In China, as in many other countries undergoing rapid economic growth, increasing socio-economic inequalities and environmental damage are the main threats to sustainable urbanization. Drawing on international experiences, this paper describes the key issues in urban change in China and identifies the types of policy approaches that could support more sustainable urbanization. Urbanization and urban growth in China are closely linked to economic growth strategies and their uneven spatial dimension. Hence, despite the fact that China is one of the few countries in the world implementing a household registration system with the explicit aim of directly managing population distribution, rural-urban migration, much of it temporary or unregistered, is currently the main factor contributing to urbanization. The paper presents a number of policy options, the first of which would bring economic benefits, the second environmental benefits and the last three equity benefits. None of these options involve prohibiting or promoting migration; rather, they aim to improve the quality of migration for the migrants themselves, their home areas, the environment and the economy.

This paper argues that the dimension of territory or space is indispensable to a development strategy and that regions, as the platform for human society rather than artificial division between rural and urban, should provide the unit of analysis in the development process. While macro-level reforms can provide a sound policy framework and effective incentives, it is at the regional level that appropriate interventions can be identified and implemented. This paper suggests a general framework for such an approach, and illustrates it through a case study of a district in Nepal where conscious efforts have been made to improve linkages between rural and urban areas through the Rural Urban Partnership Programme, RUPP.

L’étude entend appuyer la réflexion permanente sur la meilleure façon d’aborder les enjeux soulevés par l’interface entre les droits à l’eau et au foncier, aussi bien qu’un processus à plus long terme de débat politique et d’échange d’expériences autour de ces questions au Sahel. Ce processus (le "Groupe d’apprentissage de la gouvernance de l’eau au Sahel") implique tout un éventail d’acteurs qui cherchent à améliorer l’accès à l’eau - décideurs, agents du développement, associations d’usagers et de producteurs, chefs de communauté et autres acteurs de la société civile – et il se penchera sur des façons pratiques de tenir compte des enjeux fonciers dans les programmes hydrauliques. L’étude se concentre sur deux domaines clés de l’interface entre les droits au foncier et à l’eau : l'irrigation et les points d’eau pastoraux. Elle explore également certaines questions clés concernant les liens entre le droit à l’eau, au foncier et aux autres ressources naturelles dans le contexte des zones humides de haute valeur. L’étude se concentre sur le Sahel, en particulier le Sénégal, le Mali, le Burkina Faso et le Niger. Les éléments de preuve et documents pertinents issus d’autres pays sahéliens sont utilisés pour éclairer encore la perspective. Il est également fait référence aux développements intervenus dans d’autres pays d’Afrique sub-saharienne, afin de replacer l’analyse sahélienne dans un contexte plus vaste.

While large private water companies grab the headlines, it is more often small private vendors that bring water to the urban poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This working paper looks at how water-vending systems operate, how effective they are in meeting the needs of the urban poor, and how this effectiveness might be improved. The paper concentrates on the small-scale and informal vendors, most of whom work independently with very little capital. Nevertheless, they display enormous diversity and flexibility, and are adept at responding to the needs of all but the very poorest households.

While large private water companies grab the headlines, it is more often small private vendors that bring water to the urban poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This working paper looks at how water-vending systems operate, how effective they are in meeting the needs of the urban poor, and how this effectiveness might be improved. The paper concentrates on the small-scale and informal vendors, most of whom work independently with very little capital. Nevertheless, they display enormous diversity and flexibility, and are adept at responding to the needs of all but the very poorest households.

This publication provides a wealth of information culled from workshops and seminars on the herbs and medicinal sector in African, Caribean and Pacific (ACP) countries. These workshops were organized by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the Ceter for Development of Enterprise (CDE) as well as the Commonwealth Secretariat.

This report is based on a CTA Observatory meeting in 2004, ‘Giving Youth a Voice – ICTs for the Livelihoods of Rural Youth’. The meeting brought together young people from ACP countries working in ICTs and encouraged them to share their experiences and provide practical examples of how ICTs can contribute to agricultural and rural development.

Ce rapport fait suite à la réunion de l'Observatoire organisée en 2004 et intitulée « Offrir une tribune aux jeunes – Les TIC au service de la jeunesse rurale ». Cette réunion, qui a rassemblé des jeunes des pays ACP travaillant dans les TIC, les a encouragés à partager leurs expériences et à illustrer concrètement comment les TIC contribuent au développement agricole et rural.

Fishing provides a source of income for millions of people in ACP countries, working on a small-scale, labour-intensive basis. Drawing on a series of meetings organised by CTA on the future of ACP-EU fisheries relations, this study covers ACP-EU cooperation in the fisheries, ACP access to the European market and fisheries partnerships agreements.

La pêche constitue une source de revenus pour plusieurs millions d'habitants des pays ACP pratiquant une pêche artisanale à forte intensité de main d'oeuvre. Cette étude, qui s'inspire d'une série de réunions organisées par le CTA sur l'avenir des relations ACP-UE dans le secteur de la pêche, dresse un état des lieux de la coopération entre les états ACP et l'UE, de l'accès des ACP au marché européen et des accords de partenariat dans le secteur.