Is Food Security Targeting Possible in Sub?Saharan Africa? Evidence from North Sudan

Summary Targeting food security interventions in sub?Saharan Africa presents special difficulties and has rarely been successful. A case study of Darfur in Western Sudan shows that targeting can be improved. The key is to focus not just on safeguarding current income and food consumption, but also on long term livelihood interventions that reduce vulnerability; and to do this with programmes which are geographically specific, self?targeting in administrative terms and designed inter alia to support traditional community food security arrangements. Consistency in food policy at macro and micro levels is also important

Linking relief and development

This Discussion Paper reports on a workshop on 'Linking Relief and Development', held at IDS, Sussex in March 1994. Development and relief often operate at cross-purposes, with different objectives, cultures and modes of operation. Change which leads to mutual reinforcement of the two is an attractive, even a necessary idea; though problematic in the growing number of cases where emergencies are related to conflict. A simple linear sequence, 'relief-rehabilitation-development' is not appropriate: more dynamic models are required, which recognize the complexity and diversity of livelihood strategies. And in selecting interventions, analysis is needed of cost, sequencing and institutional issues

Food Security: Let them Eat Information

Insufficient information to predict famine was widely seen to be a central reason for the failure of national governments and the international donor community to prevent famines in Africa in the mid 1980s. Since then, there have been substantial improvements in the development of purpose-built information systems to predict famine. Many new famine early warning systems (EWS) have been set up, but the goal of famine prevention remains elusive. At least in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, the information now provided is not being used adequately to trigger timely and appropriate response.European Research Council (ERC

Linking Relief and Development: An Introduction and Overview

Summary The article explores why the idea of ‘linking relief and development’ has become popular, but also why implementation is slow. It reviews frameworks of analysis, and identifies (a) development interventions that reduce the frequency, intensity and impact of shocks, (b) relief measures that reinforce development and (c) approaches to rehabilitation. It then analyses five underlying issues: the question of ‘horses for courses’; institutions, politics and planning; state versus civil society; costs and trade?offs; and the special case of complex political emergencies accompanied by war. The paper concludes that there are some circumstances where efforts to link relief and development are not justified; but that in many other cases, the approach makes sense. The main constraints encountered are institutional and political, but there is room for manoeuvre and practical suggestions are made. Resumé Allier l'aide d'urgence et le développement: introduction et vue d'ensemble Les auteurs de l'article demandent pourquoi, dans un premier temps, l'idée d'“allier l'aide d'urgence au développement” s'est acquise tant de popularité et, dans un deuxième temps, pourquoi la réalisation de cette idée a été si lente. Ils offrent un compterendu des structures analytiques et identifient (i) les interventions développementales qui servent à réduire la fréquence, l'intensité et l'impact des perturbations; (ii) les mesures d'aide d'urgence qui servent à renforcer le développement; et (iii) les approches de réhabilitation. L'article présente ensuite une analyse de cinq questions sous?jacentes: la question pratique du financement selon différents besoins et contextes; l'interaction de la politique, de la planification et des institutions; les rôles respectifs de l'état et de la société civile; les coûts et les concessions mutuelles; et le cas particulier des situations politiques complexes qui surgissent en période de guerre. La conclusion des auteurs est qu'il peut exister des circonstances dans lesquelles les efforts pour allier l'aide d'urgence au développement cessent d'être justifiables mais que dans de nombreux autres cas, par contre, cette approche est raisonnable. Les principaux obstacles seraient d'un ordre politique et institutionnel; ceci dit, des possibilités existent, et les auteurs proposent certains moyens pour y parvenir. Resumen Integración asistencia desarrollo: introducción y perspective general Este artículo explora los motivos por los cuales la idea de vincular asistencia con desarrollo se ha hecho popular, pero también por qué la implementación es lenta. Revisa las bases para el análisis, eidentifica: a) intervenciones de desarrollo que reducen la frecuencia, intensidad e impacto de los choques; b) medidas de asistencia que refuerzan el desarrollo; y c) enfoques para la rehabilitación. El artículo continúa con un análisis de cinco temas subyacentes: la cuestión de ‘a cada cual lo suyo’; instituciones, política y planeamiento; Estado versus sociedad civil; costos y alternativas; y el caso especial de complejas emergencias políticas con conflictos armados. Se llega a la conclusión de que en algunas situaciones no se justifica el esfuerzo para vincular asistencia y desarrollo; pero que, en muchos otros casos, es un enfoque muy aceptable. Sus principales limitaciones son de orden institucional y político, pero hay espacio para negociar y el artículo ofrece sugestiones prácticas al respecto

Linking Relief and Development: A Case Study of Botswana

Summary During the prolonged drought in Botswana in the 1980s, the government launched a large?scale drought relief programme (DRP). It successfully prevented famine, but its performance in terms of linking relief and development was mixed. Institutionally, Botswana succeeded in integrating the administration of the DRP into existing government structures. The DRP attempted to meet both welfare needs and long term development goals. It met the first objective most successfully by expanding existing welfare systems. The second objective was harder to achieve: on the public works programme, relief and development objectives sometimes conflicted; and the design of some components of the agricultural relief programme proved to be at odds with longer term development interests. The DRP also masked underlying structural problems of rural poverty. Although Botswana is a ‘special case’, lessons can be learned from its experience for other African countries. Resumé Allier l'aide d'urgence au développement: une étude de cas au Botswana Durant la sécheresse prolongée qui s'est produite au Botswana durant les années 1980, le gouvernement a instauré un programme de grande envergure pour aide d'urgence pour lutter contre la sécheresse – le programme DRP. Ce programme a effectivement empêché la famine; or sa performance en termes des liens éventuels entre l'aide d'urgence et le développement laissait à désirer. Au niveau des institutions, le Botswana a pourtant réussi à intégrer l'administration du DRP dans les structures gouvernementales existantes. Le programme DRP visait à répondre, dans un même temps, aux besoins en aide sociale et à des objectifs à plus long terme. Le DRP rencontra un très grand succès relatif au premier de ses objectifs grâce à l'expansion des services d'aide sociale existants. Il fut par contre plus difficile de réaliser le deuxième objectif: car parfois, dans les programmes de travaux publics, les objectifs d'aide d'urgence et de développement s'entravaient réciproquement; la conception de certains éléments du programme d'aide d'urgence agricole faussait même certains aspects du développement à plus long terme. Le programme DRP cachait également certains problèmes d'ordre structurel qui relevaient de la pauvreté rurale. Bien que le Botswana ait été un “cas spécial”, son expérience offre néanmoins certaines leçons aux autres pays de l'Afrique. Resumen La relación asistencia?desarrollo: el caso Botswana En el curso de la prolongado sequía de los años 80 en Botswana, el gobierno lanzó un programa de ayuda (DRP) de gran envergadura. Este programa evitó exitosamente una hambruna general, pero en cuanto al establecimiento de la relación asistencia?desarrollo, los resultados no fueron tan positivos. Institucionalmente, Botswana consiguió integrar la administración del DRP dentro de estructuras gubernamentales existentes. El DRP intentó satisfacer tanto las necesidades de asistencia social como las metas de desarrollo a largo plazo. El primer objetivo fue alcanzado con la expansión de los sistemas de asistencia social existentes. El segundo objetivo fue más difícil de alcanzar: en el programa de obras públicas se encontró que los objetivos de asistencia y desarrollo eran a veces opuestos; algunos componentes del programa de asistencia a la agricultura chocaban con los intereses desarrollistas a largo plazo. El DRP también escondía problemas estructurales subyacentes de probreza rural. Aunque Botswana es un ‘caso especial’, es útil para otros países africanos tener en cuenta su experiencia

The tip of the iceberg: placebo, experimenter expectation and interference phenomena in subconscious information flow

A multi-disciplinary dialogue on the experimental evidence for nonlocal bio-communication, its emergent characteristics, impact on mainstream sciences and future research directions.

A Spitzer Space Telescope far-infrared spectral atlas of compact sources in the Magellanic Clouds. I. The Large Magellanic Cloud

[abridged] We present 52-93 micron spectra obtained with Spitzer in the MIPS-SED mode, of a representative sample of luminous compact far-IR sources in the LMC. These include carbon stars, OH/IR AGB stars, post-AGB objects and PNe, RCrB-type star HV2671, OH/IR red supergiants WOHG064 and IRAS05280-6910, B[e] stars IRAS04530-6916, R66 and R126, Wolf-Rayet star Brey3a, Luminous Blue Variable R71, supernova remnant N49, a large number of young stellar objects, compact HII regions and molecular cores, and a background galaxy (z~0.175). We use the spectra to constrain the presence and temperature of cold dust and the excitation conditions and shocks within the neutral and ionized gas, in the circumstellar environments and interfaces with the surrounding ISM. Evolved stars, including LBV R71, lack cold dust except in some cases where we argue that this is swept-up ISM. This leads to an estimate of the duration of the prolific dust-producing phase ("superwind") of several thousand years for both RSGs and massive AGB stars, with a similar fractional mass loss experienced despite the different masses. We tentatively detect line emission from neutral oxygen in the extreme RSG WOHG064, with implications for the wind driving. In N49, the shock between the supernova ejecta and ISM is revealed by its strong [OI] 63-micron emission and possibly water vapour; we estimate that 0.2 Msun of ISM dust was swept up. Some of the compact HII regions display pronounced [OIII] 88-micron emission. The efficiency of photo-electric heating in the interfaces of ionized gas and molecular clouds is estimated at 0.1-0.3%. We confirm earlier indications of a low nitrogen content in the LMC. Evidence for solid state emission features is found in both young and evolved object; some of the YSOs are found to contain crystalline water ice.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. This paper accompanies the Summer 2009 SAGE-Spec release of 48 MIPS-SED spectra, but uses improved spectrum extraction. (Fig. 2 reduced resolution because of arXiv limit.

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Understanding the Return of Genomic Sequencing Results Process: Content Review of Participant Summary Letters in the eMERGE Research Network

A challenge in returning genomic test results to research participants is how best to communicate complex and clinically nuanced findings to participants in a manner that is scalable to the large numbers of participants enrolled. The purpose of this study was to examine the features of genetic results letters produced at each Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE3) Network site to assess their readability and content. Letters were collected from each site, and a qualitative analysis of letter content and a quantitative analysis of readability statistics were performed. Because letters were produced independently at each eMERGE site, significant heterogeneity in readability and content was found. The content of letters varied widely from a baseline of notifying participants that results existed to more detailed information about positive or negative results, as well as materials for sharing with family members. Most letters were significantly above the Centers for Disease Control-suggested reading level for health communication. While continued effort should be applied to make letters easier to understand, the ongoing challenge of explaining complex genomic information, the implications of negative test results, and the uncertainty that comes with some types of test and result makes simplifying letter text challenging