The ODI Blog features the personal views of ODI experts on a range of current events and issues. This page contains our most recent blogs. For a full list of ODI blogs, visit the ODI blog archive.
A National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) paper issued this week by Xavier Sala-i-Martin and Maxim Pinkovskiy shows that: poverty in Africa is falling; that it is falling at a faster rate than expected; and that this holds true for a wide range.. (more)
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Alison Evans on
Thursday, March 04, 2010 3:18 PM
923 Views,
When world food prices shot up in 2007-8, lots of countries hastened to put in place emergency policy measures ranging from food export bans to food vouchers many of which were quite different from well-meaning advice they were given by economists and international agencies. How did it all pan out? This blog discusses early findings from an ODI study and workshop... (more)
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Julia Compton on
Friday, February 19, 2010 2:32 PM
1467 Views,
Recent controversies around climate change science have highlighted the need for researchers to become more politically 'savvy'. There should be greater recognition that science is, by its very nature, political, and researchers need to be equipped with the tools they need to ensure that their findings have the desired impact on policy. .. (more)
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Harry Jones on
Friday, February 12, 2010 4:28 PM
1654 Views,
There is much debate on whether climate finance will be additional to official development assistance (ODA, or ‘aid’). Some climate finance can be classified as aid (within the OECD-DAC creditor reporting system) so the question remains: is newly announced climate finance really additional, or is it just recycled aid? ODI research shows that certain sectors and regions will lose out if aid is diverted to finance future climate change adaptation needs. This blog argues that such finance should be in addition to, rather than instead of, existing aid spending. .. (more)
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Jessica Brown on
Monday, February 01, 2010 11:02 AM
1264 Views,
What is the acceptable face of international tourism? Should we condemn those who holiday in poverty-stricken countries? For the last four years, ODI has been looking at this question through the lens of economics, to focus on the money and, specifically, who gets what from international tourism. The key question is how international tourism to developing countries works (or doesn’t) as a way of transferring resources from affluent tourists to poor households around tourist destinations... (more)
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Jon Mitchell on
Thursday, January 28, 2010 3:57 PM
1710 Views,
As discussions begin in Rome on donor support to the Comprehensive Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), it is time to move beyond debate on sound principles and address the root causes of failed policy coordination in agriculture The Annual General Assembly of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GPDRD) seems a good opportunity to start this shift in thinking. .. (more)
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Lidia Cabral on
Monday, January 25, 2010 1:49 PM
1799 Views,
The World Bank's Global Economic Prospects (GEP) Report is a painful reminder of the overall effects of the crisis in both developed and developing countries, which were, in fact, much bigger than initially expected. Research by ODI suggests that donors have responded in different ways, with multilaterals such as the IMF responding more extensively than bilateral programmes. But the response has been nowhere near enough to counteract the large financing gaps emerging from the crisis. .. (more)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Friday, January 22, 2010 10:41 AM
1220 Views,
A few days into any emergency, operational responses hit a turning point, when aid starts to flow and be scaled up. The decisions made at this stage are crucial. This blog draws on a report by ALNAP on earthquake response, based on an assessment of almost 30 years of responses to such natural disasters. The research suggests a number of important considerations for agencies in the operational setting in Haiti, including the importance of recovery starting as soon as possible, without prolonging the relief effort... (more)
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Ben Ramalingam - ALNAP on
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 11:36 AM
2534 Views,
Dr. Alison Evans, Director ODI, sets out the need for long-term thinking on Haiti, even as aid agencies struggle to deliver aid. Haiti has been a humanitarian crisis for ten years, and enforced dependence on the outside world is partly to blame. The country itself has no internal resources to help its own people in this disaster. Whatever happens next, this vulnerability has to be tackled – long-term... (more)
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Alison Evans on
Monday, January 18, 2010 4:58 PM
2125 Views,
Leo Peskett, ODI Research Fellow
In a paper produced in the run up to Copenhagen, Pius Yanda and I argued that ‘reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation’ (REDD+) might take one of three trajectories in a post 2012 world: .. (more)
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Angela Hawke on
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 3:03 PM
2423 Views,
As the Copenhagen climate change conference ends, this blog reflects on what progress has been made for developing countries. While there are questions about the process itself, the blog highlights a blurring of once traditional lines between developed and developing countries, that could pave the way for greater progress in future... (more)
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Jessica Brown on
Monday, December 21, 2009 1:23 PM
2365 Views,
Any deal emerging from the Copenhagen climate change conference needs to recognise the importance of agriculture and food security. 'No agriculture, no deal' was the mantra at the Agriculture and Rural Development Day. This blog stresses that climate change has only added to the already severe challenges facing the world's poorest farmers. .. (more)
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Natasha Grist on
Thursday, December 17, 2009 10:48 AM
3499 Views,
The difficulties of thrashing out a deal at the Copenhagen conference on climate change suggest a lack of trust between developing and developed countries. This blog argues that this stems from the broken promises on aid volume and effectiveness in recent years, and proposes a new coalition of the willing, with strong leadership to address climate change. .. (more)
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Neil Bird on
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 4:02 PM
2779 Views,
As delegates at the Copenhagen Summit on climate change debate, argue and even walk out, this ODI blog focuses on three areas of critical importance for the world's poor. First: a commitment by rich nations to further emissions cuts beyond 2012 as part of the Kyoto framework. Second: a proper timeframe for the financing, and clarity on whether funds to address climate change are new, or just re-packaged. And third: the need for clear, simple targets to monitor what countries have agreed to deliver. .. (more)
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Alison Evans on
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 7:36 AM
2247 Views,
The Seventh Session of the WTO Ministerial was a networking, not a decision making event. The official WTO summary of the working day on WTO activities, including Doha, took about 15 minutes and can be reduced to two words: nothing new. .. (more)
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Sheila Page on
Monday, December 07, 2009 10:08 AM
2520 Views,
The Copenhagen negotiations on climate change policies will depend on what 'numbers' policy makers have on mitigation costs. These numbers are normally drawn from economists' studies that use complex methodologies: integrated assessment models (IAMs). Do these IAMs provide a coherent policy view?.. (more)
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Nicola Cantore on
Wednesday, December 02, 2009 4:46 PM
2155 Views,
This blog, released on World Aids Day, reviews progress on the issue, highlighting how the financial crisis has affected developing countries' response and recent ODI work on combating AIDS in fragile situations. .. (more)
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Fiona Samuels on
Tuesday, December 01, 2009 7:59 AM
3277 Views,
Is it worth waiting for major WTO members to finalise the Doha Development Agenda? This blog lays out three key arguments in favour of waiting, arguing that bringing the process to an end -- even without a deal -- is preferable to letting the discussions drift on. .. (more)
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Massimiliano Cali on
Monday, November 30, 2009 6:31 AM
1919 Views,
The private sector has an enormous role to play in achieving low carbon growth and development. It is the private sector that is well placed to undertake the investment and technological innovation that will underpin low carbon growth, provide finance for mitigation and adaptation, adopt lower carbon production processes, and encourage and facilitate more climate conscious purchasing decisions by consumers. But policy makers need to establish the rules of the game. .. (more)
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Karen Ellis on
Monday, November 30, 2009 5:58 AM
2884 Views,
New products, services and mindsets will be needed in the transition to a low carbon global economy. This blog argues that tapping effectively into new market opportunities that arise from global efforts to mitigate climate change could release additional resources for investments to increase resilience to climate change and adaptation to its impact. It reviews some of the new products and services that are going to be needed, and how existing trade instruments and new sources of climate change finance could work together to harness new market opportunities for poor countries, with a strong focus on the agricultural sector. .. (more)
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Jodie Keane on
Monday, November 30, 2009 5:46 AM
2929 Views,
This blog sets out the risks of a shift to results-based aid, with fears that countries in greatest need -- such as fragile states -- may miss out. There is general agreement on the need to ensure that aid is effective. But where there is conflict and instability, or weak state institutions linked to poor accountability and governance, or underdeveloped markets and inadequate regulation, aid ineffectiveness is more likely.. (more)
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Leni Wild on
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 4:59 PM
2646 Views,
Following the statement by the UK Conservative Party on climate change and development, this blog focuses on three key issues in the run-up to the Copenhagen: global fossil fuel subsidy reform; the UK Export Credit Guarantee Department; and the need to give developing countries a greater voice in climate change negotiations. It asks whether a World Environment Organisation might be one solution... (more)
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Dirk Willem te Velde on
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 4:53 PM
2633 Views,
Following a meeting at ODI on the importance of equity, this blog examines why equity matters to development. It outlines the intrinsic and instrumental arguments for equity, and set out the implications for policy makers, which go beyond social protection to encompass wider developmental issues. .. (more)
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Kate Bird on
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:40 PM
2330 Views,
