This paper attempts to develop a set of principles and approaches to food aid, and specifically to monetization, that balance pragmatic short-run considerations against the need to pursue better long-term solutions. The paper summarizes trends in U.S. foreign assistance, and reviews historical...

Critics argue that high external input technologies are too costly for African farmers, and that pilot programs to promote them are economically unsustainable. This paper assesses Sasakawa-Global 2000 programs in Ethiopia and Mozambique; budgets, yield models and subsector analysis help explain...

This paper briefly examines how social capital affects overall economic growth processes and individual firm development, both positively and negatively, in low- and middle-income countries. The paper discusses how the concept of social capital is related to simple economic growth models and to...

This study aimed to investigate the strategic assumptions and practices in World Bank project appraisal programs. Semistructured interviews of senior World Bank field officers in Addis Ababa and Nirobi and extensive review of World Bank appraisal directives and related documents provided the...

Economic planning is undertaken in the belief that development can be brought about or accelerated by government intervention. Referring to the countries of South Asia, Myrdal points out that these countries have long remained in a state of relative stagnation, and that "a strong impetus is...

Generally, economists have analyzed development planning in developing countries (LDC's) under the following aspects. First, attention is focused on the plan strategies, policies and targets. Special emphasis is often devoted to whether the targets have been or could be achieved over the...

The collection, primary processing, and subsequent sale of shea-based products make an important contribution to rural women’s cash income in many of Mali’s shea producing areas. Internationally, shea has recently become popular in high-valued cosmetics thanks to its therapeutic...

This paper outlines proposed research, using concepts of New Institutional Economics, to identify the factors constraining the emergence of a market for domestically produced improved seed potatoes in Mali. It uses the Principal –Agent model to outline how to investigate the feasibility of...