Articles

One of the major promises of decentralisation is that it brings popular participation and accountability to local governance, making local government more responsive to citizens' desires and more effective in delivering services. Acknowledging the potential of decentralisation in improving delivery of basic services, the present article uses primary data to demonstrate that higher availability of urban basic services (UBSs) is associated with higher levels of citizen dissatisfaction.

Volunteers who travel abroad on short-term (three- to six-month) assignments represent a growing trend in international development work. Many of the short-term volunteers abroad employ funds earmarked for poverty alleviation and development. This article examines the perceived impacts of international volunteering in the developing world of 50 Canadian youth. The findings demonstrate an awareness of modest and, at times, negative effects in international development.

Access to piped water is highly unequal in Mexico, and indigenous municipalities are particularly disadvantaged. The present article identifies the different factors that contribute to the unequal access to piped water across Mexican municipalities for the period 2000–2005, using regression analyses. The findings show that indigenous populations experience lower piped water coverage than non-indigenous populations, even when one accounts for population density (the main explanation that the government provides for indigenous populations' lack of progress) and other relevant factors.

The term sustainability has grown increasingly popular as development experts seek to measure the long-term impacts of their projects. Although there is no commonly agreed definition of sustainability, the word has become a common catchphrase. It is often used to describe the desired goal of lasting change within institutions, communities, and projects. We provide a tool to aid in the evaluation of the sustainability of development projects. We have applied our indicators to two specific projects to demonstrate their utility.

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The present article reviews the adaptation of the popular farmer field school (FFS) approach to integrated watershed management in several Indonesian provinces, under the auspices of a major environmental management project. Indonesia is the site of origin of the FFS concept, developed to promote integrated pest management (IPM) in rice during the 1980s. Since the conclusion of the National IPM Programme in 1999, FFS alumni groups and approaches have continued to evolve in Indonesia, and the FFS model has been taken up in scores of developing countries around the world.

Participatory research is increasingly being used with poor and marginalised populations in developing countries. However, there has been relatively little attention paid to ethical considerations in participatory research. We argue that there is a need for additional strategies to promote ethically sound participatory research, especially when working with marginalised groups.

Remittances from migrant workers play a significant role in keeping the economy of Bangladesh vibrant, adding around six per cent to the country's GDP and helping to maintain the balance of payments. This article examines remittance flows from Hong Kong and Malaysia to Bangladesh; the dynamics of remittance practices; and the impact on the well-being of migrant families. Data were collected from 126 labour migrants (56 in Hong Kong and 70 in Malaysia) between November 2004 and October 2006.

Forage development is one of the strategies to address feed scarcity and low livestock productivity in Ethiopia. In line with government strategy, multiple actors took part in a forage development programme for six years (2004–09) in Alaba Special District, in southern Ethiopia. This paper analyses the six-year forage development programme, comparing its two phases, from an innovation systems perspective to identify best practices.

The use of microfinance to enhance income generation and job opportunities among the poor is a popular tool for governments and non-governmental organisations involved in raising standards of living in developing countries. Providing very poor families with small loans to invest in their micro enterprises, Village Bank empowers them to create their own jobs, increase their incomes, and increase their families' well-being.

Worldwide, microcredit has been recognised as a successful innovation in poverty alleviation. However, some claim that microcredit exacerbates poverty in developing countries. This study examines cases in Bangladesh where microcredit has actually worsened poverty among borrowers and investigates the underlying reasons for this adverse trend. Our results show that microcredit can exacerbate poverty in four interrelated circumstances.