On 15–16 May 2008 the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the German government sponsored a workshop in preparation for the third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, which...

The World Development Report 2008 is optimistic that contract farming can help reduce poverty. For it to succeed, producer organisations must play a big role.

Agriculture is back on the international agenda. The most recent World Development Report looks at learning for farmers but largely ignores the need for learning in institutions, including agricultural research centres.

The reconstruction of fiscal institutions can contribute to macroeconomic stabilisation and create a conducive environment for further institution building.

Ten years ago a small number of civil society organisations began experimenting with methods to monitor and influence government budget policies and expenditures. Have these initiatives had an impact?

The microfinance sector in Uganda reached a critical point in the late 1990s. A transformation was needed to ensure its sustainability. Since no donor could go it alone, the transformation became a collaborative effort.

The World Bank’s BRAVA programme is assisting the government of Brazil in the development of systems for results-based M&E. Strengthening these systems from both the top down and the bottom up can have considerable demonstration effects.

For IUCN – the World Conservation Union, building capacity for conservation is more important than simply building staff capacity for itself. Jeffrey McNeely traces the development of the regional programme IUCN in Asia.

The Poverty Action Network Ethiopia has enabled civil society to engage in the PRSP process. This article explains how the network has grown, in spite of the lack of experience of its members, and the difficult political environment.

Systems thinking challenges many assumptions about the need for planning, objectives and control, and the ability of external agents to influence local change processes.