International Development Institutions Research Articles

Land Titling and Microcredit in Cambodia: Examining the Reality of Hernando de Soto’s ‘Three Steps to Heaven’

Starting with the work of Hernando de Soto in the 1980s, the role of land tenure soon attracted the attention of the international development community as a neoliberal-oriented theory of change rooted in the possession and use of private individual land titles by the poor. One of the central mechanisms proposed by de Soto was a three-step process that involves the poor (1) “securing” their tenure with land titles, (2) using their newly acquired land titles as collateral to leverage large amounts of microcredit to be used to establish a functioning microenterprise, and then (3) escaping from their poverty due to the jobs and income associated with founding and running a microenterprise. This paper explores what I call de Soto’s “three steps to heaven” theory of change, a concept that was taken on board with gusto by leading Western governments and virtually all of the main international development institutions, particularly the World Bank. I argue that Cambodia provides the ideal setting for evaluating de Soto’s concept because, since around 2020, it has possessed the largest microcredit sector in the world (on a per capita basis), thanks largely to the obligatory use of land titles as the collateral required to obtain microcredit. While the first two of de Soto’s “three steps to heaven” have been realized, the evidence shows that the assumptions related to step three have proved to be extremely problematic: the ubiquity of microcredit that was achieved since the early 2010s via steps one and two has not, in general, improved the lives and communities of Cambodia’s poor through accelerated microenterprise development. It appears, instead, to have contributed to deeper poverty, insecurity, vulnerability and inequality. I conclude that de Soto’s “three steps to heaven” theory reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the real institutional drivers of sustainable local economic development and poverty reduction.

Trade-offs, synergies and acceptability of climate smart agricultural practices by smallholder farmers in rural Ghana

ABSTRACTClimate smart agriculture (CSA) has been promoted by governments and international development institutions as an intervention to address climate change and deliver triple wins. Yet, the trade-offs and synergies associated with CSA practices have not been explored. This study develops composite indices for prioritizing CSA practices to better inform policy about their trade-offs, synergies and acceptability. The aim of this study was to examine smallholder farmers’ uptake of CSA practices, the drivers of such uptake and the benefits (positive and negative) of CSA practices on agriculture, livelihoods and the environment. We employed the Analytic Hierarchy Process with workshop participants across two study districts in Ghana’s transitional and Sudan savannah agroecological zones. Results showed differences in CSA practices prioritized for achieving the productivity, adaptive capacity and mitigation goals between the two agroecological zones. Results also showed synergies and trade-offs associated with the implementation of CSA interventions, for example, irrigation may increase farm productivity (synergy) while contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) simultaneously (trade-off). Additionally, there are various perceived acceptance and efficiency levels of CSA practices by smallholder farmers and agricultural development officers. These results have implications for the implementation of future CSA action plans in vulnerability hotspots in dryland farming systems.

Level and Patterns of Access to Education by Refugees in Refugee Communities of Uganda

The study sought to examine factors influencing refugee access to education and the programs of education available for students in refugee communities of Uganda namely Kiryandogo and Kampala. It explored the levels and patterns of access to education programs in settlements. As such to find out how refugees and leaders of institutions engage in initiatives aimed to ensure that national education objectives for refugees enshrined in the Uganda Refugee Act, (2006) are achieved. A sample of students and education administrators in the districts and refugee education mandated organizations were involved in the study. Structured questionnaires, interviews, and focused group discussions were administered to 193 study participants. A descriptive study revealed that the education of refugees had a positive impact. Despite bottlenecks experienced, education programs are accessible to refugees from primary school, vocational colleges to universities. Early childhood development centers (ECDCs), students’ clubs, and adult literacy centers increased education opportunities for refugees irrespective of age or socio-economic status. Partnerships created with beneficiaries, international development institutions, local governments, and host communities ensure that each makes a contribution to refugee education. Education programs available to refugees enabled the outcomes of education achieved by UNHCR and implementing partners. Results show improved efficiency ratios in school enrollment, the ratio of refugees to nationals, education infrastructure, and funding opportunities for refugees to reconstruct school life significantly eliminated factors limiting refugees’ education. Refugees accessed education programs and gained useful knowledge and skills to resolve community challenges. They are capable of getting employed or starting their own businesses.

A framework for research assessment in social sciences through Big Data

The scarce public policy funds demand cost-effective outputs and more innovative forms to inform decision making. During the last years, there has been increasing use of Big Data for research and policymaking by international development institutions. For this reason, the main objective of the present work is to propose a framework to apply Big Data in a high-relevance program for science policy in Mexico, which assesses the researchers' performance. Social sciences are considered the most difficult area to assess, due to there is no theoretical-methodological consensus and the academic impact is difficult to determine because social sciences do not exhibit long term development. Instead, there are a plurality of paradigms or changing topics that do not have consensus among the academic community. In this regard, this work outlines a framework, which includes indicators of the social contribution of science since computational tools should have an orientation.

How sanitary pads came to save the world: Knowing inclusive innovation through science and the marketplace.

International development institutions, governments, and social entrepreneurs have become increasingly enthusiastic about 'inclusive innovation' which, to solve problems in low- and middle-income countries, focuses on the development of technologies for and by the poor. Inclusive innovation differs from previous development efforts by focusing on devices instead of infrastructure, claiming to be based on scientific evidence, and relying on market logics to achieve humanitarian ends. Proponents argue that, informed by grassroots efforts, these interventions have enormous potential to catalyze economic, social, and political change. How are the market and technological imperatives of inclusive innovation shaping the international development agenda? What do inclusion and innovation mean in this context? What can inclusive innovation tell us about the proliferation of initiatives that promote technology for public good, from responsible innovation to public interest technology? This article examines these questions through a case study of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) innovation in India. Rather than providing solutions to self-evident development problems, inclusive innovation shapes both development problems and solutions simultaneously, in areas where scientific and market ways of knowing converge. These ways of knowing claim to be legitimate because they are rooted in local knowledge and expertise. MHM in India became a problem, and low-cost disposable sanitary pads an inclusive innovative solution, because of the involvement of Indian researchers and innovators, and Indian girls and women as consumers and producers. However, in the process they reinforced narrow understandings of both inclusion and innovation in international development. Inclusion efforts may be wrapped up in political economies that shape and limit their transformational power by prioritizing scientific, technical, and market expertise.

View at the Reform of the Economy of Uzbekistan through the Prism of the Republic’s Cooperation with International Development Institutions

The reforms carried out recently in the Republic of Uzbekistan have caused a wide discussion. For many, the speed with which the liberalization of the economy is carried out, as well as the scale of transformations, came as a surprise. Being one of the most closed economies in the post-Soviet space five years ago, Uzbekistan managed not only to catch up with the progressive countries of the former Soviet Union, but also to do so with relatively small social consequences. As shown in the article, the “Uzbek miracle” was caused by three factors. Firstly, the reforms were prepared in advance. Secondly, after the change in the policy of multilateral development banks in terms of the conditions they set for issuing loans to governments, recapitalizing (in some cases) these organizations and optimizing their balance sheets, their ability to provide loans has expanded. In addition, criticism from the international community has stimulated multilateral development banks to take a more careful approach to the choice of tools used when working with borrowing states and literally “create” stories of successful transformation of national economies. Thirdly, the national development Institutes of the People’s Republic of China and Japan have been active in working with the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan to implement projects aimed at modernizing the old and building new infrastructure. They have invested significant resources to transform certain sectors of the Uzbek economy. Financial institutions of European and Arab states also cooperate with the Uzbek government.Based on the matrix of projects compiled with the volumes of planned investments in the context of institutions and spheres of economic activity, the author pointed out sectors of the Uzbek economy that are the most attractive for individual foreign economic partners of the republic. The rapid growth of the state external debt of the republic has caused a discussion in the country about the effectiveness of the use of foreign loans, as well as the establishment of an upper limit on international borrowing. At the current stage, the Republic of Uzbekistan does not intend to reduce the amount of assistance it attracts from international financial organizations (at the same time, the public debt ceiling will still be set), since, together with loans, these institutions, as a rule, allocate funds free of charge for the preparation of projects and advisory assistance to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Revolution in Development: Mexico and the Governance of the Global Economy

Revolution in Development: Mexico and the Governance of the Global Economy

An Evaluation of the Legal and Regulatory Framework for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Nigeria

The privatisation of its industries and utilities started in Britain in the early 1980s and since then the private sector became involved in the ownership, operation and management of public assets and the provision of infrastructure services. The era of government providing singlehandedly providing infrastructural development and facilities are long gone. Government all over the world in this present dispensation cooperate with private sectors in the provision and management of various infrastructural facilities in their respective countries . Privatisation and economic liberalization became a standard policy prescription by international development institutions for most developing economies. The most common form of private investment in infrastructures has been the Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The success or otherwise of PPP in delivering infrastructure in developing societies such as Nigeria has, however, been a vexed issue. Since 1998, Nigeria has enacted a number of laws to regulate private investment in infrastructure development. One reason why policymakers opt for PPP include the need for the government to tap from private sector skill and expertise, the necessity for the public sector to concentrate on policymaking as well as the urgency to meet the increase in demand for infrastructure An examination of the legal and institutional framework for private sector investment in infrastructure assets and services and its prospects for Nigeria and other developing countries would be undertaken in this paper. Keywords: public-private partnership, infrastructural development, Nigeria DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/118-05 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

The relationship between poverty and prosperity: a feminist relational account

ABSTRACT In this paper I use a feminist relational approach to critically examine contemporary mainstream assumptions in the field of development concerning the relationship between poverty and prosperity. I show how these assumptions underpin the policies and practices of poverty alleviation within international development institutions. I argue that when prosperity is understood as a condition of independence actualized through processes of maximum extraction, exploitation, and accumulation, the persistence of poverty and continued exploitation of social and ecological systems seems inevitable. This analysis reveals how the processes of defining and measuring poverty and prosperity as discrete conditions, binary opposites on a development spectrum masks the relational nature of poverty and prosperity whereby the pursuit of prosperity in global capitalist systems drives the production of poverty across spaces and places. Further, it ignores the ecological embeddedness and social interdependence of human beings for existence, survival, and well-being. The paper provides insights from a feminist relational perspective on the possibilities of thinking about prosperity beyond extractionism.

Does Conservation Agriculture Work For Rainfed Farming In Nepal? A Review

Intensive tillage-based agricultural practices severely affect the soil’s physical, chemical and biological properties that eventually limit the crop yields in longer run. It is due to declining soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Several studies have been done to restore and improve the soil quality, however conservation agriculture (CA)-based practices of minimum tillage, crop residue retention and appropriate crop rotations has been observed to be promising across the globe. Studies on CA under Nepal’s rainfed farming systems of Terai and hills of Nepal improved the soil quality, increased individual crop and system yields, reduced labor demand and was economically profitable. However, lack of adequate soil moisture during planting in initial seasons, inadequate tillage equipment and weed management options are the key constraints of rainfed farming to be transformed into CA in initial stages. In Nepal, the introduction of animal-drawn direct seeding equipment, management of residues or mulches, mechanical or herbicidal weed management options for small-scale rainfed hill farmers can be of paramount significance in scaling-out of the CA based practices in Nepal. For this, further on-station and on-farm verifications of CA based practices need to be carried out across the various cropping systems and agro[1]ecological regions of the country by Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Nepal in collaboration with international CG centers, universities, extension and development institutions.

Localizing resilience: discursive projections, entrapments and domination

Resilience has become a central notion in the discourse of international foreign aid and development institutions and actors. Although it was often used metaphorically in political realms, extensiv...

Africa and Technology Exchange: Is Financial Aid Effective for the Development of the Continent?

Africa, despite continued and substantial financial assistance from more developed countries, has not yet achieved significant economic growth. It can be concluded that the assistance format requires adjustment. As a new information society is being formed, it can be supposed that the transfer of many technologies to African countries can significantly improve their situation. Thus, the authors put forward the hypothesis that in order to boost the development of African countries, the transfer of basic industrial technologies is needed. The major challenge of the article was to create a model, incorporating both economic indicators of growth and the volume of aid to the African countries, as the second parameter is hard to estimate. Within the developed hypothesis, proposals are put forward for the formation of technological convergence specific mechanisms through supranational institutions. The main aim of the article is to confirm the hypothesis, and put forward four schemes for the formation of the technological exchange infrastructure on the continent. In addition to that, the article provides basic directions for the institutional cooperation between the international development institutions. The key contribution of the article is the proof that the international development institutions' activity and their aid don't correlate with the economic development of the African countries, thus they don't have a significant economic influence.

MEASURES OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS IN THE FIELD OF INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL FLOWS CONTROL

The article attempts to identify new trends in approaches to assessing the impact of uncontrolled international capital flows on the development of the national economy and the corresponding changes in regulatory policies. It is pointed out that uncontrolled capital flows pose a special threat to small open economies due to insufficient development of the institutional environment and low depth of financial markets. There has been constructed circle of typical for small open economies risks, conducted with uncontrolled capital flows movement, such as deepening structural imbalances in financial asset markets, undesirable excessive fluctuations in the national currency rate, the flight of national capital and the erosion of the tax base. Based on the analysis of recent research, international regulatory initiatives of EU countries, recommendations of international development institutions and IMF’s Integrated Policy Framework, have been identified such trends as strengthening control over illegal capital flows, limiting of the negative speculative influence, panic and herd behaviour on exchange rate stability. Argued for a very important role which plays an uncontrolled dynamics of national currency rate on the transmission of global shocks to national economies. This necessitates a serious overhaul of exchange rate policy approaches. Central banks of small open economies should consider exchange rate stability as one of their goals. This does not mean inflation targeting abandon. The use of the instrument of currency interventions helps to influence the achievement of external targets, increasing the ability of interest rate policy instruments to achieve inflation targeting in the domestic market as well. As a conclusion and proposals for further development of policies in the financial sector to ensure the sustainable development of small open economies is systematized a list of possible regulatory measures. It is emphasized that the development of regulatory policies in the monetary and financial spheres in small open economies, which includes Ukraine, should be implemented comprehensively and include the development of macroprudential tools to limit systemic risk factors, suppress illicit capital flows and reduce the role of psychological factors of pro-cyclical behavior. The implementation of regulatory measures on transparent terms in such spheres will not make free-market self-regulatory mechanisms weaken, but rather helps to release them.

Forensic Finance and Budgeting Process Within the Public Financial Management (PFM) Framework in the African Context

International development institutions frequently prescribe improving public financial management (PFM) as part of the response to lowering corruption levels in low- and middle-income countries. But to date, there has been little cross-country analysis on whether better PFM is associated with lower levels of corruption. This paper investigates the relationship between PFM, crime, and forensic sciences' role in curbing corruption levels during the budgeting process. The paper explores the public finance management (PFM) system in African countries, the PFM system and budget credibility, the PFM system, and fiscal outcomes. Further, the paper analyses how the PFM system can provide opportunities for corruption and how to strengthen the PFM as an anti-corruption strategy. In this regard, the paper brings forensic sciences and transparency in budget preparation, execution, and reporting. In this paper, the author presents areas of corruption during the budgeting process. It involves several stages, including Long-term planning at the political level, the annual budget formulation in the executive branch, debate and passage of the budget in parliament, implementation by various ministries and government agencies, and oversight and control by several institutions. This paper will explain a case study on corruption during the budgeting process or budget padding. On a positive note, the paper shows that if there is the political will to curb corruption in the budget process, three factors stand out as essential: transparency, objective criteria for allocating burdens and favouring legitimate decision-making processes. Finally, forensic sciences occupy the scene and its importance exis

International Development Banks as Centers of Technological Exchange: Is Future Here?

The problems of technological exchange and technological development are becoming the most important for all groups of countries. Developed countries want to maintain their dominant position, developing countries try to catch them up, and the least developed countries try not to be a raw materials appendage of both the first ones and second ones. Technological convergence can become the answer to the challenges for all countries. The article's aim is to form theoretical approaches to technological convergence with the development banks participation. The main challenge of the article is the lack of statistical data on the subject, just as the novelty of the scientific field covering technologic convergence itself. The main article's results are the development of a more equitable technological convergence model, the technology exchange model in Asia, the financial mechanism's development for technological convergence through development banks and proposals for development banks entering the suggested technological convergence track. Thus, the answer to the question posed in the title is negative, as modern development banks cannot effectively cope with the technological exchange. The key contribution of the article is the creation of the theoretic model for the Asian international development institutions on the technology exchange mechanisms, just as the model of attracting financial resources to the project in the field of technology, interconnected with each other.

Development Acceleration - A Practical Methodology

Motivated by my assignments with international Socio-Economic development institutions, and accredited scholarly associations, I developed a thirst to design a practical model to accelerate the pace of development of the third world nations. The prime Economic classification of the nations are Developed or Developing or Under In the history, we are yet to see a country in the developing and under-developed category, moving upward into a developed status. This stagnated condition of the world nations was correctly identified and questioned by the Nobel Laureate in Economics (1979), Sir. Arthur Lewis (1915-1991) as ”Is the dependence of the developing country world growth on that of the developed - world inevitable ?. Development is found to be directly related to the savings among domestic households. Saving in turn, depends of the cost of essentials needs, namely Food, Shelter and Clothing. People migrate towards nations providing a saving platform. Nations should attract the Domestic savings, and use for development. This calls for an approach to the investment of domestic saving and technology-skill tie-up chains. Also a current trend among the developing nations is to attract foreign multinational investment in their nations with many economic incentives. This is another form of dependence and tie-up with profit oriented corporate units, providing only large volume employment and without any mandatory commitment to upgrade the domestic techno-commercial and economic infrastructure. This also warrants a domestication approach to reduce the dependence on external tie-ups. A review of the seven sequential steps of corporate operations confirm a Closed Cycle Economics, operating in all the nations, irrespective of their political pattern, and controlled by three resource dimensions. In each of these steps, these three components are existing in different forms, This cycle controls and monitors the Domestic consumption, Domestic investments, the economic indicators and hence the GDP. With these thoughts as a basis for discussion, the need for a new dimensional approach was exposed to a team of 14 diversified, but critically responsible persons in different nations, committed and working towards an accelerated Socio-Economic development. Based on all these approaches, this Geometric model is developed. This model using Geometry to the faculty of Economic Science, attempts to make this linkage more eternal than inevitable. This needs a multi-lateral approach to boost the domestic savings to support domestic investments, and to improve the quality of domestic human potential to man the domestic technology. Both these should be maintained and monitored by the optimum infrastructure mix. Techno-commercial systems assist to reduce the effects of these constraints, develop the technology, and optimise the resource utilisation. This model is developed in the form of two intersecting circles, one linking the domestic savings with the domestic investments, and the other linking the domestic human potential with the domestic technology. The former represents the external entrepreneurial activity, designated as Exogenous, and the latter involving internal productive activity, designated as Endogenous. A geometric approach is used to solve these two intersecting circles, aiming towards the central objectives of integrating the Exogenous and Endogenous aspects. This will upgrade the socio-economic status, and enlarge the qualitative and quantitative outputs. The inference derived from the geometric solution indicate that, the attempts to accelerate the pace of socio-economic development should be to encourage equal efforts in both the domestic investments through domestic savings, and utilisation of domestic skills for the domestic technology, updating towards the latest in the world developments. Any attempt to upgrade the existing Endogenous aspect only or Exogenous aspect only, is bound to create an unfavourable disturbance in this synchronisation. The qualitative and quantitative dimensions of the economy could be improved by expanding the operating dimensions in the Endogenous and Exogenous aspects, in equal magnitude. The past and current experiences of the developing and the developed world, support this model solution. The unit for the measure for development is “saving” by each household, including the lowest wage earner group (labour class). The Basic needs are Food (including water and milk), Clothing and Shelter. If the average monthly earnings of each household can buy their basic needs and there is a saving, it is an indicator of a developed nation. If they cannot buy their basic needs, it is a Developing nation, If the basic need items are available, it is an under developed nation. The developing and under developed nations should concentrate on the continued availability of basic needs and their monthly cost should be lesser than the average monthly earnings of every household. Attractive incentive should be provided to invest the domestic savings in Banks and Government bonds and they should be used for Domestic development projects.

Development assistance and Boserupian intensification under geopolitical isolation: The political ecology of a crop-livestock integration project in Burundi

While the New Green Revolution for Africa, a donor supported approach emphasizing high external input agriculture, has been in vogue in many African countries, politically isolated states like Burundi face a different set of constraints and opportunities. Due to political irregularities, international human rights concerns, and tensions with its neighbors, Burundi has been increasingly isolated from international markets. This isolation, combined with poor households more limited access to credit, means that agricultural development actors must consider different approaches to improving agricultural production and household food security. One such initiative, known as the Crop Livestock Integration Project (CLiP), focused on crop-livestock integration and intensification using locally available and affordable resources. An assessment conducted by the author in late 2016 suggests that CLiP was promoting an agroecological model of pro-poor, Boserupian intensification that makes sense in a place like Burundi. While this innovation was occurring under very challenging political economic circumstances in Burundi, and was contested within the International Crop Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hierarchy, it may serve as a model for promoting resilience and food security at the community level in a variety of contexts. This case is also an interesting example of how agricultural development approaches are often co-produced as their conception and implementation are modified across multiple scales, and how agricultural development knowledge is contested or subverted within an international development institution.

BRICS’ urban challenges: non-foresighted spatial development perspectives

Urbanization has taken on an unprecedented scale and pace of environmental transformation, and the process is likely to be continuing and accelerating. The growing scarcity of development resources urges searching for a way out. Previous development paradigms, which offered solutions to many urban problems by revitalizing market forces, have also proven problematic. True, they laid the foundation for globalization, which stimulated the development of technologies, large-scale activation of production sites and the activation of trade. Indeed, globalization has borne tangible benefits, but not for everyone. Striking differences are observed both at the interregional level and within regions and cities. The situation was aggravated by the fact that little attention was paid to the issues of macroeconomic forecasting and territorial planning. On the contrary, the entire decentralization policy pursued by international development institutions left all this without due attention. All this makes us take a fresh look at the tasks of planning and forecasting, focusing on the issues of territorial foresight and regional planning. The need to mobilize appropriate actions is argued in the article using the example of the BRICS.

Gender at the core of systems of power and inequality

Elissa Braunstein is a Professor and Chair of Economics at Colorado State University, as well as Editor of the journal Feminist Economics. Most recently she worked for 2.5 years as a Senior Economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Her work focuses on the international and macroeconomic aspects of development, with particular emphasis on economic growth, macro policy, social reproduction and gender. She publishes widely in both academic and policy venues, and has done consulting work for a number of international development institutions, including the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development, and UN Women. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Master’s of Pacific International Affairs from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego. (source editeur)

Social enterprise as catalyst of transformation in the micro-mobility sector

Abstract The need to transition towards more sustainable futures is evident. This paper explores the role of social enterprise in urban sustainability transitions. Using the UP Bike Share (UPBS), a university-based bicycle-sharing social enterprise (in Metro Manila, Philippines) as a case study, this paper aims to bring a more explicit social entrepreneurship perspective towards sustainability transitions research as well as draw insights from social enterprise as a social innovation to challenge existing sociotechnical regimes. Existing operator models of bike-sharing systems in other countries are predominantly for-profit vendors, publicly-owned entities and non-profit organizations. Emerging from civil society, UP Bike Share, on the other hand, is a social enterprise that grew into a social movement with a well-defined advocacy, and became part of a bigger social movement of sustainability advocates. Where previous attempts to establish a bike-sharing program by the local government, international development institution and public transport agency in Metro Manila failed, the UP Bike Share represents the first bike-sharing system in the Philippines that was successfully piloted, implemented and sustained. We then expound on three mechanisms by which UP Bike Share can achieve such transformation, namely: market formation, insertion into the broader social movement, and replication of innovation in other localities, supporting wider sustainability goals. We end with agenda for future research.