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2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC
Fourth Floor Conference Facility
Wednesday, 26 July 2006
3:30 p.m. -- 5:00 p.m.
RSVP

"Good governance" has taken center stage in the international development arena. Developing countries have placed good governance prominently on their development agenda, and donors make their funding increasingly dependent on indicators of governance performance. However, most of the widely used governance indicators are based on surveys among business enterprises in the formal sector. Hence, little is known about governance that matters for the rural poor. How effective a government is in creating a conducive business environment for a foreign investor is not necessarily related to its effectiveness in addressing the needs of poor farmers. Since the majority of the world's poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, there is a need to better understand which dimensions of governance matter for smallholder agriculture, and how governance can be improved in this respect. Against this background, the presentation will

1. identify areas of governance that are of particular importance for the rural poor, such as government effectiveness in providing rural services and infra-structure; control of corruption in the local administration; gender-sensitive property regimes that secure small-holders' access to land; and environmental and food safety regulations that do not exclude smallholders from new markets and technologies.
2. present strategies to improve governance in these areas, such as political decentralization and public sector management reforms. Examples from India and Uganda will be used to illustrate these strategies;
3. discuss the political challenges inherent in such governance reforms. Special attention will be paid to the challenge to give the rural poor voice in political decision-making processes, and to make state institutions as well as NGOs accountable to them.

The presentation will conclude by highlighting priorities for action and identifying needs for further research.