Publications

The Women Centered Health Project was an experiment to operionalise the principles of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. The project was aimed at improving the provision of women centered reproductive and sexual health services through the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

Agricultural development aimed at poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) requires greatly accelerated technological, organizational and
institutional innovation. Emphasis on strengthening the demand side for
agricultural service provision and the call for a separation of responsibilities for policy making, funding and implementation have resulted in alternative funding mechanisms for agricultural research and development (R&D) at national and local levels. The new financing arrangements aim at enhancing multi-stakeholder resource control, increasingly involving research clients and the end-users of agricultural production and processing technology in decisions concerning the allocation of staff, money and infrastructure. It is envisaged that the reorganized funding mechanisms for agricultural innovation will combine greater efficiency in resource management with improved effectiveness in innovation development, through stronger client control, thus better addressing the agricultural and natural resource management needs, particularly of small-scale farmers and processors.

Au Mali, les indicateurs de santé restent préoccupants. Une meilleure performance du secteur public dans la fourniture de services de base est une nécessité absolue pour la réduction de la pauvreté. Le défi posé aux divers acteurs en matière de santé communale est de travailler ensemble de façon effective au profit d’une santé publique appropriée aux besoins locaux, y compris à ceux des groupes les plus vulnérables.

Millions of smallholder farmers and indigenous communities in Africa are
working to improve their livelihoods in an environment characterized by
dwindling government support and increased competition between producers, processing companies and supermarkets within agricultural markets. How can we assist smallholders to cope with these challenges and secure market access and better incomes? What strategies can NGOs and business development services adopt to support this type of farmers?

Although agricultural research and development (R&D) in West Africa aim at improving the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers, the intended beneficiaries are often too poorly organised and consequently have limited political clout to influence the R&D agenda. The authors are not aware of farmers in West Africa funding agricultural R&D projects; this in contrast to farmers in Northern America and Europe

The medicinal plant sector in Uttaranchal, a Himalayan state in northern India, can provide an important source of income to the rural population, especially as returns from traditional crops are declining (Alam 2003). Because of its diverse agroclimatic conditions and relative isolation, India’s Himalayan region is richly endowed with a large variety of plant species, many of which have medicinal properties. The medicinal plants found in the Himalayan areas include species of particularly high medicinal value (Planning Commission 2000). People in India have long known of the benefits of medicinal and aromatic plants, which provide raw materials for both the pharmaceutical industry and traditional forms of medicine. Besides providing basic health care, the plants generate income and employment and also have implications for the preservation of biodiversity and of traditional knowledge