The Masvingo landscape in Zimbabwe is dominated by grassland and bush savannah ©Annedore Smith
[ Global warming ]
Agriculture at risk
The people of Zimbabwe have to cope with a difficult political situation, but they also face many other problems daily. Climate change is making entire areas of land infertile and may halve crop yields by 2020. Zimbabwe’s Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) used to be quite efficient. It needs to be strengthened again. Rural development programmes should be better attuned to the acute problems farmers are struggling with.
[ By Mir Salam Sirak ]
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[ Catching up ]
“We must grow beyond toddler status”
Africa is under-represented in the G20. South Africa is the only member from this continent. Though the AU and NEPAD were also invited to the Seoul summit, their presence was dwarfed by giants like Brazil, Mexico, India, China and Indonesia. D+C/E+Z asked Nigerian business journalist Horatius Egua for his opinions on the G20 and African development.
[ Interview with Horatius Egua ]
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[ Relevant reading ]
High aspirations
Ever since the leaders of the G20 first met in Washington in late 2008, debate has been on the role and potential of this new informal gathering. Scholars take quite different approaches to what the G20 is and what it should do.
[ By Jonathan Stanley ]
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[ Utilities ]
Still not flowing
The international community is hardly making progress on making safe water available to all. More awareness, better management and long-term cooperation could make a difference.
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[ Global governance ]
Mainstream Heiligendamm
The G20 has not moved beyond symbolism on several important issues. Before the summit in Seoul, it was expected that the leaders would consider strategic responses to global trends in fields like investment and technology. But in spite of rhetoric on the growing role of emerging economies in international politics, there was hardly any real progress. [ By Sachin Chaturvedi ]
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[ EU Green Paper ]
Call for realism
Andris Piebalgs, the European Union’s commissioner for development, has launched a Green Paper on Europe’s development policy. In addition to stringent impact assessments, he proposes new energy partnerships with Africa. Comments can be submitted until 17 January 2011.
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[ Press clippings ]
Lost credibility
Devastated by the earthquake in January and further destabilised by a cholera epidemic, Haiti held presidential and legislative elections on 28 November 2010. The results were unconvincing. While the furious local people rioted in the streets, the international community did not seem to know how to respond. The media discussed this troublesome event for weeks. The paragraphs quoted here were published in mid December.
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[ Africa/EU ]
Tough talking
For eight years, the EU has been working on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) promising to open its markets if African markets are opened, too. Instead of talking about free trade, European civil-society organisations would have preferred to discuss other issues at the EU/Africa summit in Tripoli. Rudolf Ficker, head of Germany’s Protestant Church Development Service (EED), said European policy towards Africa has to “focus on development, not the EU's export interests”.
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[ Global leadership ]
Informal power centre
Of all discussion forums which bring together industrial nations and emerging-market countries, the G20 is the most important. Its relevance has grown fast since the global financial crisis started. The G20 still does not have a joint concept for making the global economy crisis-proof, but the group’s influence is becoming
evident in many policy areas.
By Kathrin Berensmann, Thomas Fues and Ulrich Volz
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[ Interview ]
“Step in the right direction”
Harmony marked the end of the climate summit in Cancún in December. UN members affirmed that average temperatures on Earth must not rise by more than two degrees. They also decided to establish a new Green Climate Fund and called for a timely follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012. In an interview with Hans Dembowski, Barbara Unmüssig, board member of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, assessed the results.
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[ Microfinance ]
Tragedy in Andhra Pradesh
Microcredit schemes in India have recently caused scandal. The media blame them of causing over-indebted clients to commit suicide. Such reporting is overblown, but Indian microfinance certainly is in a mess.
[ By Oliver Schmidt ]
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[ World affairs ]
“I’m not sure the G20 will survive”
In past decades, financial crises used to start in emerging markets. Things have changed dramatically, and today countries like Brazil, India and China are considered sources of stability. Nonetheless, economists like Fernando Cardim de Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro warn against complacency.
[ Interview with Fernando J. Cardim de Carvalho ]
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[ Comment ]
An unsatisfactory status quo
In view of recurring election shortcomings, Afghanistan faces the choice of either fixing evident flaws or risking the collapse of its political system.
[ By Babak Khalatbari ]
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[ Aid effectiveness ]
Well intended, yet harmful
A widely accepted axiom goes: “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. But what if the man is not convinced that he needs to fish? Or what if he does not have a reliable way to obtain fishing supplies? You can teach a man anything you want, but that does not mean he wants to, or can, regularly use the skill. A reflection on the effectiveness of developmental projects.
[ By Jeffrey Matuella ]
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