NCCR NORTH-SOUTH DIALOGUES
The NCCR North-South Dialogue Series presents reflections on research topics of concern to programme members throughout the world.
 India and the Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Challenges
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 38
by R. Ramakumar
This paper argues that India has been off-track in terms of most indicators captured in MDG-1. The failure of the Indian state to meet MDG targets is not just a technical failure; it represents a historic failure of the state to raise the living standards of people and expand their socioeconomic freedoms. First, beginning from the assumption that poverty is primarily a structural issue, India’s failure to implement land reforms on any substantial scale or degree has historically undermined its efforts to create any dent on poverty and unemployment....>>More
 Glossary of Terms in Water Supply and Sanitation (in Vietnamese)
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 37
by Nguyen Viet Hung, Hoang Van Minh, Vuong Tuan Anh, Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh, Vu Van Tu, Pham Duc Phuc, Nguyen Hong Nhung, Nguyen Thi Bich Thao
This document aims at developing a comprehensive English–Vietnamese glossary of terms in the field of water and sanitation. Its purpose is to create a platform to facilitate exchange among people working in this field in Vietnam and to reach a consensus about the various definitions and translations proposed in the present glossary. We welcome feedback from colleagues and organisations throughout Vietnam and thank readers for their valuable contributions to what will hopefully become a standard English–Vietnamese water and sanitation glossary....>>More
 Contemporary Political and Socioeconomic Processes in Bolivia
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 36
by Gonzalo Rojas Ortuste and Christian Lunstedt Tapia
This paper presents an account of the persistence of poverty and inequality in Bolivia and related efforts taken by the state. Its focus is on the current government headed by Evo Morales and the MAS with its strong reference to indigenous peoples. A historic perspective highlights continuities and disjunctures in Bolivia’s social and economic politics...>>More
 Miles to Go Before We Sleep: Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals in Nepal
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 35
by Sagar Raj Sharma
Nepal is one of the 189 countries that have committed to achieving the MDGs by 2015. This pledge was most recently renewed in the government’s Three Year Plan 2010/11 – 2012/13. Nepal’s commitment can also be judged, to some extent, by the fact that despite having been engulfed by violent conflict, political instability and rapidly changing socio-political structures since the time it endorsed the MDGs, it has consistently incorporated the MDGs into the strategic framework of the country’s Tenth Plan (2002/03 – 2006/07), Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), and the Three-year Interim Plan 2007/08 – 2009/10....>>More
 Kilimanjaro and Oromia Coffee Value Chain Case Studies: Producer Benefits from Fair Trade and Free Market Channels
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 34
by Christopher Coles
As part of a transversal research project exploring coffee value chains in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya, this study traced Fair Trade and open market coffee value chains in Kiliman-jaro Region, Tanzania and in Jimma Region, Ethiopia. It compares the governance frameworks and benefit distribution among actors in both chains...>>More
 La Résilience sociale multi-strates : une nouvelle approche de recherche pour l’adaptation au changement global
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 33
by Brigit Obrist, Constanze Pfeiffer, Robert Henley
La recherche sur le développement durable tend à se focaliser sur les notions de risque et de vulnérabilité. Dans cet article, l’argumentaire propose un déplacement
de l’attention de la vulnérabilité vers la résilience. Il développe un cadre de réflexion qui présente la resilience sociale multi-strates : celle-ci met l’accent sur les...>>More
 Contested Rural Development in Nepal
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 32
by Prabin Manandhar
This Working Paper maps out debates on rural development in Nepal. The Paper reviews poverty, inequality and exclusion, contemporary rural life and rural development via the state, non-state actors and movements, and experiences of rural people. Nepal is a multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country, but at the same time, it is argued that the 'melting pot' concept of inclusion is not a pragmatic approach...>>More
 The Millennium Development Goals and the Global (Northern) Poverty Debate. A Short Review of Praise, Critique and Ways Forward
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 31
by Bernd Steimann
In 2000, 189 UN member states signed the United Nation's Millennium Declaration and committed to working towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of eight time-bound global development goals to be achieved by 2015. Since then, the MDGs and their catchy objective of "halving poverty by 2015" (MDG-1) have become the leading global development policy framework...>>More
 Millennium Development Goal 1 (Poverty Reduction) and the Swiss Debate on Development Assistance
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 30
by Bernd Steimann
In 2000, along with 188 other national governments, Switzerland signed the United Nation‘s Millennium Declaration and committed to working towards achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Despite their comprehensive character, however, the MDGs have received only limited attention since then and have remained widely unknown among the Swiss public. Based on a review of official reports...>>More
 Does it Work in Practice? Fostering Knowledge Exchange for Sustainable Development
Second NCCR North-South Report on Effectiveness
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 29
by Eva Maria Heim, Claudia Michel, Annika Salmi, Thomas Breu
Does it work in practice? Many researchers are not given the opportunity to find out: they often lack the time and financial resources to work beyond the academic realm. To ensure that research results are not confined to university bookshelves, the NCCR North-South introduced “PAMS” right from the start of the programme. PAMS – Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes – are small projects…>>More
 The Political Economy of Coffee in Kenya. A Case Study from Rumukia and Mathira North Cooperative Societies in the Mount Kenya Area
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 28
by Wanjiku Chiuri
Kenyan coffee used to be the main foreign exchange earner in the 1970s and 1980s, before losing out to tourism and tea in subsequent decades. However, many coffee farmers are still dependent on the crop and are trapped in a cycle of poverty: they hang on to coffee, which is no longer aying for its production costs... >>More
 An Analysis of the Coffee Value Chain in the Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 27
by David Gongwe Mhando and Gimbage Mbeyale
This report focuses on coffee producers in two villages in the Kilimanjaro area, Tanzania. The Kilimanjaro region is well known historically in Tanzania for coffee production. However, coffee production in Kilimanjaro, which is based on smallholder production, has declined over the years as a result of... >>More
 The Effect of Global Coffee Price Changes on Rural Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management in Ethiopia
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 26
by Aklilu Amsalu and Eva Ludi, 2010
This report is about coffee producers in three villages in Jimma Zone in the highlands of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is known for its high-quality coffee which is much sought after by speciality buyers. Over 60% of Ethiopia’s foreign earnings are generated by coffee export and the sector directly and indirectly provides a livelihood... >>More
 Changing Development Discourses over 40 Years of Swiss–Bolivian Development Cooperation
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 25
by Andrea Weder and Claudia Zingerli, 2010
This Dialogue paper looks back on the history of 40 years of Swiss-Bolivian development cooperation. Adopting a discourse analysis approach, the study detects moments of change and ruptures in the international, Swiss, and Bolivian development discourses, and analyses the implications of these changes for Swiss development cooperation in Bolivia... >>More
 State of Statistical Data on Migration and Selected Development Indicators
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 24
by Nadia Shoch, 2010
Migration and its interlinkages with development has become a topic of high interest for researchers as well as policymakers in the last few years. In the global South, topics such as emigration in combination with remittances, brain drain/gain and circulation, and... >>More
 Making Research Relevant to Policy-makers, Development Actors, and Local Communities
NCCR North-South Report on Effectiveness of Research for Development
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 23
by Claudia Michel, Eva Maria Heim, Karl Herweg, Anne Zimmermann, Thomas Breu, 2010
Bridging the gap between research and policy is of growing importance in international development. The National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South has rich experience in collaborating beyond academic boundaries to make their research relevant to various... >>More
 People’s Choice First
A 4-Country Comparative Validation of the
HCES Planning Approach for Environmental
Sanitation
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 22
by Christoph Lüthi, Antoine Morel, Petra Kohler, Elizabeth Tilley, 2009
From 2006 until the end of 2008, the participatory Household-Centered Environmental Sanitation approach (HCES) was tested in 7 different urban and periurban sites across Africa, Asia and Latin America... >>More
 International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD 2008)
Pre-conference Proceedings. University of Bern, Switzerland, 2–4 July 2008
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 21
by NCCR North-South, 2008
The International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD 2008) brings together more than 250 researchers, representatives from development agencies, civil society organisations and the private sector to share research results, concepts, methodologies, and pilot experiences... >>More
 People and “Territories”
Urban Sociology Meets the Livelihood Approach in the South
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 20
by Luca Pattaroni, Vincent Kaufmann, Yves Pedrazzini, Jean-Claude Bolay, Adriana Rabinovich, 2008
The process of urbanisation is a global phenomenon in constant progression around the world; however, it distinguishes itself today in developing countries through its particular speed, scope and consequences in terms of spatial fragmentation and social exclusion. In this paper, we develop a framework for analyzing these phenomena... >>More
 PhD Reader
PhD Theses within the Framework of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 19
by NCCR North-South, 2008
This PhD Reader compiles the titles of all PhD theses in progress and the summaries of completed theses. The titles are arranged by theme and the summaries by region. The document contains research results of fundamental relevance for development studies. Researchers in partnerships for sustainable development will find it a useful compilation of insights into pressing problems of global change, while representatives of development agencies will find a quick overview of research done in their field or region of practice... >>More
 Governmental Complexity in the Swiss Alps: Planning Structures Relevant to a World Natural Heritage Site
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 18
by Jöri Hoppler, Astrid Wallner, Urs Wiesmann, 2008
In 2001 the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region was inscribed on the World Heritage List of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as the first World Natural Heritage Site in the Swiss Alps (now called the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site). This paper examines governmental planning tools and structures concerned with the WHS management strategy... >>More
 Bridging Research and Development
Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS) in the NCCR North-South – Capitalising on Experience.
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 17
by Peter Messerli, Thomas Breu, Karl Herweg, Franziska Pfister, Annika Salmi, 2007
Within the framework of Switzerland’s international NCCR North-South research programme, Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS) are a practice-oriented component with a transdisciplinary approach. By linking research and development practice, they bring together researchers, practitioners and local communities in a common effort to test and evaluate research findings in concrete development contexts... >>More
 Social Networks and Migration
Far West Nepalese Labour Migrants in Delhi
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 15
by Susan Thieme, 2007
In Far West Nepal – an area extremely impoverished even by Nepalese standards – labour migration to India has been an integral part of the livelihood strategies of the majority of the people for several generations. This paper is based on case studies among male and female migrants in Delhi who came from four villages in Far West Nepal. The analysis focused on selected aspects of the migrants’ daily lives, such as working and living conditions, management of loans and savings, and remittance transfers...>>More
 The Critical Issue of Land Ownership
Violent Conflict between the Abdalla Tolomogge and the Awlihan in Godey Zone, Somali Region, Ethiopia
NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 11
by Gebre-Mariam Ayele, 2007
The present publication presents the results of a study that explored the conflict situation between agro-pastoralist and pastoralist clans in the Somali region in eastern and southeastern Ethiopia... >>More
 Dialogue Workshop Methodology
Adapting the Interactive Problem-Solving Method to an Environmental Conflict: Evaluation of an Eastern Nile Basin Dialogue Workshop
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 3
by Simon A. Mason, 2007
Participatory resource and conflict management is one of the greatest challenges of our time. If stakeholders are not involved in this process, solutions will not be locally legitimised, or sustainable. “Dialogue Workshops” are one form of participatory resource and conflict management. The present paper summarises the theory behind this method, and describes its application in the Eastern Nile Basin with participants from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia... >>More
 Understanding Institutions and Their Links to Resource Management from the Perspective of New Institutionalism
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 2
by Tobias Haller, 2007
When environmental issues are at stake, analysis of renewable resource use frequently focuses on unrestricted use by local people who hold them as commons. It is then often believed that resources are perceived as free for all, leading to the overuse of resources (a “tragedy of the commons”). However, critiques of such approaches argue that commons are not open access but usually the property of specific groups who define and enforce rules and regulations (institutions) for inclusion and exclusion of resource users... >>More
 Human and Animal Health in Nomadic Pastoralist Communities of Chad: Zoonoses, Morbidity and Health Services
NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 1
by Esther Schelling, 2007
The health of nomadic pastoralists is influenced by factors specific to their way of life. Nomadic pastoralists depend on livestock for subsistence, especially livestock milk. Veterinary services vaccinate against feared livestock diseases such as anthrax. Pathogens transmissible between livestock and humans (zoonotic agents) may have an important impact on the health of pastoralists because they live in close contact with their animals... >>More
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