Each discussion will take place over a three-week period. The first topic in the series is “ Developing capacities for sustainable change: Definitions, key terms and concepts.”

This course introduces the key concepts, principles and values of capacity development, with a focus on building practical skills for better design, planning, implementation and assessment of capacity development initiatives. The training course is designed to explore how capacity development practice should adapt to keep pace with the changing face of international development: from simple financial aid and technical cooperation towards a complex new paradigm that encourages and demands active involvement and ownership from the people and communities involved in aid programmes.

More information on how to access the archive will be made available in due course.

Yours sincerely,

The Capacity.org Editorial Committee

The knowledge domain of ‘multi-actor approaches’ is still relatively young but there has been a significant development of concepts, approaches and methodologies over the past decade. This course aims to help senior development practitioners to acquaint themselves with this emerging professional domain and sharpen their own practice.

The majority of the world's poor earn their living in small-scale enterprises and farms. By helping these businesses increase profits, sales and assets, we can reach the poor and help them lift themselves out of poverty. This on-the-job distance learning course with an optional presential course is designed for project implementers and policy makers to help them ramp-up your enterprise development program using practical tools for developing value chains and business service markets.

Smallholder farmers not only constitute the majority of the world's poor, they are also the majority of the world's small and medium enterprises. This two-week course is aimed at professionals interested in the promotion of farmer-included agribusiness. The central question addressed during the training is how smallholder farmers, through collective action of their organizations, can better access credit, remunerative markets, and improve their production and yields.

The Charitas Network invites applications for its 2014 capacity building training workshops on sustainable development. Topics covered include: community-based food systems, gender equity in development, local communities and climate change mitigation strategies, community-driven dispute resolution, social media for social change, outcomes-based program evaluation and personal development.

Under the supervision of the Chief Community Development, this post is responsible for the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a new programme geared towards integrated community development on early childhood care and development, particularly children with disabilities. The incumbent will manage the Australian AID funded budget to strengthen the link between local decision makers and non-government service providers (NGOs/CBOs).

Social Impact is looking for an Organizational Capacity Development Specialist for a contract to provide monitoring and evaluation and other technical/advisory services to the Regional Mission and other USAID missions and offices operating in Asia.

This full-day event organized by the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre is designed for aid agency staff and development practitioners working on evaluation and measurement of governance and anti-corruption initiatives. The workshop follows on The Proxy Challenge, a competition launched by DFID and U4 in 2013 to come up with proxy indicators that can track progress of reform initiatives. Participants will meet the competitors and learn how to conduct evaluation and measurement of governance and anti-corruption reforms in a more reliable, intuitive, and cost-effective way.

This conference is part of CDI's series of yearly "M&E on the cutting edge" events. Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn about:

• frameworks to understand utilization of monitoring and evaluation findings and process;
• different types of utilization of monitoring and evaluation process and findings, when and for whom these are relevant;
• conditions that improve utilization of monitoring and evaluation processes and findings

This course covers state-of-the-art thinking about designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) and social learning. The interactive course will build on participant's own experiences and will include discussions, group assignments, role plays and fieldwork to explore a real life MSP. Participants will also practice with a wide range of participatory methodologies and tools. The facilitators follow a flexible programme that allows adaptation to specific needs of individuals and the group.

The impact investment community has been highlighting the lack of investible opportunities in developing countries for some time. There are more late-stage impact funds seeking investment-ready companies with demonstrated social and financial promise, but most opportunities are very early stage and considered too risky from a financial risk/return perspective. A study by the Monitor Group found that of the 84 funds investing in Africa only six were providing early-stage capital.

Guaranteed opportunities

Banks and social investors are often reluctant to provide financial services to producer organisations, rural microfinance institutions or small businesses because they are perceived as too risky. ICCO’s guarantee fund challenges that view.

Resolving the grant giver's dilemma

The Afghanistan Business Innovation Fund (ABIF) is a US$6.9 million challenge fund that is financed and supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and AusAid, and implemented by Landell Mills. The Fund operates in a high-risk environment where other finance providers are reluctant to venture. It has therefore developed an innovative methodology for determining the right size of a grant that will incentivise private sector investment.

Kickstarting seed markets in Tanzania

Farmers in the Handeni district of Tanzania were dependent on the local government and an NGO for free or heavily subsidised sunflower seeds. A smart subsidy scheme has enabled the farmers and dealers to establish local supplies of high-quality seeds.

Voucher grant schemes to promote innovation

Grants are widely used to encourage smallholder farmers to innovate in order to strengthen their position in value chains. Based on a systematic review of the effectiveness of a number of grant modalities, this article focuses on voucher grant schemes.

Agrilife is a mobile phone and web-based platform in Kenya where financial institutions and suppliers can obtain near-real-time information on farmers’ ability to pay for services. Agrilife serves farmers who are members of producer organisations and who have business relationships with millers or other processors. Once a farmer has delivered his produce to a processor (also key participants in the setup) the information is shared with suppliers and financial and other service providers, and the farmer has immediate access to these services. Service providers use point-of sale devices for cashless transactions between farmers and merchants and real-time reporting.

Through the Fair Climate Fund, two Dutch international organisations, ICCO and Kerk in Actie, are working on behalf of poor communities engaged in projects to reduce carbon emissions. These may involve the introduction of renewable energy (biogas, solar or hydropower) or improved cookstoves, or activities that increase Earth’s carbon absorption capacity, such as low-carbon farming, agroforestry or reforestation projects. ICCO and Kerk in Actie sell the carbon credits generated by these projects on the carbon market where they can be bought by companies and rich households as emission rights.

Existing community managed systems in Rwanda suffered from a lack of accountability as well as low technical and administrative skills. This contributed to poor cost recovery and hampered the rehabilitation of water supply infrastructures, leading to many dysfunctional water points. SNV Netherlands Development Organisation facilitated the establishment of public–private partnerships between two public water utilities, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Aquavirunga, a private company that manages three water schemes. A crucial element of SNV's support was contributing to the capacity development of the local actors involved to enable them participate effectively in the partnerships.

This case study highlights an example of a public-private partnership which invests in agricultural infrastructure or services that benefit small-scale farmers. In the Indonesia Domestic Biogas Program (IDBP), Hivos collaborates with Nestlé to support small dairy farmers to invest in biogas digesters as an affordable and sustainable source of cooking fuel using local resources. This multi-actor project has led to the construction of almost 9,000 biodigesters, of which more than 5,500 for Nestlé milk suppliers.

The multitude and complexity of the risks in the agricultural sector make it unattractive for commercial lenders and private sector investors. Steve Hodges suggests three ways to mitigate these risks: conducting comprehensive risk assessments, encouraging banks to engage with multi-stakeholder committees and promoting model farmers.

Innovative development financing is receiving more attention as traditional publicly funded ODA decreases and private sector sources are gearing up to play a more prominent role in financing development. However, private companies also need to generate returns on their investments. Issue 47 of Capacity.org explores innovative ways in which private sector actors are investing in development, drawing insights for the day-to-day practice of development professionals working primarily with small and medium-scale farmers.

The Senior Local Capacity Development (LCD) Advisor will provide guidance and advice to RTI's International Development Group's technical and project management personnel on identifying opportunities and developing the local capacity of selected local entities which include NGOs, commercial businesses and host government organizations.

Pathfinder is seeking a Capacity Development Specialist to provide strategic leadership, management and direction for capacity building activities for the Advocacy for Better Health program in Uganda.  The purpose of the program is to increase the citizens’ voice for quality service delivery.

It is for this reason that the Devex, an international organization that provides recruiting and business information services is holding its first International Development Partnership Forum and Career Fair in Nairobi on 17-18 October 2013.

SI is seeking a Senior Capacity Development Advisor for an anticipated "Evaluate for Health" contract to establish a mechanism to support USAID/Ghana in strengthening M&E practices in three core areas: Evaluation Studies and Assessments, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Assistance and Strengthening Local Capacity for Research Management.

Pact seeks a Senior Training & Capacity Building Advisor for a five year USAID-funded capacity development support project in South Africa. The aim of the project is to support the goals of PEPFAR and those of the South African Government’s (SAG) National Strategic Plan to transition to country ownership by promoting sustainability of local organizations and provision of grant management support to develop local capacity. The project consists of three components–Grant Award and Management; Institutional capacity-development of indigenous organizations; and Capacity development assistance to the SAG.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, through the Global Fund for Malaria Grant, will engage additional Staff for the Logistics, Management Unit (LMU) of the Ministry.

The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) Secretariat, based at UN-Habitat, is recruiting a pool of consultants on a retainer consultancy basis for all or several of the following deliverables:

• Specialist training, learning and/or capacity development support provided to UN-Habitat and GLTN partners undertaking in-country land tool development;
• GLTN training and learning events planned, designed and facilitated within the framework of the GLTN capacity development strategy;
• Specialist knowledge-management support (including establishing base-line information, documenting processes, reporting on learning events, beneficiary feedback, event follow-up, design of recording and reporting and evaluation mechanisms) provided to promote learning and improvement of practice in the work of GLTN;
• Guidelines developed for the implementation of capacity development initiatives and good practice training by GLTN;
• Existing GLTN learning materials reviewed and updated, and/or new learning materials for specific GLTN land tools produced.
   

The IRC is recruiting an experienced Institutional Capacity Building Technical Expert to work as part of the senior leadership team responsible for the delivery of a flagship £35m Governance and Basic Service Delivery programme in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The project brings together an experienced group of implementing organizations in the region to deliver a high quality, integrated program, building the capacity of government counterparts and strengthening community level engagement with service delivery.

Global Communities is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Chief of Party (COP) to oversee the implementation of an USAID funded Strengthening Democratic and Local Governance Program in South Sudan. Responsibilities include overall project development, management, and implementation; operational budgets, and performance monitoring plans.  

ACT Alliance is currently looking for an experienced consultant for the external evaluation of the ACT Global Capacity Development Initiative which has been running for 6 years since 2008. The evaluation is expected to start in September 2013 and conclude in December 2013 with an expectation of 30 days work within this period. Enquiries about this post and/or applications should be sent to Sarah Kambarami at sarah.kambarami@actalliance.org

SEEP is a global network of 130 international practitioner organizations dedicated to combating poverty through promoting inclusive markets and financial systems. This year's conference will serve as a platform to promote learning and exchange around high-potential collaboration opportunities. 

IFRC seeks proposals from individual organisations or consortia of organisations to carry out a high-quality operational research programme on national and local capacity building for disaster risk management. This programme is being supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with potential contributions from other donors.

The Technical Advisor will be responsible for providing technical direction and assistance for Plan International USA’s capacity development activities to ensure effective implementation of quality training and other capacity building efforts. S/he will work with the Washington, DC-based Leadership and Capacity Building Team to implement and/or manage projects and contribute to the development of proposals, publications, and technical documents.

The Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) Learning Package on Capacity Development will shortly be available as an online training course. Developed with support from LenCD, UNDP and Learn4Dev and facilitated by DiploFoundation. Please note that this is a paid course, with limited scholarships for applicants from developing countries.

Applications are invited for an evaluation of the Research for Health Africa (R4HA) Programme. R4HA aims to improve health, development and equity by strengthening capacity for governance of research and innovation in African countries and is jointly implemented by the NEPAD Agency and COHRED. R4HA works with institutions in Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania as they build national systems for managing research and innovation.

The IRC has been present in Liberia since 1996 and supports hospitals and primary health care facilities across three counties. The M&E Advisor will contribute to a forecasted project focusing on providing support to integrated community-level health services and activities.

In addition to its regular residential training courses in Oxford, UK, INTRAC is offering two new "blended learning courses" through distance learning in 2013. The courses will be on the topics: Learning, Advocacy and Policy Influencing, and Monitoring and Evaluation and will take place in June and July. The blended learning courses are delivered remotely through webinar (web conferencing) technology, skype and INTRAC's learning platform (moodle). The course combines trainer-led presentations, discussions and exercises; peer learning with other participants based worldwide; self-directed work; and one-to-one coaching with the trainer. These courses focus heavily on applying learning to the workplace throughout the course. The courses are delivered over an eight week period.

Adopting a landscape perspective to spatial planning and decision making offers new space for negotiation and collaboration, taking into account the needs of local resource users, and of the global community. Spatial planners and natural resources managers are increasingly operating as facilitators of such negotiation processes on the ground. During this course we will help them to examine landscape dynamics, and analyse conflicts arising from overlapping land use. Moreover, we will enhance their ability to mediate in conflict, facilitate negotiation processes, and create space for multi-stakeholder collaboration within forested landscapes.

This is a self-paced introduction to SenseMaker® - a technique for dealing with uncertainty and complexity - as applied to team, organizational, marketplace or environment issues and opportunities. While it is not facilitator-led, participants will have opportunities to learn from and collaborate online with others. The course materials consist of a series of specially made videos, podcasts and documents that take learners through the process of working with SenseMaker®, introduce the important terms and key concepts, and illustrate typical results.

World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) is a UK charity, based in Cambridge, which works in collaboration with UNEP, under the banner of UNEP-WCMC. Our mission is to evaluate and highlight the many values of biodiversity and put authoritative biodiversity knowledge at the centre of decision-making. WCMC is now seeking to fill a new role of Head of Capacity Development to work with us on a permanent basis and to take a leading role in ensuring the Centre’s growing engagement with national governments is as effective as possible.

ILRI seeks to recruit a Market and Capacity Development Specialist to build and execute a market and capacity development strategy to support efforts to bring to scale its Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) agenda. The assignment involves working with the suite of IBLI partners that range from research leaders, our research-for-development partners, commercial entities, NGOs, government agencies, and target communities to manage the transition from pilot to scale-up.

Under the auspices of the UNDP/GEF Migratory Soaring Birds project, BirdLife International seeks a consultant /firm with extensive experience in the field of institutional capacity development of biodiversity conservation Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The consultant will undertake a short term consultancy to strengthen the capacity of BirdLife Partners involved in project to undertake effective mainstreaming tasks for migratory bird conservation within the five sectors of hunting, energy, agriculture, waste management and tourism in their respective countries.

SNV seeks a Value Chain Technical Advisor for the upcoming cross-cutting REGIS-ER project in Burkina Faso and Niger. The Value Chain Technical Advisor will be located in Niger and will provide strategic vision, leadership and technical assistance in expanding economic opportunities and increased income for vulnerable men and women, from sustainable and resilient crop and livestock enterprises within inclusive and competitive value chains.

Changes in markets are not predictable and often surprising, even after thorough market analysis and strategic planning. This creates specific challenges for monitoring and evaluation of development interventions. The webinar session will feature insights from the SEEP Network’s Systemic M&E Initiative, a practitioner-led initiative supported by USAID and fhi360 that has been exploring innovative ways to monitor and evaluate interventions in market and financial systems.

Global Communities, formerly CHF International, is seeking a Local Government Capacity Development Expert for an anticipated USAID funded devolution program in Kenya. The project will build the capacity of local governments, improve service delivery at the local level, establish communication and coordination mechanisms between the central government and county governments and strengthen the role of civil society as a governance partner at the local level.

Citizen Voices will focus on citizen engagement and feedback systems that strengthen the quality of policymaking and the science of service delivery, and where the impact on the poor is most direct.  The conference will position the citizen engagement agenda as essential for effective development, move from knowledge to action, and establish concrete partnerships for scaling up at global and national levels.

The International Rescue Committee seeks a development, monitoring and evaluation manager for its Legal Assistance Center (LAC) project. LAC is an innovative and comprehensive access to justice and rule of law program in refugee camps on the Thai/ Burma border. Project activities are designed to improve access to justice and effective protection for refugees in camps by: helping refugees access legal information and appropriate remedies for crime and rights violations in the Thai or camp justice systems; supporting the refugee leadership to administer justice more equitably within the camps; engaging Thai authorities and civil society on refugee justice and rights; and pursuing research, monitoring, and advocacy on refugee rights issues. The LAC project is a partnership between IRC and UNHCR.

The Capacity Development Advisor will provide high-quality technical assistance to Pact’s institutional strengthening initiatives in Kenya and for Pact worldwide. The CD Advisor will be responsible for developing, implementing and documenting institutional strengthening methodologies and approaches, and for training staff and partners. In addition, the CD Advisor will be expected to remain up-to-date with the latest in African and global capacity development initiatives and will be asked to support Pact’s global portfolio. Fluency in English is a must and knowledge of Kiswahili is preferred for the position.

Pact requires applications from the eligible applicants for the position of Capacity Development Advisor. Excellent interpersonal skills, including mentoring and communication skills are required.

Reporting to the Head of National Society Support (NSS) and Knowledge Development (KD), the Organisational Development Delegate will work with National Society Development practitioners, in support of Haitian Red Cross counterparts, to ensure growth towards a national service delivery system based on future operational and financial sustainability. The main purpose is to help extend the scale, quality, and impact of the work of the movement through knowledge and capacity building, and standards and systems improvement of the Haitian Red Cross Society.

Human Relief Foundation (HRF) is an international NGO seeking to promote sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities through relief and development programmes, as well as supporting people in need to build a better life and find their own solutions to local and global problems. We are currently looking for a project manager/technical consultant to manage a EuropeAid funded project providing capacity building in peacebuilding to Jordanian NGOs.

Access Agriculture is an international NGO with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and a regional office for West and Central Africa being established in Cotonou, Benin. Access Agriculture facilitates the production, translation, distribution and use of agricultural training videos in developing countries. To support its ‘Videos for farmers’ project, Access Agriculture is recruiting a Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Officer to help the organization to enhance learning in agricultural innovation systems across Africa.

The candidate must have a MSc in agricultural or social sciences. She/he will be fluent in English and French, and have good writing and interpersonal communication skills. The candidate will have a solid experience in monitoring R&D projects and in using statistical software.

OneVillage Partners (OVP) is an entrepreneurial, start-up nonprofit organization that improves quality of life for rural villagers living in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa. With a small support staff in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the organization is currently building its team in Sierra Leone and seeks a full-time Finance and Capacity Building Officer. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to build the position, develop financial policies, and work on the ground with local communities to support expansion efforts. As OneVillage Partners grows, this person will oversee and manage all finance and accounting activities in Sierra Leone and also assist interested villagers and villager groups in developing the necessary skills for empowerment and self-determination. An expatriate is required for this position.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Capacity Development Specialist to enhance ILRI’s contribution to the capacity development aspects of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish (http://livestockfish.cgiar.org/). The assignment involves working with research leaders and our research-for-development partners to convert research outputs and tools into training media and a strategy to ensure effective dissemination and uptake among our research team and target beneficiaries. Media are expected to include development of instructional materials and curricula, workshop designs and ICT delivery techniques.

Please note that course fees apply

Organisational development and change: 11-15 February, Arusha, Tanzania
Result-based management: 11-15 March, Arusha, Tanzania
Monitoring & Evaluation and Learning: 18-22 March, Arusha, Tanzania
Programme Planning form a Livelihood Perspective: 1-5 April 2013, Nairobi, Kenya
Outcome mapping: 15-17 April 2013, Arusha, Tanzania
Financial management for non-financial managers: 5-10 May, Arusha, Tanzania
Leadership and people management: 13-17 May, Arusha, Tanzania
Project and programme management: 10-21 June, Arusha, Tanzania

For more information and a full overview of all courses offered in 2013, please visit the MDF-ESA website.

GUEST COLUMN

"If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." Nowadays, policymakers and leaders of businesses and NGOs habitually quote this old African proverb in support of their partnering strategy. Partnering is the most institutionalised form of inter-organisational learning. But the partnering process is anything but straightforward. Indeed, it is replete with (learning) dilemmas.

Almost six years ago 18 South African NGOs all working on early childhood development were brought together in a learning alliance. Over the years they have established a collaborative learning and working platform, involving organised community-based women caregivers, to develop workable and sustainable solutions for the well-being of young children in South Africa. This is their story.

Devolution of power to local government changed the rules of the game in decision making and created new opportunities. The Society for Participatory Research in Asia facilitated a nationwide inter-organisational learning process in order to make the new system work for the marginalised.

Against all odds

Learning collectively in a fragile environment is both important and hard. The authors of this article engaged in facilitating an inter-organisational learning process in an effort to overcome mistrust and pre-conceived perceptions.

PSO, a Dutch umbrella organisation with 57 member affiliates, has funded 13 inter-organisational learning processes since 2010. Referred to by PSO as thematic learning programmes, or TLPs, they were evaluated in late 2012.

The importance of defining outcomes

The questions practitioners repeatedly face when facilitating inter-organisational learning processes are: what does collaboration precisely mean and what are its goals? How pragmatic is collaboration? And is it indeed the answer or merely a layer of additional complexity? This is particularly relevant in the South African context where the country’s successes – such as the transition from apartheid and the 2010 World Cup – are seen as examples of collaboration. In reality, however, these successes seem to be more the exception than the norm, and the complexity of collaboration and resulting inter-organisational learning is severely underestimated.

Towards a knowledge agenda

Inter-organisational activities have become common practice in the development sector. Some of these activities aim to categorically achieve learning. However, even when this is not the primary goal, inter-organisational learning is usually critical to the success of networks, coalitions, alliances, partnerships and other inter-organisational structures. It is therefore high time to set a knowledge agenda in support of practitioners who facilitate inter-organisational learning.

Organisations can learn from each other, and they can learn together. There is a wide spectrum of ways in which inter-organisational learning (IOL) occurs, ranging from picking up a good idea from a competitor to engaging in strategic alliances. Inter-organisational learning is not only practiced in the private sector but also widely practised in the development sector. However, unlike the private sector IOL in the development sector is hardly studied or evaluated. There seems to be an uncritical assumption that organisations working and learning together is unproblematic and usually beneficial for all parties.

One of the most difficult challenges for smallholder farmers is finding a reliable source of high quality agricultural inputs, such as seed, fertilizer, farm equipment, veterinary supplies and services, and sustainable extension services. Access to these farm services directly results in higher quality and quantity farm production, which in turn yields higher profits and promotes increased on-farm production. However, smallholder farmers often have to travel far to get inputs, pay high prices for them and face limited choices in input availability.

This Agrilinks webinar will address the benefits of private sector input supply systems and how these systems are increasing smallholders' production, incomes, and livelihoods.

Human security is essential to the achievement of development goals. Yet its restoration has proved elusive in too many conflict-affected states. This will be the subject of an expert panel convened by the Africa All Party Parliamentary Group (Africa APPG) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS).

The Learning and Knowledge Management Officer will be a key position in the $48 million, 5-year USAID-funded Pastoralists Areas Resilience Improvement and market Expansion (PRIME) program. He/she will lead enhanced innovation learning and knowledge management activities. In addition he/she will work closely with USAID/FTF’s Knowledge Learning, Documentation and Policy (KLDP) project and the Capacity to Improve Agriculture and Food Security (CIAFS) program.

The Senior Capacity Development Advisor will contribute to developing and implementing family planning/reproductive health and HIV project strategies through a USAID-funded project with emphasis on individual and institutional capacity development and advocacy.

This is the second of three webinars in the “Integrating Very Poor Producers Into Value Chains Field Guide” series, an initiative of the SEEP Network Market Facilitation Initiative and STEP UP Initiative. The objective of the Field Guide is to provide guidance to frontline field development practitioners on how to better integrate very poor producers into value chains.

Accurate information is a vital tool for humanitarians. It can provide evidence of current or anticipated needs; demonstrate those elements of a response that are working, and those which urgently need to be changed; and support the development and improvement of life-saving practices. But there are many challenges to the collection of information and the use of evidence in humanitarian response, arising from the context of operations and from the culture of the humanitarian system. This upcoming ALNAP Meeting will look at these challenges and – building on the experience of Network members and invited experts - try to find ways to address them.

Chemonics seeks technical specialists for the anticipated three- to five-year USAID-funded Enabling Environment for Agriculture Program in Uganda. This feed the future program will partner with Ugandan private and public institutions to improve the enabling environment for agricultural development, trade, and adaptation to climate change.

The Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) is an interagency partnership founded in 2006 with a steering committee of five member agencies: Save the Children, Action against Hunger, Norwegian Refugee Council, The British Red Cross and Oxfam GB. The Partnership promotes the appropriate use of cash transfers in emergencies through capacity building, evidence based research and advocating for and engaging in developing policy around cash based programming. The Capacity Building Officer will be responsible for technical quality and roll out of the CaLP trainings and training modules under the CaLP strategy 2012 - 2015 and will be hosted by the Humanitarian Department in Oxfam GB.

LenCD is an informal network established in 2004 to raise the contour of capacity development on the international policy agenda. This review will explore the extent to which LenCD has been able to facilitate learning on capacity development (CD), promote change in CD practice on the ground, broaden evidence on CD, and promote the integration of CD into mainstream development policy.

Under the overall guidance of the Knowledge Management Specialist and the direct supervision of the Volunteer Resource Learning Specialist in VKIS, the Learning Strategy Consultant will undertake a process in which the objectives are to:

• Identify cross-cutting learning needs as perceived by UNV Headquarters, field units, volunteers and beneficiaries (The needs assessment will not focus on substantive or technical knowledge acquisition or learning, but learning that is related to strengthening the integration of volunteerism into development and peace)
• Gather information on the historical training activities that UNV has offered and lessons learned
• Map current training activities available to UN Volunteers through UNV and/or host agencies
• Prepare and conduct a multi-level (from senior management to beneficiaries) learning needs assessment to determine UNV learning priorities
• Assess the viability of different learning delivery mechanisms (synchronous, asynchronous, blended) for the UN Volunteer population
• Define learning solutions and propose actions that UNV can take, paying particular attention to different learning needs for distinct groups within the volunteer pool (field units, national volunteers, international volunteers, youth volunteer modality, online volunteers, mission and development assignments)
• Recommend short term (-2 yrs. year) and long term (2 – 5 yrs) learning paths to enhance volunteer learning: design, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Define strategic directions for UNV learning and capacity development in alignment with organizations vision and volunteer learning needs

The Learning Strategy Consultant will be partly home-based with two trips to UNV Headquarters in Bonn, Germany and 2 field missions. Methods and tools can be combined at various stages of the process.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa is currently recruiting for Monitoring & Evaluation Specialists to fulfill the following key responsibilities:

• Promote the utilization of results based monitoring & measurement approaches & tools in tracking Jobs Fund impact
• Develop Capacity & Support amongst Jobs Fund staff
• Provide an Assurance Function on the adequacy and effectiveness of monitoring & measurement of Jobs Fund development results
• Promotion of timely reporting of monitoring, evaluation and learning finding 

Interested applicants may apply online on www.dbsa.org or send an email to Dikeledi Helepi or Lucy Tumane.

 

This was the idea behind the first K* (K Star) international conference in Hamilton, Canada, organised by United Nations University -Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and its partners in April 2012. The organisers have now published a concept paper to facilitate broader understanding and the emergence of a global community of practice on this issue.

Relief International seeks advisors and experts for key positions in the upcoming 5-year USAID Ghana Agricultural Technology Transfer Project (ATT) Project. The Organization Development Specialist will lead the Organization Development Component of the project and will provide technical expertise. S/he will also coordinate closely with the other components of the project (Seed Industry Management, Soil Fertility, and Information and Communication)

Bala Vikasa's four-week " Capacity Building Program with Field Exposure in Community Driven Development” covers the theory and practice of making developmental interventions more inclusive, effective, efficient and sustainable. The course is designed to deepen participants' understanding of community development concepts and familiarize them with various approaches and tools that can be applied in the process of empowering the community.

Local governance for rural development is increasingly approached as a multi-stakeholder process with interactions taking place amongst actors with different ambitions or perceptions. This course aims to build participants' capacity to analyse and deal with the complexity of governance processes and engage with multiple actors. The course is relevant for mid-career professionals working in rural service delivery, decentralisation, local economic development and natural resource management.

Applications are invited for the second course of the e-learning programme on development evaluation, focusing on National Evaluation Capacity Development for Country-led Monitoring and Evaluation Systems.This follows the well attended e-learning course on Equity-focused evaluations that attracted almost 4,500 participants from 163 countries.

Save the Children International is looking for a Capacity Building Specialist to join the Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC) team. The Myanmar Education Consortium is a national programme designed in view of the rapidly evolving changes occurring in the education sector and the overall country context. It is initially led by Burnet Institute, Save the Children and World Vision with the aim to build capacity and involve local partners over the course of the programme.

The MEC Capacity Building Specialist will be responsible for coordinating with local implementing partners including complementary systems and local civil society groups to build capacity of education institutions and personnel for improved education management (i.e. financial management, human resources, organisational development), knowledge of education current theory and best practice and enhanced service delivery.

WYG International have been shortlisted for the ”SADC ICDP Technical Assistance Team“ project within the SADC Secretariat's Institutional Capacity Development Programme for the member states of the South African Development Community. WYG International seeks an Adviser, Change Management and Institutional Capacity Development to head the team. The purpose is to improve the capacity of the SADC Secretariat to effectively carry out its mandate of coordinating the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and the Strategic Indicative Programme for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (SIPO). The intended commencement date is January 2013.

The Capacity Building Consultant will support RI’s Youth Empowerment program by working with RI’s four partners and consultants to leverage the experience of the YEP program for new program and funding opportunities. S/he will play a primary role in program assessment, design, proposal writing, program recruitment and donor relations. The Capacity Building Consultant- Egypt will also serve as the vital coordination link between partner staff, RI consultants, RI headquarters-based program development staff and field- and US-based donors.

The learning programme will focus on the following topics:

• Small-scale farming: prmoting small-scale sustainable farming and rural development (application deadline: 7 December 2012)
• Human rights: promoting, protecting, defending and guaranteeing human rights (application deadline: 30 November 2012)
• Climate resilient cities: making cities more resilient to climate change (application deadline: 7 December 2012)

Participation is free of charge and members are expected to devote about one to two hours per week to the learning programme. For more information please visit: ella.practicalaction.org

The M&L Advisor/Management Coach Lead will be accountable for the technical direction and implementation of the project's M&L program and District Level Management Strengthening activities. The M&L Advisor/Management Coach Lead will report directly to the project's Chief of Party and will have management responsibility for one staff member and one local partner.

Required skills: Master's degree (PhD desirable) in management, public health, business administration or a related professional degree; along with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience. Demonstrated ability to plan, manage and execute work assignments in collaboration with a diverse team. Demonstrated ability to mentor senior and mid-level stakeholders in management and leadership. Demonstrated ability to engage and work with stakeholders at all system levels. Ability to multitask and carry-out diverse types of office work, and manage varied deadlines. Excellent writing, computer, mangement and organizational skills. Fluency in English and Chichewa (official local language) required. Fluency in other local language/s a plus. Previous work experience on a development project is desirable, preferably with USAID.

The Institutional Capacity Building Technical Adviser will work as part of the senior leadership team responsible for the delivery of a flagship £35m Governance and Basic Service Delivery programme in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The project brings together an experienced group of implementing organizations in the region to deliver a high quality, integrated program, building the capacity of government counterparts and strengthening community level engagement with service delivery. This position is based in Jijiga, the capital of the Somali region in Ethiopia.

The guides, which can be read separately or as an interconnected series, offer recommendations on three key topics: How to use action learning to achieve your results; How to recruit to maximize the value of your cohort; and How to cultivate and activate your network.

Launched on 4 October, this four-week long e-discussion aims to gather diverse viewpoints about the results and quality of development cooperation in different countries, regions and globally.  The e-discussion is co-hosted by the UNDP Knowledge, Innovation and Capacity Group, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD). The discussion will take place in two parts: the first part (4-18 Oct. 2012) will focus on taking stock of improving mutual accountability at country level, the second part (19 Oct. – 1 Nov. 2012) examines the relationship between the country, regional and global processes and frameworks.

The two organizations have put in place a number of multi-stakeholder platforms to strengthen the capacity of all stakeholders involved to come up with innovative and sustainable solutions. In this process, the support organizations are increasingly using video, not only to document multi-stakeholder processes but to enhance the dialogue process itself. MOOV-ON has just produced a new docudrama Sinima sinima (our vision of the future) that depicts the conflict, the stages of development of the multi-stakeholder platforms and the resulting technical, organizational and institutional innovations.

The seventh edition of the European Development Days (EDD 2012) will focus on the theme of sustainable and inclusive growth for human development, with three related sub-themes: - sustainable agriculture, food security and resilience; - engaging the private sector for development; and - empowering people for inclusive growth.  Live web-streaming of all sessions taking place in the four main high level panels each day will be available online at http://live.eudevdays.eu/ in French, English and the original language of the speakers.

Professionals working in the field of sustainable agri-business development, be it from a private sector, support service or government perspective, are in need of a better understanding of how gender can be mainstreamed in value chain activities and partnerships. This participatory, experience based course offers you a framework that helps you plan and implement value chain interventions in such a way that women benefit more from value chains, while at the same time increasing business development opportunities within the chain as a whole.

Nathan Associates Inc. is seeking a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist for the USAID-funded Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) Project. The aim of the program is to improve the livelihoods and nutritional status of vulnerable households in targeted communities in the Northern Region of Ghana. Project activities will focus on increasing consumption of diverse quality foods, especially among women and children; improving behaviors related to nutrition and hygiene of women and young children; and strengthening the capacity of local support networks (with a particular focus on the Northern Region Coordinating Council (NRCC) and 14 identified District Assemblies (DA)) to address the needs of vulnerable households.

"Effective networks" is the topic of three sets of three-week virtual training modules organized in partnership between The Network University and NetworkingAction. The course will cover a variety of networking forms, including networks that comprise as their main “unit” individuals or organizations; single-sector (business-government-civil society) or cross-sector; local, national, regional or global. Participants will learn core concepts and tools to support development of networks’ effectiveness. To register for the course, please click here or send an email to: networks@netuni.nl

Proposals for organising sessions as well as paper abstracts are invited. The deadlines for submissions are: 30 September 2012 (session proposals) and 15 December 2012 (abstracts).

  Upcoming courses (October - December 2012)

• Monitoring and Evaluation: 03 – 05 October
• Leadership & Managing Human Resources: 15 – 19 October
• Outcome Mapping and Most Significant Change: 29 October – 01 November
• Change Management and Leadership: 12 – 14 November

Myanmar Women's Entrepreneur Association (MWEA) together with the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), and with the funding support of the European Union, has initiated a successful cooperation in implementing the project "Enhancing the capacity of civil society to promote women's rights and economic empowerment in Myanmar". The main objective of the project is to enhance the inclusiveness and pluralism of civil society, empower underrepresented groups for active citizenship and improve their participation and representation in organized civil society. 

Crown Agents is an international development company delivering capacity building and institutional development services in procurement, public financial management, revenue enhancement and expenditure management. As part of its continuing technical assistance, Crown Agents is seeking to identify suitably qualified Capacity Building/Organisational Development Expert who would be interested in potential short and long term consultancy assignments in South Africa.

Saferworld is an independent non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and reduce violent conflict and promote cooperative approaches to security. We work with civil society, governments and international organisations to encourage and support effective policies and practices through advocacy, research and policy development, and through supporting the development of local capacities and structures.
Saferworld is seeking evaluators to conduct a mid-term Independent Progress Review of work and results enabled through its Programme Partnership Agreement with DFID's Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department.

MSH seeks candidates for an upcoming USAID funded program in Zimbabwe to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS on Zimbabwe's children by enhancing the sustainability of care and support services for OVC. This is to be accomplished by strengthening the capacity of: (1) communities and local service providers to support vulnerable families and children (2) vulnerable households to care for children, and (3) the public sector social service system to support vulnerable families and children,  This position is contingent upon program award.

UNDP, in partnership with the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) of the Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives and UN-Habitat, is implementing the Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction Programme (UPPR) in with funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and UNDP. The project is being implemented in informal settlements of 23 - 30 towns during the period 2008-2015 with the aim of reducing urban poverty by improving the livelihoods and living conditions of 3 million urban poor by 2015. The M&E Specialist will support the ongoing organizational development process to create a new Research, Evaluation and Learning Unit (RELU) within UPPR  as well as capacity building and partnership development activities.

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For national adaptation programmes to succeed, partners of the communities – including non-governmental organizations, governmental rural agencies, and local and central administrations – need to gear their planning methods and approaches to effectively support the community’s adaptation efforts. Therefore, IUCN has developed a toolkit outlining participatory approaches and methods covering the entire adaptation cycle including planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The toolkit also provides recommendations for linking up the community planning cycle to higher levels of adaptation planning and programming.
 

A first in the field

Seva Mandir, a non-governmental voluntary organisation working in Rajasthan, India joined hands with  ICCO and scientists from the Dutch institute Alterra to find out what climate change impacts lie in store for the region.

Small farmers overstretched

Over the last three decades, the people of the Rayalaseema region have witnessed a changing climate that has stretched their ability to adapt beyond limits.

INTERVIEW: Prospects after the Durban Climate Change Summit

Angela Churie Kallhauge, senior policy advisor at the Swedish Energy Agency, represents Sweden at high-level climate change negotiations and has her roots in a pastoralist community in Kenya. Capacity.org talked to her about adaptation, mitigation and development.

Communities responding to climate change

Most adaptation strategies focus on coping with climate change effects. But adaptation involves much more than simply putting a plaster over a scratch – it requires transformative thinking and change.

From islands of success to seas of change

Several successful approaches to inclusive business have been developed in recent decades. What will it take to scale them up? This was the core question discussed at an international workshop held in The Hague in April 2012 as part of the Seas of Change Initiative.

Bridging gaps between providers and users of science

Vulnerable communities as well as supporting agencies often do not understand ‘the language’ of weather and climate scientists. As a result, scientific information often fails to trigger or inform community action. Innovative methods have been developed to overcome this communication gap.

Over the past few years SNV Netherlands Development Organisation has undertaken various programmes aimed at enhancing water services in small towns in a number of East and Southern African countries. In a recently published Practice Brief titled Sustainable Water Services and the Poor in Small Towns   SNV practitioners from the region share some of the lessons they have learnt from working with small town water utilities.

USTADI is the brand name for the Kenya Local Capacity Development Facility – K-LCDF, which is a joint initiative of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and a Consortium of 20 other capacity development (CD) organizations in Kenya that seeks to improve the capacity development service environment though a market-embedded approach as a means of supporting the localization agenda and enhancing sustainability of capacity development services (CDS). USTADI intends to strengthen its governance structure by recruiting additional board members to its board.

Training materials available for download on the ECDG website include a letter, concept paper, PowerPoint presentation and workbook of materials for conducting a workshop on the Guide.

The call was launched on the EuropeAid website on 19 March and closes on 30 July 2012.

The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Nuffic to organise an international conference aimed at generating specific ideas for the design of new capacity building programmes. The two-day conference, entitled "Shaping the future: new perspectives on Dutch cooperation in post-secondary education and training for sustainable development," will bring together experts, practitioners and stakeholders from the Netherlands and partner countries, as well as representatives of international agencies.

This meeting will provide a forum for 200 policymakers and practitioners from 40 countries engaged in South-South Knowledge Exchange (SSKE) to learn about Knowledge Hubs and how to strengthen their institutional capacity for SSKE. Participation is by invitation only. Representatives of countries or institutions seeking to develop knowledge hub functions, or who have already implemented such functions, are invited to send an expression of interest no later than 30 May.
 

CARE International UK (CIUK) has secured £3.2 million per year through its 2011-2014 Programme Partnership Agreement (PPA) with DFID. These funds are a vital contribution towards CIUK's role as a key resource within the CARE confederation for thematic technical expertise in areas of good governance, peacebuilding / conflict and private sector engagement, as well as being actively engaged in emerging areas, such as climate change adaptation. Specifically, a primary objective of CIUK's PPA-supported programme is to support the testing, refinement and promotion of innovative approaches to development programming, which is expected to contribute to improved development practice across CARE and the development sector more broadly. CIUK is currently seeking to recruit an evaluation team to conduct an Independent Progress Review of performance and progress so far of its PPA-supported programmes.

In March 2011 the Rwandan government passed legislation creating the new Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC). This legislation brings together 14 health sector institutions which were previously individual entities. The RBC structure presents many opportunities and challenges as new organizational structures form and roles and responsibilities of staff and programs are clarified. USAID/Rwanda is looking to provide an Organizational Development (OD) Advisor to assist in ensuring a successful integration of the RBC.

MSH is seeking candidates for an upcoming results-oriented five-year award to support health systems strengthening in Mozambique. More specifically the program will: 1) increase effectiveness in health governance to achieve a more participatory, transparent and accountable health system; 2) improve management of health sector financing to ensure rational allocation of resources, impact expenditures and better management of external funds; 3) strengthen sector management and operations capacity at the national and provincial levels for improved planning, management, and execution of priority health and social welfare interventions; and 4) strengthen institutional capacity to improve the management, budgeting, and performance of key health and social welfare staff.

FHI360, and its partner Management Systems International (MSI), are currently recruiting for an Organization Development (OD) Specialist for the Local Partners Capacity Building (LPCB) program. The program goal is to improve the overall capacity of local organizations to scale up quality HIV/AIDS services in Zambia. It does this by strengthening its partner organizations’ management, financial, technical and monitoring capacities, mainly by the use of the Institutional Development Framework (IDF).

CARE International seeks qualified consultants to conduct a Mid Term Evaluation of the Adaptation Learning Programme (ALP) operating in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Niger. ALP strengthens the capacity of vulnerable households to adapt to the impacts of climate change and variability through innovative approaches to community based adaptation together with learning and advocacy.

For further details including a full Terms of Reference and details about how to apply please refer to the jobs page of the CARE International website at the link above.

Established in 2004 to raise the contour of capacity development on the international policy agenda, the Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) is an informal network aimed at supporting the emerging global community of practice around capacity development, by promoting exchange of knowledge, experience and approaches among practitioners. Under the guidance of the LenCD steering group, and with the administrative support of the LenCD project manager, the LenCD coordinator will be responsible for moving the LenCD agenda forward and to facilitate the implementation of the work streams agreed by the steering group, as reflected in the LenCD work plan.

Oxfam America is currently seeking a skilled and inspired MEL practitioner to join their Learning, Evaluation and Accountability Department (LEAD). The organization has a small, home office team (based in Boston) which guides our MEL practice globally. This position would be focused on collaborating with senior MEL colleagues in our regional offices to build robust MEL systems at the field level, and ensuring that we maintain our overall quality standards for Program-level, as well as project-level MEL.

This is a great opportunity to join a very dedicated team of MEL practitioners committed to evidenced-based learning.

IRC-UK is seeking an experienced and multidisciplinary evaluation team or company to conduct an external evaluation of its Sida Humanitarian Framework Agreement programme based on an assessment of the results of three of the projects funded through the programme:

1) Strengthening Capacity of Smallholders in Eastern Zimbabwe to Re-enter the Agricultural Economy and Improve Household Food Security;

2) Building Community Resilience to Disaster Risk through Community Driven WASH and Livelihoods Projects in Myanmar;

3) Supporting the Health of Refugee Women and Girls in South Sudan (Rapid Response).

In Dialogue, an international training consultancy based in Denmark and the Netherlands, offers various open international courses. All of them are based on positive relational approaches to change and learning. These courses are open to anyone who has an interest in the subjects and are open to some funding options (to cover board, lodging, course fees and travel) of the European Commission; Comenius programme for secondary education staff and the Grundtvig programme for adult education staff.

The course is designed for people who are involved with governance processes in a context of rural decentralisation, including government officials, project and programme managers, policy makers, consultants, NGO staff, federations of community organizations or private sector organizations.

Plan UK is looking for an experienced evaluator/s to conduct an Independent Progress Review of the DFID PPA funded programme: Building Skills for Life: Empowering Adolescent Girls through Education. The programme is focused around 4 thematic areas of programming: Education; Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights; Economic Empowerment; Protection from Violence. PPA projects are being implemented in 9 Plan countries offices: Pakistan, Cambodia, El Salvador, Mali, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.

Reporting to the Country Director, and working very closely with Programme Managers, Programme teams and with other Oxfam Affiliates,  the MEAL Coordinator will lead the development of monitoring and evaluation framework across the programme.

A five-year (2011-2016) Cooperative Agreement awarded by USAID to Management Sciences for Health (MSH), the Leadership, Management and Governance Project (LMG) supports health systems strengthening around the world by addressing the needs in leadership, management and governance capacity of policy makers, health care providers and program managers to implement quality health services at all levels of the health system. In Ethiopia, LMG’s goal is to improve human capacity and leadership within the health sector through improving leadership and management competencies of the Federal and Regional health workforce and ultimately the performance of the health workforce.

MSH has openings for several positions in the Ethiopia office, including a Project Director, Senior Capacity Building Advisor and M&E Advisor.

• Strategic evaluation: senior evaluation experts who can lead strategic level evaluations and provide expert advice on evaluation design and practice;
• Strategic monitoring and performance systems: senior monitoring and evaluation experts who can work at a strategic level to support improved performance management systems and practices, such as through use of performance frameworks;
• Activity evaluation: qualified evaluation specialists who can lead or contribute to evaluations of aid activities; and
• Activity monitoring and performance systems: monitoring and evaluation specialists who can design, manage or support high-quality monitoring and evaluation systems for aid activities.

The President’s Office – Finance, Economy and Development wishes to recruit a suitable candidate to fill this position. The Specialist will support the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar in facilitating the national efforts for the development management and aid effectiveness. Given that the donor coordination is supported by the Development Partners Group (DPG) Secretariat hosted in the UNDP Tanzania, the Specialist will work closely with the DPG Secretariat on issues related to donor coordination and dialogue with development partners in Zanzibar.

The purpose of the consultancy is to carry out a qualitative assessment of the Development Assistance Strategy implementation and two thematic case studies on the quality of dialogue and the division of labour. The results will inform the preparation work for the next country framework on aid effectiveness for the period 2012-2016, in line with Malawi Growth and Development Strategy II for the same period.

MSI is a Washington DC -based international development firm providing specialized short- and long-term technical assistance. The consultancy firm has numerous vacancies globally for capacity-development professionals, particularly in the Monitoring and Evaluation sector. For an overview of current openings, please visit the

MSI website

PATH (http://www.path.org/)  is seeking a Monitoring & Evaluation Regional Specialist to further the M&E Department’s goal of strengthening Monitoring & Evaluation capacity to measure and learn from results across PATH’s global and field programs. The M&E Regional Specialist will work with the M&E Department to design and provide capacity building opportunities through formal workshops and existing work opportunities to improve the knowledge base and regional capacity to use proven M&E practices and approaches.

In 2011, the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (HERR) called for humanitarian action to be underpinned by evidence and highlighted the need for more systematic and rigorous applied research. However, in order to build this body of evidence and ensure that practitioners can access and apply it, humanitarians and academics need to work in partnership. But what are the key ingredients to an effective partnership between humanitarians and academics? What are the pitfalls and at what stage does it make sense to introduce certain activities or actors?

This event, hosted by the Humanitarian Practice Network at ODI, will launch a ELRHA-commissioned study report that sought to answer this question. In addition to identifying the obstacles to partnership and how these can be overcome, the report highlights a number of examples where effective partnerships between academics and practitioners have yielded results which have had a direct positive impact on vulnerable communities. The report has also been translated into an Online Guide to Effective Partnerships with an Android Application for use in poor coverage areas.The event will include a panel discussion around the value of partnerships, a presentation from one of the case studies and a demonstration of how to use the Online Guide.

This video conference series is organized as part of a Government of Japan/World Bank programme “ Learning from Mega Disasters: Program of Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Exchange,” launched in October 2011. The project has developed 33 Knowledge Notes so far, which will be grouped into 6 clusters for the GDLN knowledge-exchange sessions. The objectives of the KS sessions are to: (i) share initial findings and lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake with practitioners throughout the world, and (ii) exchange views among experts on how these lessons could be transferred and adapted to developing countries.

In preparation for the event, the UNCSD Secretariat invites interested parties around the world to review the proposed courses and vote on their favourites! The voting deadline is 13 April 2012.

LenCD (Learning Network on Capacity Development), has been building up an index of case stories including material from the United Nations Development Programme, the Task Team on South–South Cooperation, SNV, the World Bank Institute, ECDPM, and other sources.

More than 500 case stories have now been catalogued and are searchable by country and by keyword on www.lencd.org/case-stories.

Recent years have seen an upsurge in large-scale land purchases by foreign investors, which can lead to peasant evictions and social upheaval. But less attention has been paid to the parallel rise in contract farming arrangements, which can also endanger the rights of smallholders and contribute to the disempowerment of farmers within the food system. However, contract farming is a market-based approach that can work – provided that it is underpinned by respect for human rights, a focus on the right to food and strong institutional supervision.

ITAD, a UK-based consultancy organization, is going through a period of growth and seeks to expand its permanent staff in Consultant and Senior Consultant roles.

Whether to mobilise new resources or tackle complex issues in innovative ways, the strategic importance of collaboration between business, the UN system, foundations, governments and NGO or civil society organisations has never been stronger. However, effective collaboration between stakeholders with different missions, interests, cultures and even vocabularies is difficult to achieve.This training course is designed to develop the capacity of practitioners from all sectors to engage in effective multi- stakeholder partnerships.

In eastern China, thousands of smallholders generate substantial incomes from bamboo. But across the border in Vietnam where conditions are, if anything, more favourable, smallholders are moving out of bamboo. An opportunity will go to waste here unless local authorities take the initiative.

Over the last couple of years, certification brands of coffee have steadily increased their volume of sales in Northern consumer markets, with an ever broader portfolio of products. On the face of it, this appears to be good news for groups of small producers who sell their coffee through these certification schemes. However, the growth figures are significantly lower for the brand that is most committed to working with farmers organisations, the Fair Trade Labelling Organizations (FLO), also known as Fairtrade International, which brings together 25 fair trade initiatives from around the world.

As support for agriculture climbs up the policy agenda, the spotlight is increasingly focused on smallholder farmers. But one dimension of this is still being regularly overlooked – the role of women on smallholder farms. Markets for agricultural commodities are increasingly linked to the value chains of large food manufacturers and retailers.

Smallholder agriculture is back on the global policy agenda. This is because of the growing demand for food and because the livelihoods of billions of people depend on small farms. However, farm wage labour remains largely ignored.

In the struggle over ideas in the development arena, terms that are associated with more radical perspectives are often picked up by mainstream actors and organisations. And this has been the case with ‘empowerment’. But such mainstreaming can cause original meanings to be modified or become obscure. From the perspective of strategies that aim to improve the well-being of small-scale farmers, there are various risks inherent in the way the term ‘empowerment’ has been taken up by international and bilateral development agencies.

Over the next few decades, there will be extensive and unprecedented change in global agri-food systems. When taken together, the growing demand for food, the effects of climate change, the need to respond to poverty and hunger and the rapid decline of natural resources mean that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option. A new perspective is needed if the agri-food sector is to be able to maintain secure supplies and guarantee food security. Innovation and growth in the sector must focus on how to expand, secure and distribute supplies in an inclusive and sustainable way – and that point needs to be reached fast.

The polarised debate on how markets can work for or against the interests of small-scale farmers, presents major challenges for practitioners. This article aims to rebalance our thinking about smallholders and markets.