In a transect along Indus River after the 2010 floods in Pakistan, this article explores the relationship between the use and duration of use of basic services, among those who recovered well and those who did not, using non-parametric statistical testing in a quasi-experimental design. The research shows a clear and strong correlation between access and duration of usage of certain services before the disaster, and the rate of recovery in each location. This analysis demonstrates a relatively robust and cost-effective methodology to identify and prioritise development interventions that build resilience against climatic shocks that are not undertaken at the cost of poverty reduction.

In 1998 the Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge (JMB), the largest infrastructure development project in Bangladesh was completed. Huge numbers of households were affected by the project and many were displaced. Only a handful of displaced people were resettled by the project. The JMB was the first development project in Bangladesh that included resettlement activities as an integral part of the project and introduced a resettlement action plan. In principle, the Revised Resettlement Action Plan endorsed the primary principle of Operational Directives 4:30 of the World Bank. The resettlement project's core objective was to improve the living standards of project-affected persons above their previous level, or at least reinstate their pre-project standard. To meet the goals, various grants and supports were given as compensation. The project has earned international admiration as an example for other projects to follow. This study investigates the extent to which Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge's compensation-based resettlement succeeded in reconstructing displaced households, and identifies discrepancies between policy and practice. It concludes with major findings and comparative analysis on the compensation principle, and provides opinions based on information gathered from the field.

This paper examines connections between sustainable livelihoods and the ability to deal with health risks, in the Kilombero Valley in Tanzania where rates of mortality and morbidity from malaria remain high. Application of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) to a narrative of daily lives demonstrates that villagers have experienced a reduction in assets, income, and capital, which limits their ability to follow health promotion advice. The focus on livelihoods highlights possible local developmental interventions that could have a significant impact on improving the health and well-being of the villagers, with potential relevance to other places in the Global South.

Over the past few decades home garden research has emphasised the promotion of home gardening for nutritional and other welfare benefits for the poor in urban areas. Still, the urban communities who cultivate plants in their home gardens are in general represented as rather uniform groups, and no distinction is made in terms of caste, ethnic groups, or social class. This article asserts that social stratification represents an important aspect that needs to be taken into account while devising educational programmes and community projects for the promotion of home herbal gardens in urban areas.

To achieve a top-to-bottom growth of the “green economy”, incentives and enablers need to be identified for those micro enterprises working at the grassroots level. A three-year study of 1,300 social and environmental enterprises in developing countries reveals how they are developing new products and services for their communities, using new business models. But their scale-up is hampered by lack of access to research and technology support and gender barriers, as well as challenges with complex partnerships, progress monitoring, and financial viability. A large pool of innovative ideas remains untapped and an opportunity to build a sustainable economy is being missed.

This paper examines mainstreaming environment and climate change into development policy, planning, and budgeting. It looks at why we should integrate environment and climate and outlines challenges and successes. One result is that governments’ progress pro-poor and equitable development. Governance gains are important too: co-benefits include more transparent decision making and better cross-government working. Ultimately, the impact of mainstreaming has increased awareness, changed perceptions, and improved the way inter-sectoral decisions are made, especially in climate adaptation. This supports countries to achieve their sustainable development ambitions – lessons which could be applied to a post-2015 development agenda.

This article aims to provide knowledge and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. The paper gives a theoretical overview of endogenous development, linked to issues of globalisation and poverty, and ongoing work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. It then makes a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, namely endogenous development – using experiences with two NGOs in Ghana and Zimbabwe to locate theory in practice. The paper concludes with some empirical pre-requisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities. This article is prompted by the requests of my students at the University for Development Studies, Ghana, for knowledge and information, and practical guidance to managing and implementing within the framework of endogenous development. I start by giving a theoretical overview of the concept of endogenous development and link it with current issues of globalisation and poverty. I briefly mention current work among European institutions and academics that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development approaches. Encouraged by such developments, I then make a case for a paradigm shift – an African alternative to modernisation and development, endogenous development. I bring to light the experiences with endogenous development in two NGOs – CECIK (Ghana) and AZTREC (Zimbabwe) – in order to locate theory in practice (praxis). I conclude by providing some empirical prerequisites for conducting endogenous development with rural communities, which demonstrate one way of conducting experimentation with farmers within the context of endogenous development.