COMPETITIVENESS

Under an institutional and organizational collapsed environment caused by Argentine cracked economical and political situation, farmers and producers are forced to add value through technological innovation designs in order to be competitive at the international market. Food safety and Quality Assurance systems appear as key drivers of competitiveness. Three emerging models are comparatively analyzed, evaluating real agribusiness that are developing HACCP, Quality & Origin Protocol and ISO 9001 Quality Management. As a result, the different level of success and impact of those agribusinesses immersed in the aforementioned external constraints and no less precarious internal limitations based on cultural, technological and financial limitations are uncertain and variable.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

How to make agricultural extension demand-driven?: The case of India's agricultural extension policy

"Many countries have recognized the need to revive agricultural advisory or extension services (the terms are used interchangeably here) as a means of using agriculture as an engine of pro-poor growth; reaching marginalized, poor, and female farmers; and addressing new challenges, such as environmental degradation and climate change. In spite of ample experience with extension reform worldwide, identifying the reform options most likely to make extension more demand-driven remains a major challenge. The concept of demand-driven services implies making extension more responsive to the needs of all farmers, including women and those who are poor and marginalized. It also implies making extension more accountable to farmers and, as a consequence, more effective. This essay discusses various options for providing and financing agricultural advisory services, which involve the public and private sectors as well as a third sector comprising nongovernmental organizations and farmer-based organizations. We review the market and state failures, and the “community” failures (failures of non-governmental and farmer-based organizations) inherent in existing models of providing and financing agricultural extension services and then outline strategies to address those failures and make extension demand-driven. Then we examine India's Policy Framework for Agricultural Extension, which has demand-driven extension as one of its major objectives, and review available survey information on the state of extension in India. We conclude that although the framework proposes a wide range of strategies to make agricultural extension demand-driven, it is less specific in addressing the challenges inherent in those strategies. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the strategies proposed in the framework will be able to address one of the major problems identified by farm household surveys: access to agricultural extension." from Authors' AbstractDemand-driven agricultural advisory services, Extension reform, Agricultural extension work, Agricultural policy, Pro-poor growth, Farmers, Environmental degradation, Climate change, Public-private sector cooperation, Non-governmental organizations,

KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY AND INNOVATIONS AS FACTORS OF AGRARIAN COMPETITIVENESS

Today, more than ever, development of agriculture leans on science research results and their practical application. Research in the field of agriculture is conducted by large network of public institutions, institutes and universities are mostly directed toward improvement of production. Economical research, at the level of husbandry, market analysis, or analysis and estimations of economic policy is poorly developed. Profitability of agriculture and food industry should be improved and supported by adequate research and application of gained results. Experience acquired in research and education systems of post-communist countries can help these countries change their economy towards knowledge, innovations and new technologies. But, in spite of great number of research workers and successful education system inherited from the communist period, it would be difficult for countries that were part of East Block to turn these potential advantages into commercially successful innovations unless universities and research institutions cooperate closely with private sector, what implies restructuring research system towards adjustment to agro-economy needs.Agro-economy, Cooperation, Performances, Competitiveness, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, Labor and Human Capital,