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(Book) Constructing Low-rise Confined Masonry Buildings
The Construction Guide for Low-Rise Confined Masonry Buildings addresses the needs of small-scale contractors, technicians, government staff, architects as well as non-governmental organizations involved in post-disaster reconstruction. The guide has been written with users with various professional...
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(Book) How to Build Safer Houses with Confined Masonry
Tom Schacher, Nadia Carlevaro, Guillaume Roux-Fouillet
Low-rise buildings in earthquake-prone areas in many parts of the world are often constructed by self-taught masons and contractors. How to build safer houses with confined masonry: a guide for masons is an essential ‘how to’ handbook bringing together a collected knowledge of earthquake-resistant c...
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(Book) Panorama energético de los pobres 2017
El acceso a la energía es la base del desarrollo sostenible, necesario para realizar progresos en la sanidad, educación y empoderamiento de las mujeres, entre otros aspectos. Al reconocer esta importancia, la comunidad internacional añadió en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible para 2030 el objet...
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(Book) Perspectives énergétiques des populations pauvres 2017
L’accès à l’énergie est au coeur du développement durable car il favorise, entre autres, les progrès en matière de santé, d’éducation et d’émancipation des femmes. Forte de ce constat, la communauté mondiale s’est engagée à faire de l’accès à l’énergie l’un des objectifs de développement durable pou...
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(Book) Poor People's Energy Outlook 2017
Energy access sits at the heart of sustainable development, enabling progress in health, education and women’s empowerment, among other things. Recognizing this, the global community committed to a dedicated energy access goal in the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. To achieve this, investmen...
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(Book) Le Guide des PMP
Ces dernières années, les partenariats multipartites (PMP) sont devenus populaires pour s’attaquer aux défis complexes que pose le développement durable. Ce guide offre un cadre pratique pour la conception et la facilitation de ces processus collaboratifs qui décloisonnent le monde des affaires, des...
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(Book) Smallholder Agriculture and Market Participation
Small-scale agriculture is the main livelihood of the majority of the world’s rural poor. Smallholder farmers in the global South play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity, as well as contributing to food security in their countries. However, they need to be connected to markets to see sustain...
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(Book) Agroecology: Science and Politics
Peter M Rosset, Miguel A Altieri
Our global food system is largely based on unsustainable industrial agricultural practices, is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, is controlled by a handful of large corporations and produces unhealthy food. Agroecology is a solution to these increasingly urgent problems. After decades of b...
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(Journal Article) The handpump choice is yours: a pilot study in Rumphi District, Malawi
01.10.2017
In sub-Saharan Africa, moving towards the Sustainable Development Goals will require an approach to water and sanitation service delivery for many rural communities where handpumps still dominate infrastructure. This paper reviews a case study of allowing users (local government and communities) in Rumphi District, Malawi, to choose a handpump model based on information about the life-cycle costs. The results indicate that there is some awareness within communities and within the local government of several handpump options for the rural water supply in the study area. Given a choice of different handpump models in the treatment communities, each community chose the rope pump. Allowing communities to choose the type of handpump model, with input from both local government and donors on low cost borehole drilling, should be considered as an innovative approach to rural water service delivery. -
(Journal Article) From new evidence to better practice: finding the sanitation sweet spot
01.10.2017
A growing body of evidence shows that there is a strong causal link between exposure to poor sanitation and detrimental health, human capital, and economic outcomes. At the same time a number of recent impact evaluations of specific sanitation interventions show mixed results. This heterogeneity in findings raises the questions of whether and how the demonstrated benefits of improved sanitation can be consistently achieved through regular project implementation. This paper attempts to show that the benefits of improved sanitation can be consistently achieved through investing in interventions that address the drivers of latrine use and by divesting from interventions that do not address the drivers of latrine use. -
(Journal Article) Relationship between water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition: what do Link NCA nutrition causal analyses say?
01.10.2017
Defined by UNICEF as ‘the outcome of insufficient food intake and repeated infectious diseases’, undernutrition is one of the world’s most serious problems, with long-lasting harmful impacts on health and devastating consequences for social and economic development. The three main underlying causes of undernutrition, namely unsuitable or insufficient food intake, poor care practices, and infectious diseases, are directly or indirectly related to inadequate access to water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene practices (WASH). There is a growing base of evidence showing the links between poor WASH conditions, especially exposure to poor sanitation, and stunting (low height for age ratio). However, the effects of WASH interventions on wasting (low weight for height ratio) and the impact of environmental enteric dysfunction (chronic infection of small intestine caused by extended exposure to faecal pathogens) on undernutrition should be explored further. Action Against Hunger (Action Contre la Faim) promotes a participatory nutrition causal analysis, the Link NCA methodology, which is used to analyse complex, dynamic, locally specific causes of undernutrition. This article aims to assess the main findings from 12 most recent Link NCA studies, conducted from the beginning of 2014 until the end of 2016. Results show that inadequate WASH conditions are often identified as major contributors to undernutrition in the study areas. The article also provides lessons learned and a set of practical recommendations for better alignment and integration of WASH and nutrition interventions. -
(Journal Article) Trade-off between outreach and sustainability of microfinance institutions: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
01.09.2017
The changing landscape of the microfinance industry, which is characterized by a decline in donor funding, has reignited debates regarding the ability of microfinance institutions to serve the poor while remaining sustainable. In this study, we examined the relationship between outreach and sustainability in the context of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and analysed the determinants of sustainability using data from 71 microfinance institutions (MFIs) across 10 countries. By applying correlation analysis and fixed effects regression, we found mixed evidence of a trade-off between the depth of outreach and operational self-sustainability. Furthermore, the results show that interest rate is a major determinant for MFI sustainability, which is consistent with the institutionalist view. Factors that significantly influence the sustainability of MFIs in SSA are the average loan size as a percentage of gross national income, gross loan portfolio, portfolio at risk, operating expenses to assets ratio, governance effectiveness, and the interest rate on loans granted to clients. The study recommends that managers of MFIs and decision makers in the region closely monitor their cost-side variables and improve productivity by adopting measures such as information communication techniques that enhance outreach at low cost. In addition, stepping up monitoring and incentivizing hard working staff could help improve both deposit mobilization and loan recovery. -
(Journal Article) Youth savings groups in Africa: they’re a family affair
01.09.2017
Based on fieldwork in Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, and Ghana, in the paper we provide new evidence that young people’s engagement with savings groups in Africa is deeply embedded in networks of family and social relations. Savings group members rely on money that is given to them by partners and family members to make savings contributions to the groups, while they also transfer some of their share-outs and loans to family members and friends. This is particularly true for younger members. As such we argue that the socially embedded nature of young people's engagement with savings group needs to be taken into account. The tension between the primary focus on the individual within youth saving programming, and the socially embedded nature of their engagement, has important implications for programme design, implementation and evaluation. -
(Journal Article) What is cocoa sustainability? Mapping stakeholders’ socio-economic, environmental, and commercial constellations of priorities
01.09.2017
Given growing concerns regarding the chocolate sector’s long-term future, more private-sector, public-sector, and civil-society stakeholders have become involved in initiatives seeking to make cocoa more ‘sustainable’. However, the commercial, socio-economic, and environmental priorities they associate with the omnipresent, yet polysemic term diverge considerably: while transforming the crop into a more viable livelihood for growers is essential for some, others prioritize the crop’s links to global environmental challenges through agroforestry. A third dimension encompasses commercial concerns related to securing supply. The article explores how tensions and synergies manifest in these divergent understandings of what cocoa sustainability is and is to entail, which diverse civil-society, public-sector, and private-sector stakeholders bring to the table. It argues that priorities associated with ‘cocoa sustainability’ diverge, yielding synergies, tensions, and trade-offs. This article draws on the author’s in-depth doctoral fieldwork in cocoa sustainability initiatives incorporating environmental measures, which encompassed semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions, documentary analysis, and participant observation in Latin America and Europe. It proposes the ‘constellations of priorities’ model as an instrument to capture how the priorities driving cocoa stakeholders variously dovetail, intersect, and collide. Particularly against the backdrop of the sector’s brewing crisis, the paper suggests that stakeholders systematically assess their and other actors’ socio-economic, environmental, and commercial priorities as part of the equitable engagement required to transform the sector and attain genuine cocoa sustainability. -
(Book) Can We Know Better?
This book is intended for all who are committed to human wellbeing and who want to make our world fairer, safer and more fulfilling for everyone, especially those who are ‘last’. It argues that to do better we need to know better. It provides evidence that what we believe we know in international d...
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(Journal Article) Does women’s participation in water committees affect management and water system performance in rural Vanuatu?
01.07.2017
Greater participation of women in water management and decision-making is expected to improve outcomes for both women and the wider community. Global evidence indicates that women’s participation in Water User Committees (WUCs) has been limited; yet their involvement in management has correlated with more effective water systems. This analysis of water inventory data from Vanuatu considers how women’s participation in WUCs affects water management and system functionality. Women represent only 16 per cent of committee membership; however, their involvement in key WUC roles was associated with more effective water management, including regular meetings and revenue collection, and improved functioning of water systems. This evidence of women’s involvement is proving useful in advocacy efforts to improve the gender balance in WUCs, and targets for female membership are being considered for inclusion in water supply legislation. -
(Journal Article) Effects of water source accessibility and reliability improvements on water consumption in eastern Nairobi
01.07.2017
Under the commitments of the UN Sustainable Development targets, there is increasing pressure on water utility providers in developing countries to improve their levels of service to consumers, especially for the rapidly growing numbers of people with lower incomes who reside in urban informal settlements. However, pressure on water resources in many regions is simultaneously increasing owing to factors such as pollution, agricultural needs, and climate change. It is therefore important to assess the impacts of improving water services on city-wide water resources. This study examines consumption data from the East African city of Nairobi, collected from households of a variety of residential neighbourhoods. The study suggests that average per capita water consumption is closely related to water source choice (i.e. tap in the dwelling, yard tap, or water vendor kiosks). Within categories of water source type, variables such as household wealth, cost of water, and education do not have significant effects on per capita consumption. It is noted that increased accessibility of water causes the upper bound of consumption to rise, but not the lower. It may therefore be theorized that having a tap in a dwelling is necessary but not sufficient to increase per capita consumption. Within the sample examined, there is no statistically significant difference in per capita consumption between water source types other than a tap in a dwelling, and it is therefore suggested that providing a yard tap to those currently without any form of water connection may have negligible impact on city-wide water consumption. -
(Book) Managing for Sustainable Development Impact
The development landscape has changed significantly over the last few decades, becoming increasingly complex. Many of the issues we face today such as climate change, poverty and conflict, call for a new way of doing business. This guide shows leaders and development practitioners how to navigate th...
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(Journal Article) Impact assessment of commodity standards: towards inclusive value chains
01.03.2017
Voluntary commodity standards are widely used to enhance the performance of tropical agro-food chains and to support the welfare and sustainability of smallholder farmers. Different methods and approaches are used to assess the effectiveness and impact of these certification schemes at farm-household, village, cooperative, and regional level. We provide an overview of the results from robust impact studies on coffee, tea, banana, cocoa, and cotton certification programmes. Overall outcomes show rather modest net revenue effects for farmers, small direct income effect for wage workers, and contested sustainability effects. Most impact studies focus on primary sourcing, but devote less attention to changes in trust and governance throughout the value chain. Moreover, implications for gender issues and supply chain trust are not always fully addressed. In order to better understand these somewhat disappointing effects, we discuss different fallacies and drawbacks that affect impact studies concerning commodity certification programmes. Main attention is given to perverse incentives for intensification and specialization that arise from certification. Moreover, spillovers to other (non-certified) farmers and spatial externalities at landscape level may reduce net effects. Important secondary effects related to behavioural change (risk, trust) and local innovation dynamics are usually overlooked. Current practices in value chain development programmes should focus increasingly on dynamic effects of upgrading and improved market integration. New interactive impact assessment approaches (gaming, multi-agency simulation) that address integrated value chain relationships offer promising perspectives for real-time and systematic analysis of alternatives for smallholder value chain inclusion beyond certification. -
(Journal Article) Value chain development in Nicaragua: prevailing approaches and tools used for design and implementation
01.03.2017
This article draws on four contrasting cases of value chain development (VCD) in Nicaragua to assess approaches and tools used in design and implementation. We interviewed 28 representatives from the international NGOs leading the interventions, the local NGOs that participated in implementation, principal buyers, and cooperatives. Despite the complexity of market systems, results showed a relatively basic approach to VCD, reflected in: 1) reliance on a single tool for design and implementation; 2) expected outcomes based on technical assistance and training for smallholders and cooperatives; 3) local NGOs and cooperatives with key roles in implementation; and 4) limited engagement with other chain actors, service providers, and researchers. We conclude with a call for a broader approach to VCD, based on a combination of tools to account for multiple, context-specific needs of diverse stakeholders, deeper collaboration between key actors within and outside the value chain, and evidence-based reflection and learning.