World Development Perspectives最新文献

{"title":"Ice roads and income in remote indigenous communities of Canada","authors":"Fatma Ahmed","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100666","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100666","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>I estimate the effects of ice road length deviation on the level of income in the Northwest Territories communities. The harsh weather conditions and extreme climates in the NWT magnify the challenges associated with maintaining infrastructure, often undermining its long-term benefits. I find that the disruptions in ice roads, which serve as vital links for northern Canadian communities, exacerbate income inequality by placing a greater burden on low-income households while disproportionately favoring higher-income groups. Education is a critical factor in driving income growth and reducing inequality. Conversely, reliance on social assistance notably reduces income for higher-income families, while it provides a boost for those in need. Larger communities, however, experience more severe economic challenges, especially within lower-income groups.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100666"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143379144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the effectiveness of a rights based approach for pro-poor WASH services: A study in urban poor settlements in Khulna, Bangladesh","authors":"Sumya Naz ,&nbsp;Md. Zakir Hossain ,&nbsp;Khan Rubayet Rahaman","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100663","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100663","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Rights Based Approach (RBA) in improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in urban poor settlements, with a focus on slum communities in Bangladesh. An experimental design was employed, comparing a treatment slum that received the RBA-based WASH intervention to a control slum without such intervention. Data were collected through a household questionnaire survey, with 100 samples obtained. The study found no significant difference in the Human Security index between the two slums, but a closer examination of individual dimensions revealed that the RBA approach resulted in better WASH facilities in terms of physical accessibility and WASH governance. However, it was less effective in addressing availability, quality, economic accessibility, acceptability &amp; personal safety, and climate resilience in WASH services. While the RBA approach improved access to WASH services, it did not adequately address the financial capacity of the urban poor in ensuring certain WASH facilities. As it highlights the vulnerabilities faced by slum residents in accessing water, it emphasizes the detrimental impact on gender-related stress and heightened health risks. Rights-based WASH interventions have had minimal impact in reducing the stress experienced by women in this regard. The findings provide insights for policymakers to enhance the rights-based approach (RBA) and promote pro-poor WASH services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100663"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring energy poverty in Senegal: A multifaceted approach","authors":"Saidou Abdoulaye Sy,&nbsp;Lamia Mokaddem","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100664","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100664","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy poverty is a multidimensional and multifaceted concept associated with imprecision in measurement and classification. To address this problem, this paper first uses the fuzzy group decision-making approach to reduce the subjectivity of assigning the weights to indicators of energy poverty. This method enables to achieve consensus on the relative importance of the indicators of energy poverty. Second, the study addresses the limitations of the existing composite indicators for assessing energy poverty in developing countries by suggesting a multifaceted approach that focuses on the utilization of modern energy for cooking, lighting, cooling, entertainment and education, and telecommunication and considers the national strategies for eradicating energy poverty. This multifaceted approach is based on four energy poverty groups, namely energy non-poor, transitional energy poor, moderate energy poor and extreme energy poor and captures the incidence and intensity of energy poverty. We demonstrate its applicability across Senegalese household data. The findings indicate a decline in energy poverty levels between 2015 and 2019. Nearly half of the population falls into the category of moderate energy poverty, characterized by limited access to clean cooking fuels and reliance on electricity primarily for lighting. The application of the multifaceted approach has several practical benefits. Considering the various categories of energy poverty is a more effective approach for enhancing the precision of energy poverty measurements, improving the reliability of the benchmark analysis, and designing energy poverty policy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100664"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multistakeholder forums in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam: Stakeholders’ perspectives regarding their outcomes and effectiveness for low-emission food systems","authors":"Thu Thuy Pham ,&nbsp;Thi Kim Hong Tang ,&nbsp;Vy Thao Ngo ,&nbsp;Ngoc My Hoa Tran ,&nbsp;Thi Thuy Anh Nguyen ,&nbsp;Thi Van Anh Nguyen ,&nbsp;Trung Son Nguyen ,&nbsp;Dinh Yen Khue Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100661","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100661","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores stakeholders’ perspectives regarding the effectiveness of multistakeholder forums (MSFs) for low-emission food systems, based on interviews with 40 organizations in Vietnam. Our findings reveal four types of MSF: those led by the central government, provincial governments, international organizations and academia. While targeting different stakeholders and scales, they share the common challenge of ensuring that diverse voices – including women, local communities and civil society organizations – influence dialogue. Powerful stakeholders dominate, while international organizations, academia and local organizations are influenced by political mandates, project funding and personal connections. Most stakeholders participate passively, rather than actively contributing to or influencing discussion parameters or outcomes. Despite many forums existing, little attention has been paid to their efficiency, effectiveness or contribution to policy outcomes on greenhouse gas emissions and equity, highlighting the need for future research. MSFs focus on diverse elements of the food system, rather than facilitating holistic discussions that encompass the political, economic, environmental and social problems of the whole system; this leads to fragmented efforts and policy discussions. Except for central government-led MSFs, forums have weak links to national decision-making bodies, thereby reducing stakeholders’ interest in being involved. While stakeholders expressed doubt over the effectiveness of MSFs regarding emissions and equity outcomes, they valued the knowledge and networks gained through participating. Our paper highlights the need for policymakers and MSF designers to reflect on the effectiveness of existing MSFs, analysing lessons learnt before establishing new initiatives. Stakeholders’ engagement in food systems needs to be more systematic and attentive to the interests and perspectives of these different stakeholders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100661"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does fiscal decentralisation hamper happiness? Evidence from African countries","authors":"Borice Augustin Ngounou ,&nbsp;Constant Fouopi Djiogag ,&nbsp;Edmond Noubissi Domguia ,&nbsp;Linda Tiague Zanfack ,&nbsp;Thierry Messie Pondie","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100660","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100660","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Sustainable Development Goals prioritise the achievement of quality decentralisation through local taxation and sustainable local communities. This objective has been widely studied and a rich literature exists on the subject. In light of this, in this article we examine how fiscal decentralisation affects happiness in 27 African countries. We use a variety of methods to conduct our analysis, including Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Driscoll-Kraay, Generalized Least Squares (GLS) whose robustness has been proven by the Lewbel 2SLS method, Method of Generalized Moments in the System (MMG-S) and Kinky Least Squares (KLS) for the period 2006–2019. The results show that fiscal decentralisation helps to increase happiness in Africa. Our recommendation is that governments should give priority to improving well-being by investing in public goods and services, promoting political stability and fighting corruption. In doing so, they can align themselves with the principles that make planned decentralisation beneficial to the people of Africa.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100660"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Financing the Basic income support in South Africa under fiscal constraints","authors":"Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu ,&nbsp;Martin Henseler ,&nbsp;Helene Maisonnave ,&nbsp;Ramos E. Mabugu","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100657","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100657","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war and climate change-induced disasters that have led to worldwide poverty increases, have re-ignited discussions about the urgency of pro-poor support programs. South Africa offers a current and topical example to this discourse with the government’s intention to introduce a basic income support covering everyone in the age group 18–59 years who is neither disabled nor employed. Expanding social protection to reach those currently receiving no support within a severely constrained fiscal environment raises affordability and developmental challenges relevant to many other developing countries grappling with similar issues. It raises questions such as whether the planned support grant effectively reduces inequality and poverty. How does the grant impact the entire economy? What are the best funding options to create fiscal space? Model-based assessments like the one implemented in this research provide information to contribute to these questions and, therefore to a policy discussion. This study develops a micro–macro modelling approach with alternative fiscal financing options to address these developmental and affordability issues simultaneously and systematically. The analysis suggests that the government could address growing poverty and inequality in the short term with benign impacts on macroeconomic and fiscal outcomes while the country looks for other initiatives to achieve higher growth and employment in the long run.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100657"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“De” centralization of natural resources and environmental governance in Armenia","authors":"Gor Samvel ,&nbsp;Eleonora Matevosyan ,&nbsp;Heghine Grigoryan-Hakhverdyan ,&nbsp;Olimpia Geghamyan","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100658","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100658","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the adoption of its 1995 Constitution, local self-governance has been central to Armenia’s democratic development. Yet, over the years, municipal governance has faced legitimacy challenges and low performance. In response, the central government amalgamated 915 local communities into 64, claiming that larger communities would have greater opportunities for natural resource conservation and benefit-sharing, thereby receiving additional means to address inefficiencies in public service delivery. Existing scholarship largely confirms the positive socio-economic outcomes of environmental decentralization. However, the literature highlights that the key to effective decentralization lies in a clear, transparent, and well-resourced transfer of responsibilities, rather than merely amalgamation reform. Against such background, this paper assesses the scope and the extent of environmental decentralization in Armenia and contemplates whether amalgamation reform, under the current scope of decentralization, increased local communities’ opportunities for environmental conservation and natural resources use. The findings suggest that environmental decentralization is happening to a limited extent in Armenia. Not only are local authorities granted a restricted scope of legal responsibilities, only 41 % of those responsibilities are implemented. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that amalgamation reform only affected the size of the communities but had no observable impact on improving environment conservation or resource utilization opportunities for local communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100658"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"‘I feed my family but I own no land’: Understanding the complexities of women’s irrigable land access and wellbeing in northern Ghana","authors":"Ibrahim Abu Abdulai","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100659","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100659","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Community irrigation schemes play a key role in the sustenance of rural women farmers. However, the literature on how women’s irrigable land access is intertwined with wellbeing under community irrigation schemes is still evolving. There is a need to deepen knowledge of the contemporary dynamics of irrigable land access, given its priority in promoting women’s empowerment. This study draws evidence from the Wa West District, Ghana, to unravel the nuance of women’s irrigable land accessibility under community irrigation schemes using a qualitative research approach involving 59 participants. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions revealed that women have access to irrigable land, albeit under implicit and explicit conditions like shouldering household feeding responsibilities and household irrigable land size. Women’s access to irrigable land for irrigation farming helped improve their welfare through supplementary income, a step towards the first Sustainable Development Goal. However, the underdevelopment of irrigation infrastructure limited production efforts. Constructing canals and fences and providing water-pumping machines will help boost production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100659"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate change impact on food security: Household-level adaptation barriers to Charland community in Bangladesh","authors":"Most. Mitu Akter ,&nbsp;N. M. Refat Nasher","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100656","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100656","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Food security is a major concern in the era of climate change, as it is extremely susceptible to ongoing climatic fluctuations. Recent harsh weather due to climate change has caused significant crop loss, resulting<!--> <!-->in food insecurity in Bangladesh. The influencing factors for farmers’ selection of climate change adaptation strategies and the resulting implications for household food security and poverty were assessed in this study. This study utilized extensive data from 380 farmers (from two upazilas, and each upazila comprised 190 samples) from the Kurigram district. The Probit, censored least absolute deviation (CLAD), and propensity score matching (PSM) models were used to examine the factors affecting climate-change adaptation practices, number of practices, food security, and poverty. The CLAD and PSM suggested that income diversification effectively enhances<!--> <!-->food security. Age was negatively associated with the number of strategies; young people have been adopting more adaptation strategies. The livestock rearing (87% of households) and change in planting time (82%) were the principal adaptation strategies at the household level in the study area. The homestead gardening had a negligible impact on poverty reduction. The number of adaptation strategies depended on the household head’s decision, education level, and income. Implementing climate change adaptation methods at the farm level can result in substantial development benefits, in addition to mitigating vulnerability to climate-related risks. This study suggested that a specific vulnerable group of people might be considered for food insecurity. The policymakers would be able to make rules and regulations for such a group of people, and NGOs could help.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100656"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perceptions of people in host communities on the implementation of dam-induced involuntary resettlement programme in the Global South: The case of Bui Dam in Ghana","authors":"Emmanuel Junior Adugbila ,&nbsp;Dimo Todorovski ,&nbsp;Karin Pfeffer ,&nbsp;Jaap Zevenbergen","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2024.100650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wdp.2024.100650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydro-dams in the Global South have become pivotal to accelerating socio-economic development and promoting the industrialisation drive through the supply of energy. The implementation of hydro-dam projects usually comes with involuntary resettlements. Such involuntary resettlements have consequences for those displaced and people in the host communities receiving the displaced for their integration. While existing studies focus on the planning phase of resettlement programmes, particularly, how to identify the hosts in the resettlement planning frameworks, little attention is given to the hosts during resettlement implementation. This study seeks to investigate the implementation processes, rules and regulations of dam-induced involuntary resettlement (DIIR) programmes and how they affect the socio-cultural dimensions of the life of the hosts, using the case of the Bui Dam in Ghana. The study used the impoverishment risk and reconstruction theory to do so. The study found that the implementation processes of the DIIR programme are fraught with shortcomings in terms of non-compliance with local planning laws, inadequate compensation and the Resettlement Planning Framework’s failure to capture the hosts during its implementation. It shows contrasting findings in the literature, with only Ghanaian laws applied to regulate the implementation of the Bui Dam resettlement programme without international laws despite the hybrid financing sources. It furthers the argument in the literature that a successful implementation of a DIIR programme is not only limited to international and national legal frameworks but should consider socio-cultural conditions and values of a community and country. We, therefore, recommend that people-based and place-based policies are adopted during the implementation of the DIIR programme.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"37 ","pages":"Article 100650"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143161799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}