Small-scale energy systems on a large-scale in developing countries

This paper reviews the barriers to large-scale use of small-scale energy systems. It places the review in the context of the size of the challenge both in terms of the numbers of people who still need access to modern energy carriers and in the levels of finance to provide this access. It concludes that the main problems related to access are not technical but are motivational, financial and institutions. The paper provides examples from around the world as to how these issues have been addresse

All that Glitters: A Review of Payments for Watershed Services in Developing Countries

This report reviews the current status of payments for watershed services in developing countries. It highlights the main trends in the evolution of these schemes, synthesising the available evidence on their environmental and social impacts, and drawing lessons for the design of future initiatives. The interest in payments for watershed services (PWS) as a tool for watershed management in developing countries is growing, despite major setbacks. This review identified 50 ongoing schemes, 8 advanced proposals and 37 preliminary proposals for PWS. A previous review published by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on markets and payments for environmental services (Silver Bullet or Fools' Gold? (Landell-Mills and Porras 2002)) identified just 41 proposed and ongoing PWS schemes in developing countries, which suggests a considerable growth in interest in this approach

The global information technology report 2014

Executive summary When The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) and the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) were created more than 13 years ago, the attention of decision makers was focused on how to develop strategies that would allow them to benefit from what Time Magazine had described as “the new economy”: a new way of organizing and managing economic activity based on the new opportunities that the Internet provided for businesses. At present, the world is slowly emerging from one of the worst financial and economic crises in decades, and policymakers, business leaders, and civil society are looking into new opportunities that can consolidate growth, generate new employment, and create business opportunities. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) continue to rank high on the list as one of the key sources of new opportunities to foster innovation and boost economic and social prosperity, for both advanced and emerging economies. For more than 13 years, the NRI has provided decision makers with a useful conceptual framework to evaluate the impact of ICTs at a global level and to benchmark the ICT readiness and usage of their economies

The right to health as the basis for universal health coverage : a cross-national analysis of national medicines policies of 71 countries

Persistent barriers to universal access to medicines are limited social protection in the event of illness, inadequate financing for essential medicines, frequent stock-outs in the public sector, and high prices in the private sector. We argue that greater coherence between human rights law, national medicines policies, and universal health coverage schemes can address these barriers. We present a cross-national content analysis of national medicines policies from 71 countries published between 1990-2016. The World Health Organization's ( WHO) 2001 guidelines for developing and implementing a national medicines policy and all 71 national medicines policies were assessed on 12 principles, linking a health systems approach to essential medicines with international human rights law for medicines affordability and financing for vulnerable groups. National medicines policies most frequently contain measures for medicines selection and efficient spending/cost-effectiveness. Four principles ( legal right to health; government financing; efficient spending; and financial protection of vulnerable populations) are significantly stronger in national medicines policies published after 2004 than before. Six principles have remained weak or absent: pooling user contributions, international cooperation, and four principles for good governance. Overall, South Africa ( 1996), Indonesia and South Sudan ( 2006), Philippines ( 2011-2016), Malaysia ( 2012), Somalia ( 2013), Afghanistan ( 2014), and Uganda ( 2015) include the most relevant texts and can be used as models for other settings. We conclude that WHO's 2001 guidelines have guided the content and language of many subsequent national medicines policies. WHO and national policy makers can use these principles and the practical examples identified in our study to further align national medicines policies with human rights law and with Target 3.8 for universal access to essential medicines in the Sustainable Development Goals

Climbing the water ladder: multiple-use water services for poverty reduction

Multiple use / Models / Water productivity / Research projects / Water supply / Domestic water / Irrigation water / Water governance / Poverty / Gender / Rural areas / Wells / Water harvesting / Runoff / Water storage / Water purification / Appropriate technology / Costs / Local government / Non governmental organizations / Case studies / Ehiopia / Nepal / Zimbabwe / Bolivia / India / Colombia / Thailand / South Africa

Free and open source GIS in South America: political inroads and local advocacy

Geographical information systems (GIS) practitioners worldwide enjoy a growing array of free and open source software (FOSS) options. This software has expanded the accessibility of GIS in economically developing countries while fostering local technical expertise. This article reviews FOSS GIS uptake and advocacy in South America, especially how it relates to a climate of political friendliness toward FOSS in the region. The use or absence of FOSS GIS is assessed in public-facing web maps in South America, first at the national government level, and then at the provincial level using Argentina as a country of study. Local technical support groups and software development initiatives surrounding FOSS GIS in South America are then summarized. Finally, three case studies are presented of notable efforts to build FOSS GIS technical communities at the local level: the FOSSGIS Brasil online magazine, the Geoinquietos Argentina professional network, and the FOSS.4GIS.GOV conference in Brazil. A study of the leaders, dynamics, and practices of these groups can inform others in similar circumstances around the world who are trying to promote FOSS GIS adoption, development, skills, and services

Women, WASH, and the Water for Life Decade

From childbirth to education to domestic responsibilities to dignity and safety, access to water and sanitation affect women and girls more than men and boys. This report details recommendations for policy and global practice that will empower women and water-related projects

Scaling land and water technologies in Tanzania: Opportunities, challenges and policy implications

The scaling of land and water technologies has widely increased across different parts of the world; and is recognized as important for ecological systems. These technologies contribute to sustainable management of watersheds on which agriculture, food production and rural livelihoods for most developing communities depend upon. There are ongoing efforts designed to halt land degradation in the Western Usambara which have arisen from pressure on land resources mainly caused by demographic growth, deforestation and the abandoning of the traditional regenerative land use and farming systems. Socio-cultural and economic factors such as education level, age, gender, and land tenure, marital status and income earnings of smallholder farmers are factors considered important in the adoption of land and water management practices. Environmental factors were also identified as limiting factors to smallholder farmers in soil-water management practices. Such factors involved physical distance, slope, type of crops grown and farm sizes. Insecure land tenure especially among women limits their adoption of the technologies. Technological complexity of the technology (farmers prefer technology that are less complex and easier to use), preference for less labor intensive technology, required capital, land ownership (less adoption in new technology on hired/leased land), approach of introducing the technology (preference of participatory bottom up approach), and motivation and the involvement of farmers from conceptualization to implementation are factors that impact adoption of technologies between farmers. Unsustainable cultivation in catchments and destruction of water sources in Tanzania is limiting the flow of water on which some of water use technologies directly depend. In some areas where farmers and pastoralists co-exist, conflicts always arise from grazing on farmland, with destruction to water infrastructure. In recognition of the need for sustainable management of land and water, and the increasing conflicts over use of resources by different sectors, Tanzania has enacted several policies. The irrigation policy calls for the improvement of irrigation water use efficiency and effectiveness by promoting closed conduit systems and high efficiency methods such as drip irrigation and promotion of efficient water utilization technologies such as the System of Rice Intensification. There is need for harmonization and linkage of land and water management and the policies to avoid conflicts. Whereas for example the customary land law recognizes the right to land entailing some resources therewith, the water law does not recognize such customary right by granting the ownership right to water by the owner of land on which the water resource is found. There is need for adequate mechanisms for enforcing policies, regulations and by-laws. Local water governance institutions such as water user associations are important for sustainable scaling of land and water technologies. Horizontal and vertical scaling of the land and water technologies depends on factors such as facilitation of registration of water user associations and empowering them; implementing projects based on actual ground conditions for ease of adoption by communities; and involvement of the local government. Strengthening linkages between relevant institutions and their respective roles and responsibilities also require to be clearly defined. Promotion of land and water technologies should not be gender-blind but rather ensure participation of women and youth in the training and implementation. An integrated systems approach is needed to address the multi-faceted challenges in sustainable land and water management, and a focus on the entire value chain activities; from input supply to output market

Climate services and insurance: scaling climate smart agriculture

One of the main challenges of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is finding ways to promote the adoption at scale (Editor’s note: 'scaling', 'at scale' or 'to scale' are used throughout this article to mean ‘scaling-out’) of CSA practices and technologies. Climate services and insurance can constitute a tool to scale CSA by providing an enabling environment that can support the adoption of CSA practices while protecting against the impacts of climate extremes. By using a definition of climate services which includes the production, translation, transfer, and use of climate knowledge and information in climate-informed decision-making and climatesmart policy and planning, this paper aims to discuss how climate services and insurance can bring CSA to scale. Three case studies are presented. It is recognised that understanding the knowledge networks through which information flows, and affects the use of climate information, is critical for promoting CSA at scale