Programmer & projekter

Climate Change and Rural Institutions
This four-year collaborative research programme addresses the knowledge gap that currently exists about the role of district level institutions (local government, agricultural advisory services, natural resource management agencies and farmer organisations) in providing an enabling environment for climate change adaptation. These meso-level institutions play a key role at the interface between national policies and individual/community level adaptation efforts, and the research programme explores (i) the nature and extent of their engagements and interactions in climate change adaptation, and (ii) the factors and processes that stimulate, constrain or block innovation in relation to climate change adaptation. The programme is coordinated by DIIS in collaboration with partners in Nepal, Vietnam, Uganda and Zambia. The programme is funded by Danida. Additional support is provided by the Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The project is coordinated by Ian Christoplos. Other DIIS staff members working on the project include Esbern Friis Hansen, Mikkel Funder, Adam Pain and Ida Peters. You can read more about the programme here.

Governance of natural resources – inequality, institutional practices and transformative potentials
This project examines why in some rural district governments succeed in establishing democratic governance of the access to and use of natural resources while others don’t. More specifically, research is conducted to test the hypothesis that the more unequal the distribution of economic resources, the higher the risk of discretional governance of the access to and use of natural resources in favour of local elites.  Political decentralisation which has taken place in many countries during the past decades constitutes an opportunity for breaking with the structural inequality traps that in many places deprive the majority of the population of political voice and economic opportunities. They do so by providing new institutional arenas where social actors may exert their influence and priorities. In some places there are signs that this opportunity is being seized, while in others not.
   To test this hypothesis comparative research is being conducted the three contrasting sets of rural districts in terms of degrees of inequality in the distribution of economic resources in three Central American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. The project is carried out as part of the Rural Territorial Dynamics research and capacity development programme. The project is coordinated by Helle Munk Ravnborg and carried out in collaboration with researchers from Prisma, El Salvador; Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala; and Nitlapan, Nicaragua. For more information, please see project description (in Spanish) (pdf 160 KB).

Klimaforandringer og konflikthåndtering gennem udviklingsbistand – erfaringer fra naturressourceforvaltning 
I slutningen af 2010, bad Danida DIIS om at foretage et studie af hvordan erfaringer fra naturressourceforvaltningsprojekter kan nyttiggøres i forbindelse med fremtidige klimaindsatser med henblik på at imødegå konfliktoptrapning lokalt og regionalt i Afrika. Mens Afrika således er det geografiske fokus, er det tematiske focus vandressourcer, inklusiv international vandressourceforvaltning og forvaltning af jord, vand og græsningsarealer i tørre områder.
   Studiet gennemføres af Mikkel Funder (koordinator), Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, Ida Peters og Helle Munk Ravnborg. Studiet forventes afsluttet i begyndelsen af 2012

ReCOM studier om Jordejendomsforvaltning & Kønslig Ligestilling og om Miljø & Klima
I slutningen af 2010 lancerede Danida et forsknings- og kommunikationsprogram (ReCOM), som har til formål at undersøge og formidle ”Hvad virker og hvad bliver opnået gennem udviklingsbistand.” Programmet er planlagt som et 3-årigt program (2011-2013). DIIS deltager i programmet og forskningsenheden Naturressourcer og Fattigdom er på nuværende tidspunkt involveret i to studier som en del af programmet. Det drejer sig om et studie om ’jordejendomsforvaltning, kønslig ligestilling og udviklingsbistand’ (klik her for kort beskrivelse af studiet på engelsk, pdf 25 KB) og et studie om ’miljø og klima’ (klik her for kort beskrivelse af studiet på engelsk, pdf 29 KB).

Betydningen af jord- og ejendomsrettigheder for økonomisk adfærd i Uganda
Et studie udført i samarbejde mellem DIIS og Makerere Universitet på opdrag fra den danske ambassade i Kampala (2011 – 2012)
  Som et led i forberedelserne af den næste fase af den danske støtte til vækstprogrammet i Uganda, som forventes at begynde i 2013, har den danske ambassade i Kampala, Uganda, bedt DIIS i samarbejde med Makerere Universitet i Kampala om at undersøge betydningen af jord- og ejendomsrettigheder for økonomisk adfærd i Uganda.
   Jord- og ejendomsrettigheder antages almindeligvis at stimulere og understøtte enkeltpersoners og virksomheders økonomiske aktivitet i kraft af en eller flere af de følgende mekanismer:
• ved at gøre jordejendom tilgængeligt på ejendomsmarkedet således at markedsmekanismerne gradvist vil bidrage til at jorden tilfalder de mest effektive brugere (set fra et økonomisk synspunkt);
• ved at gøre det muligt at bruge jordejendom som pant i forbindelse med formel långivning og dermed muliggøre investeringer, både landbrugs- og ikke landbrugsrelaterede investeringer; og
•  ved at bibringe jordejere sikre ejendomsforhold og derved opmuntre jordejere til at foretage mere langsigtede investeringer.
  Studiet vil undersøge i hvilken udstrækning de overnnævnte mekanismer gælder for forskellige typer af økonomiske aktører og i forskellige dele af Uganda.
  Studiet udføres af Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen, Helle Munk Ravnborg og Rachel Spichiger fra DIIS og Sarah Alobo, Bernard Bashaasha og Michael Kidoido fra Makerere Universitet.

Rural Territorial Dynamics Program (pdf, 601 KB)
- a research-based policy advice and capacity-development programme for rural economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability in Latin America
  The Rural Territorial Dynamics programme is a five-year programme (2007-2012) coordinated by Rimisp-Latin American Centre for Rural Develoment and DIIS participates as a core partner. The programme is generously funded through a USD 10 million grant from Canadian

Women’s land rights, access to land and perceptions on land tenure in Southern Africa: the case of Zambia
Women’s land rights and their access to land are at the core of women’s livelihoods in rural Southern Africa. Despite women being the major agricultural producers, there are discrepancies between men and women’s rights of access to land. The proposed research takes place in Zambia’s Southern Province and aims to investigate the ways in which women obtain access to land, and more importantly their own perceptions of this access. Looking at different categories of women, it will focus on the role of social factors and wider power relations mediating access to land and shaping the importance of access to land to women.