The poor record of aid operations after the withdrawal of donor support has led to an increasing interest in the topic of sustainability of aid. Making a contribution to this growing topic, the thesis examines the sustainability of the development work carried out by the Vi Agroforestry Programme (VIAFP) around Lake Victoria. By combining an interview study and a policy analysis, the research uses the practice of phasing out support and the experience during the latter (extensive) phase of the Programme as indicators for sustainability. The results show that (1) the coherent and flexible methodology of phasing out support, (2) the emergence of community-based and non-governmental organisations that take over VIAFP’s work after the withdrawal of its staff, (3) the examples of organisational learning that improved the practice of the Programme, and (4) farmer groups overcoming the challenges during the extensive phase, are strong signs of sustainability. However, further attention and work from the Programme is required when it comes to its role after terminating support, the financial sustainability of emerging organisations, women’s rights and the lack of carrying out any research after phasing out support to communities. Finally, the thesis highlights the practices within the Programme that increase its sustainability, as well as recommendations for further improvement.

For over 160 years, The Economist newspaper has been one of the most influential, sophisticated, and effective proponents of capitalism. It has consistently championed and conveyed a form of humanitarian political economy to its weekly, global audience of professionals and business and government leaders. The Economist began in 1843 to campaign for free trade in agriculture and to advocate for the emerging regime of capitalism in Britain. Its primary concern during its first two decades centered on agricultural change. This thesis examines those first two decades, from 1843-1863, and The Economists focus on improvement, or capitalist development, in the English countryside.<p> The Economist was a staunch advocate for increased urbanization, private property, and high agriculture a modern system of agriculture that involved scientific techniques, free trade, large landholdings, and significant amounts of capital. It vehemently opposed any attempts to alleviate rural poverty using measures it felt were inconsistent with the principles of political economy and argued rural labourers would be better off if they were forced to sell their labour and submit to the discipline of the market. The Economist repeatedly portrayed this process of capitalist development as beneficial for all and as a natural occurrence, brought about through the free working of the market. Its account contributed to the prominent idea of the success of British agriculture in the 19th century; an idea that has had profound effects on subsequent notions of development.<p> This thesis uses Marxist and Foucauldian concepts to demonstrate that the process of capitalist development in the countryside was not brought about through market forces. Extensive and often oppressive government intervention was needed to dispossess people from the land and to force them into waged labour. Though much of this dispossession had occurred by the 19th century, The Economist performed a crucial role in advocating for policies that cemented capitalist relations of production. The Economists most important function was to spread belief in capitalism by making its inequality and poverty more palatable.

There has been an increased focus on ICT-related projects in development cooperation in the last decade based on the assumption that ICTs expands opportunities for economic growth as well as for poverty reduction. This is also the case with the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). I wanted to better understand the reasoning behind the increased focus on ICT. Specifically I have chosen to look at SIDA’s policies and projects with universities in Tanzania and Nicaragua to understand how different stakeholders perceive that increased ICT use at universities can affect poverty reduction. Some questions guiding my research are: In what ways can these ICT investments meet the development goals of SIDA, and might do these ICT investments theoretically fit into a national system of innovation?

International aids, which target socio-development in developing and/or underdeveloped countries, are generally undertaken through projects. These projects, which are named as international development projects (IDPs), are financed mainly by multilateral and bilateral development agencies. However, management of these projects, which have less tangible objectives and deliverables, differ drastically from traditional industrial-commercial project types, that have more tangible objectives and deliverables. Moreover, the intensive investments on IDPs have not yielded the expected progress yet. Therefore, ensuring a successful IDP management through the satisfaction of factors that are critical for project success becomes crucial for both sponsoring bodies and receiving countries. Nevertheless, the current literature provides only a limited number of studies, such as studies conducted by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005), Do and Tun (2008), on this subject area. Then, this study following previous studies by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005), Do and Tun (2008), aims to contribute to this gap in the literature through investigating critical success factors (CSFs) for implementation phase of international development projects (IDPs) in Kazakhstan. Not only the applicability of Do and Tun’s (2008) CSFs for IDP implementation phase to IDPs being implemented in Kazakhstan are tested but also a new set of CSFs is generated for the implementation phase of IDPs being implemented in Kazakhstan.

In spite of decades-long development programs, Lesotho faces an ongoing problem of water insecurity with far- reaching individual and social impacts. The purpose of this research was to understand how women in Lesotho are impacted by the synergistic epidemics, or syndemics, of water insecurity and HIV/AIDS and how they respond to these forces. Little has been done to address how water insecurity, defined in terms of both sufficient amount and quality of water, catalyzes the syndemic impact on the people of Lesotho. Access to safe and reliable sources of water is crucial for all individuals, particularly those who have been affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. First, water is essential for adequate nutrition since it is required for the growing of agricultural products and for the preparation of adequate foods needed to maintain the nutritional health of those already infected with the virus. Second, food and water security is essential for the treatment of AIDS, as the complex drug regimes of anti-retroviral (ARV) medications require reliable and constant access to safe water and nutritious foods to facilitate compliance with medications. This research was also concerned with understanding the psycho-emotional experience of water insecurity. Water insecurity constrained people's ability to effectively care for their families and, as a result, created additional work and stress. Indeed, quantitative findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between water insecurity and psycho-emotional distress, and that water insecurity predicted higher scores on the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-25), holding constant socio-economic variables and food insecurity. Water security is dependent on many dimensions from adequate availability, secure access, and having enough water for one's daily needs. However, worry about water safety emerged as an important focus in both the qualitative and quantitative data. Water safety was a noted stress in people's daily lives, and significantly predicted increased scores on the HSCL-25. More broadly, this research theoretically informs critical medical anthropology and development anthropology. While this research was conducted in three villages in the Lesotho lowlands, this research must be contextualized within larger anthropological theory regarding international development and women in relation to it. This research combines several theories used in anthropology, international development, and social geography including political economy and structural violence, post-structuralism and governmentality, and theorizations about space and place to understand how women in Lesotho respond to globalization. Despite the proliferation of the terms participation and participatory development nearly 20 years ago, these constructs remain important in international development. While the ideology of participation originally stems from activist understandings of the role of communities in development, the use of participation has become depoliticized. As opposed to grassroots mobilization and the foregrounding of local realities, participation often means little more than a method for facilitating project implementation. Furthermore, respondents routinely discussed programs coming into communities and leaving without notice or explanation. It is imperative for donor organizations to consider the ethics of sustainability when planning and implementing new programs. In terms of community programs and grassroots organizing, findings from this research indicate that there are many material and social barriers to participation. Understanding not only women's other responsibilities but also the support they may receive from family and friends is important in any discussion of community participation. Many feminist critics of development argue that gender and class considerations have not been meaningfully addressed in policy and development programs. As global feminists argue that development aims should understand the heterogeneity of women worldwide, more research on women's perceptions of their vulnerability and their position in society is needed to inform development. Women in the global South are not passive victims and their views are important in delineating the goals and methods of development plans. Furthermore, it is important to recognize that participation may not always be in women's, or men's, best interest and that often activism and collective organizing may be more subtle than expected. In short, neither globalization nor resistance are complete power is contingent and negotiated, and thus this research reaffirms the importance of ethnography in uncovering the lived experience of globalization, or a critical ethnography of globalization.

Indigenous peoples are garnering more focus on the world stage, and as such it is critical to understand their role in development. Indigenous peoples are especially impoverished, and often face institutionalized discrimination by their governments and other forces. This repression, limited access to services, and resource predation endanger indigenous peoples’ lives and livelihoods. I attempted to identify indigenous peoples’ policies in seven major development international non-governmental organizations, and after finding none upon document research and staff interviews, propose theories for why this could be the case. I compare international non-governmental organizations’ lack of policies to the presence of policies in international organizations. The difference between these two types of organizations formed the base of my theories, which were based primarily around the organizational structure and the different types of pressure and expectations that they face. I argue, though, that international non-governmental organizations should have indigenous peoples’ policies for several reasons including the improvement seen in international organizations’ treatment of indigenous peoples and the importance of accountability and transparency in the development process. The Report finishes by suggesting avenues to test the theories proposed, and plans for indigenous advocates. / text

How can politically and ecologically vulnerable groups come to productively govern the development process? The current environmental crisis is felt most intensely by marginalized groups whose livelihoods, food security, and health are threatened as development-driven environmental problems increase. This study looks at the intersection between the state, the economy, and the grassroots as key decision-makers shape the development trajectory: environmental factions of the rebels-turned-politicians in Aceh, Indonesia, the pro-autonomy indigenous movement in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and pro-democracy insurgents in the United States. The subsequent chapters track and analyze the varied fates of insurgents in each site as they attempt to democratize the state and acquire control over local ecologies. The conclusion explores these movements as the tip of a much deeper iceberg of conflict between extractive development and anti-colonialism.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) continues to grow in more than 70 countries in the developing world, creating thriving local rural economies but also causing significant environmental contamination and health issues, with one particularly problematic issue involving the use of mercury in the gold extraction process. With the advent of the United Nations Minamata Convention on Mercury in 2009, a legally binding treaty aimed at reducing and where feasible eliminating mercury use, countries with significant ASGM populations require solutions for this sector. In April 2014, a mixed-methods rapid appraisal study was carried out over a three week period in the gold mining region of Kedougou, Senegal. During this time 80 structured interviews, 120 household surveys, physical measurements, observations and numerous informal interviews were utilized in conjunction with a comparative data analysis in order to create a national inventory of the ASGM sector for Senegal, to explore the sector’s socio-economic contribution to rural development in Senegal, and to provide a basis for discussing policy approaches needed to improve the sector. The results of this study show a thriving ASGM sector composed of approximately 67,000 people, producing an estimated 4.5 tonnes of gold per year and releasing approximately 5.2 tonnes of mercury into the environment. The methodologies used to create these estimates also provide in-depth information that illustrates an ASGM sector that is highly inter-connected with customary tenure practices and traditional agrarian livelihoods, and that is important for rural inhabitants in Senegal and other countries. This information can be utilized by the Senegalese and other governments to inform the policies that are being developed for the ASGM sector as they implement the obligations created by the Minimata Convention. / Graduate / 0503 / 0366 / 0617 / persaud.anthonyw@gmail.com

International Development Programmes (IDPs) are United Nations‘ (UN) and developedcountries‘ initiatives to develop world‘s least developed countries. IDPs significantly vary fromother mainstream project management topics, as most often they do not have eye for commercialsuccess or are not of simple charity nature of humanitarian perspective aid. Projects under IDPstry to deliver United Nations‘ and rich countries commitment to provide sustainable developmentto developing world in terms of reducing poverty and hunger, improving health and educationsystem, building capacity to face disasters, eliminating gender discrimination, among others.This significant difference and lack of research in this field has left a gap in established projectmanagement methodologies that could be generalised as specifically suitable for IDPs.The knowledge of project selection methodologies has reached to its extreme variety, as itspreads from the simplest model of a checklist to the highest degree mathematical model.Leading researchers in the field have come to conclusion that project selection methods have tomatch the needs of a specific programme or portfolio to serve its purpose. The uniqueness ofIDPs intensified the necessity of choosing projects by understanding the financial and strategicbenefit they can deliver matching their resource requirement. In absence of straight direction inthe research and real life case observations, the practice in project selection in IDPs has not stillbeen an established procedure.To explore this need the authors of this report examined the theoretical framework of projectselection and their compliance with IDPs unique characteristics. Project selection methodsshowed that due to organisations‘ varied need of delivering financial or strategic objectives, theselection models significantly vary. The use of different financial or strategic criteria withdifferent emphasis on them is highlighted in project selection articles. Further analysis wasfocused on project selection stages and possible challenges evolving in the selection process.The researchers tried to explore project selection methods used in IDPs in Bangladesh byanalyzing four different cases. The examination of the project selection process showed that itmainly follows the multi-stage assessment procedure, with project evaluation conducted by theassessment panel, comprised from the functional experts and in some cases stakeholders‘representatives. Further, from the findings it was evident that the primary theoretical suggestionsfor IDPs project selection methods being strategy driven rather than being commercial in natureis true. In all four cases, the researchers have seen the selectors using scoring and ranking modelthat are specifically designed with higher emphasis on the strategic factors, and that try to deliverdevelopment objective rather than contributing to commercial success. In addition, thechallenges in IDP project selection practice are also discussed. Challenges like deliveringdevelopment needs while trying to make the project sustainable in the long run, managing thepowerful influence of different stakeholders in selecting projects, avoiding country politics,among others are making the project selection more difficult. The main contribution of thisresearch has been establishing a primary selection framework from case evidence withsuggestions on appropriate model, set of criteria which can be used and a set of challenges to beaware of. The study is presented as a basis for further research in this field.

This dissertation explores why and how political advocacy emerged as a dominant organizational strategy for NGOs in the international development education field. In order to answer this central question, I adopt a comparative case-study approach, examining the evolution of policy advocacy positions at two leading NGOs in the field: ActionAid International and the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE). Although these organizations differ in significant ways, both place political advocacy at the centre of their mandates, and both have secured prominent positions in global educational governance. Through comparative analysis, I shed light on why these organizations have assumed leadership roles in a global advocacy movement. I focus on how the shift to policy advocacy reflects the internal environment of each organization as well as broader trends in the international development field. Ideas of structure and agency are thus central to my analysis. I test the applicability of two structural theories of social change: world polity theory and political opportunity theory; as well as two constructivist approaches: strategic issue framing and international norm dynamics. I offer some thoughts on establishing a more dynamic relationship between structure and agency, drawing on Fligstein and McAdam’s concept of strategic action fields. In order to test the utility of these theoretical frameworks, the study begins with a historical account of how ActionAid and ASPBAE have shifted from service- and practice- oriented organizations into political advocates. These histories are woven into a broader story of normative change in the international development field. I then examine the development of a number of key advocacy strategies at each organization, tracing how decisions are made and implemented as well as how they are influenced by the broader environment. I find that while it is essential to understand how global trends and norms enable and constrain organizational strategy, the internal decision-making processes of each organization largely shape how strategies are crafted and implemented. These findings offer insight into the pursuit of advocacy as a political strategy and the role of NGOs in global social change.