Publications

Support the GNSPU unit in the development of indicators to assess the gender equity status of the health system in Bangladesh

The production and delivery of early generation seed (i.e.breeder and foundation seed) is a key bottleneck in the performance of seed value chains in sub-Saharan Africa (ISSD Africa, 2015). Seed producers are failing to satisfy an estimated demand for seed of public varieties, due to insufficient access to foundation seed (also referred to as basic seed) of these varieties. The focus of this study is on the relationship between private seed producers and public suppliers of varieties in the seed value chains, with regard to foundation seed production.

SHARP formally ended by 31 December 2016. This final evaluation has the double purpose of looking back and assess achievements as well as learning lessons that might be useful for future undertakings in promoting SRHR in fragile settings.

Identification of articles, guidelines and or online training courses in the area of supply and management of contraceptive commodities (including procurement).

This report aims to take stock of the Dutch Aid and Trade agenda, with a particular focus on the time period of 2013-2017,to bring together existing insights on what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and what needs more focus and attention.Based on a meta-analysis of policy documents and 16 recent external evaluations of Dutch Aid and Trade programmes,the report addresses the following questions:

Information on varieties is available in research reports, databases and variety release records, as well as in national and regional catalogues. However, oftentimes the information on these varieties and their use does not reach seed producers and farmers at the same rate that varieties become available.The cases studies and analysis focused on (i) information generation and processing, including the related communication services and mechanisms; and (ii) knowledge application of seed producers involving seed business development services and extension.

The purpose of this project was to conduct a mapping of regional actors in the SADC and EAC who work on SRHR and migrant populations, provide information about these actors (name, size, budget, partners etc) and an assessment of their relevant work and potential to work as a future partner for Sida.

The South Sudan Health Action and Research Project (SHARP), implemented by the Ministry of Health (MoH) of South Sudan, the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), HealthNet TPO, the International Medical Corps (IMC) and Cordaid, aims to improve maternal health in South Sudan

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in exploring and working on gender and mining issues in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) as well as in the formal larger-scale mining (LSM) sector. Many international stakeholders have become active in this field, such as the World Bank, and UN Women in particular via its East and Southern Africa Office in Kenya. Also Dutch and international civil society organizations are working on different projects and initiatives of which some are financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Through the WHO European Region’s Health 2020 policy framework, countries agreed to work together on policy priorities for public health such as strengthening people-centred public health systems and public health capacity. Alongside the Health 2020 strategy, the seventh of the 10 essential public health operations devised by the WHO Regional Office for Europe focuses on assuring a sufficient and competent public health workforce.

Economic growth within the agricultural sector in Africa is very much needed to enhance food security and stimulate income generation. Investments are a prerequisite for this economic growth. However, access to finance to support investments in agriculture is a major challenge. This paper aims to answer the following research question:’How can emerging seed producers be provided with access to credit with favourable conditions?’

Review of a narrative report from the breastfeeding consortium on content & structure. Sida is funding this consortium and the narrative report was to inform Sida about the work that had been conducted.

Quality assurance is an important aspect of seed production and marketing. External quality assurance is often seen as the centre piece of the seed sector, and so when aiming to strengthen seed sector functioning, the automatic response is to improve seed certification systems. However, there is little evidence of well-functioning seed certification systems in sub-Saharan Africa.This paper investigates the different kinds of quality assurance mechanisms that are being used, and in which circumstances they work

Providing comments and feedback on a joint vision paper on UHC.

Agricultural research for development (AR4D) organizations can achieve greater impact by using complexity aware approaches, but for this to happen a more compelling case needs to be made to justify their use. Our contribution is to develop and test a generalizable complexity-aware theory of change of how AR4D fosters innovation.

Responsiveness is a key objective of national health systems. Responsive health systems anticipate and adapt to existing and future health needs, thus contributing to better health outcomes. Of all the health systems objectives, responsiveness is the least studied, which perhaps reflects lack of comprehensive frameworks that go beyond the normative characteristics of responsive services. This paper contributes to a growing, yet limited, knowledge on this topic. Herewith, we review the current frameworks for understanding health systems responsiveness and drawing on these, as well as key frameworks from the wider public services literature, propose a comprehensive conceptual framework for health systems responsiveness. This paper should be of interest to different stakeholders who are engaged in analysing and improving health systems responsiveness. Our review shows that existing knowledge on health systems responsiveness can be extended along the three areas. First, responsiveness entails an actual experience of people’s interaction with their health system, which
confirms or disconfirms their initial expectations of the system. Second, the experience of interaction is shaped by both the people and the health systems sides of this interaction. Third, different influences shape people’s
interaction with their health system, ultimately affecting their resultant experiences. Therefore, recognition of both people and health systems sides of interaction and their key determinants would enhance the conceptualisations of responsiveness. Our proposed framework builds on,
and advances, the core frameworks in the health systems literature. It positions the experience of interaction between people and health system as the centrepiece and recognises the determinants of responsiveness experience both from the health systems (eg, actors, processes) and
the people (eg, initial expectations) sides. While we hope to trigger further thinking on the conceptualisation of health system responsiveness, the proposed framework can guide assessments of, and interventions to strengthen, health systems responsiveness.

Making a profit from seed production and marketing is clearly easier for some crops than for others. Farmers would benefit from a reliable availability of good quality seeds for crops and a continuous supply of varieties with different traits, adapted to continuously changing agro-ecological conditions and market demands. To achieve this, a functioning market with seed entrepreneurs seeking to make a profit out of seed production and marketing is needed.This paper addresses the question: ‘How can the production of crops with low profit margins on seed be turned into a business?’

Background In India, the poor are increasingly forced to live in highly populated urban dwellings with inadequate living conditions including deficient service provision. This in turn affects their food security and negatively influences their health. In December 2012, Dilli Annashree Yojna (DAS), an unconditional cash transfer scheme was launched for the urban poor in Delhi to address food security and, ultimately, nutrition and health. Our study attempts to explore DAS for new elements like unconditionality and transfer to female head of family, use of benefits, operational issues and perceptions on its influence on health.

Community health workers (CHWs) have a unique position between communities and the health sector. The strength of CHWs’ relationships with both sides influences their motivation and performance. This qualitative comparative study aimed at understanding similarities and differences in how relationships between CHWs, communities and the health sector were shaped in different Sub-Saharan African settings.