Synopses & Reviews
Throughout the global community, the challenges of finite resources, budget deficits, and growing interdependence and complexity have forced governments and the private sector to do more with less. In the foreign assistance realm, this has translated into a donor mandate to promote self-sustaining development in the Third World, a key component of which is the institutional framework that conceives, plans, funds, implements, and manages activities. This book, based on the results of a multi-year applied research project, focuses on institutional sustainability and its role in agriculture and rural development. It concentrates on collaboration between international donor organizations and developing countries to design and implement projects aimed at introducing performance and capacity improvements.
The collection of fifteen essays is divided into three subject areas. Part one examines the sustainability dimensions of agriculture and rural development, with chapters that focus on the range of meanings of sustainability and the relationship between it and continued benefit flows; a conceptual model that draws on systems theory, organizational contingency theory, and political economy; and the action-research methodology for applying the model in the field. Part two is made up of nine chapters, each of which uses the model to analyze a particular case where an international donor-funded intervention sought to develop a sustainable institution. The cases range geographically across the world. Finally, part three draws on the case experiences to highlight strategies for promoting institutional sustainability. Lessons are derived from a comparative analysis of several of the cases, and a chapter incorporating the points made in all of the cases is also provided. With its comparative framework and conclusion that institutional sustainability is a feasible objective for development agencies, this volume will be an important work for development practitioners and students of development administration, as well as a significant addition to public and academic library collections.
Review
The book is well written. It presents an excellent analysis of the critical issues associated with institutional sustainability in agriculture and rural development.Growth and Change
Synopsis
This collection of essays concentrates on collaborations between international donor organizations and developing countries to design and implement projects aimed at introducing performance and capacity improvements. Contributions are grouped into three main areas, examining the sustainability dimensions of agriculture and rural development, analyzing cases in which international donor-funded intervention sought to develop sustainable institutions, and drawing on the case experiences to develop strategies for promoting institutional sustainability.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-252) and index.
About the Author
DERICK W. BRINKERHOFF is the Associate Director for Research of the International Development Management Center at the University of Maryland.ARTHUR A. GOLDSMITH is Associate Professor in the College of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Table of Contents
The Quest for Sustainability
Introduction by Derick W. Brinkerhoff and Arthur A. Goldsmith
Sustainability and Rural and Agricultural Development by Arthur A. Goldsmith and Derick W. Brinkerhoff
Institutional Sustainability: A Conceptual Framework by Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Arthur A. Goldsmith, Marcus D. Ingle, and S. Tjip Walker
Analyzing Institutional Sustainability: An Action-Inquiry Methodology by Kurt Finsterbusch and Marcus D. Ingle
Promoting Institutional Sustainability: Case Experiences
Sustaining Benefits of the Thailand Northeast Rainfed Agriculture Development Project by Marcus D. Ingle, Terry D. Schmidt, and Utai Pisone
Sustainable Credit for Rural Development: Learning from Indonesia by Melissa C. Brinkerhoff
Laying the Groundwork for Sustainability: Using Action-Planning to Improve Project Design and Implementation in Ghana and Guatemala by Andrea L. Jones
Policy Reform as Institutional Change: Privatizing the Fertilizer Subsector in Cameroon by Tham V. Truong and S. Tjip Walker
The Three Phases of Sustainability in Morocco's Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II by Alice L. Morton and James B. Lowenthal
The Limits of Sustainability: Management Improvement in Haiti's Planning Ministry by Derick W. Brinkerhoff
Sustainable Reforms for National Agriculture Research: The Case of India by Arthur A. Goldsmith
Sustaining the Performance of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute by Marcus D. Ingle, Terry Schmidt, and Barton A. Clarke
Training and Visit as an Approach for Sustainable Agriculture Extension: Applications in the Philippines by Daniel J. Gustafson
The Lessons of Experience
Sustainability Lessons: Findings from Cross-Case Analysis of Seven Development Projects by Kurt Finsterbusch
Institutional Sustainability Strategies: A Global View by Arthur A. Goldsmith and Derick W. Brinkerhoff
Bibliography
Index