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51. A missed opportunity: Mining for sustainable development

Author:
France Bourgouin
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Donors and NGOs are missing an opportunity: they should be helping to turn large-scale commercial mining activities into sustainable development for poor countries that are rich in minerals. Instead of shying away, they should engage their development expertise and technical assistance and join forces with mining companies and local governments. This would help increase the spill-over of economic gains into local societies in a just and sustainable manner.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa

52. External democracy promotion in Ukraine and Moldova: The impact of the European Union

Author:
Maria Ruxandra Lupu
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
After the European Union's eastward enlargement, the new eastern neighbours are now among others, Ukraine and Moldova. They have been torn between adopting a pro-Western course and staying loyal to the traditional alliance with Russia. This dilemma has shaped the path to domestic socio-political reforms in these countries. This Working Paper by Maria Ruxandra Lupu looks at the role of the EU in supporting the political transformation of Moldova and Ukraine after independence in 1991 and at the domestic context which is of crucial importance if democracy promotion efforts are to be successful. It argues that, so far, the EU has failed to tailor its offerings to fit into the prevailing Ukrainian and Moldovan context and that an agreement with more specific advantages but also more specific demands would probably stimulate more reforms. The unstable domestic developments in the two countries has also had an important role concerning the impact of the EU's neighbourhood policy.
Topic:
Democratization and Development
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Moldova

53. Developing Technological Capabilities in Agro-Industry: Ghana's experience with fresh pinapple exports in comparative perspective

Author:
Lindsay Whitfield
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The economic policy agenda which promoted a non-interventionist state, trade openness, deregulation, liberalization and privatization as the formula for unleashing private sector productive forces in developing countries is discredited. The economic record of the past decades does not support this theory. Former proponents of the agenda acknowledge that the 'supply side' response of the private sector, especially in African countries, has not been what was expected in reaction to these economic reforms. Consensus is building on the need for industrial policy, and the debate is over what kinds of state interventions are likely to help build the private sector. Thus, the time is ripe for an evidence-based discussion of what is 'private sector development' in Africa, and how it promote it. In order to move the debate forward, we need more analyses of how actual existing industries are created, expanded and remain competitive in the contemporary global economic context.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Economics, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Africa

54. Furthering Democracy through the European Union's Development Policy: Legal Limitations and Possibilities

Author:
Morten Broberg
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This working paper provides an analysis of the efforts by the European Union to support democracy building in developing countries. It focuses on the specific question of the legal obligations of, and limits for, the European Union in seeking to further democracy through its policies directed at developing countries. The core of the paper is an examination of the legal framework governing the Union's relations with developing countries and the possibilities for furthering democracy. The paper considers the European Union's determination of whether a third country complies, in legal terms, with its 'democratic obligations', and how it is able to control and sanction non-compliance. On the basis of these examinations the possibilities of furthering democracy and the rule of law in the Union's development cooperation legislation are analysed.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Law, Third World, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe

55. The Multiplicity of Climate and Rural Risk

Author:
Ian Christoplos
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper looks at rural risk in relation to climate change, globalisation and other factors, with a focus on how these risks are perceived and managed with-in different policy frames and among local institutions involved with agriculture and rural development. The changing and multidimensional landscape of risk is analysed in terms of how it impacts on natural resource management governance, strategies and decision-making. Pro-poor growth and community-based risk reduction policies are contrasted so as to highlight their implications for local actors struggling to deal with climate variability and market volatility. Food security is presented as an example of an area where policy coherence in responding to these multiple challenges is lacking, but where rural people and institutions are adapting in their own ways. The study suggests a number of entry points for further research that could be used to better align climate change efforts with the perceptions and priorities of rural populations at risk.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Globalization, Poverty, and Third World

56. Cargo Cult in Africa: Remittances and the State in Tanzania

Author:
Peter Hansen
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This paper examines remittance and diaspora policy formation in Tanzania as cargo cult. Both migration-development policy formation and cargo cults express the belief in the miraculous transformation of the local by the arrival of wealth emanating from the outside. The paper is based on ethnographic research in Dares Salaam, and adds to our understanding of the links between migration and development in Tanzania, and to our understanding of the relationship between remittances and the state, where the underlying cultural values, ideas and imaginaries expressed in remittance policies and thinking have been ignored.
Topic:
Development and Economics
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

57. Much Ado about Nothing? On the European Union's fight against corruption in developing countries under Aticles 9(3) and 97 of the Cotonou Agreement

Author:
Morten Broberg
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The Cotonou Agreement is the European Union's most important legal measure in the field of development assistance covering 79 developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP countries). It empowers the European Union to sanction 'serious cases of corruption' where this corruption is related to economic and sectoral policies and programmes to which the European Union is a significant financial partner. During the negotiations leading to the adoption of the Cotonou Agreement the ACP countries strongly objected to the inclusion of the possibility of sanctioning corruption. In practice the European Union has only sanctioned one single case of corruption under the provision, however. Whereas this does not necessarily mean that the sanctioning clause is without an impact, the fact that sanctions have been imposed in only one situation is a strong indication that its impact is rather limited. It is suggested that more effective means of preventing corruption are considered.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Humanitarian Aid, Treaties and Agreements, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Caribbean

58. Recurrent cost boom threathens Millennium Development Goals

Author:
Ole Therkildsen
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
At the September 2010 UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals the Secretary-General stressed that tremendous progress in school enrolment, disease control and access to clean water had been achieved. This policy brief addresses a question that he did not talk about. How shall the achievements in relation to the goals be sustained beyond January 1, 2016?
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, Health, Poverty, and Water
Political Geography:
United Nations

59. Tanzania's Land Law Reform: The Implementation Challenge

Author:
Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
A new wave of land reforms has passed Sub-Saharan African countries in recent years. Tanzania got its reform in 1999. Though expectations to outcomes are high, not much is known about how reforms affect local governance of land. This working paper provides an overview of implementation projects carried out in Mainland Tanzania and describes experiences gathered so far. It focuses on establishment of formal institutions for land administration and dispute settlement in rural areas. The implementation process is described as slow and uneven. With a few exceptions, implementation has been project-driven, largely controlled by donors and implementing agencies. At the same time the responsible ministry retains some control through its know-how, which is shared with other stakeholders in bits and pieces only. The paper concludes that more resources, more commitment and a freer flow of information is required if reform objectives are to be achieved. Independent research is urgently needed.
Topic:
Development and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

60. Recurrent cost boom threathens Millenium Development Goals

Author:
Ole Therkildsen
Publication Date:
12-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The long-term financing of the costs of the Millennium Development Goals – the MDGs – must urgently be addressed. Otherwise, present achievements can be undermined by a potential recurrent cost boom in many poor donor-dependent countries.
Topic:
Development
Political Geography:
United Nations