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Begin New Search Topic Environment Political Geography Africa Content Type Working Paper

1. Climate change adaptation relevance of Tanzania’s national budget

Author:
Noah Pauline, Peter Rogers, Edmund Mabhuye, Beatrice Sumari, Lucas Katera, Jamal Msami, Per Tidemand, and Esbern Friis-Hansen
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In Tanzania, climate change adaptation is financed by international development assistance and by nationally generated revenue. While international development assistance is registered by OECD and climate change adaptation relevance tagged by donors, the proportion of the nationally generated revenue that is climate change adaptation relevant is unknown. This DIIS Working Paper analyses the climate change adaptation relevance of the national budget (from 2014 to 2022), using the same methodology applied in a previous study (Yanda et al., 2013). The study further assesses the degree to which climate change adaptation financed is devolved to local government. The study finds that a disproportionately high proportion of climate adaptation finance is used at central government levels due to priorities being established at the ministry level. Moreover, the study finds that local governments lack discretion over climate change adaptation finance due to the country’s highly centralised policies, practices and procedures. Qualitative fieldwork indicates that nearly all climate change adaptation finance accessed by local governments comes with a central government tag (directive) on how to use it.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, Poverty, Budget, and Inequality
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

2. Inclusion and exclusion in Somali drought emergency assistance

Author:
Ahmed Musa
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
When drought or other emergencies strike in the Somali regions, the first responders are Somalis themselves, not the international humanitarian system. Based on family, kinship and more distant social ties, Somalis mobilise and deliver various forms of emergency assistance to the affected communities. Yet, mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion vary significantly, pending on the closeness of social ties, the power relations between local and international actors, and the number and forms of intermediaries. In this new DIIS Working Paper, Ahmed M. Musa, examines such local and transnational humanitarian practices and the mechanisms of inclusion and inclusion that they entail. Focusing on instances of drought in Somaliland, Musa argues that emergency assistance based on close social ties observes the overall humanitarian principle of impartiality. There are challenges, however, particularly when the social ties are more distant, as in the case of government-led or international responses. This may be mitigated, Musa shows, by the social contract of reciprocity between givers and recipients of assistance, going hand in hand with social sanctions where people abstain from helping those in need. Familiarity is thus central for impartial and inclusive access to emergency assistance, rather than an obstacle. The paper is an output from the Diaspora Humanitarianism in Complex Crises (D-Hum) research project in which Musa was a postdoc between 2020 and 2022. D-Hum analyses how Somali diaspora actors and their local counterparts mobilise, channel and deliver humanitarian assistance to Somalia and Somaliland during complex humanitarian crises. The project is funded by the Danish Consultative Research Committee for Development Research (FFU). Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInSend link to page with mailPrint page
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, Migration, Poverty, Natural Resources, Inequality, Conflict, Borders, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

3. Marine pollution: A growing concern for the southern suburb of Tunis

Author:
Khouloud Ayari
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The National Sanitation Utility (ONAS) organized a public consultation two months after a human chain demonstration took place on 12 September along the beaches of the southern suburb of Tunis. This article examines the timeline of events that took place to warn against sea degradation from 2013 until September 2021. It also provides feedback on the November 2021 public consultation, and offers insight into the current environmental issues at hand in both local and national contexts.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Maritime, and Pollution
Political Geography:
Africa and Tunisia

4. Urbanisation and Rural Development in Developing Countries: A Review of Pathways and Impacts

Author:
Tekalign Gutu Sakketa
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
This paper reviews the current state of literature on the impacts of urbanisation on rural development in developing countries, with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Assessments of these effects diverge greatly. While some authors see urbanisation as strongly benefitting rural areas, for instance, through increased demand for agricultural goods and services, others highlight negative effects, for example, through the loss of livelihoods emanating from displacements and the conversion of agricultural land. Given this complexity, a review that thoroughly analyses the causal relationships between urbanisation and rural development is warranted. To do this, this Discussion Paper identifies seven channels through which urbanisation affects rural development: i) production and consumption linkages; ii) employment linkages; iii) financial linkages; iv) land market linkages; v) information and public service linkages; vi) social interactions linkages; and vii) environmental externalities. As to the first channel, production and consumption linkages, the review suggests that urbanisation has increased demand for agricultural products and services; natural resources; commercialisation and modernisation of agricultural technologies; and smallholders’ participation in modern agricultural value chains. The employment channel suggests that rapid urbanisation is enabling the diversification of rural livelihoods by bringing new eco­nomic opportunities to rural areas, but the effects have not been uniform across countries and communities. With regard to financial linkages, flows from cities have increased in many developing countries, benefitting rural areas; yet some studies point to no or to negative effects due to reduced agricultural productivity from the loss of labour and technology, and the crowding out of investment. Land market effects are particularly heterogeneous. While urbanisation tends to drive land value up and encourages investments, there are also negative developments in terms of crowding out and speculation. As to information and public service linkages, the review suggests that urbanisation has fostered information and knowledge flows from urban areas to rural areas which have improved income, innovation, and employment. Social interactions among urban and rural citizens more generally may bridge cultural gaps, improve the flow of information, knowledge, and resources pertinent for rural economic transformation, and thereby enhance social cohesion; yet little empirical evidence exists so far in terms of effects and causalities. Finally, urbanisation affects rural development through the environmental externalities it generates: waste disposal, environ­mental degradation, and loss of biodiversity. If appropriate technologies are put in place, urbanisation can also improve waste management and soil fertility, thus reducing the cost of agricultural production. To this end, the review has identified research gaps that have important policy implications. First, although effective rural-urban planning, monitoring and evaluation of rural-urban devel­opment policies require better data, there is lack of data collection systems or their quality is poor. In this respect, investing in emerging data sources such as satellites data can help countries improve their data collection systems and measures. Second, research is needed to revise and re­formulate better theoretical frameworks that take into account the uniqueness of African urban cities. Third, empirical evidence which documents to what extent and how rural-urban linkages provide an important arena for improving social interactions among neighbours, societies, and communities is needed. Finally, as many African countries continue to experience rapid urbani­sation (mostly urban sprawl), a thorough study of the impacts of urban externalities on agri­cultural productivity, food security, biodiversity, and the health of rural communities is necessary.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Urbanization, Employment, Finance, and Public Service
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

5. Cumulative climate shocks and migratory flows: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Salvatore Di Falco, Anna B. Kis, and Martina Viarengo
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
We re-examine the effects of negative weather anomalies during the growing season on the decision to migrate in rural households in five sub-Saharan African countries. To this end we combine a multi-country household panel dataset with high-resolution gridded precipitation data. We find that while the effect of recent adverse weather shocks is on average modest, the cumulative effect of a persistent exposure to droughts over several years leads to a significant increase in the probability to migrate. The results show that more frequent adverse shocks can have more significant and long-lasting consequences in challenging economic environments.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Migration, and Drought
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

6. Characterisation of Danish agricultural investments in Tanzania and Uganda

Author:
Rikke Broegaard, Helle Monk Ravnborg, Evelyne Lazaro, Teddy Nakanwagi, and David Tumusiime
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This DIIS Working Paper presents key characteristics of each of the six cases including main crop focus, size and business model, as well as types of investors, their investment approach and the factors that motivate them. It also presents the different objectives that the investors have expressed wanting to achieve. As most of the investments involve private funds, it is reasonable to expect that one important goal is to ensure a viable economy in the investment. However, in addition to an economically sound investment, all of the investors behind these six cases have ambitions regarding ways in which they see themselves - through the investment - as contributors towards a positive societal development in the area of the investment. Thus, the paper presents the different ways the investors see their investments contributing to development in the area. The paper is based on interviews with the investors and field work in the areas of investments.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Environment, Poverty, Natural Resources, Food, Inequality, Investment, and Land Rights
Political Geography:
Europe, Denmark, Tanzania, and Africa

7. How can activists best advance environmental reforms in MENA?

Author:
Rory Quick
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Decarbonising the current energy system does not secure a sustainable future if challenges beyond carbon emission are ignored and the economic model which continues to exacerbate the challenges we face is not rectified. Genuine environmental reform requires an intersectional approach, one which does not just patch over problems but instigates reform. The socio-political and environmental crises we face are symptoms of the same problem and must be treated as such. In order to reach a sustainable future, policies should resolve current issues without creating or exacerbating existing challenges. If there is a reason for social movements to exist, it is to challenge dominant values as flexible and changeable and to offer alternative ways to live. Across the MENA region, there are growing calls - from experts and activists - for reform in the region to simultaneously deal with wider socio-political issues whilst decarbonizing energy systems. In the MENA region, states are preoccupied with developing renewable energy (RE) at large scale. Examples include Morocco’s Ouarzazate Noor Solar Plant and Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This is an extension of the existing energy model. Megaprojects are political as much as economic projects. They support exclusionary political regimes and enable states to strengthen existing socio-political systems, and thus further reduce the political autonomy of the individual. Energy megaprojects are projections of state centralization, as they require no input from the localities in which they are placed. They therefore actively reduce political freedom. An alternative model - the decentralised RE model - allows for ownership and operation of RE to remain in the communities where it operates. Solar and wind technology is scalable, whereas previous technology was not. This allows for the creation of an energy system that is not only sustainable but also democratically owned and designed, and socially just. A decentralised system, whereby individuals have a direct say in how their energy systems operate, is vital in ensuring energy justice is achieved alongside climate justice.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Political Activism, Reform, and Green Technology
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, North Africa, and MENA

8. Transparency of Land-based Investments: Cameroon Country Snapshot

Author:
Sam Szoke-Burke, Samuel Nguiffo, and Stella Tchoukep
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Despite a recent transparency law and participation in transparency initiatives, Cameroon’s investment environment remains plagued by poor transparency.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, Law, Transparency, and Land Reform
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

9. Mainstreaming Climate Change in the National Budget: Memorandum of Issues from the Review of the Budget Framework Paper FY2021/2022

Author:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This policy memorandum analyses the extent to which climate change is integrated in the Uganda National Budget Framework Paper for Financial Year 2021/2022. This will inform policy and the final budgetary appropriations for climate change interventions in key National Development Plan III Programmes.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Budget
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

10. Establishing the empirical basis for tracing the development outcomes of agricultural investments

Author:
Helle Munk Ravnborg, Bernard Bashaasha, Rikke Broegaard, Michael Byaruhanga, Evelyne Lazaro, Festo Maro, Khamaldin Mutabazi, Teddy Nakanwagi, and David Tumusiime
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This DIIS Working Paper describes the design of a questionnaire survey developed and implemented in order to trace the development outcomes of foreign agricultural investments in six research locations in Tanzania and Uganda. The questionnaire survey was conducted as part of the Agricultural Investors as Development Actors (henceforward AIDA) research programme which, in particular, focuses on development outcomes in terms of employment, migration, food security and wider dynamic economic effects, such as access to technology, infrastructure and markets; land markets and perceived security of land tenure; and water access and security of tenure. The working paper which serves as a methodological reference document describes the approach which was employed for drawing six independent samples of 400 respondents each, as well as the approach developed for computing a foreign agricultural investment exposure index and for computing a locally informed household poverty index.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, Environment, Poverty, Water, Food, Governance, Inequality, Investment, and Land Rights
Political Geography:
Sub-Saharan Africa and Africa

11. Opportunities for Danish stabilisation policy to engage with climate- and livelihood-related conflict: New approaches to fragility in the Horn of Africa and Sahel

Author:
Peer Schouten
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The Horn of Africa and the Sahel are among the most fragile regions in the world: poor, lacking basic infrastructure and state presence across much of their respective territories, and both form hotbeds of conflict and political instability compounded by climate change. This DIIS Working Paper focuses on identifying evolving notions of fragility that could strengthen Danish stabilisation efforts in the Horn and Sahel. It foregrounds notions of fragility that move away from a focus on strong state institutions towards the adaptive capacities of populations in the hinterlands of the Horn and the Sahel to deal with conflict and climate variability. The paper gives an overview of this rapidly evolving field and distils key insights, challenges and future options by exploring the question, how can we support people in the Sahel and Horn to re-establish their responsibility for their respective territories and the management of their natural resources? The paper addresses this question by exploring the implications of recent climate change and livelihoods research on how we approach fragility and, by extension, stabilisation. On the basis of such research, the Working Paper advocates a move away from a sector-based understanding of fragility towards a way of working that is more in line with contextual realities, alongside the ‘comprehensive approach’ to stabilisation that Denmark promotes. The key message is that, programmatically, Danish stabilisation efforts across both regions could benefit from a more explicit focus on supporting the variability that dominant livelihood strategies require and that need to be considered if sustainable security and development outcomes are to be achieved. Failing to do this will only serve to marginalise key communities and may drive them further into the arms of radical groups.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Climate Change, Democratization, Development, Environment, Radicalization, Fragile States, Violence, Peace, and Justice
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Denmark, and Horn of Africa

12. Assessing national laws for the implementation of CITES

Author:
Pascal Blickle, Angela Min Yi Hou, and Laura Störi
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
This TradeLab project analyses the domestic legislation of 14 developing countries in implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The present memo summarises the main findings across the 14 Parties. This memo finds that most assessed Parties have implemented the CITES' core requirements, and recommendations provided in the resolutions of the Conference of the Parties (CoP). The project identifies a minority of three African countries for which the CITES Secretariat may wish to review their Category 1 status. These Parties fall short of all or several of the following elements: they failed to appropriately designate Management and Scientific Authorities by law, circumscribe the Authorities' tasks and responsibilities, or – by exclusively regulating native species – appear not to comprehensively cover species listed in the Convention's three Appendices.
Topic:
Environment, International Trade and Finance, Science and Technology, Trade, Ecology, and Biology
Political Geography:
Africa and Global Focus

13. A Euro-Mediterranean Green Deal? Towards A Green Economy In The Southern Mediterranean

Author:
Julia Choucair Vizoso
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:
The transition to a green economy requires nothing short of a major, structural transformation of economic models, domestic and global. The scale and pace of the change needed and the high level of uncertainty require bold commitments, cooperation, innovation and experimentation across sectors, stakeholders and countries – a fierce challenge for the globe, well beyond the shores of the Mediterranean. Each chapter in this study includes domain-specific and country- specific findings and proposes recommendations on how to accelerate the green economy in the particular context. Due to the social, economic and political heterogeneity in the region, it is obvious that a “one size fits all” solution is not suitable. Nonetheless, common findings and recommendations do emerge across the case studies.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Green Technology, and Green Transition
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Mediterranean

14. The Role of Global Climate Change in Structural Transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Askar Mukashov and Christian Henning
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:
With increasing evidence that rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) opt for deagrarianization as an adaptation strategy to climate change, it is becoming important to understand the role of Global Climate Change (GCC) in ongoing structural transformation processes in these countries. We use Senegal as a case study country and analyze how various GCC scenarios affect the country's economic sectors, households' welfare, and structural transformation patterns. Our simulation results suggest that GCC can increase the country's deagrarianization pace, with industrial and service sectors in the capital Dakar being the most important destinations of the former agricultural labor force. Although unplanned urbanization smoothes the overall negative impact of GCC and decreases spatial income disparities, uncontrolled deagrarianization is also associated with negative externalities. Previous growth-focused studies suggest that services partaking in Senegal’s deagrarianization can hamper its long-term growth prospects, and our results suggest that productivity increase of services can redirect part of the former agricultural labor force towards industrial sectors.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Labor Issues, Income Inequality, Rural, and Housing
Political Geography:
Africa and Senegal

15. Urban Governance in Cameroon: Between Laissez-Faire And Faire-Laisser

Author:
Joseph MagloirenOlinga Olinga
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
From a geohistorical point of view, Cameroonian cities are characterised by what B. TAMRU (2001) describes as a “process of vulnerability“. This concept is in line with the phenomenological approach, which studies the impact of human actions on risk and its aggravation, based on the study of damage (P. PIGEON, 1994). However, urban dynamics are still poorly taken into account in the diagnosis of environmental risks. In this case, the flood risk is rarely studied in all its spatio-temporal depth: “The risk of flooding is thus most often analysed at a time “t”, according to a given hazard, on channels considered as stable”. From this point of view, starting from a diachronic analysis, the geohistorical context of Cameroon cities, particularly urban centres such as Douala (economic capital) and Yaoundé (political capital), constitutes an important key to reading the current urbanistic, social, economic and environmental challenges. Based on recent news, in particular the images of the Yaoundé VII Town Hall flooded after the downpour of 8 June 2021, this paper analyses the vulnerabilities of Cameroon cities through the prism of two variables: firstly, the socio-spatial processes that produce them and, secondly, the mechanisms that determine the capacity of cities to adapt to environmental risks. It brings to the fore the thorny issue of urban governance lato sensu. The case of the Commune of Yaoundé VII is symptomatic of urban governance in Cameroon and raises the question of whether municipal executives are definitively caught in the dilemma of “laissez-faire” and “faire laisser”.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Governance, and Urban
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

16. Governing climate mobility: Scoping study of two localities in Ghana

Author:
Joseph Teye, Francis Jarawura, Lily Salloum Lindegaard, Nauja Kleist, Marie Ladekjær Gravesen, Philip Mantey, and David Quaye
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Climate change is expected by many to produce new and/or intensified mobility patterns, including migration and displacement. However, only limited research exists on the relationship between climate change and human mobility, specifically on the implications of increasingly intense slow-onset climate change, such as weather variability and extremes. This DIIS Working Paper provides initial data and analysis on climate, mobility and governance in Ghana as an input to the Governing Climate Mobility Research Programme. In parts of Ghana, temperature increases have now topped 1.5 ºC, weather patterns and seasons are shifting, and all of this is occurring on the backdrop of other environmental and agrarian changes. This paper documents such changes through multi-decadal analyses of temperatures and rainfall as well as vegetation change. However, it also links these changes, and how they are experienced locally, to existing governance and mobility dynamics in the programme’s case study areas in the Upper West Region and Eastern Region. For instance, the paper indicates how governance interventions, including failures, have affected agrarian livelihoods as seen in the deteriorating irrigation infrastructure in the Upper West Region, and how existing mobility patterns are linked to resource access and rural livelihoods. This working paper is a scoping study and therefore provides a detailed introduction to such environmental, socio-economic, governance and mobility dynamics in the study areas, as well as identifying key dynamics and possible linkages for further study. It builds on a previous GCM working paper that explores the historical linkages between climate, mobility and governance in Ghana.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, Migration, and Mobility
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

17. Failing Africa’s Farmers: An Impact Assessment of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

Author:
Timothy A. Wise
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) was founded in 2006 with the goal of bringing high-yield agricultural practices to 30 million smallholder farming households. With the adoption of commercial seeds and inorganic fertilizer, AGRA set out to double crop productivity and incomes while halving food insecurity by 2020. As AGRA reaches its self-declared deadline for these ambitious goals, how well has AGRA done in increasing productivity, incomes, and food security? The organization has received roughly $1 billion in funding, two-thirds of it from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and disbursed more than $500 million in grants, mainly in 13 priority African countries. The Green Revolution technology campaign has been supported during this time by international programs far larger than AGRA and notably by national governments in Africa, which have spent roughly $1 billion per year on programs that subsidize the purchase of commercial seeds and fertilizers. There is little publicly available documentation of impacts, from AGRA, the Gates Foundation, or donor governments that have supported the initiative. This paper attempts to fill some of that accountability gap. Because AGRA declined to provide data from its own monitoring and evaluation, we use national-level data to assess progress in productivity, poverty reduction, and food security in AGRA’s 13 countries. We find little evidence of widespread progress on any of AGRA’s goals, which is striking given the high levels of government subsidies for technology adoption. There is no evidence AGRA is reaching a significant number of smallholder farmers. Productivity has increased just 29% over 12 years for maize, the most subsidized and supported crop. This falls well short of doubling yields, which would be a 100% increase. Overall staple crop yields have grown only 18% over 12 years. Meanwhile, undernourishment (as measured by the FAO) has increased 30% in AGRA countries. These poor indicators of performance suggest that AGRA and its funders should change course. We review more promising approaches African governments and donors should consider.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Neoliberalism, Green Technology, Private Sector, and Charity
Political Geography:
Africa

18. Conserving the Environment and Enhancing Community Resilience: The Key Climate Change Priorities during and after COVID-19

Author:
Onesmus Mugyenyi, Anthony Mugeere, and Anna Amumpiire Akandwanaho
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This policy brief argues for the conservation of the environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic while at the same time enhancing community resilience to climate change shocks. The brief proposes recommendations that need to be addressed by the Government of Uganda and all stakeholders in the Environment and Natural Resources sector in order to achieve sustainable development.
Topic:
Environment, Conservation, Resilience, Community, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

19. What Stymies Action on Climate Change? Religious Institutions, Marginalization, and Efficacy in Kenya

Author:
Lauren Honig, Amy Erica Smith, and Jaimie Bleck
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Low-income countries of the Global South will be hardest hit as Earth’s climate changes, yet fear of climate change often fails to stimulate activism among their citizens. We foreground efficacy—a belief that one’s actions can create political change—as a critical link in transforming concern into action. However, that link is often missing for marginalized ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious groups. Prior case studies show the power of community institutions to mobilize and empower marginalized citizens, yet community institutions can also reinforce the perception that action is futile by conveying narratives of neglect and discrimination. Analyzing interviews, focus groups, and survey data from a case study of Kenya, we find that Muslims express much lower efficacy to address climate change than other religious groups; the gap cannot be explained by differences in science beliefs, issue concern, ethnicity, or demographics. Instead, we attribute it to socialized understandings of marginalization vis-à-vis the Kenyan state.
Topic:
Environment, Religion, Institutions, and Identity
Political Geography:
Africa

20. Uganda’s nascent oil sector: Revenue generation, investor-stakeholder alignment, and public policy

Author:
Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper discusses the political economy of oil in Uganda since the announcement of its discovery in 2006. It focuses on the dynamics of oil revenue generation (pre-commercial production) and expenditure, investor-stakeholder contestation (i.e. between bureaucrats, investors/oil companies, and domestic stakeholders), and the role of public policy. Although the Government has created several institutional and regulatory frameworks to manage oil-related revenues and ensure that oil contributes to structural transformation, Uganda is already experiencing many of the stylized facts associated with natural resource exploitation, including macroeconomic instability, rent dissipation, and, more broadly, threats of adverse impact on the environment and on local livelihoods in the oil regions. Besides these, Uganda, and similarly endowed African countries, face the economic challenges related to the global shift in recent decades towards a low-carbon development paradigm and the threatening prospect of oil investments becoming ‘stranded assets’. The latter issues are not yet part of the policy conversation in Uganda.
Topic:
Environment, Oil, Public Policy, Investment, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

21. Renewable energy poses opportunities and challenges in Africa

Author:
Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen, Ole Winckler Andersen, and Henning Nøhr
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Development assistance plays an important role in the development of energy sectors in sub-Saharan African countries and it is increasingly being used to promote new renewable energy like solar and wind. The relationship between aid and domestic African priorities is however complex and outcomes are not always as donors had intended. By way of collecting experiences from a number of different approaches in different African country contexts a new DIIS Working Paper analyses recent trends in development assistance for new renewable energy. Overall, the paper demonstrates a shift to promoting market-led approaches that aim at mobilising private capital for power-sector investments. Whereas more capital has indeed been mobilised for new renewable energy projects the paper suggests that more support is needed if a transition to cleaner energy and universal access to energy services are to be achieved. Furthermore, the promotion of market-led approaches poses not only opportunities, but also a number of challenges to governments and donors. Clean energy and decarbonisation are often less of a priority among key decision-makers in African countries than they are for western donors. The paper argues that it is important to recognise these different interests and to be realistic about how to bridge them. Furthermore, despite improvements in recent years the capacity to plan, procure and integrate renewable energy in power systems remains a challenge in many countries. This points to the importance of ensuring a balance between support for market development and support for capacity-building of government entities. Needs are likely to differ from one country to another and change as renewable technologies develop. The constant adaption of approaches is therefore crucial.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

22. The LFDD – Human Mobility Nexus in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of National Policy and Legal Frameworks

Author:
Diogo Andreola Serraglio
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
Addressing human mobility in the context of land and forest degradation and desertification (LFDD) in global and national policy and legal frameworks remains essential for improved management of population movements related to slow onset processes.
Topic:
Environment, Population, Mobility, Land, and Forest
Political Geography:
Africa, Latin America, and Caribbean

23. EUROPEAN INTERESTS AND EXTERNAL CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY OF THE EU TOWARD EGYPT

Author:
Defne Günay
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Department of International Relations, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Turkey
Abstract:
According to the International Panel on Climate Change, climate change will affect the rivers leading to the Mediterranean, desertification will increase, rise in sea level will affect coastal settlements, and crop productivity will decrease in the region. Therefore, climate change is an important issue for the Mediterranean region. The European Union (EU) is a frontrunner in climate change policy, committing itself to a decarbonized economy by 2050. The EU also promotes climate action in the world through its climate diplomacy. Such EU action in promoting the norm of climate action can be explained with reference to EU’s economic interests. In this paper, I analyse whether the EU serves its economic interests by promoting climate action in its neighbourhood policy towards Egypt. Based on documentary analysis, this paper argues that European companies benefitted from the market-based solutions adopted by the Kyoto Protocol in Egypt, exported renewable energy technologies to Egypt and face a level-playing field in terms of regulations promoted for them by the EU in Egypt.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, European Union, Regulation, Economy, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Egypt, and Mediterranean

24. Designing High-seas Marine Protected Areas to Conserve Blue Carbon Ecosystems: A Climate-essential Development?

Author:
Cameron S. G. Jefferies
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The high seas are a critical biodiversity reservoir and carbon sink. Unfortunately, the oceans, generally, and the high seas, in particular, do not feature prominently in international climate mitigation or climate adaptation efforts. There are, however, signals that ocean conservation is poised to occupy a more significant role in international climate law and policy going forward. This paper argues that improved conservation and sustainable use of high-seas living marine resources are essential developments at the convergence of climate action and ocean governance that should manifest, at least in part, as climate-informed high-seas marine protected areas.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Water, Maritime, and Conservation
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, North America, and Global Focus

25. Fuel Subsidy Reform and Green Taxes: Can Digital Technologies Improve State Capacity and Effectiveness?

Author:
Alan Gelb and Anit Mukherjee
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Reforming inefficient and inequitable energy subsidies continues to be an important priority for policymakers as does instituting “green taxes” to reduce carbon emissions. Simply increasing energy prices will have adverse impact on poorer consumers, who may spend substantial budget shares on energy and energy-intensive products even though the rich typically appropriate more of the price subsidy. Equitable pricing reforms therefore need to be accompanied by programs to transfer compensation: depending on the situation, this can be targeted or universal. Successful reforms require measures to raise awareness-of the subsidies and the problems they cause, effective dissemination of the reform to the population, and rapid feedback loops to facilitate mid-course corrections. Digital technology, including for unique identification and payments, as well as general communications, can help build government capacity to undertake such reforms and respond to changes in fuel markets. The paper outlines the use of digital technology, drawing on four country cases. The technology is only a mechanism; it does not, in itself, create the political drive and constituency to push reform forward. However, it can be employed in a number of ways to increase the prospects for successful and sustainable reform.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Science and Technology, Reform, and Digitalization
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, India, and Latin America

26. Climate Change, Chemical Fertilisers and Sustainable Development – Panel Evidence from Tanzanian Maize Farmers

Author:
Christiane Heisse and Risa Morimoto
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
We study the impact of rainfall risk on fertiliser use by Tanzanian maize farmers using newly available spatially disaggregated agronomic survey data on Tanzanian maize producers. We show that fertiliser use is highly sensitive to rainfall risks. Our discussion embeds these findings into the wider debate around environmental sustainability and mineral fertilisers, thus relating directly to the country’s government efforts of climate mainstreaming into their (agricultural) policies. We conclude that chemical fertilisers are useful for agricultural productivity growth but that they should be used to supplement more economically and environmentally sustainable practices.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Environment, Sustainability, and Farming
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

27. Regression Tree Analysis of soil Fertility and Agro-Economic Practices and the Effects on Yield in Tanzania

Author:
Jan Lietava and Risa Morimoto
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
Food security and yield production have been extensively studied in regard to fertiliser response in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Soil fertility gradients within farms interact with other complex factors such as plot management, alongside bio-physical as well as socio-economic constraints, to create extensive heterogeneity in yield production. Hence, blanket recommendations regarding increasing inputs may not just lead to limited or no change in productivity but may affect long term sustainability. To try and explore the relationships between these factors, Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis was used to simplify the effect of plot management decisions. Data was from the focal plots of the 2016 and 2017 Tanzanian Agronomy Panel Survey (TAPS 2017; n = 580) with a range of yields and socio-economic contexts (2.10tha-1 – 3.68tha-1). Results suggested that in low resource fields, management factors are subservient to extreme soil degradation while in high resource fields good management such as optimal planting are needed for maximum predicted yield (4.48tha-1; n = 51). Boundary line analysis was conducted, and maximum yield-nutrient response values calculated. The yield gap obtained suggested only up to 60% of locally obtainable yield is reached, highlighting the necessary balance between intensity of resource use and good management for sustainable and sufficient crop production, especially in the case of extreme soil degradation.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Food, and Food Security
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

28. Resilience in Burkina Faso: Impact evaluation of the ‘Resilience, Food security and Nutrition’ project

Author:
Robert Fuller and Alexia Pretari
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The Resilience, Food Security and Nutrition Project (Projet de Resilience, Securite Alimentaire et Nutritionnelle, PRSAN) was carried out in the North and Centre-North regions of Burkina Faso between 2013 and 2017 by Oxfam and Christian Aid, together with two implementing partners, the Alliance Technique d’Assistance au Developpement (ATAD) and the Office de Developpement des Eglises Evangeliques (ODE). The project was aimed at enabling particularly vulnerable households to increase their resilience and improve their food security and nutritional situation. Project activities included supporting households in crop production, market gardening, processing and household businesses, providing awareness-raising on good nutritional practices, carrying out community-level disaster assessments and establishing early-warning committees, and distributing livestock and cash transfers. The Effectiveness Review was aimed at evaluating the success of this project in enabling participants to build their resilience to shocks, stresses and uncertainty. This report is part of Oxfam’s Effectiveness Review Series.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Gender Issues, and Farming
Political Geography:
Africa and Burkina Faso

29. Climate Change and Human Rights: The Case of the Ethiopian Famine

Author:
Melissa Rary
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
With effects of climate change becoming more prominent, it is important to examine what climate change will mean in terms of human rights and the impact on the most vulnerable populations. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasizes “increasing frequency of extreme weather events and natural disasters, rising sea-levels, floods, heat waves, droughts, desertification, water shortages, and the spread of tropical and vector-borne diseases” as a few of the many adverse effects resulting from climate change. Moreover, these issues threaten the enjoyment of the most basic rights including right to life, water, food, sanitation, among many others. Ethiopia, a country with over 80% of its population living in multidimensional poverty, is no beginner when it comes to dealing with famines. The Ethiopian Civil war began with a coup d’etat in 1973, which was largely a result of unrest after Emperor Haile Selassie refused to respond to the 1972 famine. In 1984, Ethiopia suffered a worse, more publicized famine, which is said to have killed over a million people. International initiatives were able to secure international aid, but political instability into 1991 led to lower rates of development as compared to its other Sub-Saharan neighbors. In the midst violence, a large sector of the Ethiopian population was lost, and the Ethiopian economy collapsed as a result of the government’s resistance to welcome international aid in rebel-controlled areas. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was established in 1991 and was followed by a shift in Ethiopia’s resistance to international aid, ultimately jumpstarting the upwards trend of development.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Human Rights, and Famine
Political Geography:
Africa and Ethiopia

30. Climate Policy And Finance

Author:
Precious Chukwuemelie Akanonu
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
Carbon pricing has been recognized not only as the most efficient economic policy instruments to internalize the social cost of emissions, but also as a major tool to generate public revenues that can be used to offset the potential adverse distributional effects of climate policy. However, in many developing countries, there is a widespread reluctance to commit to climate policy, largely due to financial constraints, a lack of public support, and concern over its regressive effects.This paper makes recommendations towards the design of an effective carbon pricing system that not only discourages air pollution but also encourages the gradual uptake of climate-friendly technologies by the private sector in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, while supporting public investment in sustainable infrastructures and projects that offset the distributional effect of the climate policy.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Finance, Climate Finance, and Economic Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

31. Curbing Violence in Nigeria (III): Revisiting the Niger Delta

Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Violence in the Niger Delta may soon increase unless the Nigerian government acts quickly and decisively to address long-simmering grievances. With the costly Presidential Amnesty Program for ex-insurgents due to end in a few months, there are increasingly bitter complaints in the region that chronic poverty and catastrophic oil pollution, which fuelled the earlier rebellion, remain largely unaddressed. Since Goodluck Jonathan, the first president from the Delta, lost re-election in March, some activists have resumed agitation for greater resource control and self-determination, and a number of ex-militant leaders are threatening to resume fighting (“return to the creeks”). While the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East is the paramount security challenge, President Muhammadu Buhari rightly identifies the Delta as a priority. He needs to act firmly but carefully to wind down the amnesty program gradually, revamp development and environmental programs, facilitate passage of the long-stalled Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and improve security and rule of law across the region.
Topic:
Security, Political Violence, Development, Environment, Oil, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

32. Let Them Eat Coal: Why the G7 must stop burning coal to tackle climate change and fight hunger

Author:
Kiri Hanks and Julie-Anne Richards
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Climate change is already the biggest threat to winning the fight against hunger. Coal is the biggest single cause of climate change, yet the G7 countries are still burning huge amounts, despite efficient, affordable, renewable alternatives being available. G7 coal power stations emit twice as much fossil fuel CO2 as the whole of Africa, and their contribution to global warming will cost Africa alone more than $43bn per year by the 2080s and $84bn by 2100, and lead to several million tonnes of staple crops lost worldwide. This year will see crucial new UN climate talks in Paris. To set the tone for a successful climate agreement at the UN talks in December, the G7 must lead the world in setting out clear plans for a just transition away from coal. This Oxfam briefing paper shows how with the right mix of regulatory and policy measures, some countries can move to coal-free electricity grids within the next decade. Oxfam commissioned the think-tank E3G to review the current coal situation in all G7 countries.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, United Nations, Hunger, and Coal
Political Geography:
Africa

33. A Sign of Things to Come? Examining four major climate-related disasters, 2010–2013, and their impacts on food security

Author:
Coghlan Christopher, Muzammil Maliha, Ingram John, Vervoort Joost, Otto Friederike, and James Rachel
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
From 2010 to 2013 the world experienced a number of extreme weather events, several of which were notable for their intensity, duration, and impacts on livelihoods and food security. This report focuses on four case studies – a heat wave in Russia, flooding in Pakistan, drought in East Africa, and a typhoon in the Philippines – that represent a range of extreme weather. It analyses the impact of these extreme weather events on food security, by considering when and why threats emerge. This involves characterization of the weather events, examination of the vulnerable groups affected, and analysis of livelihoods and the role of governance and capital.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Africa, Russia, and Philippines

34. Why Maintaining Tropical Forests Is Essential and Urgent for a Stable Climate

Author:
Rosa C. Goodman and Martin Herold
Publication Date:
11-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Tropical forests have the highest carbon density and cover more land area than forests in any other biome. They also serve a vital role as a natural buffer to climate change ―capturing 2.2–2.7 Gt of carbon per year. Unfortunately, tropical forests, mangroves, and peatlands are also subjected to the highest levels of deforestation and account for nearly all net emissions from Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) (1.1–1.4 Gt C / year). Net emissions from FOLU accounted for only 11% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions or 14% of total carbon emissions in 2010, though these figures are somewhat misleading and do not reflect the full potential of tropical forests to mitigate climate change. First, net FOLU emissions have reduced only slightly while emissions from all other sectors have skyrocketed. Secondly, the FOLU net flux is made up of two larger fluxes —deforestation emissions (2.6–2.8 Gt C / year) minus sequestration from forest regrowth (1.2–1.7 Gt C / year). Additionally, intact tropical forests also appear to be capturing at least 1.0 Gt C/ year. Gross deforestation, therefore, accounts for over a quarter of all carbon emissions, and tropical forests have removed 22–26% of all anthropogenic carbon emissions in the 2000s. If deforestation were halted entirely, forests were allowed to regrow, and mature forests were left undisturbed, tropical forests alone could have captured 25–35% of all other anthropogenic carbon emissions. On the other hand, if climate change continues unabated, forests could turn from net sinks to net sources of carbon. Forestrelated activities are among the most economically feasible and cost-effective mitigation strategies, which are important for both short- and long-term mitigation strategies. Action is needed immediately to utilize these natural mitigation solutions, and we need coordinated and comprehensive forest-related policies for mitigation. An international mechanism such as REDD+ is essential to realize the great natural potential for tropical forests to stabilize the climate.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Reform
Political Geography:
Africa, South Asia, and Latin America

35. New Report Examines East Africa and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development

Author:
Solomon Dersso
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), composed of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda with its secretariat headquartered in Djibouti, covers northeast Africa, a region continuing to experience major changes, arguably more than any other part of the continent. This is the only region of Africa where colonially drawn borders have been redrawn. In contrast to other regions of Africa, this is also where the prospect of further redrawing of borders—with Somaliland seeking international recognition as a separate state—remains a real possibility.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Economics, Environment, Regional Cooperation, and Governance
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan

36. Insecticide Resistance and Malaria A Threat Decades in the Making

Author:
William G. Brogdon, Anthony Fiore, S.P. Kachur, Laurence Slutsker, and Robert A. Wirtz
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Insecticide (DDT) use to control malaria was first employed successfully in the antimalaria program in Greece in 1947. By 1951, DDT success in controlling malaria was reported in 22 countries. However, that year also saw the first report of DDT resistance, in Anopheles sacharovi in Greece. By 1954, resistance to DDT among mosquitos was known to be a global problem, documented in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The World Health Organization–led Global Malaria Eradication Program (GMEP) began in 1955, when resistance was already pronounced worldwide. Scientists did not identify the underlying biochemical mechanism contributing to insecticide resistance until 1958. By then, insecticide resistance was recognized by many to be a major contributor to the ultimate dismantling of GMEP, given the limited capabilities and knowledge of the time. Consequently, the global focus shifted from malaria “eradication” to malaria “control” in the late 1960s.
Topic:
Environment, Health, and Infectious Diseases
Political Geography:
Africa, Greece, and Asia

37. Towards a Diversified Economy: A Preliminary Assessment of the Potential, Prospects and Challenges for Electricity Exports from Botswana

Author:
Margaret Sengwaketse
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
The paper assesses the prospects and challenges of coal-fired power exports in Botswana. Specifically, the study analyses how supply factors, that is, resource availability; environmental concerns; infrastructure and technology as well as demand factors are likely to affect the development of thermal power exports in Botswana. The study concludes that coal resources are sufficient to support exports of thermal power and that technology on coal-fired power plants is available, reliable and mature. However, environmental concerns associated with coal-fired power generation; the high costs of construction and maintenance of power plants; regional demand factors, including the increasing competition from renewable sources of energy are major factors in the feasibility of the development of coal-fired electricity exports in Botswana.
Topic:
Development, Environment, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Diversification, Exports, and Electricity
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

38. The Security of Cities: Ecology and Conflict on an Urbanizing Planet

Author:
Peter Engelke
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
Humankind recently crossed a historic threshold: over half of all human beings now live in cities. In contrast to most of human history, cities have become the default condition for human habitation almost everywhere on earth. Urbanization is proceeding rapidly and at unprecedented scales in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. These regions are poised to join Latin America, Europe, North America, and Australia as having more people living in cities than in rural areas. Between 2010 and 2050, the world's urban population is expected to grow by 3 billion people—a figure roughly equal to the world's total population in 1950—with the great majority living in developing-world cities.3 Our species, in other words, is already an urban one and will become even more so throughout this century.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Environment, Natural Resources, Urbanization, and Developing World
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Latin America, Australia, and North America

39. Planning for Large-Scale Wind and Solar Power in South Africa: Identifying Cost-Effective Deployment Strategies Using Spatiotemporal Modeling

Author:
Kevin Ummel
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
South Africa and many other countries hope to aggressively expand wind and solar power (WSP) in coming decades. The challenge is to turn laudable aspirations into concrete plans that minimize costs, maximize benefits, and ensure reliability. Success hinges largely on the question of how and where to deploy intermittent WSP technologies. This study develops a 10-year database of expected hourly power generation for onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, and concentrating solar power technologies across South Africa. A simple power system model simulates the economic and environmental performance of different WSP spatial deployment strategies in 2040, while ensuring a minimum level of system reliability.
Topic:
Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

40. Energizing Rio+20: How the United States Can Promote Sustainable Energy for All at the 2012 Earth Summit

Author:
Nigel Purvis and Abigail Jones
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Worldwide, about 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity (one in five people), while unreliable electricity networks serve another 1 billion people. Roughly 2.7 billion—about 40 percent of the global population—lack access to clean cooking fuels. Instead, dirty, sometimes scarce and expensive fuels such as kerosene, candles, wood, animal waste, and crop residues power the lives of the energy poor, who pay disproportionately high costs and receive very poor quality in return. More than 95 percent of the energy poor are either in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia, while 84 percent are in rural areas—the same regions that are the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Asia

41. Who Drives Change? Comparing the Evolution of Domestic Climate Governance in India and South Africa

Author:
Babette Never
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper compares and contrasts the nature and scope of change in the domestic climate governance of India and South Africa between 2007 and 2010. It uses an actor-centered approach to analyze the drivers of change. An exploratory test of fit shows that the concept of "communities of practice" captures the trends and actor relations well for the South African case, while more simple networks could be identified in India. Using data from an expert survey and from semi-structured interviews, this paper finds that both countries have generally not yet surpassed the level of second-order change, or double-loop learning. Differences exist for more specific parts of climate governance. Three resulting hypotheses give conditions for the development of either communities of practice or of networks, as conceptualized in formal network analysis. They target (1) the number of participating actors, (2) the size of the scientific landscape and the degree of competition among scientists, and (3) the centrality of a governmental actor with a certain knowledge and attitude within a network.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa, South Asia, India, and South Africa

42. Rethinking Support for Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change

Author:
Simon Levine, Eva Ludi, and Lindsey Jones
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA) was established in 2009 with the aim of understanding how development interventions can contribute to adaptive capacity at the community and household level, and to inform the design and implementation of development planning by governments and non-governmental development partners to support adaptive capacity for climate change and other development pressures. This paper is based on an analysis of three country studies conducted by national research teams in eight research sites in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Mozambique for ACCRA. It describes the Local Adaptive Capacity framework developed for this project, its application during the research, and the evidence found about the impact of development interventions on the adaptive capacity of people and communities.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, and Ethiopia

43. Madagascar : sortir du cycle de crises

Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Madagascar est en crise depuis les troubles sanglants qui l'ont secoué début 2009. Plusieurs mois de médiation sous l'égide de l'Union africaine (UA), entre autres, n'ont pas permis de débloquer la situation. Malgré la signature de plusieurs documents, et l'annonce de l'Union africaine de sanctions individuelles contre les membres du regime le 17 mars, les négociations n'ont pas abouti, principalement à cause du refus du gouvernement Rajoelina de mettre en oeuvre le partage du pouvoir accepté à Maputo en août. Bien que la violence ait été contenue depuis qu'il a pris le pouvoir en mars 2009, la légitimité du régime est remise en question tant à l'intérieur du pays qu'à l'extérieur, alors qu'une situation économique difficile pèse lourdement sur une population déjà appauvrie. Pour éviter toute escalade, la médiation devrait cesser d'essayer de mettre en place une transition fondée sur un partage du pouvoir, et tenter plutôt d'obtenir un accord sur la rédaction consensuelle d'une nouvelle constitution et l'organisation rapide d'élections sous supervision internationale
Topic:
Political Violence, Economics, Environment, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Africa

44. The rain doesn't come on time anymore: Poverty, vulnerability, and climate variability in Ethiopia

Author:
Senait Regassa, Christina Givey, and Gina E. Castillo
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Climate variability in Ethiopia is not new—its diverse agro-ecological zones have brought a dazzling variety of micro-climates, and corresponding weather patterns, and people have developed ways to respond successfully to these challenges. But now, in addition to the usual struggles, Ethiopians living in poverty are additionally suffering the effects of climate change—both more variable climate and more extreme weather events. Women, men, families, and whole communities are struggling with how to understand this new variability, identify new patterns, and establish what resources they need to be able to move beyond reacting and coping to adapting to the new realities and being resilient. Policy makers, likewise, face the daunting challenge of how to refine policies, especially investments in and related to agriculture, to focus on poverty and vulnerability reduction in context of the new realities of climate change.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa and Ethiopia

45. Eastern Africa: Security and the Legacy of Fragility

Author:
Gilbert M. Khadiagala
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
“Eastern Africa” denotes the geographical area comprising the seven member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD): Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Tanzania is also included because it has had long historical and political interactions with Kenya and Uganda within the rubric of the East African Cooperation (EAC). The main challenges to human security in this region have originated from political and state fragility, resource scarcities, and environmental degradation. All these factors have contributed to a regional context that is characterized by intrastate conflicts, interstate wars, and political extremism. Raging civil wars and interstate conflicts have, in turn, produced forms of statelessness and marginality that have deepened societal insecurities and strained human livelihoods. Consequently, in addition to profound political instability and economic destitution, human security is arrayed against escalating communal violence, small arms proliferation, and massive movements of people within and beyond the region.
Topic:
Development, Environment, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, and East Africa

46. Fostering Environmental Regulation? Corporate Social Responsibility in Countries with Weak Regulatory Capacities

Author:
Jana Hönk, Nicole Kranz, Tanja A. Börzel, and Adrienne Héritier
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
The engagement and influence of multinational business in the developing world and in countries in transition is often highly contested. With regard to their environmental impact, there has been ample evidence for business taking advantage of situations of weak environmental regulation and the devastating effects thereof. More recently, however, certain efforts to counteract such tendencies have emerged with voluntary standards in the context of transnational norms of corporate social responsibility. Our research takes a closer look at the interaction of such voluntary CSR norms and public regulation in countries with limited regulatory capacities. In fact, we ask a rather bold question: Do multinational businesses that are subscribing to international CSR norms also actively promote such standards in countries in which they operate? Looking at the situation of environmental governance in South Africa and taking the mining as well as the food beverage industry as examples, this paper seeks to answer two questions. First, are companies who have subscribed to voluntary environmental standards actually engaging in fostering collective environmental regulation and under which conditions? And second, if they do, which schemes of engagement prevail: do companies engage in fostering collective regulation rather via the state, private self-regulation or in forms of public-private co-regulation?
Topic:
Development, Environment, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

47. Crossroads at Mmamabula: Will the World Bank Choose the Clean Energy Path?

Author:
David Wheeler
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
At the recent UN climate change conference in Bali, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a revolutionary change in the world's energy mix to minimize the risk of catastrophic global heating. This paper explores the implications for the World Bank and other donor institutions, employing proposed Bank financing of the Mmamabula coal-fired power project in Botswana as an illustrative case. Using the latest estimates of generating costs for coal-fired and low-carbon power options, I compute the CO2 accounting charges that would promote switching to the low-carbon options. In all cases, I find that that the switching charges are at the low end of the range that is compatible with safe atmospheric limits on carbon loading. Among the low-carbon options that I have considered for Botswana, solar thermal power seems to dominate carbon capture and storage.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Environment, Markets, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa

48. Sustainability standards and coffee exports from Tanzania

Author:
Freedy T. M. Kilima, Jeremiah Makindara, and Evelyne Lazaro
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
One of the key trends characterizing agro-food trade in the last two decades has been the increas-ing complexity of public and private standards that are applied to imports into developed countries. This paper aims to identify critical areas to facilitate compliance with sustainability standards in coffee, which is the major traditional export crop for Tanzania. Coffee experienced a dramatic downward trend in world market prices that led to a decreased contribution to foreign exchange earnings in producing countries in the early 2000s. Although prices have improved over the past few years, economies that are dependent on traditional agricultural exports such as coffee need strategies to ensure stability in export earnings. One of the possible venues for increased agricultural export value is through exports to niche markets, such as coffee that is certified against one or more sustainability certifications (e.g. Fair Trade, Utz Certified, Organic, and Rainforest Alliance).
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

49. Nigeria: Ogoni Land after Shell

Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Nigerian government's 4 June 2008 decision to replace the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as operator of oil concessions in Ogoni areas offers an opportunity for ending one of the longest-running conflicts between a multinational oil company and a local community in the Niger Delta. But to ensure that new friction does not develop between the Ogoni and Shell's successor company, it must be followed by a comprehensive program of consultations with local populations to address the remaining issues involved in oil production in this area, including environmental protection and distribution of revenues.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, and Oil
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

50. Local stakeholders' use of forest reserves in Kasyoha-Kitomi forest landscape, Uganda and Nguru south forest landscape, Tanzania

Author:
Kim Raben, Michael Kidoido, David Loserian, Johnson Nyingi, and Zarupa Akello
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Tropical forests are characterised by stakeholders with multiple and often conflicting interests. This paper identifies and analyses local stakeholders in the Participatory Environmental Management (PEMA) programme in the Kasyoha-Kitomi forest landscape in Uganda and the South Nguru forest landscape in Tanzania. The overall objective of the PEMA programme is to pilot and promote an approach to the management of natural resources in two high-biodiversity Forest Reserves and surrounding landscapes that reconciles the conservation and development interests of multiple stakeholders at local, national and international levels. The Danish Institute for International Studies had as one of its task to carry out an analysis of local stakeholders i.e. the rural people in the forest landscapes, who directly or indirectly benefit from services provided by the forests. The image of stakeholders and interests in forest management is complex and stakeholder analysis provides a means to start understanding it. Based on the stakeholder identification methodology (Ravnborg and Westermann 2002) the paper investigates stakeholders and the interdependencies among them with regard to the management of natural resources. Point of departure is taken in individuals’ interests, and previous and current uses of services provided by the Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve and Nguru South Forest Reserve are documented. These services are for instance the provision of agricultural land, wood products, NTFP, hunting, fishing, grazing and the less tangible services such as climate regulation, water quantity and quality. Where possible, interests are distinguished according to social groups. It is concluded that local inhabitants’ stakes in the forest reserves are determined by their access to technology, capital, markets, skills, as well as their locality, gender, age, ethnicity and (lack of) alternative livelihood strategies. In addition, the context of inter-related demographic and socio-economic processes that influence patterns of resource use and determine (and change) local inhabitants’ interests in and use of the forests are described and conflicting interests and interdependencies identified. The stakeholder analysis provides a start to understanding the complex picture of interests attached to the forests and the potential for involving local stakeholders in the PEMA programme. The paper concludes, among other things, that activities such as cultivation within the forest reserves, labouring in logging activities, collection of material for thatch and sambu oil seeds are mainly the interests of the poor local inhabitants. Findings from both forest landscapes show that NTFP such as weaving and thatch material constitute important sources of income for the local inhabitants including the poor and should thus be considered when negotiating use rights to resources in the forest reserve. In general, it is recommended that profound attention is given in the PEMA programme to improving the local stakeholders’ access rights to the forest reserves and not just meet the interests of more powerful non-local stakeholders
Topic:
Economics and Environment
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, Tanzania, and Southeast Asia