Institute of Development Studies

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2002: Volume 33

The "New Famines"

Volume 33 Number 4 October 2002 Edited by: Stephen Devereux

At the start of the twenty-first century famine persists. Why? ‘New Famines’ are unexpected, unprecedented and highly politicised. It is a paradox that the increasing potential to eradicate famines goes hand-in-hand with an increasing potential to cause them. This Bulletin argues that recent famines could have been prevented but were not, because of bad policies. Previous Northern approaches externalise and isolate the famine process. Here the authors instead unravel another layer of analysis to understand the conditions that increase vulnerability to famine. Studying ‘hidden’ famines in Mongolia, Iraq and Madagascar they ask how these could have been overlooked – and why only some famines make headlines in our increasingly globalised world. The Bulletin also speculates on the future nature of famines. Will they continue to reflect the complexity of the contemporary world; will they be different from those that have gone before? Or, most unlikely of all, will they be eradicated altogether? 

2003: Volume 34

Special and Differential Treatment in Terms of Trade

Volume 34 Number 2 May 2003 Edited by: Christopher Stevens, Assisted by Jane Kennan

The World Trade Organization (WTO) declaration launching the current multilateral trade negotiations put developing country interests and the concept of special and differential treatment (SDT) at its core. With developing countries making up the majority of WTO members, the Declaration asserted that ‘all special and differential treatment provisions shall be reviewed with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational.’ But so much for the bold statements - discussions on SDT are at a standstill. The industrialised countries are willing to offer only token gestures, while developing nations are demanding the unobtainable: binding commitments on the industrialised countries to provide substantial positive support and to remove all barriers to developing country exemption, coupled with exemption for themselves from any commitment to do anything. This latest edition of the IDS Bulletin examines the state of play. How have things come to this impasse, what is the SDT framework within the WTO and what are the ways forward?

Livelihoods in Crisis? New Perspectives on Governance and Rural Development in Southern Africa

Volume 34 Number 3 July 2003 Edited by: William Wolmer and Ian Scoones

Southern Africa is in the midst of a major food crisis. Fourteen million people are reported to be at risk. Most commentators agree that since around 1990, livelihoods have collapsed in many areas, with an increasing number of people, particularly in rural areas, vulnerable. But this is 2003, following decades of post-independence development assistance and once-great hopes for the region as both the food basket and economic motor for the continent. What has gone wrong? Has “development” failed? Do we need to radically rethink the paradigms for development in the region? By focusing on Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, a complex story of livelihood change emerges.

Microfinance, Poverty and Social Performance

Volume 34 Number 4 October 2003 Edited by: Alyson Brody, James Copestake, Martin Greeley, Naila Kabeer and Anton Simanowitz

The nature and extent of the impact of microfinance, particularly on poverty, continues to promote debate. The articles presented in this Bulletin reflect the ideas and practice of the Imp-Act action-research programme. The work emphasises the necessity to judge the performance of microfinance organisations (MFOs) in both social as well as financial terms. One important aspect of the debate is the potential contribution of microfinance to the Millennium Development Goals. But the potential impact of microfinance goes beyond these definitions of poverty. For example, impacts on gender inequality may relate to women above as well as below the poverty line.

This Bulletin presents wide-ranging contributions from the three-year Imp-Act programme of action research, a partnership of 30 MFOs in 20 countries and three UK universities. Experiences are compared between rural India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bangladesh, South Africa, and the Philippines. Covering methodological and organisational processes, as well as wider social impacts, this issue is a practical in-depth review of microfinance impact.

2004: Volume 35

Globalisation and Poverty

Volume 35 Number 1 January 2004 Edited by: John Humphrey

This IDS Bulletin explores various aspects of the globalisation processes “as they exist”, in specific country and institutional contexts, in order to contribute to a better understanding of these processes and identify specific policy interventions. Three principal areas are covered: production and trade, finance and foreign direct investment (FDI), and the institutions of global governance. The focus is on the flexibility and reality of the globalisation process; how the characteristics of different countries can lead to different outcomes from the same processes; and the significance of management. The full programme of research on globalisation and poverty is only a minute part of the global research effort on the topic in the past few years. The result is a set of findings that contribute to narrowing the gulf that exists between “globophobes” and “globophiles” by providing explanations of why globalisation outcomes vary so much and suggesting ways in which globalisation processes can be managed so as to enhance the livelihoods of poor people. This volume of the Bulletin brings together some of the results of research funded by the Department for International Development in a three-year programme of research on globalisation and poverty.