Over the last several years, the Ethiopian government has committed substantial resources for the expansion of public services and infrastructure in rural areas. To what extent do these investments and services reach different social and economic groups in rural areas? This paper applies a public expenditure benefit incidence analysis of different public services in rural Ethiopia across gender and wealth groups. Among the results are findings that the gender gap in our study areas is substantial and that public works transfers are more progressive than direct support transfers.

Whether viewed as “land grabs” or as agricultural investment for development, large-scale land deals by investors in developing countries are generating considerable attention. However, investors, policymakers, officials, and other key stakeholders have paid little attention to a dimension of these deals essential to truly understanding their impact: gender. It is easy to laud outside investment in agriculture, or to deride land deals and the accompanying processes as bad or unfair, without looking at the benefits and costs to local men and women.

Qu’elles soient considérées comme « accaparements de terre » ou comme investissements agricoles pour le développement, les grandes transactions foncières, réalisées par les investisseurs dans les pays en développement, font l’objet de beaucoup d’attention. Investisseurs, décideurs, autorités publiques, et autres intervenants-clés n’ont pourtant porté que peu d’attention à la dimension de genre de ces transactions, une dimension essentielle pour bien comprendre leurs impacts.

Poverty is commonly cited as a key driver of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, yet little causal evidence exists linking economic conditions to actual disease outcomes. Using data on more than 200,000 individuals across 19 Sub-Saharan African countries, we present evidence that negative income shocks can lead to substantial increases in HIV prevalence, particularly for women in rural areas.

US development assistance represents a significant source of funding for many population programs in poor countries. The Mexico City policy, known derisively as the global gag rule, restricts activities of foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive such assistance. The intent of the policy is to reduce the use of abortion in developing countries—a policy that is born entirely of US domestic politics and that turns on and off depending on the political party in power.

Over the past several years, the Ethiopian government has committed a substantial portion of the public budget to expanding public services and infrastructure in rural areas. This paper assesses who exactly is benefiting from this public spending. To do so, this paper undertakes a public expenditure benefit incidence analysis across gender and wealth groups of three public services/programs in rural Ethiopia: (1) selected components of the Food Security Program (FSP), (2) drinking water supply, and (3) agricultural extension services.

This training package provides an introduction to the important, complex, and sometimes daunting theme of improving land governance as a means to enhance gender equality and grassroots participation in land matters. This training package is designed for professionals, working in the field of land, governance, grassroots participation and gender in public institutions or civil society organizations.

Addressing the problem of hunger in a world where food production systems, particularly in developing countries, are being eroded and undermined by climate change is one of the most important challenges of our time. Studies by the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO), Oxfam and the Asian Development Bank, among others, underscore the significance of climate change impacts on agriculture and food production (FAO 2007, Oxfam 2009, ADB 2009).

Dans le cadre de relever les défis majeurs qui persistent en matière de développement du capital humain, de consolidation de la gouvernance, de la croissance ainsi que d’autres préoccupations transversales telles que la préservation de l’environnement et la promotion du genre, le Burkina Faso a élaboré le Programme d’Actions du Gouvernement pour l’Emergence et le Développement Durable (PAGEDD) pour la période 2011-2015.

The complex relationship between law, land rights and customary practices is increasingly recognized as foundational to formulating successful development policies. Similarly, the essential role of women’s economic participation to development and the current trend of gender discriminatory land and inheritance customary practices have prompted domestic civil society organizations in developing countries to use statutory provisions guaranteeing gender equality to improve women’s land tenure security.

Last 25-26 October 2010, the Association for Land Reform and Rural Development (ALRD), the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) and the International Land Coalition (ILC) jointly organised this Regional Workshop on Women and Land Rights, as a response to the urgent need to cast the spotlight on women and their access to and ownership of land. The objectives of the workshop were identifying strategic areas and developing a road map for 2011-2012, to strengthen ILC Asia’s work on women’s land rights.

This document contains the Policy Framework for Pastoralism in Africa, which was drafted by the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission. The document reflects a continent-wide policy initiative which aims to secure, protect and improve the lives, livelihoods and rights of African pastoralists.The framework explicitly recognizes the rights of pastoralists and the need to provide security, services, infrastructure and economic opportunities in pastoral areas which are comparable to non-pastoral areas.