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The rules and enforcement mechanisms that guide and coordinate people’s behaviour have become central issues in international development cooperation. Understanding the governance framework is a precondition for successful projects and programmes also when dealing with sustainable management of natural resources. GTZ has been working in this area long before this term came to the fore. Not incidentally, governance is GTZ’s annual theme in 2004. Relative to purely technical aspects, the political and the institutional dimensions of its practical work have grown to be more and more prominent. Hence, it seems all the more important to share our experiences in governance [...]

Agricultural Development Policy: Concepts and Experiences, prepared under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), presents a fresh and comprehensive look at agricultural development policy. It provides a clear, systematic review of important classes of policy issues in developing countries and discusses the emerging international consensus on viable approaches to those issues. The text is unique in its coverage and depth, and it Cites policy experiences and applied studies in eighty countries. Develops the conceptual foundations for policies. Illustrates policies that have worked and those that have not, with explanations of why. Summarises hundreds [...]

The irrigation sector of development co-operation experiences considerable difficulty in delivering its services to water users on an efficient, sustainable and ecologically-sound basis. Investments have often failed to "pay off" as expected, and many newly constructed irrigation systems are under-utilized. In the first chapters, the background to the problem, definitions of the term "service", and the special features of non-commercial services are examined. Service analysis in complex organizational structures, and methods and instruments to identify and analyse the many and various services and service relationships are described. The analysis of governance modes for service provision is given in detail, and [...]