scholarly journals A Microenterprise-Centered Economic Development Strategy for the Rural South: Sustaining Growth with Economic Opportunity

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-344
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Christy ◽  
Mark D. Wenner ◽  
Wylin Dassie

Microenterprise programs (MEPs) have become an important research concern and rural development strategy in international development circles. The basic premise of this approach is that microenterprises , that is firms with fewer than 10 employees, can be provided with a series of small loans that allow them to start or expand productive activities and thereby increase incomes and escape poverty. Governments and donor agencies have expanded funding for microfinance programs in low-income countries and more articles appear in the Western media about the success of this new approach in assisting the poor.

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara J van Welie ◽  
Wouter P C Boon ◽  
Bernhard Truffer

Abstract The transformation of urban basic service sectors towards more sustainability is one of the ‘grand challenges’ for public policy, globally. A particular urgent problem is the provision of sanitation in cities in low-income countries. The globally dominant centralised sewerage approach has proven incapable to reach many of the urban poor. Recently, an increasing number of actors in international development cooperation has started to develop alternative safely managed non-grid approaches. We approach their efforts as an emerging ‘global innovation system’ and investigate how its development can be supported by systemic intermediaries. We analyse the activities of the ‘Sustainable Sanitation Alliance’, an international network that coordinates activities in the sanitation sector and thereby supports this innovation system. The findings show how demand ing it is to fulfil an intermediary role in a global innovation system, because of the need to consider system processes at different scales, in each phase of system building.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-395
Author(s):  

The annual military bill is now approaching 450 billion US dollars, while official development aid accounts for less than 5 per cent of this figure. Four examples: 1. The military expenditure of only half a day would suffice to finance the whole malaria eradication programme of the World Health Organization, and less would be needed to conquer river-blindness, which is still the scourge of millions. 2. A modern tank costs about one million dollars; that amount could improve storage facilities for 100,000 tons of rice and thus save 4000 tons or more annually; one person can live on just over a pound of rice a day. The same sum of money could provide 1000 classrooms for 30,000 children. 3. For the price of one jet fighter (20 million dollars) one could set up about 40,000 village pharmacies. 4. One-half of one per cent of one year's world military expenditure would pay for all the farm equipment needed to increase food production and approach self-sufficiency in food-deficit low-income countries by 1990.


Author(s):  
Peter A. Kwaku Kyem

There is a considerable debate about how the technological gap between rich and poor countries of the world can be bridged or eliminated. Technological optimists argue that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can bring accelerated development to poor countries. Others question the viability of relying on ICT for development in low income countries. The ensuing debate has masked the digital divide problem and prevented a true discussion of how ICT can be deployed for the benefit of low income countries. On the otherhand, confronted with the persistent failures of one-size-fits-all economic development models, low income countries can no longer treat modernization as the pivot towards which all ICT-related development efforts must gravitate. There is a need to drop the singular vision of development which is premised on the experiences of Western developed nations and rather restore local actors and their cultures into the actual roles they play in development processes that occur within localities. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the perspectives that currently shape the ICT for development discourse and offers the multiplicity theory to bridge the gap in development theory and promote a development strategy which incorporates activities of both local and global actors in the development of localities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (4) ◽  
pp. 100-121
Author(s):  
Elena Balter ◽  
Aleksandra Morozkina

This article examines the impact of financial crisis of 2008-2009 on allocation of development aid. Using OECD data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocation for international development by key donor countries, authors test three hypotheses: first, general impact of crisis on ODA allocation; second, impact of crisis on three recipient income groups; third, impact of crisis on relative importance of analyzed factors for ODA allocation decisions. The results show that general impact of crisis on ODA volumes was negative, although donors preferred to increase aid to low-income countries. Impact of factors describing economic situation in donor countries (public debt level, government expenditures and donor growth) increased after crisis. Donor countries might make use of these results to increase efficiency of their development assistance strategies, whereas recipient countries may exploit these results in order to attract more external financing for development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Pugel ◽  
Amy Javernick-Will ◽  
Matthew Koschmann ◽  
Shawn Peabody ◽  
Karl Linden

The international development sector is increasingly implementing collaborative approaches that facilitate a range of sectoral-level stakeholders to jointly address complex problems facing sustainable public service delivery, for which guidance does not explicitly exist. The literature on collaborative approaches has been built on experiences in high-income countries with vastly different governance capabilities, limiting their global relevance. A Delphi expert panel addressed this need by evaluating 58 factors hypothesized in the literature to contribute to the success of collaborative approaches. The panel rated factors according to their importance in low-income country contexts, on a scale from Not Important to Essential. Experts agreed on the importance of 49 factors, eight of which were essential for success. Rich qualitative data from open-ended responses revealed factors that may be unique to low-income country contexts and to service delivery applications, including how government capacity, politics, donor influence, and culture can influence decisions on structuring leadership and facilitation roles, appropriately engaging the government, and building legitimacy. Key considerations for future practice and research are summarized in a table in the appendix. This study contributes to both literature and practice by identifying the relative importance of factors to consider when designing collaborative approaches in low-income countries with limited governance capabilities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathis Wackernagel ◽  
David Lin ◽  
Mikel Evans ◽  
Laurel Hanscom ◽  
Peter Raven

Mainstream competitiveness and international development analyses pay little attention to the significance of a country’s resource security for its economic performance. This paper challenges this neglect, examining the economic implications of countries resource dynamics, particularly for low-income countries. It explores typologies of resource patterns in the context of those countries’ economic prospects. To begin, the paper explains why it uses Ecological Footprint and biocapacity accounting for its analysis. Data used for the analysis stem from Global Footprint Network’s 2018 edition of its National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. Ranging from 1961 to 2014, these accounts are computed from UN data sets. The accounts track, year by year, how much biologically productive space is occupied by people’s consumption and compare this with how much productive space is available. Both demand and availability are expressed in productivity-adjusted hectares, called global hectares. Using this biophysical accounting perspective, the paper predicts countries’ future socio-economic performance. This analysis is then contrasted with a financial assessment of those countries. The juxtaposition reveals a paradox: Financial assessments seem to contradict assessments based on biophysical trends. The paper offers a way to reconcile this paradox, which also elevates the significance of biophysical country assessments for shaping successful economic policies.


Policy Papers ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (67) ◽  
Author(s):  

In December 1999, the World Bank (the Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (the Fund) introduced a new approach to their relations with low-income countries, centered around the development and implementation of poverty reduction strategies (PRS) by the countries as a precondition for access to debt relief and concessional financing from both institutions. These strategies were also expected to serve as a framework for better coordination of development assistance among other development partners.


2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (6a) ◽  
pp. 760-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
HH Vorster ◽  
BM Margetts ◽  
CS Venter ◽  
MP Wissing

AbstractObjectiveTo describe an integrated, holistic conceptual framework and research paradigm for a better understanding of the nutrition transition in middle- and low-income countries.MotivationCurrent inability effectively to prevent the increasing burden related to changes in food consumption patterns and other health behaviours of populations in transition motivates a new approach for nutrition research and practice. In this proposed approach, broader and integrated dimensions of science and practice may be applied for a better understanding of this complex phenomenon.ResultExamples from our own studies are given and quoted to illustrate how results from transdisciplinary studies were used to design an integrated, holistic programme to improve quality of life of people infected with HIV.ConclusionBased on these experiences it is argued that the more holistic and integrated approach should and could lead to more effective and sustainable interventions to prevent the adverse health consequences of the nutrition transition. At the same time such an approach will contribute to efforts to conserve the environment and also human, living and natural resources.


IDS Bulletin ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Gu ◽  
Xiaoyun Li ◽  
Chuanhong Zhang

This article aims to investigate the recent evolution of China’s development policy and practice. More precisely, how do China’s policymakers and practitioners understand and debate China’s role in international development, specifically in the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic? China’s growing development activities overseas, particularly in the African continent, have spurred intense debate over its role as a rising power in international development. China is viewed in the West both as a threat and as a valuable potential partner in development cooperation. However, differences between Western and Chinese conceptions of development have complicated cooperation and understanding of China’s development policy. Further understanding of these differences is needed, in order to evaluate their implications for low-income countries, and for potential trilateral cooperation.


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