The role of aid agencies within environmental cooperation in Congo Basin: facilitators or policy entrepreneurs?

Q2 Social Sciences

Development Studies Research Pub Date : 2021-01-01 DOI:10.1080/21665095.2021.1937255

Minette Nago

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Environmental cooperation in the Congo Basin region is facing a paradox as the region has an inflow of aid but deforestation and poverty continue to grow. We examine the role of aid agencies in this paradox, who we assume are policy entrepreneurs who influence and benefit from the process. To test these assumptions, we use policy entrepreneurship theory coupled with a comparative qualitative approach to conduct two case studies. The first case study is a climate change adaptation capacity building initiative with the German aid agency GIZ in the central role. We prove that GIZ led the project with high effectiveness, benefit from it but failed to align the initiative’s goals with the local needs. The second case study is the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), which functions without an aid agency in the central role. We observe that although the CBFP’s actions strongly matched local needs, it lacked some effectiveness and could not yield relevant policy outcomes. Therefore, we suggest that suboptimal institutions meeting a minimum standard in both management and orientation toward local needs should be built. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 5 February 2021 Accepted 24 May 2021

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援助机构在刚果盆地环境合作中的作用：促进者还是政策企业家？

刚果盆地地区的环境合作正面临一个悖论，因为该地区有援助流入，但森林砍伐和贫困仍在继续增长。我们研究了援助机构在这一悖论中的作用，我们认为他们是影响这一过程并从中受益的政策企业家。为了检验这些假设，我们使用政策创业理论和比较定性方法进行了两个案例研究。第一个案例研究是一项由德国援助机构GIZ发挥核心作用的气候变化适应能力建设倡议。我们证明，GIZ高效地领导了该项目，从中受益，但未能将该倡议的目标与当地需求相一致。第二个案例研究是刚果盆地森林伙伴关系，该伙伴关系在没有援助机构发挥核心作用的情况下运作。我们观察到，尽管CBFP的行动与当地需求非常匹配，但它缺乏一些有效性，无法产生相关的政策结果。因此，我们建议建立在管理和面向当地需求方面都达到最低标准的次优机构。文章历史记录2021年2月5日收到2021年5月24日接受

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来源期刊

Development Studies Research Social Sciences-Development

CiteScore

3.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Development Studies Research ( DSR) is a Routledge journal dedicated to furthering debates in development studies. The journal provides a valuable platform for academics and practitioners to present their research on development issues to as broad an audience as possible. All DSR papers are published Open Access. This ensures that anyone, anywhere can engage with the valuable work being carried out by the myriad of academics and practitioners engaged in development research. The readership of DSR demonstrates that our goal of reaching as broad an audience as possible is being achieved. Papers are accessed by over 140 countries, some reaching over 9,000 downloads. The importance of the journal to impact is thus critical and the significance of OA to development researchers, exponential. Since its 2014 launch, the journal has examined numerous development issues from across the globe, including indigenous struggles, aid effectiveness, small-scale farming for poverty reduction, sustainable entrepreneurship, agricultural development, climate risk and the ‘resource curse’. Every paper published in DSR is an emblem of scientific rigour, having been reviewed first by members of an esteemed Editorial Board, and then by expert academics in a rigorous review process. Every paper, from the one examining a post-Millennium Development Goals environment by one of its architects (see Vandermortele 2014), to ones using established academic theory to understand development-imposed change (see Heeks and Stanforth 2015), and the more policy-oriented papers that contribute valuable recommendations to policy-makers and practitioners (see DSR Editor’s Choice: Policy), reaches a multidisciplinary audience.