Aid

In 2007, Cordaid started a pilot on participatory impact assessment, intended to enhance accountability and to improve learning. The methodology was based on quasi-experimental design, complemented with qualitative research. This case study illustrates the challenges INGOs and their partners face in their attempt to find a rigorous yet, relevant, useful, and socially acceptable methodology for evaluation and impact assessment purposes. While most local NGOs participating in this pilot consider (parts of) this methodology useful for their learning, this approach proves unsuitable, costly, and inappropriate for an INGO such as Cordaid since it does not respond to its own accountability and learning needs.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2013.753412

Support for capacity development accounts for about 25 per cent of all international donor assistance. Yet there have been few evaluations to assess the effectiveness of this support. This paper presents the findings and lessons of an evaluation on Dutch support for capacity development that has tried to avoid some of the shortcomings of earlier evaluations. Dutch capacity development support has been effective in a number of cases. However, for sustainable capacity development it is crucial that donors reconsider their policies and practices in such a way that they facilitate endogenous capacity development, local resourcefulness, and downward accountability.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2013.752435

The article presents the results of participatory monitoring and evaluation of projects which aimed to aid the establishment and development of 24 modern rural cooperatives in Shandan County, Gansu Province, China. The evaluation was designed to assess the economic and community development outcomes of the cooperatives after three years of operation. The data were collected from four cooperatives using surveys, group work, and semi-structured interviews of stakeholders. The evaluations showed that within two years of inception cooperatives were improving social and economic outcomes for members and communities. Improvements for establishing and sustainably operating rural cooperatives are suggested.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2012.713913

 

Previous research has revealed that social policy design is relevant for addressing social problems, particularly for reducing poverty. However, evidence on poverty reduction exposes a sluggish trend towards achieving its main goals. This paper first reports on research examining to what extent social policy design has addressed social problems, poverty in particular. Second, this paper examines whether poverty lines have linked social policy design and social problems. Finally, this paper reveals that social policy design does not address poverty reduction and that poverty lines have not linked policy design and poverty reduction.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614524.2012.696091

 

Seed fairs were being promoted in Zimbabwe as an alternative seed distribution approach to sustain local input markets. Using data from ICRISAT monitoring surveys of 2005–06 and records maintained by non-governmental organisations, this article reveals that seed fairs were more cost effective in distributing local seed compared to direct distribution of imported seed. The article found that, in order to supply one household with a seed pack, it will cost an agency US$5.18 through seed fair compared to US$8.22 through direct seed distribution. Vouchers redeemable in retail shops are proposed as an incentive for local shops to stock and distribute agricultural inputs.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614524.2012.696580

 

Home and field office staff disagreement often impedes international development NGOs (INGOs) from making their accountability systems more responsive to partner and community concerns. Drawing on a staff survey, and qualitative interviews across four country programmes, of a major INGO, three interlocking explanations for this disagreement are suggested: that staff perceive accountability practices differently because they place greater interpretive weight on practices most relevant to their own organisational roles; that divergent views reflect substantively different normative beliefs about accountability; and that differing assessments of accountability practices reflect a strategic misrepresentation of field country experiences as a rational response to power differentials.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614524.2012.696093

 

 

 

Debt-for-development exchanges are one technique through which to address the ongoing debt crisis in the less-developed world. This paper discusses how Australia's first debt-for-development exchange, with Indonesia, came into being, and explores future possibilities for Australian debt exchanges. It is an interesting example of how activists and advocates can successfully pursue innovative public policy solutions to development problems. More importantly, however, this paper explores the link between debt accumulation in less-developed countries and trade policies of industrialised countries like Australia.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614524.2012.696582

 

This article shares the approach and experiences of a joint immersion of two organisations in Tanzania. Immersions have a profound effect on individuals and strongly stimulate individual learning. Wishing to go beyond that, an immersion was designed with the aim of also contributing to organisational learning. With an increasingly complex and dynamic situation, organisational approaches and strategies need to closely fit within the local context. Immersions are good tools for development practitioners to appreciate this context and form an important part of the organisational learning demanded from development organisations.

The full article is available here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614524.2012.696579

 

Transnational Muslim NGOs are increasingly important actors in the field of aid provision. Much of the literature has presented a rather static and homogeneous picture of this group of organisations, overlooking their heterogeneity and changing nature. Tracing the historical trajectories of transnational Muslim NGOs, this article shows how changing political, economic, and social contexts have shaped the identities, activities, and relations of these organisations.

This paper examines the position and role of religious organisations within a wider range of civil society organisations (CSOs) in two districts in Tanzania. We argue that where development agendas are externally generated and civil society is driven by supply-side factors, religious organisations are not very different from other CSOs.