Publications

As performance-based financing (PBF) is increasingly implemented across sub-Saharan Africa, some authors have suggested that it could be a ‘stepping stone’ for health-system strengthening and broad health-financing reforms. However, so far, few studies have looked at whether and how PBF is aligned to and integrated with national health-financing strategies, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Assessing the completeness of TB notification to determine whether national data truly reflects the real TB situation in selected EU Member states.

Aquaculture has become the world’s fastest growing food sector in the world, however, research indicates that the benefits from fish trade tend to be unequally distributed between women and men retailers, particularly in terms of sales volumes and gross profits. This study examine the economic and social constraints to scale of enterprises between women and men informal fish retailers.

In many developing countries, agribusinesses are highly engaged in providing services to smallholder farmers, including agricultural advisory services or extension. As private service providers depend on farmers’ choices, eliciting farmer feedback and learning from farmers’ demands are important.

Background: Cambodia has one of the highest tuberculosis (TB) prevalence rates in the world. People aged 55 years and over account for an estimated 50% of the country’s TB burden, yet this group has a low notification rate owing to specific barriers in accessing health services. One-off active case finding (ACF) days with mobile GeneXpert and X-ray systems were organized at 75 government health facilities in four operational districts. Symptomatic community members with an abnormal chest X-ray were tested using the Xpert MTB/RIF assay. People with TB were then treated at health facilities after screening services moved onto the next site.

Public trust in health research needs nurturing. How can epidemiologists help?

Research on Small Producer Organization (SPO) development, strengthening and resilience was commissioned by Fairtrade International to the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in the Netherlands. The study is a qualitative-led mixed-method six country study (Côte d’Ivoire, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and Peru).

Is market concentration among large cocoa firms responsible for the widespread poverty among cocoa farmers? Probably not. While market concentration has increased, particularly among cocoa processors, the report does not find evidence that this concentration is excessive or that market power is being abused to keep prices artificially low.

KIT Royal Tropical Institute was commissioned by Solidaridad, in partnership with Marks & Spencer, to understand the unmet needs of cocoa growing communities in Ghana, ideate new SME service concepts and develop high-level business models. The study was to also provide Solidaridad with a roadmap to foster SME development.

For aquaculture to continue along its current growth trajectory and contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, value chains must become more inclusive. Smallholders and other local value chain actors are often constrained by circumstances and market failures in the global aquaculture industry. Integrating these actors into aquaculture value chains through inclusive business models (IBMs) is often touted as a solution to sustainable and ethical trade and business that can generate development outcomes.

The United Nations International Children’s Fund State of Palestine (UNICEF SoP) has contracted the KIT-Juzoor consortium to conduct an external evaluation of the Post Natal Home Visiting (PNHV) programme for postnatal mothers, neonates and their families implemented in Gaza in a humanitarian context. This final report describes the purpose of the evaluation, the methodology used, its limitations and key evaluation finding and pointers towards recommendations in relation to the PNHV programme in Gaza. The evaluation covers the period 2011 until the end of 2016. This evaluation was rated as highly satisfactory and as one of the best evaluations of 2018 by UNICEF global.

In 2019 the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) embarked on an initiative that aims to strengthen the capacity of 10 national societies of obstetrics and gynecology (ObGyn) in advocacy for safe abortion. In 2018 needs assessments that entailed a desk study, interviews, and stakeholder workshops were conducted in Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Panama, Peru, Uganda, and Zambia. The general aim of the needs assessments was to gain a deeper understanding of the contextual situation and identify the needs of ObGyn societies in relation to safe abortion advocacy. This paper provides a cross- country analysis of the outcomes of the needs assessments and reflects on the capabilities, barriers, and opportunities to strengthen this role of ObGyn societies.

When a study of child health in Afghanistan produced an inconsistent result, Sandra Alba realised that men and women can give very different answers to the same questions. She consulted gender experts Franz Wong and Yngve Bråten to understand why.

This publicaton draws lessons from the three years of experience in managing ‘Irrigaton Acceleraton Platorms (IAPs)’ established under the Smart Water for Agriculture project in Kenya.

This Methods Note has been developed in partnership with and for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is the product of close collaboration between The Equality Institute (EQI), the foundation Gender Equality Team, and program staff of the foundation, building off research and analysis conducted by the Gender Team of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) of the Netherlands.

In Africa, irrigation is back on the agricultural development agenda. Major initiatives stress its importance. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, for instance, has extension of the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems as one of its four central pillars (NEPAD, 2003).