reconstruction’s major challenges and their effects on poverty reduction and agricultural productivity. IFPRI researchers focused on one of the most important development constraints in the DRC: the poor state of transport infrastructure. Using both geographic data and disaggregated crop-specific production data (generated by IFPRI’s Spatial Allocation Model), cou- pled with information from the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey, researchers simulated the change that would result from an extension of transport networks. The findings strongly suggest that increas- ing investment in ports should be a priority in the infrastructure investment portfolio. Other focal areas under the Risks and Emergen-
cies theme include • HIV/AIDS and Food Security.
5 GOVERNANCE AND POLICY PROCESSES
As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan explained, “Good governance is perhaps the single most impor- tant factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development.” At IFPRI, governance research focuses on how effective economic, political, and adminis- trative authority can improve agriculture and rural development to benefit the poor. Over the past year, the IFPRI governance team brought leading scholars from Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and the United States together to discuss new research experiences and methodological approaches to ensuring that the advantages of decentralization reach the poor.
The governance program launched two new
initiatives in 2010. The Land Governance Monitor- ing and Assessment Partnership—a joint project of IFPRI, the International Fund for Agricultural Develop- ment, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Habitat, the World Bank, and others—aims to provide the basis for greater security of women’s land rights, increased land-related investment, better functioning of land markets, use of land as collateral, and better use of land taxation to implement effective adminis- trative decentralization. IFPRI acts as Secretariat for this partnership. The other new initiative, on interre- gional relations, began by examining the connections between China and Africa. The study looks at the pat- tern of cooperation between China, African countries, and developed countries in order to understand if and how aid and development finance from China affect governance in Africa. Research on public-service delivery continued to
be a strong component of the past year’s research. A four-year study of reform movements in India, Gua- temala, Kyrgyzstan, and Uganda that have helped the poor demand and receive effective public services will soon draw to a close. In India, the program has also explored ways to make public-sector health workers more accountable by telling beneficiaries exactly what they should expect. Other focal areas under the Governance and
Policy Processes theme include • Gender and Governance in Rural Services.
6 DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Investments in roads and port infrastructure can help the country make better use of its vast agricultural resources.
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COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IFPRI’s eight country strategy support programs—in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Uganda—are intensive, sustained programs of research, policy communications, and capac- ity building focused on the specific needs of a particular country. The research on pro-poor agriculture and rural development produced through these programs is a source of direct
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