Fragile environments

What approaches contribute to sustainable capacity development in fragile state contexts? Stabilizing the governance infrastructure in post-conflict situations sometimes requires the outsourcing of nearly all government roles in the early stages of recovery. With many development initiatives driven by external actors, it is nonetheless critical for such interventions to support the transition to country-owned and country-led development by strengthening emerging capacity where it crystallizes.

Building on Issue 32 of Capacity.org, this page aims to showcase best practice by development organizations and donors, as well as inspiring casestudies that highlight the importance of strengthening community-led initiatives to foster peace and development in such contexts.

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Africa Capacity Indicators 2013 report published

ACIR2013 The 2013 edition of the Africa Capacity Indicators Report (ACIR) on the theme Capacity Development for Natural Resources Management was launched in March 2013. The report focuses on what African countries need to do individually and collectively to effectively manage the continent's nautral resource wealth.  Like the previous two editions, the Africa Capacity Index ranks the performance of 44 African countries according to four key clusters of capacity: the policy environment; processes for implementation; development results at the country level; and capacity development outcomes.
 

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Recent Articles

Strengthening local accountabilities in fragile contexts: Lessons from Nepal, Bangladesh and Mozambique

07 June 2013

IDS Working Paper 422 (April 2013) explores societal dynamics in fragile contexts and the role that external partners can play in strengthening domestic accountability through giving local project participants opportunities to "practise democracy."

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Building institutional capacity in South Sudan through triangular cooperation

09 May 2013

This policy brief from the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre highlights experiences from a regional capacity development initiative in Eastern Africa coordinated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The project brings civil servant support officers (CSSOs) from neighbouring countries and twins them with counterparts in various government ministries in South Sudan, with the aim of rapidly develop core government capacity in a coaching and mentoring scheme.

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Sustainable intensification: A new paradigm for food security and community resilience in Africa

08 May 2013

sustainable intensification report While the concept of "sustainable intensification" is viewed by some as a cynical attempt to promote industrial-scale agriculture, there is a growing international counter-movement that aims to demonstrate that intensification can also be driven by small-scale and sustainable farming systems. Falling squarely in the second camp is the Montpellier Panel, an international group of experts whose latest report aims to offer "a practical pathway towards the goal of producing more food with less impact on the environment."

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Building local capacity for ecosystem-based adaptation

08 May 2013

MSV_Booklet_cover_140px Many Strong Voices (MSV) is an initiative to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change. Based on case studies in Belize and Seychelles the project is working to formalize a methodology that combines evidence-based, scientific data with community knowledge and experiences.

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Mainstreaming climate change into community development processes

25 April 2013

mainstreaming CC Drawing on a district-level planning process in Thailand that aimed to mainstream climate change into local development plans, the authors of this paper argue that the current process of ‘ predict-then-act’ climate change adaptation is inherently flawed. The uncertain nature of climate change predictions can lead to dilemmas in selecting proper measures, whilst the long timeframes involved hinders investment and distances stakeholders’ priorities. Furthermore, this sequential process often overlooks the role of socioeconomic dynamics in changing countries' risk profiles over time.

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Scaling up climate information services for smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia

24 April 2013

climate informationThis white paper summarizes the lessons learnt from across cases, projects and research experiments in effectively developing and providing climate information and advisory services for smallholder farmers. The case studies were presented at an international workshop in Senegal in December 2012, co-organized by CGIAR's Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and its partners. The workshop discussions focused on two projects that are attempting to reaching farmers at scale: Integrated Agrometeorological Advisory Services (IAAS) in India (which recently announced in 2012 plans to scale up to 10-12 million farmers) and Mali’s Projet d’A ssistance Agrometeorologique au Monde Rural (which has provided innovative services to farmers since 1982).

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Essential Readings

  • Annotated bibliography on capacity development in fragile situations (LenCD)

  • WDR 2011: Conflict, security and development

  • GSDRC Topic Guide on Fragile States

  • Derick Brinkerhoff (2007) Capacity Development in Fragile States, ECDPM Discussion Paper 58D

  • Capacity.org Issue 32 (December 2007) Fragile States

Go to annotated bibliography

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