Institute of Development Studies

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2006: Volume 37

Asian Drivers: Opportunities and Threats

Volume 37 Number 1 January 2006 Edited by: Raphie Kaplinsky

Not for the first time, real events have caught the research community by surprise. From the late twentieth century Asian economies began to play an increasingly important role as global producers, beginning in Japan after the 1960s, and spreading to some other East Asian economies during the last quarter of the century.

At the dawn of the new millennium, the momentum of Asia has been significantly strengthened by the very rapid growth of two very large economies: China and India. But this time, so significant is the rapidly unfolding entry of these countries into global markets, that the policy costs of the research-gap are particularly high. Hitherto, recognition of the consequences of the rise of these newly dynamic Asian economies (The Asian Drivers) has almost entirely been confined to the high-income economies.

But what are the impacts likely to be on poor countries, and poor communities in poor countries? How might the opportunities opened-up by the rise of the Asian Drivers be grasped and the threats which they pose be minimised for those countries which comprise the majority of the world's population, but account for a minority of global GDP?

In November 2004 and May 2005, a team of researchers from IDS met with various networks of researchers to begin outlining a networked and policy-focused research programme addressing the impact of the Asian Drivers on low-income economies. This IDS Bulletin draws on participant contributions to advance the research agenda. It questions the impact that Asian Drivers will have on the developing world, a particularly apposite point given the commitment of the global community to halve the incidence of global poverty by 2015.

2005: Volume 36

Vulnerability, Adaptation and Climate Disasters

Volume 36 Number 4 October 2005 Edited by: Farhana Yamin and Saleemul Huq

This IDS Bulletin aims to provide policy-relevant research insights for a wide range of actors interested in climate change adaptation. It brings together results from a recently completed interdisciplinary research project, the Linking Climate Adaptation Project, about how vulnerable communities might respond to the impacts of climate change. The overall goal of the project was to ensure that poor people benefit from adaptation processes, rather than bearing greater burdens, by, for example, having the risks caused by climate change shifted in their direction. The purpose was to provide a better understanding of how adaptation policies and institutional frameworks can support communities that are vulnerable to climate impacts. We hope the results presented here will help the disaster relief, development and climate change communities link together to meet the shared challenges that lie ahead. 

Increased Aid: Minimising Problems, Maximising Gains

Volume 36 Number 3 September 2005 Edited by: James Manor

A major increase in the amount of aid to less developed countries is widely anticipated, by or soon after late 2005, to bolster efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The sums involved may not be as substantial as expected, and they come mainly from Europe, but we are still likely to see a significant enhancement of funds for development. With them will come both opportunities and dangers – which the articles in this collection analyse. We give more attention to the dangers, because we seek to minimise them. Our main concern is to anticipate problems so that they can be tackled. This is crucial because if a major increase in aid yields disappointing results, the future of development assistance could be called into question – it could make aid, not poverty, history. This IDS Bulletin discusses issues that must be addressed to maximise constructive impact. Some contributors oppose additional aid, though most offer less negative views while recognising attendant problems. Recipient governments’ efforts to promote fiscal discipline and export-led growth already face serious impediments, and may be unhinged altogether with additional aid. Fragmentation of donor efforts may also undermine governments’ absorptive capacity. Governance reforms, perhaps crucial for effective use of additional aid, may be damaged if they are accelerated in direct response. Such issues should be taken seriously, since steps can be taken to deal with them; many articles here offer suggestions. If problems are not addressed, they could provide ammunition for those who claim incorrectly that aid cannot work, and discredit the case for generous aid flows. We want aid to be made history – but for the right reasons.

New Directions for African Agriculture

Volume 36 Number 2 June 2005 Edited by: Ian Scoones, Aaron deGrassi, Stephen Devereux and Lawrence Haddad

Both this year’s UN Millennium Report and The Commission for Africa Report highlight the lack of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in sub-Saharan Africa. What role should agriculture have in this challenge? Most of Africa’s poor are rural, and most rely largely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Inevitably, “getting agriculture moving” must be part of the solution to the seemingly intractable problem of African poverty. While the standard storyline about African agriculture is not positive, there have been some notable achievements in the past decade. Are these successes exceptional and limited to particular settings and times, or are they replicable across wider areas, benefiting larger numbers of people?

This IDS Bulletin draws together contributions from a diverse range of researchers and development practitioners working in Africa, with the common goal of exploring why agriculture is contributing to poverty reduction and livelihood improvement in some places. This debate comes at a critical time when there is renewed interest in agriculture in Africa and a real commitment to revitalise the sector. How to translate words into reality? How to avoid the recycling of old ideas, and generate new thinking – rooted in African contexts and ground realities – which makes a difference? Central to all solutions are social, cultural and political factors: rather than an expert-driven, technocratic approach, a more politically-sophisticated stance is required with a new emphasis on understanding and influencing processes of innovation, intervention and policy. The aim of this IDS Bulletin is to contribute to this journey.

Developing Rights?

Volume 36 Number 1 January 2005 Edited by: Jethro Pettit and Joanna Wheeler

The recent “rise of rights” has sparked much critical reflection, one of the key concerns being ‘What is different this time?’. Can this emerging focus on rights within development help bring about favourable changes for poor and marginalised people? This issue of the IDS Bulletin addresses diverse perspectives and questions across a spectrum of current thinking, policy and practice. Why the rights-based approach and why now? Whose rights count? “Rights” work has evolved from an historical focus on human rights violations and concern for legal protection, but its future depends on direct engagement with civil society causes. Development needs rights as much as rights need development. Illustrated here are struggles for rights within specific contexts (tenants associations in Kenya; children’s organisations in India): the perspective of marginalised groups alters how formal rights are given meaning. Using rights in practice is challenging and filled with contradictions and tensions. The struggle for rights is happening and it is not simply an agenda of the powerful. What emerges from this IDS Bulletin is a vibrant picture of often diverse meanings and strategies pursued throughout the world. If the current enthusiasm for rights in development can open thinking spaces and result in appropriate action, rather than serving as a one-size-fits-all export, then rights bases approaches are to be welcomed. Moving beyond old debates and recognising that rights must be claimed and realised by real people, the development community can discover what rights will ultimately mean in context and practice.