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APPP e-alert
Issue 6 - January 2012
Dear friends and colleagues
As more of APPP’s programme of original field research across a wide range of
African countries comes to fruition, we are pleased to release an exciting set of
detailed research data from the Business and Politics project on Cotton Sector
Reform.
APPP’s mission to engage with development policy internationally continues with
another Policy Brief (No.4) based on our work in Niger on how local, informal
initiatives combine with local governance institutions to produce working ‘hybrids’.
This echoes the findings of our work on local justice in Ghana (see Policy Brief No.
3).
Finally, the origins of the current crisis in Malawi are highlighted in Diana
Cammack’s pieces in the Guardian Online.
As always, we welcome feedback on our work from colleagues with an active
interest in African governance issues.
Richard Crook
Africa Power and Politics
New publications:
Policy Brief: Providing public goods: Local responses to
policy incoherence and state failure in Niger, Jean-Pierre
Olivier de Sardan
APPP Policy Brief 4, January 2012
In Niger, as in most African countries, the implementation of public policies poses
enormous challenges and there is no guarantee that the state will deliver public
goods and services. Local measures to plug the gaps are usually informal, with all
the strengths and weaknesses that informality implies. Some, however, are more
institutionalised. These may face opposition from the state, which may block local
solutions without providing effective alternatives.
Drawing on extensive field research, Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan examines some
recent local informal solutions, particularly in the area of maternal health, and draws
lessons for policy makers both in how to address bottlenecks and policy
inconsistencies, and how to engage with informal initiatives.
Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan is a senior researcher at LASDEL-Niger and an
Emeritus Research Director of the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS)
and Professor at the Social Sciences School of Advanced Studies (EHESS). He
leads the APPP Local Governance Stream in Niger.
Download the English version: APPP Policy Brief 4_ English
Download the French version: APPP Policy Brief 4_ French
Joint APP/LASDEL background paper series on Local Governance in Niger:
Etudes et Travaux 90 : le service public du marché au Niger, Amadou
Oumarou
Etudes et Travaux 93 : le service public de l'eau et de l'assainissement au
Niger, Younoiussi Issa
Etudes et Travaux 95 : Gouvernance Locale, la délivrance de quatre biens
publics dans trois communes nigériennes, JP Olivier de Sardan, with A.
Abdelkader, A. Diarra, Y. Issa, H. Moussa, A. Oumarou et M. Tidjani Alou
All background papers are free to download (French only) at:
http://www.institutions-africa.org/publications/research_stream/localgovernance
Cotton Sector Reform - new publications
A new APPP working paper, and a suite of seven new APPP background papers
from APPP’s Cotton Sector Reform stream. This research, led by Dr Renata Serra,
Center for African Studies, University of Florida, aims to produce a better
understanding of how governance works in practice within cotton sectors and
identify which elements and mechanisms may be more supportive of better
developmental outcomes.
Authors include: Renata Serra, Jonathan Kaminski (The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem), and Borgui Yerima from LARES (Benin), Fabien Affo (LASDEL-Niger),
Abdel Tiemtore Yiriyibin Bambio, University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Jean
Enam, Denis Pompidou Folefack, IRAD (Cameroon) and Bourema Kone IER (Mali).
Working Paper 20: Cotton Sector Reform in Mali:
Explaining the Puzzles, Renata Serra
This APPP working paper provides a detailed analysis of the still-ongoing cotton
sector reform process in Mali. The paper explores the delays and issues
surrounding the reform in terms of the political, economic and social factors
characterising the Malian cotton sector. It examines how externally-imposed
economic reforms get adapted and transformed in a domestic policy process. In
particular, it investigates what such home-grown reforms look like in countries where
aid dependence is high, productive sectors are strategically important to a wide set
of actors, and the democratic institutional context, though firmly established, is still
very fragile. By shedding better light on economic reforms in African democratic
contexts, the paper derives lessons on desirable forms of engagement by outside
partners and experts.
Download at: Working Paper 20: Cotton Sector Reform in Mali: Explaining the
Puzzles, Renata Serra
APPP Background Papers 5 and 6: Normes, Institutions et Configurations
Politiques dans les Réformes du Coton en Afrique de l'Ouest: Cas du Bénin,
Vols 1 and 2, Borgui Yerima et Fabien Affo, Octobre 2009
APPP Background Paper 7: Normes, Institutions et Configurations Politiques
dans les Réformes du Coton en Afrique de l'Ouest: Cas du Bénin, Analyse de
9 villages, Borgui Yerima, Octobre 2010
APPP Background Paper 8: Normes, Institutions et Configurations Politiques
dans les Réformes du Coton en Afrique de l'Ouest: Cas du Mali, Anlayse de 13
villages, Bourema Kone et Renata Serra, Décembre 2010
APPP Background Paper 9: Normes, Institutions et Configurations Politiques
dans les Réformes du Coton en Afrique de l'Ouest: Cas du Burkina Faso,
Analyse de 13 villages, Jonathan Kaminski, Abel Tiemtore and Yiriyibin
Bambio, Décembre 2010
APPP Background Paper 10: Normes, Institutions et Configurations Politiques
dans les Réformes du Coton en Afrique de l'Ouest: Cas du Cameroun,
Analyse de 6 villages, Jonathan Kaminski, Jean Enam, Denis Pompidou
Folefack, 2010
APPP Background Paper 11: Contexte Historique et Gestion de la filière
cotonnière au Cameroun, Jonathan Kaminski, Jean Enam, Denis Pompidou
Folefack, Décembre 2011
All papers are free to download (French only) at : http://www.institutionsafrica.org/publications/research_stream/cotton-sector-reforms
Presentations by Renata Serra (English only) are also available to download from
the same page:
•
Governing Cotton Sectors: An analysis of reforms in Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cameroon and Mali: Renata Serra, based on paper with Jonathan
Kaminski
•
Interpreting the current crisis in the Malian Cotton Sector (presented
at the African Studies Association: "50 Years of African Liberation" - APPP
Panel, Washington DC November 17-19 2011)
Policy Brief: The state and accessible justice in Africa: is
Ghana unique? Richard Crook
APPP Policy Brief 3, November 2011
Throughout Africa, the institutions of state justice are struggling to overcome
problems of overload and delay, perceptions of corruption and popular distrust.
Current policy prescriptions to improve access to justice are dominated by the belief
that non-state, customary or informal ‘alternative dispute resolution’ (ADR) systems
provide the best solutions.
New research by Africa Power and Politics (APPP) in Ghana, led by Professor
Richard Crook in collaboration with Kojo Pumpuni Asante and Victor Brobbey at
the Center for Democratic Development, Accra, challenges this. Findings from their
extensive programme of field research in Ghana suggest that the state can and
does provide ADR-type accessible justice at local level that aligns with popular
beliefs and expectations.
In this APPP policy brief, Richard Crook considers what lessons may be learned
from Ghana in developing policies to promote more accessible justice in Africa.
Download at: APPP Policy Brief 3
Catch up online
Malawi's political settlement in crisis - new publication and
Guardian Online feature
In a new APPP paper, Diana Cammack explains the origins of Malawi’s mid-2011
political-economic crisis and subsequent events. The paper suggests that, if the
deteriorating situation is not turned around, it may lead to Malawi becoming a failed
state, a theme she also explored in an article in Guardian Online - ‘Malawi risks
becoming 'fragile state' (17 November 2011).
APPP is a consortium research programme funded by the UK Department for
International Development (DFID) and Irish Aid, for the benefit of developing countries.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and should not be
attributed to DFID or Irish Aid, or any of APPP's member organisations
Copyright © 2012 Africa Power and
Politics, All rights reserved.
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