Somalia is the longest known case in modern times of a country whose central state has ceased to exist for many years. Although Somalia is often said to be a country in chaos and anarchy, a new form of social organization emerged here some time ago. Indeed, many Somalis appear to have adapted well to their country's statelessness.
After ten years of civil war in which grave human rights violations and atrocities were committed, especially against women and children, Sierra Leone was regarded as a «failed state». A massive UN peacekeeping mission managed to demobilize the combatants in 2002 and peace was restored. Public institutions have begun to resume their functions and the economy is showing signs of recovery. Nonetheless, the country's stability and structures are still fragile. So how can development cooperation contribute towards stabilizing Sierra Leone?
Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Somalia: these three countries stand for different histories of a fragile state.The author of this article analyses different case studies to determine the various causes, such as the role of ethnic identities, claims to power by clans and other sub-state groups, or the lack of societal representation within the governments. For the author, the greatest risk to a state is violence, which can quickly spiral out of control in a weak state and lead to chaos.
Rural livelihoods are far more multi-locational than is often assumed with many rural people spending a part of the year outside the village working in non-farm occupations. Contrary to early theory, persistent circular or seasonal migration within countries or between neighbouring countries is emerging as the migration pattern of the poor. Nowhere is this more evident than in Asia.
The relationship between urban and rural areas has undergone great change in recent years. It is now often difficult to clearly define the borders between the two; instead we find a continuum ranging from agricultural zones to suburbs, informal settlements and urban centers. But do countries and development cooperation policies have the instruments needed to promote a dynamic and balanced development of urban and rural areas and open up opportunities for the people who live there?
Developing countries, as a group, are the ones most threatened by the hydrological impacts of global climate change. Water is a critical resource in development, and it is affected by climate change in multiple, complex ways ? through changes in temperature and rising sea levels, changes in precipitation patterns, and melting snowfields and glaciers.
Water and soils are increasingly becoming a limiting resource for meeting the food requirements
of a growing world population. Integrated concepts for managing natural resources in a sustainable
and environmentally sound manner show encouraging impacts, if applied on a large scale and
over a long period like in Tigray, the northernmost regional state of Ethiopia.
Water is scarce in India's semiarid zones of Rajasthan. Climate change is putting additional pressure on the rare resources. Irregular or no rainfall forces many small farmers to abandon their fields, at least temporarily, and seek work in the towns. Participative water management projects as practiced in Bhipur village, growing crops with low water requirements and more sustainable farming practices are adaptation strategies that allow farmers to continue their activities despite climate risks.
The world food crisis has spurred foreign direct investments (FDI) into arable land in developing countries. While significant financial inflows into agricultural sectors could be beneficial on a global scale, it could negatively affect local livelihoods. This article provides an overview of the different types of FDI in land. In addition, examples of investment flows are illustrated in an overview and a sustainable impact matrix outlines the occurring effects. Finally, requirements of avoiding negative effects are presented, to achieve a Pareto-efficient win-win situation.
In Germany, the debate about the security/development nexus is gathering pace. The reality of life in crisis regions, the management of post-conflict situations and the precautionary anticipation of demands arising in the context of crisis management all require the highest level of coordination at political and local level and on a cross-sectoral basis. Long-term improvement of this coordination, both vertical and horizontal, is the most important resource factor for these two policy areas and can be achieved without mobilising additional budget funds.
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