Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are now key players in international development, but their activities have also been facing a large volume of criticism since around the turn of the century. The role of Northern NGOs in development assistance has been of particular concern due to a range of aspects of their work. Critical in the debates about NGOs are issues of legitimacy and of imposing outsiders’ views and priorities on their host communities through their development assistance. In such scepticism about Northern NGOs, there has been a shift to the current focus of large scale international NGOs’ activities which is now more on advocacy and emergency relief activities; more development assistance has been handed directly to local grassroots organisations or to partner organisations of international NGOs. The small scale Northern NGOs, which comprise the majority, have been in danger in the international arena. Since the 1990s, Japan has also witnessed the surge of NGOs working in international cooperation. The new type of NGOs, whose activities are inspired not by anti-government movements but by international development, grew rapidly with increased governmental assistance. These Japanese NGOs are, however, often small scale and mostly engaged in development assistance, unlike their counterparts in Western countries. The purpose of this study is to explore the activities, lifestyle, and development thinking of a single Japanese NGO in order to deepen our understanding of Japan’s international cooperation conducted by citizens from a wide range of aspects and to verify whether and how the Japanese philosophy of self-help efforts is put into practice in Kenya. Chapter 2 presents the methodology which is employed in the study. Chapter 3 looks at the origin and international trends of NGOs working in development through the relevant literature. The main focus is not put on an examination of NGOs’ national roles, rather it is placed on the transition of their role and relationship with states in general development issues. Chapter 4 examines community participation in development in the local Kenyan context. The chapter provides insights into the role of self-help and the way local self-help efforts have been directed by the national and local politics for development in Kenya. Chapter 5 looks at Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) in order to explore the conceptual and historical context of Japan’s international cooperation, as this has a considerable influence over Japanese NGOs. The chapter provides insights into the philosophy of self-help efforts in Japan’s ODA as well as on the influence of Japanese policy over the activities of Japanese NGOs. Chapter 6 investigates the systems and mechanisms of NGOs in Japan, including the origin and history of Japanese NGOs, the scale and scope of their activities, their funding system, and their relationships with their donors and amongst themselves, in addition to the interaction between the government and Japanese NGOs. Chapters 7 and 8 are the main body of this study and provide in-depth research on a Japanese NGO in Kenya: Community Action Development Organisation (CanDo). Although it is small when compared with International NGOs, CanDo has been drawing substantial attention in the Japanese international development community in these five years. The main purpose of these chapters is not to evaluate whether the activities of CanDo are effective or not, but rather to explore its philosophy of facilitating local self-help efforts and how the philosophy is put into practice in its activities in poor communities in Mwingi District, Kenya. Its philosophy is analysed through describing in detail its organisational characteristics, development thinking, and its relationships with the local authority and local community. The final chapter explores the implications of CanDo’s philosophy and practice in understanding Japanese international cooperation in Africa as well as the role of small international NGOs working on development activities with local communities.

A highly debated topic of the last few decades has centred on the idea of communication as a means for poverty reduction. With two-thirds of the world's population living in poverty, there is a dire need to understand why global poverty and inequality continue to increase, and what role communication can, and is playing in the fight against poverty. This study therefore seeks to understand how three aid and development agencies in New Zealand, New Zealand Aid (NZAID), Oxfam New Zealand (NZ), and Christian World Service (CWS), construct poverty in the context of international development. Additionally it seeks to establish how these three organisations view relationships between communication and poverty. Eleven semi-structured, in-depth interviews with key informants were conducted, transcribed, and analysed in order to extract information surrounding the issues of poverty and international development. From this analysis, it is evident that these three organisations recognise official and unofficial definitions of poverty. It is also apparent that these definitions of poverty affect the ways in which these organisations view the causes of poverty, as well as their outlook on international development. Furthermore, three topics emerged when examining relationships between communication and poverty: communication with local people and local organisations, communication about local people and local organisations, and dealing with communication issues through accountability, transparency, and legitimacy. Implications on communication and development theory as well as theory on the discursive constructions of poverty are addressed. Finally, this study addresses practical implications for aid and development agency practice, and offers recommendations for further study in the area development communication.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

For land-grant universities (LGUs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), achieving food security is a longstanding and shared priority. International agricultural development is entangled in competing imaginaries and ideological underpinnings. The coordinated social movements of food sovereignty and agroecology seek to transform local and global food systems away from the dominant neoliberal paradigm. Using localized and participatory practices, agroecology seeks to develop self-reliant communities towards more just and equitable food systems. Similarly, the current policy framework of USAID advances "The Journey to Self-Reliance" (J2SR). Yet the discourse of self-reliance reflects varied discursive meanings. The first is an alternative imaginary to develop increased community autonomy, build social support structures, and protect ecologies. The second reflects neoliberal ideology articulating notions of individual responsibility and private sector leadership. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and focus groups, this research investigated how USAID's J2SR discourse is represented, how it affects agroecological opportunities, and subsequently the impact on land-grant university food security praxis. Analytically, CDA foregrounds discursive power by investigating how texts, interpretation, and action operate as a system to maintain or contest unequal power relations. I employed focus groups with land-grant international development scholar-practitioners as a form of critical praxis. My research illustrates how USAID's self-reliance definition reproduces neoliberalism as a dominant political-economic orientation through anti-welfare rhetoric and private sector leadership. Alongside this, the J2SR discourse also actively promotes local participation and leadership. Subsequently, I contend, the discourse presents opportunities for scientific agroecology but also limits agroecology's transformative potential. A critical finding is that among sampled land grant actors, agroecology reflects epistemic complexity and competing imaginaries. Moreover, I illustrate how participants' responses to the policy corpus largely accept the embedded neoliberal ideology, while also demonstrating how some actors can use creativity to directly fund local research institutions. I contend that the creative modification observed among these actors represents the potential for land grant actors to serve as change agents and to support the agroecology movement. This research contributes to understanding how USAID frames self-reliance within their policy and where opportunities lie to challenge power structures and advance justice within international agricultural development. / Doctor of Philosophy / For land-grant universities (LGUs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), achieving food security is a longstanding and shared priority. Despite decades of commitment, food insecurity persists reflecting the complexity of the problem. Various visions exist for how food security can be achieved. The coordinated social movements of food sovereignty and agroecology are one such vision that looks to transform the global food system away from practices deemed harmful. A critical component of agroecology is to center local community participation towards developing self-reliant communities. The current policy framework of USAID advances "The Journey to Self-Reliance" (J2SR). Self-reliance, however, is a broad term with different meanings and uses. One definition of self-reliance seeks to develop local communities around increased autonomy, with support from the government to ensure basic needs, while also protecting the environment. The second self-reliance definition focuses on supporting individual responsibility and capacity to ensure basic needs alongside private sector growth. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and focus groups, this research sought to understand how USAID's J2SR is represented in a selection of policy texts, how this representation influences agroecological opportunities, and subsequently the impact on land-grant university food security efforts. Analytically, CDA centers power in policy texts by focusing on how the interpretations and actions of actors can support or challenge systems of inequity. I used focus groups to understand the reflections and actions of land grant actors involved in international development. My research illustrates how USAID's definition of self-reliance reflects an anti-welfare sentiment alongside a focus on private sector leadership. Moreover, the policy selections also emphasized local participation and leadership which could represent a marginal shift in development power dynamics. Subsequently, I argue the J2SR makes environmental agroecology more possible than one seeking social, cultural, and political change. A key finding is how the perceptions of agroecology among sampled land grant actors represent the complexity, and at times, competition of various disciplines, values, and beliefs. Finally, from land grant participants, I illustrate how their responses to the policy corpus largely accept the embedded neoliberal ideology, while also demonstrating how some actors use creativity to increase the participation of local research institutions. This creativity, I argue, represents the potential for land grant actors to serve as change agents and to support agroecology towards fostering greater food security, equity, and justice globally. This research contributes towards an understanding of how USAID defines self-reliance and where opportunities lie to challenge unequal power relations and advance justice within international agricultural development.

Yes / This seminar paper analyses the links between regeneration and international development, and describes project approaches in international development. In the light of these two perspectives it then goes on to discuss the main issue facing management of development or regeneration projects to-day.

In this thesis, I examine contemporary manifestations of the Islamic practice of zakat and its relationship with mainstream international development. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam; it requires all Muslims who possess above a certain level of wealth to pay roughly 2.5 percent of their disposable income to eight beneficiary groups defined in the Qur’an. Over the past several decades – and especially in the past 15 years – zakat has become an increasingly institutionalized, transnational practice managing billions of dollars of aid every year. Contemporary zakat institutions have also placed an increasingly strong emphasis on poverty alleviation that has brought their activities in closer contact with those of mainstream international development organizations. Despite the important role that zakat institutions play in social welfare and the significance of zakat practice across the Muslim world, there has been little scholarly analysis of contemporary zakat practice, particularly regarding its relationship with international development. This thesis seeks to initiate a dialogue around the relationship between contemporary zakat institutions and mainstream international development organizations, particularly the potential for coordination or conflict between them. Such a dialogue must be based on a strong understanding of zakat as a complex, dynamic, and diverse practice. To establish this foundation, I begin with an analysis of contemporary shifts in interpretations and manifestations of zakat. Following this analysis, I conduct a closer examination of the structure, activities, beneficiary groups, and discourse of contemporary zakat institutions through case studies of the West Bank and Lebanese Zakat Funds. Finally, I compare the goals, methods, and activities of zakat institutions and mainstream international development organizations like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank. This allows me to examine the potential for different forms of coordination between zakat institutions and mainstream development and discuss challenges to such coordination. I conclude with recommendations on key strategies for enhancing coordination that will be in the interest of both zakat institutions and mainstream development organizations, and ultimately enhance the effectiveness of the aid they deliver. / text

The growth of networks in international development, accelerated by communications possibilities provided by new social media, offers the potential for richer access by local groups to information and ideas on which to base development activities. However, a long history of participation in development shows that information is often imparted in a top down way, vesting control and power in institutions external to the local groups who wish to make use of it. Frameworks for social learning such as Communities of Practice tend to focus on collaborative learning from experience, rather than such a 'top down' transmission of information, offering the possibility that they may enable horizontal learning between geographically distributed groups linked by social media. Through a three year co-operative enquiry within the newly established Global Network for Disaster Reduction, this action research investigates whether horizontal learning employing social media can enable this network to share learning and thereby support grassroots development. The research finds that the structure and relationships within such an internationally distributed network lead to a qualitatively different mode of learning framed as a Community of Praxis. It proposes that this framework can be further elaborated and applied within network contexts to encourage the possibility of a different emphasis in development.

This dissertation studies how society views corruption at different stages of economic development. It develops a theoretical framework that shows that at low levels of income or development, corruption increases and at high levels of income and development, corruption decreases. This theoretical proposition is also investigated empirically. The empirical analyses support the proposed theory and hint that fiscal policy, socioeconomic conditions, and incidences of war play significant roles in determining a country’s corruption level. In addition, this dissertation also explores the relationship between merchandise and service trade. I show theoretically that the two are related and determined simultaneously. An empirical investigation also confirms this proposition. Lastly, I investigate the issue of pollution in developing countries. I explore the existence of an inverted u-shaped relationship between emissions and income. I examine the role played by foreign investment in improving emissions in developing countries. The results support the inverted u-shaped relationship and suggest that environmental aid does not reduce emissions in developing countries.

Texas A&M University of the United States and the Institute National Agronomique de Tunisie (INAT) of Tunisia established a collaborative relationship of mutual exchange of information and ideas for the further advancement of both universities. The researcher worked closely with these universities to conduct a qualitative study in Tunisia to determine the effectiveness of agricultural institutions working to further development in that country. The emphasis of the study was on the transference of knowledge and innovations from the research level through extension to the farmers and other end users. The triangle of teaching, research, and extension provided a base perspective. The researcher interviewed 37 respondents, including researchers, extension personnel, administration, professors, and farmers. From data that respondents provided, the researcher used a constant comparative method to organize results into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the agricultural institutions as a system. Overarching themes included a pointed focus on meeting farmer needs, but this desire was hindered from being carried out fully due to complex communication systems and an organizational structure that did not facilitate change. Hope did abound for Tunisian agriculturalists because the opportunities available through globalization and international collaboration far outweighed any possible threats to development, such as fierce competition in trade and lack of quality water. The researcher also made specific recommendations based on the information gathered in the study. These recommendations were based on the findings of the study, and they were directed to leaders within the Tunisian agriculture system and other agriculturalists wishing to further development in countries facing similar situations as Tunisia.

Since the 1960s, over 65,000 young Canadians have participated in volunteer abroad programs (Tiessen, 2008). Lately, the media and academia have questioned and criticized the benefits of volunteerism as development. This study highlights how issues of power and privilege extend beyond the individual, and reaches into institutional structures. The research design uses Institutional Ethnography (IE) as a method of inquiry, and maps out the social relations between the experiences of seven former youth volunteers and field staff, and their organizations. The aim is to explore how to improve individual and organizational pedagogy in the field of international volunteering, so that equity becomes a commitment by everyone in the development of sustainable and just communities.