Library

Escaping the Hunger Cycle: Pathways to Resilience in the SahelEscaping the Hunger Cycle: Pathways to Resilience in the Sahel (2011) – This comprehensive report, authored by Peter Gubbels for the Sahel Working Group, is based on interviews with over 70 practitioners, researchers, representatives from donors, governments and the UN, as well as field visits in Niger and Chad, and relevant literature and reports. It is intended to guide decision makers to strengthen preparedness, early response and rural livelihoods; and emphasize policies on social protection, disaster risk reduction, malnutrition and food price volatility. The important research contained in the report has already generated considerable interest among the aid community and policy makers in the Sahel. The participating agencies that jointly commissioned this report are: Christian Aid, CARE International UK, Concern Worldwide, Oxfam GB, CAFOD, Plan UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund, and World Vision UK. 

Report: Wheel of Life - Food, Climate, Human Rights, and the EconomyReport: Wheel of Life – Food, Climate, Human Rights, and the Economy (2011) – The links between climate change and industrial agriculture create a nexus of crises—food insecurity, natural resource depletion and degradation, as well as human rights violations and inequities. This report unravels the interrelated causes of and effects on these issues. A central theme throughout the document is that policies and practices must begin with the ecological imperative in order to ensure authentic security and stability on all fronts including food, water, livelihoods and jobs, climate, energy, and economic. The author, Debbie Barker is the international program director for the Center for Food Safety (CFS), a legal and public policy institute in Washington, D.C. She was formerly the director of the International Forum on Globalization (IFG), a think tank that analyses and critiques forms of economic globalization.

Strengthening Endogenous Development in Africa: A Methodological GuideStrengthening Endogenous Development in Africa: A Methodological Guide (2010) – Peter Gubbels, drawing from Groundswell’s own program and staff experience and also from the practical field work of an Africa wide network called COMPAS (Comparing and Supporting Endogenous Development), developed a methodological guide for promoting endogenous development. This guide synthesizes the compatible methods and experience of a diversity of like-minded organisations, throughout Africa, into a consolidated systematic framework. Designed for field workers, this methodological guide presents a comprehensive understanding of what endogenous development is, how it is currently being undermined in many contexts, how it is different than “participatory development”, and what the implications are for external agencies interested in supporting communities to develop lasting solutions to improve their well being.

2009 IAASTD Synthesis ReportThe International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (2009) – IAASTD was a multi-year study conducted by over 400 scientists and development experts from more than 80 countries. It was published in 2009. The IAASTD report questions common assumptions about the link between agricultural production and economic welfare and family nutrition, and provides evidence that externally driven systems – such as those that have increasingly displaced traditional systems in the Andes – often result in unfair prices, social inequality and environmental degradation. The report calls attention to proposals that allow us to overcome our conceptual barriers with respect to production and supply, consumers and producers, urban and rural populations, and the circulation and exchange of goods.