Investment In Capacity Building Research Articles

Assessing the Economic Benefits of Investment in Capacity Building: The Case of the Philippine Government-Funded Rural Enterprise Development Project

This paper presented the results of an economic assessment study commissioned by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD-DOST). Primary data on production, costs, investments, and socio-economic and farm-specific characteristics were obtained from 382 goat enterprise owners from Leyte, La Union, Isabela, and Nueva Ecija, Philippines using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The analytical method used to measure the return on the donor’s investment is the Benefit-Cost-Analysis (BCA). The study showed that the investment on capacity building generated a Net Present Value (NPV) of Php 3.8 million, a Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.36 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 35.48%. It is therefore concluded that the Rural Enterprise Development (RED) project provided positive returns on the investments of PCAARRD and the participating Local Government Units (LGUs). Hence, it was recommended that the Department of Agriculture institutionalize the RED Project so that it could be replicated in other regions of the country.

Power Sector in India - Recent Challenges and Measures Undertaken

Efficient and reliable power infrastructure is one of the most important requisite for sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the country. As the GDP of a country grow, so will the demand for power. The objective of this paper is to analyze the current issues and challenges of all the three segments of power namely, generation, transmission and distribution and the measures undertaken by the Government of India. The two largest challenges facing the Indian power sector are fuel supply uncertainty and deteriorating distribution companies (discoms) finances. Considering dominance of coal in India's fuel mix, coal shortages can severely impede investments in the generation segment. Importing coal is not a viable long term option as the major exporting countries are increasingly adopting energy security and resource nationalism- related policies. The need of the hour is to identify and implement solutions with utmost urgency. To revive the discoms the central government has come up with the bailout package yet these packages have only short term benefits. Its long-term benefits will depend on the discoms‟ ability to lower aggregate technical and commercial losses, raise tariffs and limit operational costs. Moreover, instead of taking populist measures, the state governments should focus on improving overall management of the power sector through steps such as reducing power theft, checking leakages, penalizing big defaulters, and improving metering and energy efficiency. It is important to stem the trend of tariff cuts in order to insure that power sector reforms are not derailed. Also, investments in capacity building and modernization are key requisites for improving sector health.

Quality intrapartum care and partnerships

And that is where our biggest problem with pregnancy and intrapartum care lies in the Pacific – there is an outrageous underinvestment in training opportunities to increase the numbers of nurses, midwives and doctors. We simply do not have enough nurses, midwives and doctors to have engaging discussions on relationships and guaranteeing every woman in labour has a skilled health personnel practitioner. In 2011, it was estimated that 5000 newborns and 1500 women died in childbirth in PNG per annum and there were only 152 practicing midwives.<a title="PACNEWS (PINA), 2011 #13041" href="#_ENREF_5"><sup>5</sup></a> Australian government investment in capacity building has seen 500 midwives trained in PNG in the last four years and a paper from the University of Technology Sydney team tasked with building capacity is published in this issue.

Global Neurosurgery: The Unmet Need

Globally, the lack of access to basic surgical care causes 3times as much deaths as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. The magnitude of this unmet need has been described recently, and the numbers are startling. Major shifts in global health agenda have highlighted access to essential and emergency surgery as a high priority. A broad examination of the current global neurosurgical efforts to improve access has revealed some strengths, particularly in the realm of training; however, the demand grossly outstrips the supply; most people in low-income countries do not have access to basic surgical care, either due to lack of availability or affordability. Projects that help create a robust and resilient health system within low- and middle-income countries require urgent implementation. In this context, concurrent scale-up of human resources, investments in capacity building, local data collection, and analysis for accurate assessment are essential. In addition, through process of collaboration and consensus building within the neurosurgical community, a unified voice of neurosurgery is necessary to effectively advocate for all those who need neurosurgical care wherever, whenever.

“There are bugs in condoms”: Tanzanian close-to-community providers' ability to offer effective adolescent reproductive health services

ObjectivesYoung people in Tanzania are known to access reproductive health services from a range of close-to-community providers outside formal health settings such as drug stores, village AIDS committees, traditional healers...

Drivers of change in landholder capacity to manage natural resources

Abstract A program to monitor the capacity for improved natural resource management (NRM) of land managers was implemented under a state-scale monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) strategy. We demonstrate detection of change in natural resource (NR) manager capacity by reassessing two groups of landholders at different locations in New South Wales (NSW), Australia that had previously participated in a baseline assessment of capacity for state-wide MER purposes. NR manager capacity in NSW over three years responded to the external influences of the end of a long-term drought, to changes in institutional arrangements that altered the way NRM funding was distributed to regions by the Australian Government and to local investment in capacity building.

GEF Experiences in Closing the Global Energy Efficiency Gap

The term “energy efficiency” has been widely used in global energy, economics, and environment, and it is well known that energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective approaches in saving energy and mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, it is still not clear how many metric tons of carbon dioxide (MTCO2) can be mitigated if one dollar is invested in worldwide energy efficiency. This study tries to clear this issue. Using data of 49 completed energy efficiency projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), this study presents an analysis on investments of US$313 million in capacity building, asset acquisition, project development, and pro-ject implementation in 35 countries. Results show that every dollar invested by the GEF has mobilized 8.2 dollars in co-financing and can mitigate 1.89 MTCO2. In addition, GEF investments in capacity building, national policy, legal and regulatory frameworks have long term impact on GHG emission mitigations which is beyond quantification with current approaches. We conclude that public funds have greatly facilitated capacity building, catalyzed the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, and helped remove a large number of regulatory and market barriers to energy efficiency in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The Impact of Capacity-Building Programs on Nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) play an important role in delivering social services to those in need. Capacity-building efforts for NPOs derive from funders’ desire to increase NPOs’ effectiveness and redress problems associated with limited administrative and organizational capacity. Through technical assistance, training, and grant funds, funders aim to enhance NPO functioning and ultimately improve client outcomes. Despite a general consensus about the importance of capacity building, little high-quality evidence exists on the impact of capacity-building investments. This article presents the findings from the first random assignment evaluation to be conducted in the field of nonprofit capacity building. The subject of the evaluation was one of country’s largest organizational capacity-building initiatives, the federal government’s Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) Demonstration Program. Findings from the evaluation provide clear evidence that capacity-building efforts increase capacity in each of five critical areas of capacity.

Return on Investments in Technical Assistance for TB Capacity Building? Factors Influencing Kenyan Health Workers' Performance of TB Skills

The dearth of trained personnel to implement TB/HIV services led to substantial investment in human resources and technical assistance in Kenya. Between 1999 and 2006 the staff of the TB program almost doubled. Increases in quantity of TB services occurred, but the impact on quality was unclear. Analysis of nationally representative data from the 2004 Kenya Service Provisions Assessment (KSPA) of 1,332 TB and/or HIV service providers within 440 public and private health facilities was conducted to compare performance of TB duties between those with and without TB and/or HIV training. Although the TB-HIV workforce was disproportionately female (56.9%), participation in training was less common among women of all cadres (OR 0.41 95%CI .22-.78). After controlling for structural and organizational factors, training in TB diagnosis was strongly associated with performance of smear microscopy (aOR 3.4 95%CI 1.6-7.3). Mid-level health workers were less likely than doctors to rely on smear microscopy for diagnosis (aOR 0.4 95%CI 0.2-0.6). Training was associated with direct observation of treatment (D.O.T) (aOR 3.3 CI 1.3-8.9). Other factors positively associated with performance of D.O.T included receipt of supportive supervision (aOR 3.2 CI 2.0-5.0) and an adequate TB drug supply (aOR1.2 95%CI 1.1-1.4). Barriers included non-alignment with the national directly observed short course policy program (DOTS) (aOR.0.2 95%CI 0.1-0.7) and working where high volumes of smear microscopy were performed (aOR 0.7 95%CI 0.5-1.0). Investments in capacity building including technical assistance during the 2000-2003 period were associated with performance of smear microscopy and directly observed therapy in 2004. However health system factors also influence performance.

A dynamic duopoly investment game without commitment under uncertain market expansion

We model capacity-building investments in a homogeneous product duopoly facing uncertain demand growth. Capacity building is achieved through the addition of production units that are durable and lumpy and whose cost is irreversible. While building their capacity over time, firms compete à la Cournot in the product market given their installed capacity. There is no exogenous order of moves, no commitment regarding future decisions, and no finite horizon. We investigate Markov Perfect Equilibrium (MPE) paths of the investment game, which may include episodes during which firms invest at different times, a preemption pattern, and episodes in which firms invest simultaneously, a tacit collusion pattern. These episodes may alternate and are typically several. When firms have yet to invest in capacity, the sole pattern that is MPE-compatible is a preemption episode: firms invest at different times but have equal value. The first such investment may occur earlier and therefore be riskier than socially optimal. When both firms hold capacity, tacit collusion episodes may be MPE-compatible: firms invest simultaneously at a postponed time (hence holding back production in the meantime), thereby generating an investment wave in the industry. Such investment episodes are more likely with higher demand volatility, faster market growth, and lower cost of capital (discount rate).

A Participatory Assessment of NRM Capacity to Inform Policy and Practice: Cross-Scale Evaluation of Enabling and Constraining Factors

The capacity of private landholders to manage natural resources is constrained and enabled by diverse, interconnected, and changing factors, which vary substantially across time and space. This context dependence of capacity makes it both a useful construct and a difficult one to evaluate, which makes targeting investment in capacity building across scales difficult. We detail results of a transferrable, place-based process for evaluating capacity of private land managers to manage natural resources across scales in New South Wales, Australia. A livelihoods approach was used to enable land managers to define, describe, and evaluate locally relevant indicators of NRM capacity. Constraints to capacity were perceived as externally imposed or related to poor vertical linkages between land managers and government agencies. Conversely, local characteristics of regional organizations, communities and individuals were often described as enabling capacity. There was substantial consistency across workshops and there were widespread indications of declining capacity to contribute to effective NRM.

A Dynamic Duopoly Investment Game Without Commitment Under Uncertain Market Expansion

We model capacity-building investments in a homogeneous product duopoly facing uncertain demand growth. Capacity building is achieved through the addition of production units that are durable and lumpy and whose cost is irreversible. While building their capacity over time, firms compete a la Cournot in the product market given their installed capacity. There is no exogenous order of moves, no commitment regarding future decisions, and no finite horizon. We investigate Markov Perfect Equilibrium (MPE) paths of the investment game, which may include episodes during which firms invest at different times, a preemption pattern, and episodes in which firms invest simultaneously, a tacit collusion pattern. These episodes may alternate and are typically several. When firms have yet to invest in capacity, the sole pattern that is MPE-compatible is a preemption episode: firms invest at different times but have equal value. The first such investment may occur earlier and therefore be riskier than socially optimal. When both firms hold capacity, tacit collusion episodes may be MPE-compatible: firms invest simultaneously at a postponed time (hence holding back production in the meantime), thereby generating an investment wave in the industry. Such investment episodes are more likely with higher demand volatility, faster market growth, and lower cost of capital (discount rate).

Convention on Biological Diversity: a review of national challenges and opportunities for implementation

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) lies at the heart of biodiversity conservation initiatives. It offers opportunities to address global issues at the national level through locally grown solutions and measures. This article reviews the national challenges and opportunities in meeting requirements of the CBD by analysing twenty Third National Reports (TNRs), covering five different CBD regional clusters from the three global economic groups. While there is a plethora of challenges, the predominant ones discussed in this study include: institutional and capacity, knowledge and accessible information, economic policy and financial resources, cooperation and stakeholder involvement, and mainstreaming and integration of biodiversity. The underlying problem is that limited capacity in developing countries and transition economies undermines conservation initiatives. Lack of capacity in science, coordination, administration, legislation, and monitoring are barriers to on-ground implementation of biodiversity programmes. Opportunities to overcome these challenges embrace use of knowledge products, information-sharing mechanisms, participatory platforms, educational programmes, multi-level governance, and policy coherence. Innovative market-based instruments are also being trialled in various countries, which seek to offer incentives to local communities. The article concludes that conservation measures should be supported by multiple sectors and secure high level political support. Political, economical, and legislative sectors are more likely to show interest in CBD implementation and use it as a tool for managing biodiversity when they know the Convention processes and perceive it as a benefit. Modest investments in capacity building and training, and engaging different sectors in setting priorities would have a significant pay-off.

Community capacity to acquire, assess, adapt, and apply research evidence: a survey of Ontario's HIV/AIDS sector

BackgroundCommunity-based organizations (CBOs) are important stakeholders in health systems and are increasingly called upon to use research evidence to inform their advocacy, program planning, and service delivery. To better support CBOs to find and use research evidence, we sought to assess the capacity of CBOs in the HIV/AIDS sector to acquire, assess, adapt, and apply research evidence in their work.MethodsWe invited executive directors of HIV/AIDS CBOs in Ontario, Canada (n = 51) to complete the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation's "Is Research Working for You?" survey.FindingsBased on responses from 25 organizations that collectively provide services to approximately 32,000 clients per year with 290 full-time equivalent staff, we found organizational capacity to acquire, assess, adapt, and apply research evidence to be low. CBO strengths include supporting a culture that rewards flexibility and quality improvement, exchanging information within their organization, and ensuring that their decision-making processes have a place for research. However, CBO Executive Directors indicated that they lacked the skills, time, resources, incentives, and links with experts to acquire research, assess its quality and reliability, and summarize it in a user-friendly way.ConclusionGiven the limited capacity to find and use research evidence, we recommend a capacity-building strategy for HIV/AIDS CBOs that focuses on providing the tools, resources, and skills needed to more consistently acquire, assess, adapt, and apply research evidence. Such a strategy may be appropriate in other sectors and jurisdictions as well given that CBO Executive Directors in the HIV/AIDS sector in Ontario report low capacity despite being in the enviable position of having stable government infrastructure in place to support them, benefiting from long-standing investment in capacity building, and being part of an active provincial network. CBOs in other sectors and jurisdictions that have fewer supports may have comparable or lower capacity. Future research should examine a larger sample of CBO Executive Directors from a range of sectors and jurisdictions.

Expanding the boundaries of agricultural development

The challenges of reducing global hunger and poverty are different today than they were 30 years ago. Current challenges include price volatility associated with increased integration of food, energy, and finance markets; the steady progression of climate change; poorly defined land institutions; and a failure to break vicious cycles of malnutrition and infectious disease. Farmland speculation is occurring globally—often at odds with rural poverty alleviation—and food insecurity remains a pressing issue with the estimated number of chronically malnourished people hovering around one billion. Given these patterns, food and agriculture are becoming increasingly ingrained in international security and policy discussions. This paper explores several ways in which the traditional field of agricultural development needs to expand to address the broader issues of international security and human welfare. It focuses on five key interrelated issues: the macroeconomic and energy contexts of agricultural development; climate change; deforestation, land access, and land markets; farming systems and technology for the ultra-poor; and food-health linkages with a specific focus on infectious disease. Recommendations for investments in capacity building, revised curricula, and development projects are made on the basis of evidence presented for each issue. It is clear that academic programs, government agencies, development and aid organizations, and foundations need to dismantle the walls between disciplinary and programmatic fields, and to find new, innovative ways to reach real-world solutions.

Nanotechnology for enhancing food security in India

A framework for assessment of the potential of nanotechnology for enhancing food security in India is developed. Agricultural productivity, soil health, water security, and food quality in storage and distribution are identified as the primary determinants of food security that can be impacted by developments in nanotechnology. The framework is developed in two stages: (i) mapping nanotechnology to agri-food thematic areas across the agricultural value chain and (ii) from the thematic areas to the food security determinants. Using published literature and patents data, a model to organize and map nanotechnology research to the agri-food thematic areas and food security determinants is developed through a specially designed database. The model allows identification and prioritization of potential areas for nanotechnology applications to enhance food security. Comparisons of this technology with green revolution technologies and agricultural biotechnology indicate a possibility of greater and faster impact on all components of the agri-value chain with concurrent social, ethical, legal and environmental implications. There is a need for investments in capacity building and development of an agri-nanotechnology infrastructure in India, and for ex ante assessment of its implications for society.

Locating REDD: A global survey and analysis of REDD readiness and demonstration activities

Abstract Mechanisms that support reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD/REDD+) have potential to counteract a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions if implemented effectively across the tropics. In 2007 the conference of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change called upon parties and international organizations to promote REDD through investments in capacity building and demonstration activities. This prompted many new actors to become involved in REDD activities at a variety of locations and scales. A global survey of REDD activities was undertaken in 2009 to enable better understanding of the intensity and geographic distribution of these activities. Existing compilations, literature review, web-based sources, face-to-face and telephone interviews, and e-mail questionnaires were used to compile data for the inventory. Inter alia, data were collected on the location of activities and official and unofficial factors influencing location choices. Inventory data were combined with secondary data to estimate a statistical count model (Poisson) of factors affecting the number of REDD activities undertaken in the 64 developing countries that experienced significant emissions from deforestation. The results show that there were at least 79 REDD readiness activities and 100 REDD demonstration activities as of October 2009. Of these, the largest shares of REDD readiness and demonstration activities were implemented in Indonesia (7 and 15 respectively) and Brazil (4 and 13 respectively), countries widely agreed to have the greatest potential for reducing forest-based emissions. The statistical results found no national characteristic to have a statistically-significant effect on the number of REDD readiness activities, but five national characteristics to have significant effects on the number of REDD demonstration projects. Baseline CO2 emissions, forest carbon stock, number of threatened species, quality of governance, and region all had significant effects. The results reveal the importance of biodiversity and good governance, and the relative unimportance of human need and opportunity cost of land. The results also reveal a bias against Africa and toward Latin America. Unless this pattern is countered, REDD and REDD+ may have geographic biases that undermine its broad political support.

Research that matters: outcome mapping for linking knowledge to poverty-reduction actions

An ‘Outcome Mapping’ approach was applied retrospectively to five diverse, highly collaborative research projects aimed at poverty reduction. Designed to help plan for, clarify, and document intended and actual changes in behaviour, actions, and relationships of groups and organisations that directly influence a project's intended beneficiaries, Outcome Mapping enabled us to identify and describe the strategies and actions that played important roles in the innovations achieved. Successful strategies observed included the use of champions, jointly producing high-profile outputs that enhanced the status of local partners, multiple communication strategies, targeting ongoing policy processes, and strong emphases on and investment in capacity building.

Improving Surgical Services in Developing Nations: Getting to Go

In 2001, members of the United Nations and many important international health organizations established millennium development goals based on the United Nation’s Millennium Declaration, which was signed in 2000. These were goals that were to be achieved by 2015 if the social and economic well-being of the world’s poorest countries would be improved (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals). Eight broad and expansive overarching goals were enumerated and these were to: (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and empower women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases; (7) ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for development. Although the most recent report indicates that some good outcomes have been realized, the overall progress to date has been slow and much work remains to be done. Furthermore, it appears that the gap between desired and accomplished outcomes may be greatest in sub-Saharan Africa where stronger ties and better coordination needs to occur among the various humanitarian, developmental, and economic missions (ref: Overseas Development Institute). Some key requirements for successful outreach programs were outlined in a consultation that was prepared to help guide President Barack Obama’s Global Health Initiative. This document articulated a belief that patient care in developing countries could only be optimally addressed by the effective and efficient development and use of countryled platforms. These were the best methods of improving health care delivery, and these were the platforms that would appropriately emphasize the delivery of essential health care and public health programs in a sustainable manner. Four components that were believed to be critical for success were identified: (1) do more of what works; (2) build on and expand programs that foster stronger systems and, thereby, yield more sustainable results; (3) innovate; and (4) collaborate for impactful results (http://www.usaid. goc/our_work/global_health/home_publications/docs/ghi_ consultation_document.pdf). A global health committee convened by the U.S. Institute of Medicine in 2008 to investigate the country’s commitment to global health problems and to define how the United States might best help address the world’s health care problems highlighted similar principles. Five key needs were identified: (1) a scaling up of existing interventions that have already been found to be effective; (2) to generate and share knowledge generated by studying the best health care delivery systems and rigorously evaluated their efficacy; (3) an investment in capacity building; (4) an increase in financial commitments for global health because such is an absolute requirement if poor countries are to meet the health related millennium development goals; and, perhaps most importantly, (5) how to engage in respectful partnerships to ensure that the developing countries retain ownership and accountability for their issues. It is increasingly apparent that there is a great need for surgical care in many, if not all, developing countries. For example, traumatic injury that might be amenable to surgical intervention accounts for a significant percentage of the loss of useful work capacity as defined by disability adjusted life years (DALY). Here, one ‘‘DALY’’ represents the loss of 1 year of equivalent work that an individual could accomplish at full health. Indeed, it is striking that the United Nation’s developmental goals do not more D. O. Jacobs (&) Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA e-mail: danny.jacobs@duke.edu

One Flu for One Health

To the Editor: The emergence and spread of influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus from the animal reservoir to humans raise questions about the future approach to influenza virus infections. The scientific community has evidence demonstrating that influenza virus genes migrate across continents and animal species and assemble themselves in combinations that are a threat to animal and human health, resulting in panzootics like that caused by influenza A virus (H5N1) or pandemics like that caused by pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus. The latter virus emerged from the animal reservoir, containing a unique combination of genes donated by viruses originating from from 3 species and 2 hemispheres. In a globalized environment, mapping gene movement across species and national borders and identifying mutations and gene constellations with pandemic potential or virulence determinants are essential to enact prevention and control strategies at a global level. This conclusion is in agreement with, and possibly the best example of, the One Health (http://un-influenza.org/node/2341) vision: a multidisciplinary collaborative approach to improving the health of humans, animals, and the environment. One Health is endorsed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the World Health Organization. Vast improvements in capacity building have been achieved as a result of the influenza A (H5N1) global crisis. Thousands of viral isolates with zoonotic potential have been obtained through surveillance efforts, although the genetic information has not been exploited fully. In addition, investigating how influenza viruses circulate in certain species, including dogs, pigs, and horses, has been neglected. This neglect is evidenced by the fact that, at the time of this writing, GenBank contained 4,001 full genome sequences of influenza viruses isolated from humans, 2,590 of viruses isolated from birds, and only 325 from swine, 85 from horses, 2 from mink, 4 from dogs, 2 from cats, 2 from tigers, and 3 from seals. We invite donors and international agencies to invest in a novel approach to influenza virus infections, to abandon prefixed compartments linked to geographic origin or species of isolation, and to analyze the influenza gene pool as one entity. We propose capitalizing on existing achievements and investments to develop an international network and a permanent observatory, which will improve our understanding of the dynamics of the influenza virus gene pool in animals and humans. A greater understanding will generate important information to support both public and animal health. Ideally, a small consortium, including representatives of major international organizations, could take leadership and liaise with major institutions involved in influenza surveillance and research to develop a feasibility study and roadmap to achieve this goal. The One Flu initiative could result in international synergies, the bridging of gaps between medical and veterinary scientists, permanent monitoring of virus evolution and epidemiology, and the best exploitation of investments in capacity building. Above all, this collaboration could be a challenge and opportunity to implement the One Health vision, and possibly act as a model for other emerging zoonotic diseases.