<p>The question of the cultivation of cash crops in Africa south of Sahara has long been debated. We have examined the situation of cash crop cultivation for the peasant of northern Mozambique. What factors are needed for a peasant to be able to choose to cultivate cash crops and what are the effects on the peasant’s situation when cultivating cash crops? With help from James C. Scott’s theories about food security and the safety first principle see how the possibilities are for the peasant to grow cash crops.</p><p>By using the Lewis two-sector model we have examined the possibilities for a peasant of northern Mozambique abilities to make the transition from the agricultural sector to the industrial sector. We found this model insufficient to explain the transition of labour in the Mozambican society. The model needs two additional sectors to fully explain the transition in Mozambique. These sectors, cash crop and semi-industrial, are needed because the transition is too far in terms of productivity and technology. An extensive cash crop production is therefore important for the economic development. We have also found that food security is important for the peasants in order to start growing cash crops.</p>

<p>New technology and new innovations have for long been considered as a spring for growth. Conservation farming (CF) is a new production method introduced in rural Zambia and previous research shows that it increases yields and improves soil fertility. Even though the method is proven more efficient than conventional agriculture, only approximately 10 % of Zambia’s farmers have adopted the method. The purpose of this study is to discuss the implications of the introduction of CF on the capabilities of farmers and on economic growth. Furthermore, the study aims to explore why CF, which is proven to be more economically efficient than the conventional method, is not adopted to a larger extent in Zambia.</p><p>A qualitative study of 25 farmers, farming with either CF or conventional methods, was performed in the region of Mumbwa, Zambia. The results were divided depending on whether the farmers were using the new method or not. To analyze the selected material theories were chosen that regard economic growth and technological change, the adoption process of new innovations, incentive creation and the expansion of capabilities.</p><p>The two groups showed differences in age, the size of their land, how many crops they grew and to what extent they were working for others or hiring labor. The conclusion from the small sample of farmers is that the farmers using CF had been able to expand their capabilities in different ways. They had food for all the year, the new method allowed them to plan their time better and it was more environmentally sustainable than the old method. The negative aspect of CF is that it is not compatible with the old method in terms of social norms. CF leads to a more efficient use of capital and labor and therefore it can increase the economic growth. In terms of a new innovation, CF seems to have a relative advantage over the old method but it must be spread to a larger group of farmers to reach a breakthrough. To create a higher adoption rate of the method the farmers’ perception must be taken into account.</p> / Minor Field Study (Sida)

<p>The aim of this thesis is to identify how forest management in Tanzania can contribute to global climate change mitigation while improving livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.</p><p>A mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is meant to slow increases of atmospheric CO₂ while channelling funds to developing countries. In Tanzania, pioneering work in participatory forest management (PFM) has promoted local-level control over forest resource use. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a linkage between REDD and PFM that maximises benefits for communities, forests and global climate.</p><p>Three PFM projects with relation to REDD have been studied, primarily using semi-structured interviews with villagers, district officials, project facilitators, researchers, consultants and policy-makers. Analysis consists of comparing experiences at different levels and putting them in the theoretical context of climate change and forest conservation.</p><p>The study identifies several issues: local and central government institutions cannot ensure equitable benefit sharing; cross-sectoral co-ordination to address fundamental causes of the problems is lacking; participation of local communities is not satisfactory.</p><p>However, the process is at an early stage. Current activities will hopefully contribute to a future framework that properly addresses these and other obstacles. If this is accomplished, PFM and REDD can complement each other in a positive way.</p>

<p>FN påbörjade sina första biståndsprojekt för drygt 60 år sedan och i Sverige började man arbeta med organiserat bistånd under 60-talet. Det är alltså under relativt lång tid som världens rikare länder har försökt hjälpa de mindre rika länderna att utvecklas. Arbetet kring bistånd är dock mycket komplext och en hel del problem har uppstått under den här perioden.</p><p>Den här uppsatsen syftar till att belysa några av de risker som kan uppstå i samband med biståndsarbetet. Att risker uppstår är inte speciellt konstigt då två (eller flera) länder med ofta mycket olika politiska system ska samarbeta, eftersom värdegrunderna kan skilja sig avsevärt.</p><p>Resultatet har visat att dessa risker är svåra att hantera, vilket kan bero på olika faktorer som projektens omfattande storlek samt att givare och mottagare av bistånd inte alltid har samma uppfattning om hur biståndet bör användas. Resultatet har också visat att trots att man under en så pass lång period har arbetat aktivt med att utveckla och förbättra biståndsarbetet inte lyckats komma tillrätta med risker och problem som exempelvis korruption, ett problem som snarare tycks växa. Slutligen tyder resultatet också på att bistånd i vissa fall riskerar att göra mer skada än nytta, vilket visar på att arbetet kring bistånd måste förbättras avsevärt för att biståndet verkligen ska få de positiva följder som biståndsgivarna säger sig sträva efter.</p>

<p>RÉSUMÉ</p><p>Au Sénégal, on estime que 28% des femmes sont victimes de MSF et les Diolas sont une des ethnies au Sénégal qui pratique cette tradition. Dans ce mémoire, j’ai l’intention en premier de comprendre et d’interpréter les raisons qui justifient, selon les Diolas, cette pratique par la méthode d’abduction et selon la théorie du néo-institutionnalisme. Mon intention en second lieu est de comprendre les éléments de la prétendue diminution de cette pratique dans certaines zones chez les Diolas. Je veux aussi comprendre le rôle de l’ONG Tostan dans la réduction de ce phénomène. Pour réaliser mon projet d’étude, j’ai fait mon étude de terrain dans deux villages au sud du Sénégal.</p><p>Le résultat que j’ai obtenu est que les Diolas prennent les MSF comme étant la première phase, c'est-à-dire la première partie du cycle d’initiation d’une femme. Une fille ne peut pas entrer dans la deuxième partie de son cycle d’initiation qui est une partie essentielle pour réussir dans la société Diolas si elle ne passe pas la première partie grâce aux MSF. En plus, j’ai compris que les raisons principales pour justifier cette pratique sont que les Diolas pensent que c’est une recommandation islamique. Donc, la pratique des MSF est venue avec l’islamisation.</p><p>Après les programmes habituels de Tostan dans les villages, les deux villages de mon étude de cas ont fait leur déclaration publique contre les MSF. Selon les villageoises, dans le premier village, le rôle de Tostan est qu’elle les avait aidées à sensibiliser et à stabiliser le village dans l’abandon de la pratique. Mais il faut souligner que le procès d’abandon avait déjà commencé avant l’arrivée de Tostan. Je trouve qu’il y avait des éléments nécessaires pour cesser la pratique qui a existé dans le village avant l’arrivée de Tostan qui a facilité le choix de vraiment laisser la pratique.</p><p>Le deuxième village témoigne de l’importance de Tostan et affirme que sans Tostan, le village n’aurait pas abandonné la pratique des MSF. En même temps, il y a des indicateurs qui montrent que tous les habitants du village n’ont pas cessé la pratique.</p><p>Une remarque inattendue est que la norme féminine est sous transformation. Aujourd’hui, les femmes non excisées sont mieux considérées que les femmes excisées par toute la société dans les villages de cas de cette étude. Une autre observation intéressante est que les villageoises témoignent que les jeunes femmes étaient les plus difficiles à convaincre d’abandonner la MSF contrairement aux femmes plus âgées alors que se sont elles, qui peuvent fondamentalement réclamer d’avoir été préjudiciées a cause de nous au Nord, il est normalement difficile de moduler les différentes traditions à cause des anciennes générations au sein de la société.</p> / <p>An estimated 28% of Senegalese women are victims to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The Jola tribe in Senegal is one of the ethnics that practice this tradition. In this thesis, I have the intention to interpret and try to understand the reasons the Jolas have to justify this practice. This will be made by an abdication method with the help of the New Institutional Theory. My purpose is furthermore to understand why the practice of FGM has reduced in some Jola-zones. Furthermore, I would like to comprehend the role of the NGO Tostan in the reduction process. To fulfil my intentions, I have made a Minor Field Study of two case studies conducted in two villages in the south of Senegal.</p><p>The result of this thesis is that the Jolas use FGM as the first phase of the women’s initiation cycle. A girl is not allowed to enter the second phase of her initiation cycle, which is an essential step in order to succeed in the Jolas society, if she has not already passed the first phase. I have understood that the main reason to justify the practice is that the Jolas think that FGM is an Islamic decree. This signifies that the practice of FGM has come to the Jolas with the Islamization.</p><p>After conducting ordinary programs of Tostan in the villages, both case villages have made an official declaration against FGM. According to the villagers in the first village, the role of Tostan was to help them be aware and stabilise so that they could implement the declaration. It is important to stress that the process of abandoning the practice had already started before the intervention of Tostan in this village. This study shows that there already existed certain important elements in the village that had facilitated the work of Tostan.</p><p>The second village confirmed the importance of Tostan and affirmed that they would not have abandoned the practice without the intervention of Tostan. On the other hand, I found indications which show that all the habitants of the village have not yet abandoned the practice.</p><p>One unexpected observation that I achieved to track during my fieldwork is that the female norm is under transformation. Today, the non-circumcised women are considered more attractive than circumcised women. Another interesting observation is that the villagers claimed that it is actually more complicated to convince the younger female generations to abandon the practice of FGM, and not the elder females, which basically can be claimed to be the prejudice we carry with us from the North, when talking about different traditions which are difficult to change because of the old generations in a society.</p>

<p>Under 1995 togs ett riksdagsbeslut om att skapa en stödform som möjliggjorde för partier med mandat i riksdagen att med Sida-finansierade projektmedel verka för att bygga upp partisystem i Östeuropa och i utvecklingsländer genom så kallade partianknutna organisationer (PAO). Dessa organisationer skall enligt ett regeringsbeslut från 1998 också arbeta med att särskilt uppmärksamma kvinnor i sina projekt. Jämställdhet har sedan mitten av 1990-talet varit ett av huvudmålen för svenskt bistånd och på senare år har jämställdhet kommit att utgöra en betydelsefull markör för svensk nationell identitet.</p><p>I uppsatsen studeras hur svenska nationella identiteter konstrueras i PAO:s biståndsarbete för jämställdhet, och med att särskilt uppmärksamma kvinnor. Syftet fokuserar på hur dessa föreställningar, sammanlänkade med idéer om kön och ’ras’, etableras och upprätthålls inom PAO-biståndet. Ett kompletterande syfte är att lyfta fram ambivalenser i konstruktionen av dessa identiteter, för att visa att organisering kring andra identiteter är möjligt. På det här sättet vill uppsatsen ifrågasätta förgivet tagna identiteter och sätta in dem i ett sammanhang där olika aspekter av identitetskonstruktioner inom bistånd kan diskuteras.</p>

<p>Legislation on benefit sharing dates back to 1992 and the commandment of the UNConvention on Biological Diversity, hence implementation still has few cases to fall back on(CBD, 1992). The case study of the project ProBenefit presented by the thesis highlights howlack of deliberation can undermine a democratic process. The objective of the thesis is thatProBenefit’s attempt to implement the standards of the CBD on access and benefit sharingwill highlight not only problems met by this specific project, but difficulties that generallymeet democratic processes in contexts of high inequality. To define if the project ProBenefitsucceeded in carrying out a deliberative process the project will be analyzed by the criteria:access to information, representation, legitimacy and involvement.The population in the project area of ProBenefit had a long history of social marginalization,which made it hard for foreign projects to gain legitimacy. The lack of independentorganizations and the late establishment of the project, which resulted in time shortage, madeit impossible to prevent the distrust of the local population. The failure of the projectcoordinators to ensure active participation of all stakeholders resulted in a late and lowinvolvement of the local participants. The absence of independent organization also madedemocratic legitimacy of the process questionable. Even if ProBenefit had a vision ofdemocratic deliberation the project was unable to break down the prevailing unequal powerdistribution which resulted in an unsustainable process and failure. The conclusion of thethesis is that the attainment of deliberation foremost depends on how a project deals with theexisting distribution of power and how it succeeds in involving all stakeholders.</p>

<p>In April 2007, New Zealand (NZ) launched the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.  The scheme allows for unskilled workers from the Pacific Islands to enjoy the benefits of seasonal work in NZ’s horticulture and viticulture industries for up to seven months at a time.  One of the articulated objectives of the scheme is to advance the effects on development in the countries of origin of the workers, for which remittances have been stressed as key-benefits. Although previous data and interviews concerning these aspects are marginal, all studies indicate clear benefits for Pacific Islanders.  In contrast, this study provides the novel insight to the individual views and perceptions of the earning, saving, spending and remittance possibilities of 23 Ni-Vanuatu RSE workers in June of 2008.  The findings indicate an absence of autonomy among the individual RSE workers to decide over and manage the spending of their respective incomes, along with negative implications on the potential for workers to send remittances while working in NZ.  Identified as the primary cause of this outcome, is the dual and simultaneous role that NZ based companies, on the one hand, can play as recruitment agents in Vanuatu, and on the other hand, as pastoral care agents in NZ.  This twofold capacity creates a middle hand situation that severely restricts the possibilities for the workers to access their wages while in NZ.  The conclusion therefore holds that, in this example of 23 Ni-Vanuatu RSE workers, the degree of remittances depends on the type of employment governing the participation of the workers in the scheme, as opposed to the individual spending and saving patterns, differences in earnings, or differences in the availability of work of each worker respectively.</p> / <p>I april 2007 så startade Nya Zeeland (NZ) sitt Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program.  Programmet tillåter lågutbildade arbetare från Söderhavsöarna att erhålla fördelaktigt säsongsarbete i NZ:s jordbruks industrier med upp till sju månader per arbetsperiod. Ett av de uttalade syftena med programmet är att avancera utvecklingen i arbetarnas hemländer, för vilket penningförsändelser från säsongsarbetet har lyfts fram som huvudsakliga förmåner. Trots att tidigare insamlad data och intervjuer som berör dessa delar av programmet är marginella, så har alla studier indikerat klara förmåner för säsongsarbetarna. Till skillnad från tidigare resultat, så påvisar denna studie nya insikter skildrade från ett perspektiv av 23 Ni-Vanuatu arbetare, och deras uppfattning om möjligheter till inkomst, sparande, och att kunna skicka penningförsändelser under en arbetsvistelse i juni 2008. Resultaten från studien pekar på en frånvaro av autonomi hos arbetarna att bestämma över hur deras inkomster skall spenderas, med negativa följder av att inte kunna skicka hem tillräckligt med pengar till sina anhöriga. Den identifierade primärorsaken till detta är framförallt den dubbelroll som NZ baserade företag, å ena sidan, kan spela som rekryterare av arbetskraft i Vanuatu, och å andra sidan, som förvaltare av arbetskraft i NZ. Denna dubbelroll skapar en mellanhandssituation som hindrar säsongsarbetarna från att tillgå sina inkomster under sin vistelse i NZ. Slutsatsen, i detta exempel av 23 Ni-Vanuatu arbetare, påvisar att nivån utav penningförsändelser beror på typ av anställningsform, istället för individuellt sparande eller spenderande av inkomster, skillnader i inkomst, eller skillnader i tillgängligt arbete för respektive arbetare.</p>