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Home»Governance»Supporting economic development»Natural resource management

Natural resource management

Water in Sustainable Agriculture Standards

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
March 2021

Sustainable agricultural standards, hereafter standards, is a broad term encompassing certification schemes, tools, and programmes. The International Trade Centre’s Sustainability Standards Map includes 166 agricultural standards. However, there is a smaller number of prominent standards that are popularly used by major retailers or for particular commodities. Two studies ...» more

Water Finance and Nature-based solutions

Helpdesk Report
  • Dr John H. Matthews,
  • Rachel Cooper
August 2020

Nature-based solutions (NbS) for water security can address a number of challenges simultaneously and deliver co-benefits. Broadly, NbS protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems to address societal challenges (Cohen-Shacham et al., 2016). NbS approaches for water security include source water protection, watershed management, sustainable drainage ...» more

Nature-based solutions and water security

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
June 2020

Water security is important for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development. It involves safeguarding sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable water as well as protection against water risks. Achieving water security depends on a number of elements including natural processes, infrastructure, institutions, and governance. Water ...» more

Biodiversity conservation and restoration and Poverty Reduction

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
May 2020

Reconciling the twin goals of biodiversity conservation and restoration, and poverty reduction is difficult. A number of factors seem to influence effectiveness across intervention types including context, intervention design, governance and management quality, community engagement and participation, and intervention or programme length. This report largely focuses on outcomes ...» more

The use of fossil fuels in the Middle East and North Africa

Helpdesk Report
  • William Avis
May 2020

This rapid literature review collates evidence from academic and grey literature on the use of fossil fuels in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). MENA, for much of its recent history, has been known for its energy wealth. The region is, however, significantly diverse, not only in terms of economic and political structures, but also in terms of energy resource and ...» more

Fossils fuels and job creation in Africa

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
January 2020

Fossil fuel development, including oil, gas and coal, can provide or support employment in a number of different ways. Estimates for Africa’s extractive sector as a whole put it as employing less than 1% of Africa’s workforce (Fine et al., 2012). However, it is hard to determine the number of jobs supported directly or indirectly by the fossil fuels industry in different ...» more

Livestock and Conflict in South Sudan

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
February 2019

Livestock are critically important in South Sudanese society1 and this is reflected in the role livestock play in the country’s conflict, both serving as drivers of conflict and being negatively impacted by the conflict, with the two often reinforcing each other in a vicious cycle. This review drew largely on a mixture of academic and grey literature to assess the ...» more

Natural Resources Management Strategies in the Sahel

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
January 2019

Natural resources, both renewable and extractives are extremely important to the livelihoods and economies of the Sahel (defined as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger). For example, agriculture accounts for over 30% of Mali’s GDP and cotton and gold account for over 80% of exports (IMF, 2018, p. 6). There is potential for conflict between renewable and ...» more

Transparency and accountability initiatives in the extractives sector

Helpdesk Report
  • Andy McDevitt
April 2017

Research on the impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives (TAIs) targeted at the extractives sector is hard to come by. With the exception of some more systematic evaluation of the impact of multi-stakeholder initiatives, in particular the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the existing evidence is weak. Indeed, beyond the ...» more

Economic development in fragile and conflict-affected states

Topic Guide
  • Katie McIntosh; Joanna Buckley
September 2015
Graham Crouch / World Bank: A weaving centre in Afghanistan, part of a rural enterprise development project

This Topic Guide draws on lessons from programmes and case studies to explore which types of economic development interventions can be effective in FCAS and which factors have contributed to successes and failures. ...» more

Stakeholder effectiveness in natural resource management

Helpdesk Report
  • Sumedh Rao
December 2013

Countries that are rich in natural resources, both renewable resources such as forests and fisheries, and non-renewable resources such as oil and minerals, have not produced more positive development outcomes than non-resource rich countries. To improve development outcomes and avert several types of harmful effects – often grouped together and termed the ‘resource curse’ – ...» more

Natural resource exploitation and peacebuilding

Helpdesk Report
  • Claire Mcloughlin
January 2012

Natural resource exploitation has been extensively analysed as a potential source of conflict and a constraint on peace and stability. Studies have continued to demonstrate how ineffective or inequitable arrangements for resource extraction can reignite or exacerbate conflict, perpetuating social and economic grievances and horizontal inequalities. There appears to be ...» more

Women’s control of productive natural resources

Helpdesk Report
  • Ann Kangas
August 2011

This report looks at women’s access to and control of natural resources, especially water and forests. While it does not specifically look at women’s access to land, access to other natural resources are strongly linked to ownership and control of land (IFAD 2007; FAO 2007). As women continue to face restrictions on land ownership and control over land due to socially ...» more

Overview of key governance issues related to natural resource management

Helpdesk Report
  • Sumedh Rao
May 2011

General trends in governance have an impact on natural resource management. The trend towards decentralisation and strengthening local democracy has affected the comparative influence of actors at different levels on the exploitation of natural resources. Trade is also likely to become an increasingly pressing issue. It has profound impacts on domestic and local governance of ...» more

Political Economy and Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Helpdesk Report
  • Huma Haider
December 2010

This report is based on some of the recent literature on governance and political economy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It should be read in conjunction with the helpdesk research report on ‘New Literature on Conflict in the DRC’, which includes a section on political issues. The report outlines the following key governance and political economy issues discussed in ...» more

Impact of ‘Resource Curse’ Mitigation

Helpdesk Report
  • Sumedh Rao
June 2010

Initiatives to address the resource curse vary in the harms they address and in whether they operate at a national or trans-national level. They include attempts to: reduce corruption through the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI); counteract the ‘Dutch Disease’ using Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs); curb funding sources for militia through the Kimberly Process ...» more

Resource Management and Conflict

Helpdesk Report
  • Oliver Walton
June 2010

There is an extensive literature dedicated to examining the links between the abundance of mineral resources and the incidence and duration of violent conflict. While the ‘resource curse’ thesis has become well-known, claims that an abundance of natural resources increases the likelihood of conflict have been widely disputed.However, beyond the case study literature, there is ...» more

Natural Resource Revenue for Service Delivery

Helpdesk Report
  • Andrew McDevitt
March 2010

There is very little literature which addresses the impact of natural resource revenues on the quality of service delivery per se. The evidence that does exist suggests large differences among natural resource dependent developing countries in terms of the effects of resource wealth on social expenditures. There is more consensus on those factors which hinder positive outcomes ...» more

Donor Approaches to Extractive Industries

Helpdesk Report
  • Andrew McDevitt
February 2009

Donor approaches to extractives management fall broadly under two categories: (1) individual donor strategies; and (2) multi-stakeholder initiatives (in particular the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)). Before EITI was established in 2002, donor strategies on EI were scarce. Donors tended to conduct their work in isolation and principally through funding ...» more

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