Publications

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

Review of the inclusion of Sida SRHR strategy and policies in the portfolio of global African and Asian activities.

Situation analysis of the context of SRHR in Guatemala, with a special focus on the impact of the global gag rule the organizations working on SRHR, to identify opportunities for the Swedish embassy to work on SRHR (strategies, areas, partners).

Analysis of the current situation and future possibilities and needs for Sida to engage in South Sudan in the area of SRHR.

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

A necessary global energy transition is underway as the world shifts towards renewables. This energy transition goes hand in hand with increased demand for a wide range of minerals and metals needed for renewable energy technologies. Transition to a fully sustainable global energy system cannot be achieved without promoting responsible mineral supply chains. Governments, companies and financial institutions that play a role in the development of renewable energy modalities have an important role to play in addressing the unique risks and challenges women face in minerals supply chains to support more gender equitable development outcomes. Here are 10 strategies for governments, companies and financial institutions to strengthen women’s rights in the supply chains of minerals for renewable energy technologies.

Although there are no statistical data showing the relationship between child marriage and the rate of divorce, there are indications that child marriage contributes to divorce rates in Indonesia. Research on child marriage conducted by PLAN International (2015) in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia found that the objection of young people to child marriage was considered to cause disharmony, conflicts and domestic violence in marital relations, and sometimes divorce. Studies on divorces in the context
of child marriage in Indonesia are few and the study presented in this report is an attempt to fill this research gap.

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).

Pour améliorer de façon durable la pro – ductivité agricole dans le bassin arachi – dier, le projet de Bassins de Rétention et de Valorisation de Forages (BARVA – FOR), financé par l’Etat du Sénégal et le Royaume de Belgique, accompagne les communes bénéficiaires à disposer de ressources en eau plus importantes pour développer de nouveaux moyens de production modernes. Le projet ré – pond ainsi au double enjeu du change – ment climatique et de l’augmentation de la production vers une réelle sécuri – té alimentaire au niveau national.

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.

Agricultural innovation systems are complex, multi-layered, and can be difficult to define and analyse. In this paper, we provide examples of ‘systems analysis’: describing the context, what was done, and how the outcomes informed broader research and development activities. The five cases describe analyses of: i) agricultural systems in North-West Vietnam; ii) household food security in Central Vietnam; iii) agricultural innovation systems in Central Africa; iv) wheat commodity systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, and v) the national agricultural research system in Papua New Guinea.

Agricultural innovation systems (AIS) approaches contribute to achieving impact at scale: this is still a statement which is questioned and not yet a widely accepted fact. Any claims supporting it are based on circumstantial evidence at best. This chapter discusses why this is the case, examining how AIS approaches primarily create a relevant context perspective in support of learning and partnership processes, rather than leading to targeted strategies for achieving impact at scale.

The objective of this report is to compare regional and national seed laws in Africa, and analyse the extent to which they support (or undermine) farmers’ participation in seed systems. The paper pays particular attention to how or whether these laws recognize farmers as conservers and breeders of crop varieties, and as potential multipliers and providers of seed, through a range of potential means, from traditional exchanges at local levels to commercial sales at a national or even regional scale. Ultimately, we identified and analysed combinations of national policies, legislation, regulations and executive decrees regulating the seed sector in 35 African countries.

This study analyses what is actually happening at the national and subnational levels in terms of climate change and its impacts on particular crops; what experiences countries have had to date with regard to accessing, using and sharing benefits derived from genetic resources for climate change adaptation; and what kinds of ABS policy initiatives or reforms could help those countries to make better use of genetic diversity for climate change adaptation in the future.This information is critical for identifying potential future interventions at a regional or sub-regional level, and making farmer-managed seed systems more climate resilient.

The challenge for African countries is to strike a balance between protecting the interests of breeders, to maintain the incentive function of plant breeders’ rights in the commercial market, while providing sufficient leeway to smallholder farmers that depend on informal sources for their seed security and survival. An equally pressing challenge is to establish a PVP (plant variety protection) system that is acceptable to the key stakeholders (notably farmers and breeders), as this is very likely a prerequisite for successful implementation. ISSD Africa aims to actively contribute to this endeavour by answering the action learning question: How can room be created for ‘informal’ seed systems in a UPOV 1991 informed plant variety protection system?

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.

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.

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?’

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