Transformative Innovation for Sustainable Human Settlements
Transformative Innovation for Sustainable Human Settlements

Author: Andrew Emmanuel Okem

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-11-18

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1040188818

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This book uses the transformative innovation policy (TIP) as a lens to show how innovative processes, practices and systems could address critical challenges and facilitate the delivery of sustainable human settlements in South Africa. The TIP approach shows that addressing societal problems is not a function of a technical solution within a government department but one that requires partnership with multiple stakeholders. The book argues that it is essential to understand and embrace innovation policy that is transformative and responds to the social and environmental needs at local, provincial and national levels. It demonstrates that innovation policy should focus on transforming the socio-technical systems that demand embracing notions such as experimental delivery and learning, directionality and inclusivity. Chapters explore the ability of the state to transform its organisational processes and capacity to improve and align its planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation systems to high levels of efficiency and sustainability targets. Bringing together various theoretical and empirical perspectives on innovation in the context of sustainable human settlement, this book will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of Housing, Human Settlements, Architecture, Public Policy, Development Studies, Civil Engineering, Political Science and Public Administration.

Building Institutions for Markets
Building Institutions for Markets

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780195216073

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"Institutions fix the confines of and impose form upon the activities of human beings."-Walton Hamilton, 'Institutions', 1932.The 'World Development Report 2002: Building Institutions for Markets' undertakes the complex issue of the basic institutions needed for markets to function properly. This year's 'World Development Report' goes beyond a simple examination of institutional structure and explores the functions of institutions. Recognizing that one size does not fit all, the report asks what do all institutions which support markets do?The answer is simple: Institutions channel information, define and enforce property rights, and increase or prevent competition. Understanding the functions that current institutions and their proposed replacements would provide is the first step. The report contends that once you have identified the institutional functions that are missing, you can then build effective institutions by following some basic principles:- Complement what exists already - in terms of other supporting institutions, human capacities, and technology.- Innovate to suit local norms and conditions. Experimenting with new structures can provide a country with creative solutions that work.- Connect communities of market players through open information flows and open trade. Open trade and information flows create demand for new institutions and improve the functioning of existing structures.- Compete among jurisdictions, firms, and individuals. Increased competition creates demand for new institutions as old ones lose their effectiveness. It also affects how people behave - improving institutional quality.These broad lessons and careful analyses, which links theory with pertinent evidence, are provided in the report. 'World Development Report 2002: Building Institutions for Markets' contains selected 'World Development Indicators'.

Land Law Reform
Land Law Reform

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0821364693

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"Land Law Reform examines the wide-spread efforts to reform land law in developing countries and countries in transition, drawing in particular upon the experience of the World Bank and the Rural Development Institute. The book considers the role of land law reform in the development process and analyzes how the World Bank has sought to support these legal changes in client countries. It reviews the experience with reform of laws affecting land access and rights in achieving gender equity, identifies opportunities for reinforcing environmentally sustainable development through land law reform, and examines from both growth and poverty alleviation perspectives the effectiveness of reforms to formalize property rights and liberalize land markets. The concluding chapter recommends some basic priorities for land law reforms. John W. Bruce is a senior counsel in the Legal Vice-Presidency of the World Bank, and a former director of the Land Tenure Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has published extensively on land law and land policy in developing countries. Renee Giovarelli, David Bledsoe, Leonard Rolfes, and Robert Mitchell are staff attorneys with the Rural Development Institute of Seattle, Washington, a nonprofit organization that promotes and advises on land-related policy and legal reform in developing and transition countries. All have done fieldwork and advised extensively on land law reform and have published widely on this topic."

Access to Capital in Rural Thailand
Access to Capital in Rural Thailand

Author: Xavier Gine

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13:

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"The aim of this paper is to understand the mechanism underlying access to credit. Gine focuses on two important aspects of rural credit markets in Thailand. First, moneylenders and other informal lenders coexist with formal lending institutions such as government or commercial banks, and more recently, micro-lending institutions. Second, potential borrowers presumably face sizable transaction costs obtaining external credit. The author develops and estimates a model based on limited enforcement and transaction costs that provides a unified view of those facts. The results show that the limited ability of banks to enforce contracts, more than transaction costs, is crucial in understanding the observed diversity of lenders. This paper--a product of the Finance Team, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to understand access to credit"--World Bank web site.

White Gold: The Commercialisation of Rice Farming in the Lower Mekong Basin
White Gold: The Commercialisation of Rice Farming in the Lower Mekong Basin

Author: Rob Cramb

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-01-03

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 9811509980

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This open access book is about understanding the processes involved in the transformation of smallholder rice farming in the Lower Mekong Basin from a low-yielding subsistence activity to one producing the surpluses needed for national self-sufficiency and a high-value export industry. For centuries, farmers in the Basin have regarded rice as “white gold”, reflecting its centrality to their food security and well-being. In the past four decades, rice has also become a commercial crop of great importance to Mekong farmers, augmenting but not replacing its role in securing their subsistence. This book is based on collaborative research to (a) compare the current situation and trajectories of rice farmers within and between different regions of the Lower Mekong, (b) explore the value chains linking rice farmers with new technologies and input and output markets within and across national borders, and (c) understand the changing role of government policies in facilitating the on-going evolution of commercial rice farming. An introductory section places the research in geographical and historical context. Four major sections deal in turn with studies of rice farming, value chains, and policies in Northeast Thailand, Central Laos, Southeastern Cambodia, and the Mekong Delta. The final section examines the implications for rice policy in the region as a whole.

Reforming Collateral Laws to Expand Access to Finance
Reforming Collateral Laws to Expand Access to Finance

Author: Heywood W. Fleisig

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 082136491X

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Most readers, especially those with car loans or home mortgages, know about "collateral"--property that the lender can take away from the borrower in the event that the borrower defaults. In low/middle income countries, it is understood that conservative lenders exclude firms from credit markets with their excessive collateral requirements. Usually, this is because only some property is acceptable as collateral: large holdings of urban real estate and, sometimes, new motor vehicles. Microenterprises, SMEs, and the poor have little of this property but they do have an array of productive assets that could easily be harnessed to serve as collateral. It is only the legal framework which prevents firms from using these assets to secure loans. In countries with reformed laws governing collateral, property such as equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, livestock are considered excellent collateral. This book aims to better equip project managers to implement reforms to the legal and institutional framework for collateral (secured transactions). It discusses the importance of movable property as a source of collateral for firms, the relationship between the legal framework governing movable assets and the financial sector consequences for firms (better loan terms, increased access, more competitive financial sector), and how reforms can be put in place to change the lending environment.

AGRICULTURE For Self-Sustained Rural Development VISION 2025
AGRICULTURE For Self-Sustained Rural Development VISION 2025

Author: Dr. K. P. Agrawal

Publisher: Shashwat Publication

Published: 2022-06-01

Total Pages: 680

ISBN-13: 9393557462

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The book covers different issues in agriculture. The author has pooled the knowledge of many experts and practitioners in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. The main Aims and Objectives covered in the book are: 1) Enhance Production and Productivity for food and nutritional security, 2) Improve profitability through agro-processing and value addition and 3) Sustainability through training, skill development, entrepreneurship and communication. Stagnation in productivity, shrinking farm size, inadequate market infrastructure including warehousing and cold storage, and erosion of the foundations of sustainable agriculture such as soil and gene erosion, water logging, drop in ground water table and decline in surface irrigation are the areas that need urgent attention. There is need to pay attention to rural non-farm enterprises. All these issues in-depth have been covered under 40 chapters in the book. I am confident that the book would be of immense help to farmers, field officials, students and many others who directly or indirectly involved with agriculture and rural development.

Agricultural Economics
Agricultural Economics

Author: Dr. Sudhir Suresh Dhore

Publisher: Success Publications

Published: 2023-08-01

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13:

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Agricultural Economics examines the production, distribution, and consumption of agricultural goods, applying economic principles to understand the behavior of agricultural markets, policies, and sustainability.