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Development Cooperation (development + cooperation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	80%

Selected Abstracts

Aid to Agriculture, Growth and Poverty Reduction

EUROCHOICES, Issue 1 2006
Peter Hazell
Agriculture and rural growth promotion show a recent ,comeback' in development cooperation, but action on the ground so far is not sufficient. After years of neglect, policy makers have recognized that poverty reduction in many low income countries can only be achieved if development efforts are clearly focused on the sector which employs most of the poor, and the space where most of the poor live. The importance of agricultural growth was amply demonstrated during the economic transformation of Asia. Forty years ago, Asia was a continent of widespread poverty. Today, most Asian countries are experiencing significant growth and poverty reduction. Rapid growth in productivity in the small-farm sector helped drive this process. Sub-Saharan Africa, however, failed to achieve rapid agricultural growth and remains mired in poverty and hunger. If Africa is to halve poverty by 2015 in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), agriculture will need to maintain an annual growth rate of 6 per cent between 2000 and 2015. China's experience from 1978 to 1984 shows such growth is possible. Achieving the desired rapid rates of growth in Africa will require coherent policies by governments and donors, a substantial investment of public resources in rural infrastructure and access to agricultural technology, and significant improvement in national governance. Dans les milieux de la coopération et de l'aide au développement, même si les actions sur le terrain sont encore insuffisantes, on assiste depuis peu au retour en scène de l'agriculture et du monde rural. Après s'en être désintéressés pendant des années, les décideurs politiques finissent par admettre que, dans beaucoup de pays a faible revenu, il ne sera pas possible de réduire la pauvreté sans focaliser les efforts de développement sur les secteurs qui emploient le plus de pauvres et les zones dans lesquelles ils vivent pour la plupart. Les transformations économiques de l'Asie montrent bien l'importance de la croissance agricole. Il y a quarante ans, l'Asie étaient le continent de la pauvreté généralisée. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des pays d'Asie connaissent une croissance très significative et la pauvreté s'y réduit. L'augmentation de la productivité dans le secteur des petites exploitations a contribuéà la mise en ,uvre de ce processus. L'Afrique sub-saharienne, au contraire, n'a pas réussi à développer une croissance agricole rapide, ce qui la fait s'embourber dans la faim et la pauvreté. Si l'Afrique doit réduire de moitié la pauvreté d'ici 2015 comme l'y invitent les objectifs millénaires du développement (MDG), il faudra y maintenir un taux de croissance annuel de 6% pour l'agriculture entre 2000 et 2015. L'expérience de la Chine entre 1978 et 1984 montre que c'est possible. Mais pour obtenir en Afrique le taux de croissance élevé qui est souhaité, il faudra de la cohérence dans les politiques entre les gouvernements et des donneurs, un investissement public substantiel dans les infrastructures rurales et les moyens d'accès aux techniques modernes, enfin, des modes de gestion publique significativement améliorés Die Förderung der Landwirtschaft und des Wachstums im ländlichen Raum erfreut sich seit kurzem erneuter Beliebtheit in der Entwicklungszusammenar beit; die bisher ergriffenen Maßnahmen sind jedoch noch nicht ausreichend. Nachdem dieses Thema jahrelang vernachlässigt wurde, haben die Politikakteure festgestellt, dass die Armutsbekämpfung in zahlreichen Ländern mit geringem Einkommen nur dann erfolgreich durchgeführt werden kann, wenn die Bemühungen zur Entwicklung deutlich auf den Sektor ausgerichtet werden, in welchem die meisten Armen beschäftigt sind, und auf die Räume, in welchen die meisten Armen leben. Bei der wirtschaftlichen Transformation in Asien wurde sehr deutlich, wie wichtig das landwirtschaftliche Wachstum ist. Vor 40 Jahren war Armut in Asien weit verbreitet. Heute zeichnen die meisten asiatischen Länder durch signifikantes Wachstum und durch Armutsverringerung aus. Ein schneller Anstieg der Produktivität bei den kleineren landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben half dabei, diese Entwicklung voran zu treiben. In den afrikanischen Ländern unterhalb der Sahara (Sub-Sahara-Afrika) konnte schnelles landwirtschaftliches Wachstum jedoch nicht erreicht werden, dort dominieren weiterhin Armut und Hunger. Wenn Afrika gemäß der Millenniumsentwicklungsziele (Millennium Development Goals, MDG) die Armut bis zum Jahr 2015 halbieren soll, muss die Landwirtschaft eine jährliche Wachstumsrate von sechs Prozent zwischen den Jahren 2000 und 2015 aufrecht erhalten. Die Erfahrungen aus China aus den Jahren 1978 bis 1984 belegen, dass ein solches Wachstum möglich ist. Damit die gewünschten hohen Wachstumsraten in Afrika erzielt werden können, sind kohärente Politikmaßnahmen seitens der Regierungen und der Geldgeber, erhebliche Investitionen von öffentlichen Ressourcen in die ländliche Infrastruktur und in den Zugang zur Agrartechnologie sowie eine signifikante Verbesserung der nationalen Governance erforderlich. [source]

Global Intellectual Hegemony and the International Development Agenda

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 166 2000
Branislav Gosovic
The worldwide homogenisation of thinking, analysis, and prescription, coupled with the de-legitimisation of social critique, dissent, and alternative thinking in the 1990s, are characteristic of globalisation and of the current international system. The homogenisation is the outcome of global geopolitical changes and the end of the Cold War, with the ascendance of a victorious paradigm. The resulting global intellectual hegemony (GIH) is of special concernto developing countries and to the United Nations. It has undermined the goals and aspirations of the former and contributed to their intellectual disarmament and disempowerment; it has undermined the mandate and role of the latter. This essay discusses GIH in the context of international development cooperation, showing how it is nurtured in many different ways. It is argued that the mechanisms at work are well-known in national politics, in particular inundemocratic societies, and are now projected by new technologies and through the global domination by those with power, a task made easier by the lack of organised and credible opposition. It suggests the need for further study and policy debate of this global phenomenon which seems to have largely passed unnoticed in academic, policy, and public opinion circles. [source]

European development cooperation and the poor, by AIDAN COX and JOHN HEALEY (London: Macmillan in association with ODI, 2000, pp.

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 8 2001
£16.99 p/bk).
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Migrants as transnational development agents: an inquiry into the newest round of the migration,development nexus

POPULATION, SPACE AND PLACE (PREVIOUSLY:-INT JOURNAL OF POPULATION GEOGRAPHY), Issue 1 2008
Thomas Faist
Abstract Migrant networks and organisations have emerged as development agents. They interact with state institutions in flows of financial remittances, knowledge, and political ideas. In the discursive dimension, the new enthusiasm on the part of OECD states and international organisations, such as the World Bank, for migrant remittances, migrant associations and their role in development, is a sign of two trends which have coincided. Firstly, community as a principle of development has come to supplement principles of social order such as the market and the state. Secondly, in the current round of the migration,development nexus, migrants in general and transnational collective actors in particular have been constituted by states and international organisations as a significant agent. In the institutional dimension, agents such as hometown associations, networks of businesspersons, epistemic networks and political diasporas have emerged as collective actors. These formations are not unitary actors, and they are frequently in conflict with states and communities of origin. The analysis concludes with reflections of how national states structure the transnational spaces in which non-state actors are engaged in cross-border flows, leading towards a tight linkage between migration control, immigrant incorporation and development cooperation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

An introduction to Decentralized Cooperation: definitions, origins and conceptual mapping

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2003
Pierre HafteckArticle first published online: 28 JUL 200
The term ,Decentralized Cooperation', coined in the 1980s, is interpreted differently by various organisations involved in development cooperation. However, there are points of convergence among these interpretations that suggest a common definition involving: (a) the lead actors (local governments), (b) an overarching objective (sustainable local development) and (c) the nature of activities carried out (exchanges and support). From a historical perspective, the origin of Decentralized Cooperation is two-fold. On the development cooperation scene, the concept emerged when the array of actors involved in development projects widened as a result of major changes in aid themes and approaches. In the field of international relations between local governments, Decentralized Cooperation activities appeared as the scope of municipal twinnings also widened accordingly to involve partners from countries in development or in transition. Today, Decentralized Cooperation continues as an evolving concept located at the intersection of its two parent fields: development cooperation and international municipal relations. At this intersection, a fusion of experiences, resources and ideas is taking place. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]