Search

Begin New Search Topic Development Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 5 Years

181. How Do Development Agencies Support Climate Action?

Author:
Rachael Calleja
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This paper explores how development agencies are integrating climate action into development portfolios in response to calls to scale-up climate engagements in alignment with both the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Using data compiled on all 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC), this paper maps and analyzes trends in both the scale and usage of official development assistance allocated to support climate activities and the tools and approaches used to integrate climate across development activities. This paper shows that while climate has become a key priority for development agencies, there remains scope for deepening integration by improving monitoring and reporting of climate and development results, integrating climate considerations across the life cycle of projects, and searching for complementarities across agencies.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

182. Household Food Waste Developments: A Comparison of Progress in the European Union and the United States

Author:
Sara Zaat
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:
The importance of addressing worldwide food waste in terms of combatingclimate change andalleviating food insecurity should not be overlooked(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations[FAO],2011; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations[FAO],2013). According to the FAO, around one-third of certainfood in the worldgoes unconsumedevery year, resulting in a loss of resources, including greenhouse gases (GHGs)(FAO, 2011; FAO, 2013). Considering the world will likely haveoverninebillion people by 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019; United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2019), wasting good food is an increasingly egregious act; accordingly, theSustainable Development Goals ofthe United Nations include responsibly using food (United Nations, n.d.). One of the United Nations’ specific goals for 2030 is to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses” (United Nations, n.d., Goal 12 targets section, para. 3).It is especially important to addresshouseholdfood waste in higher-income countries, where consumers are often a largecontributor (FAO, 2011).Which of suchcountries can lead efforts to addressthis harmful, household-level consumer food waste and support under-resourced communities? This Paper will discusssome ofthefood waste research, interventions, and reduction resolutionsin the United States (US) and in countries in the European Union (EU)to better understandfood waste in these countries.
Topic:
Development, Food, European Union, Waste, and Household
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and United States of America

183. Fiscal Policy Letter No5: Improving Financial Inclusion To Broaden The Tax Base In Cameroon

Author:
Jean-Cedric Kouam and L.B. Bongbinsin
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
For several months, Cameroon has been facing the ravages of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. To stop the spread of the virus, the Cameroonian authorities in April 2020 announced a series of fiscal easing measures to help companies and households in difficulty. Estimated at more than 114 billion CFA francs according to the Director-General of Taxation, the decisions taken have profoundly impacted public finances. Indeed, well before the pandemic, the country was already facing a high risk of external debt overhang (IMF, 2018) and immense security challenges in the North and the Anglophone regions. Despite this constraining socioeconomic and political context, the state must find the necessary and sufficient resources to ensure its proper functioning and territorial integrity. This fiscal policy letter proposes through analyzes a way for the government of Cameroon to increase its tax revenues in the coming years without penalizing growth: improving financial inclusion. The goal is to eliminate all constraints that exclude the most disadvantaged from full participation in the financial sector. The letter is structured around six key points. First, we provide an overview of Cameroon’s financial inclusion situation. Second, we analyze the factors that explain economic agents’ access to financial services, the transmission mechanisms between the financial and formal sectors, and the barriers to financial inclusion in Cameroon. Our results show that a deepening of the financial system would likely positively affect tax mobilization in Cameroon. Estimates show that a 10% increase in financial assets would lead to a 1.87% increase in tax revenue, equivalent to CFAF 49.70 billion – based on the level of tax revenue projected in the 2021 budget law. Similarly, a 10% increase in the number of secure servers – better access to the internet – would lead to a 1.1% increase in tax revenue, equivalent to CFAF 30.62 billion. This improvement in access to financial services for all economic agents – households, businesses – requires the public authorities to make the current regulations more flexible and increase the banking network’s density. This includes the development of payment systems, the construction of quality infrastructures, the definition of mechanisms to limit massive illicit capital flight, and the multiplication of consumer/investor protection guarantees.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, Governance, Finance, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

184. Youth Participation In the Local Development Plan In Yaoundé 4: Issues and Roles

Author:
Sonwa Momo Berenice Kylian
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Africa is a continent with a predominantly young population. The media and development experts around the world speak of it as a great wealth. Cameroon is one of those countries whose youth is the “driving force”. Lawn°2004/017of 22 July 2004 on the orientation of decentralisation in Cameroon, taken up by Law n°2019/024 of 24 December 2019 on the General Code of Decentralised Territorial Authorities, is quite explicit on the contribution of the population, and in particular young people, to their local development. For the voice of these young people to have a large-scale impact, coordination is needed. In this respect, youth organisations (associations) are likely to provide relevant solutions. This is the case of PIJEDECA (Independent Youth Platform for Democracy and Active Citizenship), which has been working for nearly five (5) years in mobilising youth around social, economic, democracy, citizenship and human rights issues. The ADEV (Association of Development Actors), for its part, “has been working for more than three years with women and young people in Cameroon society. “ From the outset, it is necessary to indicate what an association is in order to identify its role and its challenges in local development. Article 2 of Law No. 90/053 of 19 December 1990 on the freedom of association in the Republic of Cameroon provides that “association is the agreement by which persons pool their knowledge or activities for a purpose other than sharing profits”. This shows that the association has a collective function and does not aim at individual interest. It is in this pooling of skills that youth associations can effectively contribute to the development of their Decentralized Territorial Authorities (CTD). For the Confederation of Youth Organisations (COJ), “”a voluntary association of natural or legal persons that contributes to the development by young people of their personal skills in order to help them become active, responsible and critical citizens within society”. ». These organisations must be supported by young people who are committed to the development of a community, a territory, without neglecting the great contribution of volunteering. Several studies have been carried out on the contribution of young people to the development of their communities both in Cameroon and abroad. This is why it is important to specify the roles and issues of these youth associations in the commune of Yaoundé 4. In view of the above, what could be the roles and stakes of youth organisations in the development of Yaoundé 4? To answer this question is certainly to seek to establish a direct link between the civic commitment of these youth associations and their contribution to the development of Yaoundé 4.
Topic:
Development, Youth, Local, Participation, and Civic Engagement
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

185. Water and Federalism: Working with States for Water Security

Author:
Srinivas Chokkakula, Avani Kapur, and Arkaja Singh
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
India’s poor water security indicators are partly a result of the poor translation of federal spirit in governing its water resources. The limited scholarship on the subject recognizes the vacuum in federal water governance and the weak articulation of Centre’s role to work with states in pursuing India’s long-term development and security goals. Besides, coherent federal responses are critical to address the new governance challenges and emerging risks such as those linked to climate change, floods, dam safety, etc. Yet the national discourse on water federalism is dominated by interstate river water disputes. The study breaks new grounds by going beyond the narrow frame to engage comprehensively with the idea of water federalism in India. It explores the range of policy, institutional, legal and financial instruments for improved water governance. Conceptualised as the Centre’s leverage, the study investigates into these instruments to explore opportunities for the Centre to work with states for improved outcomes. Using mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative approaches, the study looks at the transforming Indian federal state from two contrasting viewpoints: the shifting stakes of the Centre and states in water resources development; and the converging forces of development goals and security concerns. The analysis is supported by case studies of Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka states revealing the diverse territorial imaginations and priorities of water resources development and, their implications for national water security. It also examines the experiences of central schemes through intergovernmental fiscal transfers and federal water governance practices internationally to incentivize states’ progressive pathways in water resources management. Identifying federal consensus-building about the Centre’s role and autonomous institutional architecture for data as the two foundational pillars, the study makes concrete recommendations to improve federal governance for long-term development and water security.
Topic:
Security, Development, Water, and Federalism
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

186. Free Trade as an Anchor for Sustainable Development

Author:
Sundjo Fabien and Sunjo Tata
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Does trade enhance or jeopardize sustainable development? This brief answers this question by debunking the myth that protectionism is a driver of sustainable development. It then outlines the ways in which free trade can lead to sustainable development. This brief finds that free trade is a boon for GDP growth, value chains, and better productivity. It will equally lead countries to specialize and become more competitive. This brief pithily finds that free trade will anchor sustainable development if countries synchronize trade facilitation measures and lower non-tariff barriers such as indiscriminate checks at land borders.
Topic:
Development, International Trade and Finance, Sustainable Development Goals, Free Trade, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Africa

187. The Institutional Context of Humanitarian Helping in Contemporary Italy

Author:
Adriano Profeta, Lisa Ann Richey, and Maha Rafi Atal
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Business and Development Studies (CBDS), Copenhagen Business School
Abstract:
Italy was itself a recipient of foreign aid and has now become a donor engaged in multiple forms of humanitarian helping abroad and at home. The institutional context of humanitarian helping in Italy is constituted by a moving constellation of relationships between the state, the church, and the nonprofit sector. As we see the changing institutional context for Italian nonprofits with decreasing public solidarity, negative discursive framing, and the need to diversify fund-raising channels, Italian businesses are being sought out for partnerships between profit and nonprofit actors (De Marchi and Martinez 2020). As in other donor countries, there has been a weakening of public trust in the traditional aid sector of Italian nonprofits combined with recently decreasing national funding for humanitarian helping abroad. These trends have led to an increasing need for nonprofits to pivot their fund-raising campaigns toward individuals and social networks such as Facebook (De Carli, 2019c). Today, the interface for “helping” brings together government legislation, state bodies, for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, the church, and individuals. To begin to understand the interface of humanitarian helping and the trends in Italy today, this working paper documents and explains the history of Italian cooperation for development and humanitarian helping. The next section will explore changes in perceptions of non-state helping and doing good. The third section will turn to government-based helping in contemporary Italy to understand the formal structures shaping humanitarianism and international development. The fourth section examines the institutional organization of the contemporary development cooperation system that links actors in helping interventions. Within this, we examine the public funding trends for development helping. Section five then examines the private funding available. Finally we conclude with some reflections on what this institutional context suggests for the mix of public and private helping abroad.
Topic:
Development, Humanitarian Aid, Foreign Aid, Public Sector, Private Sector, Non-profits, and Public-Private Partnership
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

188. Biodiversity and Development: The evolution of Community Based Conservation and implications for Danish development cooperation

Author:
Mikkel Funder and Marie Ladekjær Gravesen
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Loss of nature and biodiversity constitutes a major global crisis for environment and development and interacts closely with the climate crisis. After a period of limited attention, conservation is again rising on the agenda of development cooperation, especially in the context of Nature-based Solutions. There is a growing consensus that biodiversity goals can only be achieved by focusing more on conservation outside conventional protected areas. This offers new opportunities for both conservation and development, but it also poses a risk of ‘green grabbing’ whereby communities loose access to land and natural resources that are key for their survival and resilience. In the support to biodiversity conservation, attention to Community Based Conservation (CBC) is therefore critical. However, CBC approaches are not new and have not always worked. Future support to such approaches must therefore learn from the past and incorporate new directions. This DIIS Working Paper, written by Mikkel Funder and Marie Ladekjær Gravesen, DIIS, provides an overview of the evolution of community-based biodiversity conservation since the 1980s, where new approaches are heading, and what the overall lessons are so far. On this basis it provides recommendations for how Denmark’s development cooperation can support community-based conservation. The paper focuses on the socioeconomic and governance dimensions of community-based conservation and draws particularly on experiences from area-based conservation in the African setting. The study finds that: • CBC has developed and expanded but is not yet consolidated on the ground • Community rights to land and natural resources are critical for successful CBC • CBC must be better anchored in local livelihoods and economies • Economic compensation and income substitution is not enough in itself • A growing emphasis on CBC in ‘working landscapes’ offers potential • National associations and networks have been important platforms for CBC advocacy • There is a need to strengthen horizontal and vertical institutional links for CBC The paper recommends that Denmark should: Strengthen support to community-based conservation outside protected areas. Denmark can play an important role in helping to ensure that conservation in these spaces is done in the right and most effective way, i.e. that it benefits biodiversity while also strengthening the rights and livelihoods of communities. Integrate support to CBC with support to climate change adaptation and resilience. With the right approach, Ecosystem Based Adaptation offers good scope for protecting and improving the conditions for both biodiversity conservation and development. Support protection of the land- and governance rights of communities and indigenous peoples in biodiversity conservation. Denmark should (i) advance legal recognition and enforceable safeguards of rights-based approaches in the implementation of the CBD’s post-2020 global biodiversity framework; (ii) support practical application of the IUCN’s Natural Resource Governance Framework and standards for Nature Based Solutions; and (iii) prioritise multilateral and bilateral support to conservation initiatives that actively sustain and strengthen community land rights as part of the solution. Support CBC approaches that transcend the conventional separation between human production and conservation. This entails a broad approach to biodiversity conservation which goes beyond species protection in isolated islands of ‘wild nature’. A key emphasis should be on supporting CBC in ‘working landscapes’, i.e. strengthening existing sustainable production systems in crop farming areas, rangelands, forests, wetlands, urban areas etc. Support CBC schemes to become more firmly anchored in local resource use economies. Many conventional CBC schemes - especially in the African setting – are heavily dependent on international leisure markets such as tourism/hunting and on recurrent donor funding. This poses risks, as illustrated by the major funding concerns for African conservation following the Covid-19 epidemic. A more diversified strategy is needed. Facilitate bio-cultural approaches to the governance of biodiversity conservation. This means accepting a diversity of conservation values and that conservation will look different from place to place. It entails an approach in which CBC arrangements are tailored to the socio-ecological and cultural context - rather than following a universal model - but which also builds broader nested governance frameworks for negotiation, decision-making, conflict resolution and knowledge sharing. Alongside place-based conservation, it is critical to sustain and strengthen Denmark’s efforts to engage with the broader drivers of biodiversity loss at global and national levels. While CBC is critically important for conservation, it cannot on its own address wider drivers of biodiversity loss.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Natural Resources, and Land Rights
Political Geography:
Denmark

189. Migration and foreign aid: Drivers, desires and development

Author:
Ida Marie Savio Vammen, Lars Engberg-Pedersen, and Hans Lucht
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In the often heated European policy debates over migration, conflict, lack of development, population growth, and climate change are often described as the ‘root causes’ that make people seek refuge and a better life in Europe. However, recent research-based literature on the links between migration and development stands in stark contrast to such simplified assumptions. This new DIIS Working Paper explores the relationship between migration, development, and foreign aid. It builds on insights from both quantitative and qualitative studies focusing on Africa – especially West Africa – and is divided into three parts. It first examines the factors that underpin human mobility, then looks at contemporary African migration trajectories, and finally discusses how migration relates to foreign aid. The paper shows that irregular migration to Europe is limited and a result of economic progress, rather than poverty or conflict alone, thus making foreign aid an ineffective instrument to curb it. Furthermore, the paper argues that foreign aid initiatives often focus on externally defined root causes of migration and rarely attempt to understand locally determined drivers of migration. To better grasp how development policies and migration intersect, more in-depth research is needed.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Migration, Foreign Aid, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark

190. Governing climate mobility: Scoping study of two localities in Ghana

Author:
Joseph Teye, Francis Jarawura, Lily Salloum Lindegaard, Nauja Kleist, Marie Ladekjær Gravesen, Philip Mantey, and David Quaye
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Climate change is expected by many to produce new and/or intensified mobility patterns, including migration and displacement. However, only limited research exists on the relationship between climate change and human mobility, specifically on the implications of increasingly intense slow-onset climate change, such as weather variability and extremes. This DIIS Working Paper provides initial data and analysis on climate, mobility and governance in Ghana as an input to the Governing Climate Mobility Research Programme. In parts of Ghana, temperature increases have now topped 1.5 ºC, weather patterns and seasons are shifting, and all of this is occurring on the backdrop of other environmental and agrarian changes. This paper documents such changes through multi-decadal analyses of temperatures and rainfall as well as vegetation change. However, it also links these changes, and how they are experienced locally, to existing governance and mobility dynamics in the programme’s case study areas in the Upper West Region and Eastern Region. For instance, the paper indicates how governance interventions, including failures, have affected agrarian livelihoods as seen in the deteriorating irrigation infrastructure in the Upper West Region, and how existing mobility patterns are linked to resource access and rural livelihoods. This working paper is a scoping study and therefore provides a detailed introduction to such environmental, socio-economic, governance and mobility dynamics in the study areas, as well as identifying key dynamics and possible linkages for further study. It builds on a previous GCM working paper that explores the historical linkages between climate, mobility and governance in Ghana.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, Migration, and Mobility
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana