Location
Aims to make policymakers and on-the-ground development managers aware of the latest and best in British development research findings. Offers policy-relevant findings on critical global development issues, drawn from over 40 major UK-based economics and social studies departments and think-tanks, together with a wide range of NGO research departments and consultants.
Service is divided into sectors:
- Society and Economy
- Health
- Education
- Urban Poverty
Provides email highlights service. Also hosts the online version of Insights periodical.
Funded by DFID, the UK national aid agency.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 31 - 35 of 42Rewriting forest history in West Africa
Kissidougou in Guinea, West Africa, is characterised by so-called 'forest islands', relics - it was assumed -of original dense forest cover. It was also assumed that local cultivation practice was to blame for the destruction of the trees. However, as collaborative research led by the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Institute of Development Studies and Guinean researchers discovered, villagers had a different story to tell: that the forest islands had in fact been established over several generations as part of a process of deliberate forest management.
Ownership, control and access: land tenure and land degradation in Northern Togo
Traditional land tenure systems in Togo have been undermined but not destroyed by the introduction of private property and ‘modern’ tenure reform. However, confusion over land tenure issues has proved to be an obstacle to efforts to promote efficient resource management and to combat desertification.
Left on the back burner: time to put energy onto the urban planning agenda?
Could more efficient use of energy have an impact on poverty alleviation? What changes in energy use patterns are likely to generate the greatest benefits for the poor? What are the constraints on the uptake of energy efficiency measures? Can they be overcome?
Curtains for sandflies? Controlling skin leishmaniasis in Venezuela.
The incidence of skin diseases, including leishmaniasis, spread by different varieties of sandflies in tropical areas has increased dramatically in humans. Because of deforestation, sandflies have encroached further into human settlements. Here they have begun to infect domestic animals and humans. What can be done to control this trend? Researchers studied the impact that insecticide impregnated curtains have had on skin leishmaniasis.
Child’s play? Involving young people in urban planning and environmental management
How can young people be involved in creating more livable cities? Can the noble participation principles set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit, and Habitat II be realised? What is being done to help young people, especially children in difficult circumstances, to get their voices heard by policy-makers?