Resources
PRIVATISING BASIC UTILITIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE MDG IMPACT. By Kate Bayliss and Terry McKinley. UN Development Programme International Poverty Centre, January 2007. This policy research brief focuses on the errors of privatisation in utilitites and their impact on development in Africa. The authors argue that privatisation has undermined progress towards the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly in the provision of adequate access to water, electicity, and sewage facilities. It provides recommendations to overcome the decline of aid and private financing of public investment, while prioritising poverty reduction and achievement of the MDGs. The brief can be downloaded at http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPolicyResearchBrief003.pdf.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: DOUBLING AID: MAKING THE ‘BIG PUSH’ WORK. UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2006. UNCTAD’s 2006 report on development in Africa examines how the commitment by the international community to double aid to Africa might place the continent on a sustainable development path. The central message of the report is that if this commitment is to translate into big reductions in poverty and lasting gains in economic welfare, new thinking is required to tackle the unbalanced state of the international aid system. The report identifies flaws in the existing system, such as high transaction costs, politicisation, and lack of transparency. Find the report online at http://www.unctad.org.
ETHICAL SOURCING IN THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM. Edited by Stephanie Barrientos and Catherine Dolan. Earthscan, 2006. Ethical sourcing, both through fair trade and ethical trade, is increasingly entering the mainstream of food retailing. Large supermarkets have come under pressure to improve the returns to small producers and conditions of employment within their supply chains. But how effective is ethical sourcing? Can it genuinely address the problems facing workers and producers in the global food system? This book brings together a range of academics and practitioners working on issues of ethical sourcing in the global food system. It critically explores the opportunities and challenges in the ethical sourcing of food by combining analysis and case studies that examine a range of approaches. It explores whether ethical sourcing is a cosmetic northern initiative, or can genuinely help to improve the conditions of small producers and workers in the current global food system. Order the book online at http://www.earthscan.co.uk.