Talking into account food and nutrition security in the measurement and assessment of human development

Human Development Index (HDI) has become a very useful tool for measuring development and making inter-country comparisons. The observation of its trajectory and evolution by country arouses the curiosity of students of development and invites them to question the underlying causes of the behaviour of the index. In order to provide answers to such questions the Human Development Report complements the HDI by offering varied, valuable and relevant statistical information related with every dimensions of human development. From its very beginning, experts have debated about the strengths and weaknesses of the report and have acknowledged a need to include new indicators in the measurement of human development. It is in this context that Mahbub ul Haq, the creator of the Human Development Reports said: “Here we have a broad framework; if you want something to be included in this list, which may deserve a table in the Human Development Report tell us what, and explain why it must figure in this accounting. We will listen”. As a response to this demand, this paper proposes the inclusion of food security in the measurement of human development, as well-being can only be achieved when there is not food insecurity

Las cooperativas y los países en desarrollo.

Asistimos a una crisis global que cuestiona la eficacia de los modelos de cooperación al desarrollo que, en general, están marcados por una separación entre los gestores de la cooperación y los beneficiarios de ayudas. Se da una cierta «profesionalización» de donante y de receptor que contribuye a enquistar los problemas estructurales que constituyen la raíz de los mismos. Valorando los éxitos alcanzados a escala mundial en las décadas pasadas, que han logrado sacar de la pobreza extrema a grandes masas de la población mundial, se hace necesario un nuevo enfoque para la gestión del desarrollo, que ponga el acento en las personas y que favorezca la colaboración estrecha entre donantes y beneficiarios, rompiendo con la dualidad de funciones de los modelos clásicos de cooperación al desarrollo. En este artículo se pone de manifiesto que el modelo cooperativo cumple perfectamente con los principios de lo que podemos llamar nuevos planteamientos de cooperación al desarrollo, que ponen el énfasis en el enfoque territorial de las iniciativas. El modelo cooperativo requiere, por principio, de la participación de todas las personas involucradas en la iniciativa empresarial y añade además unos valores de respeto y cuidado que son necesarios y parte esencial de los modelos de desarrollo basados en el territorio y que se muestran a través de algunos ejemplos

Counting, scoring and classifying hunger to allocate resources targeted to solve the problem

A proper allocation of resources targeted to solve hunger is essential to optimize the efficacy of actions and maximize results. This requires an adequate measurement and formulation of the problem as, paraphrasing Einstein, the formulation of a problem is essential to reach a solution. Different measurement methods have been designed to count, score, classify and compare hunger at local level and to allow comparisons between different places. However, the alternative methods produce significantly reach different results. These discrepancies make decisions on the targeting of resource allocations difficult. To assist decision makers, a new method taking into account the dimension of hunger and the coping capacities of countries, is proposed enabling to establish both geographical and sectoral priorities for the allocation of resources

¿Por qué se decide no emigrar? Un estudio de partida para el diseño de programas de desarrollo rural en la provincia de Cuenca

Uno de los objetivos de las estrategias de desarrollo rural es frenar el proceso de despoblamiento ya que la baja densidad de población va unida a un descenso en la cantidad y calidad de los servicios sociales. Por ello, son muchos los estudios que intentan identificar las causas de las migraciones en una u otra dirección, pero no existen estudios que se hayan preocupado por identificar las razones por las que determinadas personas actúan ?contracorriente? y deciden permanecer en el medio rural. Con esta perspectiva, se ha realizado un estudio en la provincia de Cuenca en el que se analizan casos individuales de personas menores de cuarenta años que han elegido el medio rural como marco de vida. El ?apego al pueblo? se revela como el principal factor determinante para que un joven decida quedarse a vivir en su pueblo

Towards RAI Principles: Four case studies to apply them

The Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (RAI) aproved by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in October 2014, aim to contribute to food security and nutrition and to the improvement of sustainable livelihoods for small producers, with a comprehensive, responsible and respect for the environment approach, thus, supporting the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. With the aim of making known the RAI Principles, FAO commissioned GESPLAN Research Group of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) to carry out workshops and conferences with different approaches: territorial research workshops in two selected disadvantaged communities in Latin America and conferences for dialogue, reflection and discussion with business leaders, academics and civil society actors linked to agro-food systems in Spain

Efecto de la territorialidad en la identidad andina: caso Ecuador

This study analyze the impact of territoriality on the identity of the population and its endogenous development, especially in terms of the productive model, the generation of knowledge and the protagonism of the members of the autochthonous groups. Within the Ecuadorian context, the cases of the Credit Program of the Cayambe Farm House located in the northern highlands and the Community Development Project of the Waranka town of Salinas in the province of Guaranda located in the central highlands are analyzed, both experiences have achieved processes of endogenous development with the methodology based on the dimensions of territoriality: historical, cultural and organizational-community. The results show that in effect, there is the influence of territoriality on the identity and development of the community

Gestión y prioridades geográficas por sectores en Manabí para mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y desarrollo

La inadecuada gestión de recursos financieros y económicos para disminuir la vulnerabilidad de la Seguridad Alimentaria en las zonas geográficas manabitas, es una de las prioridades a ser tratadas por autoridades de niños sub-nutridos, para distribuir estos recursos, existe una insuficiente capacidad de gestión local. La Seguridad Alimentaria es un fenómeno complejo y multidimensional; la metodología utilizada es de tipo descriptivo, comparativo y correlacional, con variables planteadas en trabajos de Smith/ Haddad 2000 y UNICEF 1990, cuyos factores principales son: alimentos, ingresos, infraestructura, agua, saneamiento, salud y educación. El objetivo principal es establecer las prioridades de actuación para mejorar el estado nutricional y promover el desarrollo de Manabí. Se ha medido factores determinantes de la vulnerabilidad cantonal, la gravedad del problema de cuánta gente la padece y su capacidad de respuesta. Para resolverlo se plantea una adecuada gestión de prioridades geográficas y sectoriales, principalmente de recursos financieros de las instituciones competentes.  Palabras  clave:  Gasto  público,  desarrollo  humano,  política  pública,  políticas  de planificación, desarrollo.  &nbsp

Approaches Regarding the Competition in Romanian Sugar Market

This paper proposes an economic instrument designed to assess the competitive nature of the sugar industry in Romania. In the first part of the paper is presented the theoretical background underlying index (HHI) and its calculation methodology. Then comes the results of a first application of this index for a total of 10 plants in the sugar industry, the robustness of these results is discussed. We believe HHI is a proactive tool that may prove useful competition authority, in its pursuit of continuous monitoring of various industries in the economy and in the internal decision-making on resource allocation institution (Peacock, and Prisecaru, 2013).The starting point of our research is to free competition in the European market with competitors much stronger than Romanian plants, plants that produce at a price lower than the domestic ones. In our study we will see if it is a concentration of production in factories around the strongest in Romania, concentration accompanied by the collapse of those who could not resist the market.The market concentration, competition policy, we will follow using the HHI index, for evaluation of impact analysis on existing trade, the number and size of competitors, protecting existing sales structures, avoiding disruptions in the competitive environment, etc

Planning and community development: case studies

Planning and Comunity Development: Case Studies, presents the findings of the inter-university Seminar held on 28?29 July 2011 and organized by researchers from the Technical University of Madrid and the University of California, Berkeley, who were fortunate to have the presence of the renowned Professor John Friedmann. Professors, researchers and PhD students from our research groups presented their works as scientific communications that were enriched by the debate among the different researches who attended the Seminar. All of them appear in the picture below in front of the gate of Haviland Hall at UC Berkeley. This book analyses the concept of planning and its evolution so far, leading to the conceptualization of governance as an expression of the planning practice. It also studies the role of social capital and cooperation as tools for the community development. The conceptual analysis is complemented by the development of six case studies that put forward experiences of planning and community development carried out in diverse social and cultural contexts of Latin-America, Europe and North America. This publication comes after more than 20 years of work of the researchers that met at the seminar. Through their work in managing development initiatives, they have learned lessons and have contribute to shape their own body of teaching that develops and analyses the role of planning in public domain to promote community development. This knowledge is synthesized in the model Planning as Working With People, that shows that development is not effective unless is promoted in continuous collaboration with all the actors involved in the process