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Digital Solidarity, Key to Africa’s Development — Interview with Mr Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal 2003-12-11
In Dakar, on December 2, 2003, His Excellency Mr Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, accorded Senegalese journalist Mame Less Camara an exclusive interview on behalf of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Mr Wade is coordinator of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) aspect of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The interview took place on the eve of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held December 9 to 12. President Wade considers the new technologies one of NEPAD’s eight priority sectors. In fact, he says, the new technologies “have shown the way for giving concrete application to NEPAD in partnership with developed countries.”
Food Security — Seeds of Threat, Seeds of Solutions 2003-11-27
Over the past few decades, plant breeders have developed new high-yielding cereal varieties. This very success, however, could lead to a gradual loss of plant species, threatening the world’s future food security. Only the help of small farmers in remote areas of the world who have benefited little if at all from the advances in plant breeding can overcome this threat.
New Wireless Network for Uganda's Healthcare Workers 2003-11-17
The introduction of cellular telephony has revolutionized Uganda's communication industry, increasing national teledensity by 350% since the first network went live in early 1995. Now the networks that brought remote villages their first voice connectivity are opening new doors for the delivery of health care.
In Conversation: Shafika Isaacs on Transforming Education in Africa 2003-11-17
Shafika Isaacs is executive director of SchoolNet Africa. An African nongovernmental organization (NGO), SchoolNet Africa uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) in schools to improve the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of education. It works with learners, teachers, policymakers, and practitioners, largely through national schoolnet organizations. Isaacs spoke to Reports magazine about her vision for using ICTs to fundamentally change Africa's education system. Africa is experiencing an education crisis because of the large number of children who lack access to good quality, basic education.
Boosting Tourism in South Africa’s Townships 2003-11-17
Cape Town is one of Africa's top tourist meccas as visitors come to enjoy the natural beauty of Table Mountain, the wine lands and white sandy beaches. But Cape Town is a tale of two cities. Not far from the modern skyscrapers and first world luxuries, lie the sprawling, impoverished townships of the Cape Flats. Townships are not just about poverty, though, as foreign tourists are learning. They are communities rich in cultural and ethnic heritages; and for those looking for something a little different, largely undiscovered. As part of a research project undertaken by the University of the Western Cape, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is assessing the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on small, medium, and micro enterprises and how these could be incorporated into the burgeoning tourism industry in the Cape Flats.
In Conversation: Venàncio Massingue 2003-11-17
A pioneer of the digital age in Africa, Dr Venàncio Massingue, Vice-Rector of the University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), was a key player in bringing the Internet to Mozambique. From 1996 to 1998 he masterminded the development of the Mozambique ICT Policy and ICT Strategy that were approved by the Cabinet in 2000 and 2002 respectively. He emphasizes and supports the role of young people in his goal of making Mozambique a producer, not just a consumer, of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Dr Massingue spoke to IDRC Reports about his experience and the role of ICTs in development.
Resource Management Goes Wireless in Mozambique 2003-11-17
Mozambique’s forest wardens and wildlife scouts have a new tool with which to fight illegal loggers and poachers: wireless radio telephones. The phones are also helping to break their isolation. In addition, research supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is showing that the radios help to enlist villagers to the cause of sound resource management. Local and provincial governments profit in turn from the additional fines levied on illegal loggers.
Computers Live On In Colombian Classrooms 2003-11-17
Donated computers are making school much more interesting for more than 750 000 students in Colombia and are allowing students from technical colleges to gain valuable work experience. The program — similar to Canada’s Computers for Schools — is also helping teachers learn how to use computers and the Internet as educational tools. Key to the success of this project, supported by the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA), is political will — Computadores para Educar (CPE) enjoys presidential support.
Net Gains With Somos@Telecentros 2003-11-17
Telecentres — community Internet access points — can help marginal groups in society to use the Internet to organize and influence wider thinking on the kinds of national policies, regulations, and human rights issues that affect them. This is the experience of Somos@Telecentros in Ecuador, launched in 1999 as a way to build regional and national communities through the Internet. Today it has about 1750 members in eight countries who share experiences and resources. The network also gives them a collective voice that enhances their participation and their influence in the discussion and formulation of broader public policies.
The Best Policy: Telcom Research from an African Perspective 2003-11-17
Information and communication technologies (ICTS) offer tantalizing possibilities for supporting — even hastening — Africa's economic and social development. Whether or not this potential is reached depends to a great extent on telecommunications policies. These policies cannot simply be imported: they must be based on an understanding of African realities. The aim of the Learning Information Networking Knowledge (LINK) Centre is to promote "made in Africa" research that will contribute to a "made in Africa" information revolution.
What Determines ICT Access in the Philippines? 2003-11-17
As an archipelago of 7000 islands, the Philippines faces major communication challenges. The country also has pressing development needs. The government has introduced several policies to broaden people's access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a way to meet these needs. But Erwin Alamapy found that even though people are close to ICTs, they don't always use them. His research project set out to find out why, and what could be done to encourage the use of new technologies.
A Cyber Shepherd at Work in the Sahel 2003-11-17
How can the pastoralists in the Sahel be helped to adopt more productive livestock management practices and to protect pastures that are threatened by drought and overgrazing? African researchers addressing this question have come up with an innovative answer — putting new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to work for herders. One result: a Web site named "cyber shepherd."
Telecentres: From Idea to Reality in Mozambique 2003-11-17
What should a telecentre look like? In Mozambique, researchers from the University Eduardo Mondlane turned to the community for an answer. The result was a one-stop shop with everything from telephones and photocopying services to computer training. The project is having spillover effects as women's organizations avail themselves of some of the services offered. But although the telecentres are valued by the communities, their future remains uncertain due to the high cost of Internet and the need to become self-sustainable.
Tools for Educational Change 2003-11-17
SchoolNet Mozambique is a nationwide network to enhance learning opportunities for students, teachers, and the surrounding community via the Internet. Decision makers have high hopes that it can redress some of the problems endemic to Mozambique's education system, such as inequity in access to education, especially between urban and rural dwellers. Supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), SchoolNet is also seen as a way to prepare Mozambican students for work in the Global Information Society. Ultimately, however, SchoolNet may be the catalyst for systemic change in the way teachers teach and students learn.
Laos: A Final Frontier for ICTs 2003-11-17
A report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on "e readiness," published in 2001, outlines many problems that limit the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development in Laos. These include limited infrastructure and a lack of ICT knowledge. A project on building digital links, supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is helping to build capacity within the government and at the community level to meet Laos' ICT needs.
Making Plans for Success — The Tanzania Essential Health Interventions Project 2003-10-30
Fewer children are dying in Morogoro District in Tanzania — the result of significant improvements in local health care. Morogoro is one of two districts that are the testing ground for the Tanzania Essential Health Interventions Project (TEHIP). This research and development partnership between the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Tanzania Ministry of Health has been piloting innovations in health planning, priority setting, and resource allocation. As the successful project comes to an end, the Tanzanian government is now taking steps to apply TEHIP’s lessons to the rest of the country.
Turning the Tide of Violence in South Africa 2003-10-23
The root cause of violence in South Africa has not changed much since the apartheid era. According to the Johannesburg-based Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), South Africa’s current high rate of violent crime is just as related to economic and social marginalization as it was during the 1980s. In an effort to develop strategies to turn the tide of violence, CSVR has been analyzing the causes, extent, and the sustained pattern of violence in South Africa as it moved to democracy.
Seeds of Survival 2003-10-02
In what was dubbed a farmer-to-farmer dialogue, a group of South Asian small-scale farmers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka shared their experiences and the challenges they face with Canadian organic farmers from British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The 10-day program of tours of organic farms, presentations, and a workshop culminated in the drafting of an alternative vision for the future of agriculture.
In Conversation: Carol Weiss and Evert Lindquist on Policymaking and Research 2003-09-11
It seems logical to suggest that public policies would be better constructed if policymakers had access to the best research. Yet all too often, researchers and policymakers inhabit separate spheres — the work of the two does not connect. These are the views of Professor Carol Weiss of Harvard University and Professor Evert Lindquist of the University of Victoria. Professor Weiss has written 11 books and over 100 articles on evaluation and public policy research and ran Harvard's postdoctoral program on evaluation. Professor Lindquist is director of the University of Victoria's School of Public Administration and has written extensively on the machinery of government and policy-making, policy communities and networks, and the role of think tanks.
Cause and Solution: A New Perspective on Malaria and Agriculture 2003-08-12
Malaria is thought to have emerged as a virulant disease at the same time as the early practice of agriculture — about 7,000 years ago. Today, a project by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is taking a new look at the links between agriculture and malaria. The goal is to reduce the incidence of the disease.
Healthy Collaboration Cleans up Kathmandu 2003-08-12
An entrenched system of social organization, environmental degradation, and poverty have conspired to create a public health crisis in Kathmandu. Waterborne and helminthic diseases are rampant, as are respiratory and digestive illnesses. But the situation is improving dramatically for the city's poor, thanks to a unique collaboration between Nepalese and Canadian researchers and the work of a local nongovernmental organization.
From Forests to Fields in Côte d’Ivoire 2003-08-12
What happens when policies and programs to promote economic growth unexpectedly wreak havoc with the environment and people’s health? In Côte d’Ivoire, researchers are looking at ways to reduce the harmful health impacts of unbridled agricultural development and of a large hydroelectric dam. But rather than focusing on health services, they are trying to improve people’s health by better managing the local resource base.
Taking Control of Air Pollution in Mexico City 2003-08-12
Located in a pollutant-trapping valley, Mexico City — one of the world’s largest cities — has had limited success in battling suffocating air pollution. A new understanding of the health impacts of this pollution – and of people’s role in both the problem and the solution – could lead to better targeted, more effective air improvement programs.
A Golden Opportunity for Better Health 2003-08-12
Gold has been mined for centuries in the hills of southwestern Ecuador. Today, the mining is small-scale but the problems it brings are large — unsafe conditions, environmental contamination, and harm to human health. Researchers are studying the impact of mining activities in several communities along the Puyango River. They have found that the effects extend beyond the immediate area to farming families living downstream. Two communities are now taking steps to address the problem.
Gender Researcher Seeks Answers on South African Campuses 2003-07-21
In South Africa, post-secondary education is one of only a few tickets to upward mobility, and students endure enormous economic and personal pressures to graduate. Succeeding on campus means facing powerfully entrenched ideas tied to gender and heterosexuality, according to Dr Jane Bennett, gender researcher and director of the African Gender Institute, based at the University of Cape Town. She’s urging much more work be undertaken on gender equity and gender violence in a specifically African context.
Circle of Life: Organic Farming in Mexico 2003-07-04
Every two weeks in Guadalajara, in Jalisco State, Mexico, perhaps half a dozen farm producers retail organic foods and household cleaners at a tiny community market, in a friendly participant’s yard. The market is based on old Mexico’s tíanguis, indigenous marketplaces where people exchanged food and ideas. It’s a way to create a direct link between farmers who produce organic vegetables, milk, meat, and eggs, and their buyers.
Improving Morocco’s olive industry, from harvest to waste disposal 2003-05-16
Simple techniques and appropriate technologies developed at Morocco’s Institut Agricole et Vétérinaire Hassan II could solve two major problems facing Morocco’s olive oil industry: how to improve processing and produce higher quality oil, and how to dispose of polluting wastes. At the same time, they can yield animal feeds and natural aromas for the food and pharmaceutical industries. These new developments could contribute to a sustainable source of income and employment in rural areas, as well as help achieve Morocco’s national plan to expand and improve the olive industry.
Collecting Fog on El Tofo 2003-05-02
In the early 1990s, the global news media became entranced by a small town in northern Chile that was using a new and innovative technology to draw much-needed water from fog. The technology worked well and the increased water supply helped to transform the town. But, more than 10 years later, the mesh nets of the fog catchers are in a state of total disrepair. What caused the community to abandon the project that had brought it abundant water and high hopes for the future? And what can be learned from the El Tofo experience?
Protecting Mongolia’s grassland steppes 2003-04-04
Overgrazing and global climate changes, along with political upheavals, are causing serious ecological problems in the windy grassland steppes of Mongolia — and threatening the livelihood of more than half the population who make a living herding livestock. A research project is currently underway which aims to help communities manage their grasslands and natural resources sustainably by working directly with those most affected. The project is examining issues such as herd mobility versus continuous grazing on the same pastureland; the shift from state control to a market-oriented system; and the privatization of resources such as land.
Water Management in Ecuador’s Andes Mountains 2003-03-21
In Ecuador’s Carchi province, information generated by researchers has helped create a chain reaction that has seen the resolution of a conflict over water between two municipalities, a growing popular movement among local people to protect a unique ecosystem known as the paramo, and a slight, but significant, budge in the region’s entrenched power dynamics.
New Hope for Palestinian Refugee Women in Lebanon 2003-01-24
Palestinian women refugees are getting a chance to go to university — and are studying subjects traditionally dominated by men — as a result of a scholarship program supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
In Conversation: Celia Reyes on the Importance of Timely Economic Information 2002-12-23
Poverty in the developing world has been shifting perceptibly toward South Asia as well as sub-Saharan Africa. Finding means to deal with this shift greatly concerns Dr Celia Reyes, director of the Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) project in the Philippines, which is supported by IDRC. The Philippine MIMAP project was the first: the network now includes a dozen countries in Asia and Africa.
Dr Reyes is Senior Research Fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. One of her major research areas is poverty — in particular, assessing the impact of policies and programs on poverty and equity. She has also worked on developing and implementing monitoring systems to provide national and local policymakers with timely information on the welfare status of vulnerable groups.
From Research to Policy in Bangladesh 2002-12-23
The link between research and policy is sometimes tenuous. But it is not necessarily so in Bangladesh where researchers from the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC) Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic and Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) program have been working closely with government since the project’s inception in 1992. Ten years later, the research has yielded substantial improvements in the monitoring of poverty, and the poverty monitoring surveys have emerged as a prime source of information, with wide policy implications.
Giving the Poor a Voice 2002-12-23
The fight against poverty is fraught with uncertainties. Even the very definition of poverty is elusive: its manifestations and causes vary from country to country; its magnitude fluctuates according to the social and economic context. How to explain why in India, for instance, poverty is high although unemployment is low while the inverse is true in Morocco — or at least, poverty there is not as blatant? And why is it too often true that economic growth in poor countries has done little to reduce poverty — and may in fact have exacerbated it?
These are some of the fundamental questions a network of researchers from 12 Asian and African countries has been grappling with. Members of the Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Network of IDRC’s Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic and Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) program, they met in Rabat, Morocco and Québec City in 2002 to share insights gained through their studies.
Wi-Fi: A New Bridge for the Digital Divide? 2002-11-22
Connecting to the Internet using a simple aluminum antenna and a wireless network card could be the best way to narrow Indonesia's digital divide and bolster economic development, says Dr Onno Purbo. The Jakarta-based expert on information and communication technologies (ICTs) was recently at the International Development Research Centre’s (IDRC) headquarters to talk about his vision.
Vital Statistics 2002-11-14
Collecting data in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya can be a dangerous job. Household enumerators who work with the African Population and Health Research Center’s (APHRC) demographic surveillance system (DSS) regularly risk being mugged and robbed by pickpockets. Yet they persist, for the information they gather is vital to efforts to improve the health of these poor communities.
Amerindian Researcher Brings Grassroots Views on Mining to Fore 2002-11-01
In Guyana and Colombia, as in most Latin American countries, mining has dramatically increased over the past two decades. But from the contamination of healthy rivers to the lawless atmosphere of mining towns, few have felt the ill effects of mining more than these countries’ Indigenous peoples.
Coral Reefs in Thailand: Planning for the Future in a Fragile Paradise 2002-10-04
Since the 2000-release of the Hollywood film The Beach — which featured these Islands along with actor Leonardo DiCaprio — tourism is on the rise and the coral reefs in the Andaman Sea are taking a beating. But Udomsak Seenprachawong fears the economic gains from Phi Phi’s popularity will be short-lived — and the environmental pain irreparable.
Rethinking a Model for Peace in Guatemala 2002-09-20
The 1996 Peace Accords recognized that there could be no peace without resolving land issues.
Vermiculture Improves Urban Farming in Argentina 2002-08-26
Impoverished citizens in Argentina’s third largest city are stepping up efforts to farm in urban neighbourhoods — by using California red worms. Vermiculture (a method of composting fruit and vegetable waste using earthworms) is proving to be an inexpensive and easy way to create high-quality organic fertilizer. It is also boosting crop production and helping the environment.
Improve the environment, improve health in Côte d’Ivoire 2002-08-16
In Côte d’Ivoire, researchers are looking at ways to reduce the harmful health impacts of unbridled agricultural development and of a large hydroelectric dam. But there’s a twist — rather than focusing on health services, they are trying to improve people’s health by better managing the local resource base. Their work is supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This is one of many innovative projects highlighted in a new Web site on IDRC’s contributions to sustainable and equitable development, launched to mark the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), from August 26 to September 4, 2002.
The E-Marketers of South India 2002-08-09
Last year, the Foundation of Occupational Development (FOOD India) established India Shop, an e-commerce site to generate income for artisans and the e-marketers who sell their work to online customers worldwide. India Shop became a reality as a result of a $60,000 research and development grant from the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC) Pan Asia Networking (PAN) program initiative.
Hidden Links: Irrigation, Malaria, and Gender 2002-07-19
Irrigation projects affect more than agricultural productivity, suggests an ecosystem study by IDRC Program Officer Renaud De Plaen. His results show how the transformation of farming practices and accompanying changes in the power relationships between men and women can affect women’s ability to deal with malaria in their families.
China’s Rural Transformation 2002-05-03
In travels through rural China spanning 20 years, Sam Ho witnessed dramatic changes as highways and factories spread to the countryside. Now the Canadian researcher is leading a major study into China’s rural transformation.
Decades of cassava research bear fruit 2002-04-26
From research to results can be a long journey. For his pathbreaking research on cassava, Dr Nagib Nassar, a professor at the Universidade de Brasília, has been nominated for this year’s World Food Prize. Nassar’s early research was supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), as part of the Centre’s cassava breeding research program during the 1970s and 1980s.
In Conversation: David Brooks on Water Scarcity and Local-level Management 2002-03-15
There is no silver bullet for managing the water shortages facing many countries, but there is one aspect that has not been sufficiently recognized as part of the solution: water management at the local or community level. This is the point of view of David Brooks, the author of the recent book WATER: Local-level Management published by IDRC.
Conserving Biodiversity, Supporting Livelihoods in Panama’s Rainforest 2002-03-01
Where Central and South America come together, grows a rainforest that is one of the richest ecological regions of tropical America. The Indigenous peoples who live there depend on this forest for food, medicine, building materials and much more. But parts of the rainforest are being cut by outsiders, the pressure on natural resources is increasing, and the livelihoods of the Indigenous peoples are threatened.
Coping with water crisis in Cuba 2002-02-22
Last year, water supplies reached crisis proportions in Veguita de Galo, a neighbourhood of Santiago in Cuba. The country’s economic decline has led to a slow but steady deterioration of water supplies and sanitation services — and a resulting increase in water-borne disease. However, members of the community have solved the problem by taking matters in their own hands — and using slow sand filters as home water-treatment systems.
In Conversation: Michael Quinn Patton 2002-02-08
Many development programs are evaluated to determine how effective and useful they are. But how effective and useful are the evaluations themselves? Internationally renowned evaluator, Michael Quinn Patton, recently came to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to discuss his approach for making sure evaluations are useful for decision-makers.
Divining Jordan's desert waters 2002-01-18
Researchers have discovered a system of shallow aquifers just below the surface of Jordan's badia that may provide a vital source of water for the semi-nomadic people who live there. What accounts for the unlikely presence of water a short distance below the surface of the desert? Mostly a quirk of the local geology.
Who Pays? Municipal Services in South Africa 2002-01-10
When South Africans discarded apartheid they overcame one of the world’s great problems. Now, they’re dealing with another — equitable water, electricity and waste disposal services. If this challenge seems relatively minor, consider the fact that poorly administered services and related cost recovery programs can affect the stability of national governments. They also have direct and serious consequences for children’s health.
Supporting Environmental Science in the Mideast 2001-12-14
Water purification is just one of the subjects studied by students in Jordan’s newly created graduate program in environmental science — a program that was established with the collaboration of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
The changing face of inner-city Havana 2001-12-07
In inner-city Havana, Cuba, urban decay is a serious problem. But one neighbourhood stands out for having the country’s most successful community-led projects to revamp the urban scene.
Broadening the Benefits of Trade: The Latin American Trade Network 2001-11-30
When it comes to trade talks, many developing countries find themselves at a distinct disadvantage. In Latin America, an IDRC-supported research network is providing research developing countries can use to broaden the benefits of trade.
SIPAZ: Peace Journalism in Rural Colombia 2001-11-16
Violence has taken a devastating toll on Colombian culture and society. SIPAZ is part of a grassroots movement to counter the culture of violence.
Through Farmers' Eyes 2001-11-09
Using first-person stories and pictures taken by women farmers, the book Gender, Land, and Livelihoods in East Africa: Through Farmers' Eyes documents the lives of women in Western Kenya as they struggle to sustain their soils and their livelihoods. Through Farmers' Eyes provides links to an interview with the book's author, Ritu Verma, as well as a slide show, an audio file, and other online resources.
Protecting Mangrove Forests in Cambodia 2001-11-02
Some of the last remaining pristine mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are in Cambodia, but these are increasingly under threat. Replanting mangrove forests is one element in a community-based project to ensure the survival of Cambodia's mangrove forests.
Trading Diamonds for Guns 2001-10-22
Three researchers set out to show how 'conflict diamonds' were fuelling the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone. Their report, The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security, has attracted worldwide attention since it was published last year and has contributed to major changes in the international diamond industry.
IN CONVERSATION: Robert Prescott-Allen on Measuring the Wellbeing of Nations 2001-10-12
The use of indicators to gauge human progress is common and well understood. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Index of Leading Economic Indicators are two of the best-known examples. Yet, most of the widely cited indicators focus exclusively on economic activity, and even the most progressive of indicators fail to account for key issues of sustainability. The Wellbeing of Nations addresses these shortcomings by surveying 180 countries using the Wellbeing Assessment.
From hospitals to herbalists: Rx herbal medicines 2001-10-05
In Uganda, the rural population is as likely to consult a herbalist as a medical practitioner for common complaints. IDRC-supported research is helping healers prepare better, safer, and cheaper remedies.
Preserving the health of the Rio de la Plata 2001-09-28
An ambitious "virtual institution," is improving the management and conservation of the Rio de la Plata, South America's largest estuary.
South Africa's Winning Tobacco Control Strategy 2001-09-21
Cigarette consumption has fallen for eight consecutive years in South Africa while the percentage of adult smokers in the country has dropped from 32% to 28%, thanks to some of the strictest tobacco control measures ever adopted by the government of a developing country.
Food for the Soil: Rock Phosphate as Fertilizer 2001-09-07
If you're a subsistence farmer in sub-Saharan Africa, you probably don't have much extra money for fertilizer. But fertilizer is what you need to enrich the phosphate-poor tropical soil that you till. Yet dotted like geological islands in a dryland sea are places where inorganic phosphate may be mined from old rock deposits.
Burkina Faso: Managing Conflict at the Village Handpump and Beyond 2001-06-29
Young men in Silmiougou, a village in central Burkina Faso, would like a fair chance at finding wives in nearby villages. But they have a big handicap that is unrelated to their own suitability as husbands: their village has only one handpump for 3,000 people. This fact makes women from outside Silmiougou dread the idea of marrying a man from there. They know their lives would be filled with the daily drudgery of spending hours fetching enough water to meet their family's needs.
Tapping into Community Resources in China 2001-06-22
In remote highland villages in Guizhou — one of China's poorest provinces — villagers have solved a problem that had existed for 200 years. Working with researchers from the Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, with support from IDRC, they have secured a steady supply of water. They have also reforested land, transformed a wasteland into a peach orchard, and undertaken other productive initiatives by applying community-based natural resource management.
Rehabilitating the Baringo Drylands of Kenya 2001-06-15
A bull called Mwalimu helped save the lives of hundreds of cattle in Kenya's Baringo District during a recent drought. Mwalimu means "teacher" in Swahili and this bull taught other cattle to do something that does not come naturally to them — eat cactus. Two successive years of drought had so much reduced the amount of fodder available in Baringo that cattle were starving to death. So, when staff from the Rehabilitation of Arid Environments, a charitable trust organization, heard about a bull that was eating cactus, they bought him and took him around the district to show hungry cows that they, too, could eat cactus once the thorns were burned off.
Patronage or Partnership: Local Capacity Building in Humanitarian Crises 2001-06-08
It is early 1998, on the outskirts of Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. "People are dying like flies," says an understandably emotional American missionary running a refugee camp for four thousand Hutus. Asked by a reporter about a series of conflict resolution workshops being run by a British non-governmental organization, the missionary watches four more corpses as they are carried out of the makeshift shelter he has constructed. The missionary says, "I do not like to criticize other groups ... but I wish someone was giving me that sort of money."
Investigating the Impact of Agrarian Policies on Conflict and Peacebuilding 2001-05-18
When Jean Daudelin assembled a research team to examine the impact of agrarian policies on conflict or peace, he imagined that one of the results might be a kind of checklist — or similar diagnostic tool — to help international development agencies develop programs that would not exacerbate political strife. Working for Canada's North-South Institute, and funded by IDRC, Dr Daudelin wanted to take a fresh look at the linkage between public policy and conflict. He recruited seven researchers with extensive knowledge of specific, localized conflicts in Central America and Mexico, and asked them to test existing assumptions about which agrarian conditions and policies fuel disputes, and which ones help calm them.
Forecasting Water Flows in Pakistan's Indus River 2001-05-11
A Pakistan-Canada research partnership has led to the launch of a sophisticated forecasting system that promises to help Pakistani authorities accurately estimate how much water flows into the Indus River — the lifeline of one of the largest irrigation networks in the world. The water forecasting system could ultimately help Pakistan to optimize water allocation at a national level by deciding how much water is used for irrigation, industry, and domestic purposes.
Investigating the Impact of Pesticides on Potato Farmers in Ecuador 2001-04-27
Potato farmers in the province of Carchi in northern Ecuador suffer from decreased mental capacity caused by high exposure to chemical insecticides. This is lowering their productivity by impairing their ability to make good farming decisions. With funding from IDRC and other donors, the Ecosalud project aims to strengthen the capacity of local farm communities to handle pesticides safely and to modify their production methods.
How Thailand Took on the Transnational Tobacco Titans 2001-04-20
It began as a classic David-and-Goliath story, with a small and relatively poor country — Thailand — butting heads against wealthy multinational tobacco companies and the powerful US trade office that championed their cause. By the time it was over, Goliath's image had been badly battered, anti-tobacco forces in Thailand and internationally had been re-energized, and Thailand had won the right to impose some of the strictest tobacco controls in the world.
Material Gain: Bednets Treated with Insecticides Improve the Lives of Tanzanians 2001-04-06
Inside the factory of the Textile Manufacturers of Tanzania Limited in Dar-es-Salaam, the hum of 50 sewing machines is as insistent as the drone of insects. Tailors are stitching together blue, green, and white netting that has been woven on the factory's looms. The men and women are part of a 180-strong workforce that produces up to 700 mosquito nets each day, marketed under brand names such as Health Net and Sweet Dreams.
Staking a Claim in Cambodia's Highlands 2001-03-30
Long after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, rebels lurked in the jungles of Ratanakiri, a province in northeast Cambodia. Outsiders stayed away, which meant that the forest remained intact. But in the early 1990s, the rebels gradually gave up their arms and the logging trucks started to arrive. This has created serious problems, particularly for indigenous people, who rely on the forest for their livelihood. In the traditionally hierarchical society of Cambodia, these people had never spoken up for their rights — until they became involved in a community-based natural resource management project.
'Amal' as in 'Hope': An Argan Oil Cooperative is Changing Women's Lives 2001-03-16
My life has really changed. It used to be that I could never leave the house. Today, I am earning an income and can send my children to school. These are the words of a woman who has been given a new lease on life, thanks to an argan oil cooperative run exclusively by women in Tamanar, in the Essaouira region of Morocco. Here a group of 50 women has integrated itself into the economy by capitalizing on a piece of ancestral knowhow.
Investigating the Impact of Large Mines on Chilean Communities 2001-03-09
The face of Chile's mining map changed dramatically after the government introduced investment incentives in the 1980s, attracting a wave of foreign-owned companies to explore and develop previously undetected deposits. But the mining boom has raised some serious concerns among the people living next door to these projects. With funding from IDRC, a team of researchers recently conducted a study on the impact of three large mining projects on local communities.
Enhancing the Role of Traditional Leaders in African Governance 2001-03-02
In the mid-1970s, a young doctoral student named Donald Ray was studying rural settlement schemes in Zambia. "All of a sudden, one of the schemes ground to a halt when the local chief showed up and told them to stop. He controlled the land and had not been consulted." Several years later, while researching a book on Ghana, Dr Ray was struck by the power of chiefs in northern Ghana. During the December 31 revolution of 1981, "I saw examples where the grassroots revolutionary cadres were unable to overcome resistance from the chiefs."
Improving Natural Resource Management in Viet Nam's Hong Ha Commune 2001-02-23
An interdisciplinary research team of scientists and farmers is helping to defeat hunger and poverty in a poor mountain region of Viet Nam. During the Viet Nam War, the region was a frequent target of chemical defoliants and bombs, which destroyed much of its natural forest cover. Today, the once native vegetation has been replaced by invasive imperata grasses, which are difficult to remove when residents attempt agriculture or agroforestry.
Monitoring Poverty in the Philippines 2000-10-27
The Philippine province of Palawan is breathtakingly beautiful — and poor. Many people lack potable water, adequate sanitation facilities, and electricity. But with help from the MIMAP-Philippines team, which is sponsored by IDRC, Palawan officials have implemented a low-cost, easy-to-sustain community-based poverty monitoring system. Armed with information from this system, planners and policy makers can make better-informed decisions on how best to tackle unmet needs. Through time, they will be able to monitor the impacts of programs, and determine whether the situation is improving, getting worse, or staying the same.
Addressing Violence Against Palestinian Women 2000-06-23
A ground-breaking research project funded by IDRC shows that violence against women is common in the Gaza Strip, the impoverished coastal area between Israel and Egypt. The preliminary results are alarming: half of the women interviewed to date have been victims of violence.
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