Reading List for the Cold Days Ahead

Looking for a good read for your winter break? Check this list of development books shamelessly copied from by Chris Blattman awesome blog on international development. Also check out a similar list put together by the Guardian. Enjoy




1. The Anti-Politics Machine, James Ferguson. (“Sometimes markets don’t exist for a reason.”)

2. Peasants into Frenchmen, Eugen Weber (“Do not forget that

Promising Trends in the African Continent

Le Grand Marche Lome. (C) Rafael Merchan 2008


In a time where developed countries continue to shrink their development aid portfolios, exciting things are happening in Africa that may hold the answer to solve the continent's chronic poverty. The news comes from South Africa's Standard Bank with the publication of an excellent series of reports about Africa's unprecedented potential to catch

A New Report on Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America

For those of you interested in CCT, make sure to check out this report just published by ECLA, the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, on Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America. 

The report sums up the experience with in Latin America and the Caribbean, over more than 15 years. During this period, CCTs have spread through the region’s various countries as a tool of

ICT in Agriculture Sourcebook and M-PESA

Finals are coming up and this blog is suffering from lack of updates -sorry for that folks. I promise to catch up with my weekly 'Seeds and Leaves' list of resources and links. I will also be writing about the Integrated Rural Development Projects of the 60' and 70's and more recent efforts for integrated interventions such as the Millennium Villages and others. Also, tomorrow I will be

Prabhu Pingali Talks About Gates Ag Agenda

Last week I attended a presentation on Feeding the World organized by the Chemistry Heritage Foundation. The keynote addresses was be given by Calestous Juma, Harvard University who just published a book title: The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa. You can download a PDF copy HERE.

Other panelist included Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times, who maintain the awesome NYTimes blog

Renewed Prosperity, Enhanced Security: The Case for Sustained American Leadership in Global Agricultural Development

THE CHALLENGE: Feeding the WorldWorld population reached 7 billion on Monday, October 31. It is expected to exceed 9.5 billion by 2050. Today, while much of our attention is rightly focused on the glaring needs at home, another crisis is quietly brewing: the growing global demand for food and the deep poverty and hunger of 925 million people threaten the basic human condition and America’s

Signs of Hope in Senegal

The picture in this post was taken back in 2008, when traveling around Dogon country in central plateau region of Mali. The mud hut, called Maison des Regles, is used to house women when they are menstruating.

Gender roles are very rigid in Dogon Country, with men preventing women from participating in communal meetings or taking any leadership or decision-making roles in the affairs of their

Food Security in Colombian Indigenous Communities

Although I usually question the scalability of concepts such as food sovereignty or food autonomy, it's feasible to make exceptions when dealing with indigenous population in which cultural values play a central role in their life. This video, produced by IPS, shows how indigenous communities of the Colombian Andean regions are ensuring food security by diversifying the crops they grow.

Grains and Leaves: Weekly Ag-Related News, Events, and Others

Here is this week's edition of Grains and Leaves;

Mark your calendars: 2011 Borlaug Dialogue. The Next Generation: Confronting the Hunger Challenges of Tomorrow: October 12-14, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa
Andris Piebalgs, EU's Commissioner for Development, outlines challenges and EU's policy to achieve food security for all
Danielle Nierenberg, of Huffington Post, on World Food Prize Recognizes

Columbia's MPA in Development Practice

Check this short video about Columbia's MPA in Development Practice. I'm currently enrolled and I love it. Email if you have any questions about it. Also, here is a brochure that describes the program's main components.

                      

Columbia University - Masters in Public Administration - Development Practice from Field Studio on Vimeo.

Development Studies Books

Below is a good list of must reads for students interested in development studies. The list was compiled by The Guardian which also has other resources for students interested in development:


• Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

• Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty

• Jagdish

Bringing Nutrition to the Forefront of Agriculture

From the folks at the Infant & Young Child Nutrition (IYCN) Project and the Alliance to End Hunger, here is a great list of resources on  Bringing nutrition to the forefront of agriculture: A forum for agriculture project designers. Please click on the links below to view presentations and download resources from the event.  




Presentations:


Review of Experience: Agriculture, Food Security,

Grains and Leaves: Weekly Ag-Related News, Events, and Others

Agricultural and rural development news and other relevant information: week of September 26th


World Bank publishes its 2012 World Development Report: Gender Equality and Development, 
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, publishes its World Disasters Report 2011- Focus on hunger and malnutrition

On the Journal Nature, Jason Clay, senior vice-president of

Gordon Conway on the Legacy of Chambers and a must have Practicioner Guide

One of my many class assignments of my masters program, is a paper on a rural development theme. I decided to take a closer look to the issue of integrated development and its many semantic variations one comes across when reviewing the literature. I'm particularly interested in researching how the integrated approach to development has evolved since the post-war era.



Some questions I want to

Somalia and the Need for Agricultural Investments

The crisis continues to unravel in the Horn of Africa. A recent  NY Times piece, argues that 750,000 people could perish in the famine, and there seems to little resources, commitment, and coordination in the international community to prevent the crisis from reaching catastrophic proportions. In an excellent commentary from Project Syndicate, Sam Dryden, the Director of the Agricultural

Rice, That's What's for Dinner: Columbia University Hosts Bob Zeigler to Discuss Global Food trends and the Importance of Rice and Agricultural Research in Addressing World Hunger

On
Friday September 9th 2011, SIPA and the Earth Institute kicked off the
beginning of the semester with an enlightening presentation by Dr. Bob Zeigler,
Director of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the world’s
leading center for the study of rice. The presentation marked this fall’s first
of a series of weekly Development Practitioner Seminars organized by SIPA’s MPA in

Food Prices and What to do About it

Indigenous Corn: Guatemala 2006. R. Merchan

The World Bank's Food Price Watch continues to show that global food prices remain significantly higher than last year -about 25% for all commodities and 36% for grains-. There are many factors that can explain these increases, some are fundamental changes in global demand and others are the result of panic-motivated international markets and

Farming for Women Victims of Rape in DR Congo

Check this short documentary produced by Al Jazeera Engligh about women victims of rape in DR Congo and how through agriculture they can get back in their feet.
Field of Hope - Witness - Al Jazeera English

Article: The New Geopolitics of Food

Check out Lester's Brown article on the Foreign Policy: The New Geopolitics of Food - By Lester R. Brown | Foreign Policy

Gates Foundation Challenge: Small Farmers are the Answer

Today, Bill Gates announced a challenge: let’s help the world understand how helping small farmers in the developing world grow more and sell more is the solution to reducing hunger and poverty. 
Read his blog post about the challenge.
Join the challenge! Use your creativity and imagination to help the world understand why investing in small farmers in the developing world is so important.

New Resources for Agriculture Project Designers

USAID's Infant and Young Child Nutrition Project recently launched a set of resources to help agriculture project designers maximize nutritional benefits for women, children, and other vulnerable groups. IYCN’s Tom Schaetzel shared the new materials at the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health Conference in New Delhi, India,

Excellent Special Report on Feeding the World

 A must read from The Economist: The 9 billion-people question
There are plenty of reasons to worry about food: uncertain politics, volatile prices, hunger amid plenty. Yet when all is said and done, the world is at the start of a new agricultural revolution that could, for the first time ever, feed all mankind adequately. The genomes of most major crops have been sequenced and the benefits

McGovern Remarks on Food Security

Below are some powerful remarks from Congressman Jim McGovern (a key player in the establishment USDA Food for Education program) who talk the floor to talk about the importance of mataining our commitments to international food security and agricultural development. Also, check out the recent NYTimes editorial on the food crisis, making a similar argument for investments in international ag.

M

IFPRI Papers to be presented at the Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition and Health Conference in India

IFPRI has posted copies of their papers to be presented at next week's New Delhi conference: Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition and Health http://www.ifpri.org/publications/results/taxonomy%3A933Project Papers and Notes February 2011 The nexus between agriculture and nutrition 2020 Conference Paper Project Papers and Notes February 2011 Agriculture, health, and nutrition 2020 Conference

Robert Zoellick on the World's Challenges

Published by Newsweek on Sunday, January 23, 2011By R. M. SchneidermanIn the lead-up to the World Economic Forum in Davos, NEWSWEEK's R. M. Schneiderman interviewed World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick about the future of the global economy. What is the biggest challenge facing the developing world in 2011?The biggest challenge facing most developing countries is the risk of a big boost in

UK-commissioned Global Food and Farming Futures report released

A good resource from Joan Whelan of the TOPS Program:   The UK-government commissioned Global Food and Farming Futures project is a two-year study of food security, growing challenges, sustainability, volatility, malnutrition and other critical issues, along with recommendations for drastic change to the international food system to meet current and future needs.   The report of the project -

Weekend Reading: Jan 21

Below are some excellent links on articles, events and announcements in issues related to agriculture and food security. Also, starting next week, AGDES is moving to Nicaragua. I'll continue blogging about international agriculture with more emphasis on field work and the behind it. Enjoy the reading, 
A comprehensive calendar of DC events and activities on food security an agriculture. Check it

Administrator Shah’s Speech with CGD

USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah delivered a major speech entitled The Modern Development Enterprise at an event hosted by the Center for Global Development.

Food Security: Instead of merely providing food aid in times of emergency, we are helping countries develop their own agricultural sectors, so that they can feed themselves. We launched Feed the Future – bringing together resources