For the billions around the world who live in poverty, sustainable development is defined as much by access to decent health care and adequate education, to proper nutrition and a reasonable livelihood, to political power and accountable representation, as by a healthy ecosystem. Implicit in sustainable development is the understanding that social, economic, and environmental factors are inextricably linked and cannot be dealt with effectively in a piecemeal fashion.

To deal with these issues effectively, Agenda 21 talks of the need for more holistic problem-solving and decision-making processes that include a broader public consultation. IDRC's more than 30 years of experience confirms that complex issues such as poverty are not readily reduced to component parts for study. IDRC's approach, therefore, is to help developing-country thinkers and communities determine the problem, then identify what knowledge and which scientific disciplines can best contribute to its solution. Drawing on a broad spectrum of scientific, technical, and indigenous expertise is the key to unravelling the convoluted links that underpin most development problems. In the process, the local capacity to undertake complex, multidimensional research and generate long-term sustainable solutions is enhanced.

The examples that follow are practical demonstrations of this approach. In recent years, IDRC has emphasized linking the outcomes of research to policymaking processes to extend the benefits of the research we support to a greater number of people.

Broadening the Benefits of Trade

"Governments should continue to strive to ... promote an open, nondiscriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system that will enable all countries — in particular, the developing countries — to improve their economic structures and improve the standard of living of their populations through sustained economic development ...." Agenda 21: Chapter 2. International Cooperation to Accelerate Development in Developing Countries and Related Domestic Policies (1992)"

IDRC will support the strengthening of human resources and organizational capabilities in developing countries." Meeting the Global Challenge: Themes and Programs of the International Develepment Research Centre (1993)

"IDRC will help developing countries deal with the effects of some of the instruments of globalization, notably the rules and codes of the World Trade Organization."Corporate Strategy and Program Framework, 2000–2005 (2000)

Many developing countries lack the technical expertise and resources needed to analyze trade issues and develop good negotiating approaches. This lack of information can limit the range of issues and concerns raised by Southern negotiators.

To help Africans better define and articulate their perspectives on trade and economic issues, IDRC has provided long-term support to two economic think tanks: the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), and the Trade and Industrial Policy Secretariat (TIPS).

When IDRC helped to establish AERC in 1983, African economists were largely left out of decision-making processes that affected their continent. The AERC set out to change this state of affairs by providing an African perspective on the structural adjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Today, the Nairobi-based AERC is a multidonor consortium that is the premier African research body in the field of economics. More than 700 students have graduated from its master's program. Its role in enhancing policy research, training, and policy dialogue in Africa continues to grow with the launch of a collaborative PhD program in economics.

TIPS was created in 1996 to help the post-apartheid government in South Africa reform its economy. Its main focus has been on trade policy, industrial strategy, and economic regulation. Working with the national government's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), TIPS staff have helped policymakers develop a clearer framework for antidumping policy, evaluate their own trade policy, and a new competition bill. To enlarge the pool of researchers knowledgeable in trade and policy issues, TIPS also works outside government circles. Formerly a multidonor secretariat hosted by IDRC, TIPS became an independent organization this past year.

Tackling Poverty

"A specific antipoverty strategy is one of the conditions for ensuring sustainable development." Agenda 21: Chapter 3. Combatting Poverty (1992)

"IDRC is funding research and research-based activities to enable policymakers in developing countries to reshape their current practices both at the national and local level to achieve sustainable and equitable development." Meeting the Global Challenge: Themes and Programs of the International Development Research Centre (1993)

"IDRC is pledged to the generation and use of knowledge in ways that alleviate poverty and improve people's lives." Corporate Strategy and Program Framework, 2000–2005 (2000)

The Philippine province of Palawan, a narrow archipelago of 17 000 islands, is breathtakingly beautiful — and poor. Efforts to improve the lives of the local people has been plagued by a lack of information concerning the needs of the islands' population.

In 1999, provincial officials turned to researchers at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies for help in determining the underlying causes of poverty. The approach recommended was a community-based poverty monitoring system (CBMS) that concentrates on poverty at the household level. The system developed in Palawan is low-cost, easy to sustain, and easily conducted by trained local field workers. Information collected gives details about local problems and needs, and allows officials to better tailor their interventions to meet those needs. It also enables them to gauge the effectiveness of program and projects. Poverty monitoring is at the core of IDRC's Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic and Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) program initiative.

An important aspect of the Palawan study, says Celia M. Reyes, MIMAP-Philippines Team Leader, is the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to produce maps that allow planners to compare municipalities. Using the data gathered through the CBMS and spatial analysis of indicators through GIS, for instance, the Provincial Planning and Development Office published Palawan's first Human Development Report in 2001. "With this report, we know where we stand as far as Palawan's development is concerned," says Joel T. Reyes, Palawan's Governor, "and what needs to be done to bring about the improvement of the quality of lives of Palaweños." Palawan has now adopted CBMS as part of its annual planning exercise.

The challenge for MIMAP is to share this experience with other provinces. That process appears to be gathering momentum: Dr Reyes is now assisting the National Anti-Poverty Commission and the Department of Interior and Local Government to adapt and replicate CBMS throughout the Philippines.

Globally, MIMAP has moved beyond the borders of the Philippines and grown into a network covering 12 countries in Asia and Africa. MIMAP's poverty-monitoring teams met, for the first time, in Rabat, Morocco in January 2002 to share insights and experiences.

Improve the Environment, Improve Human Health

"Health ultimately depends on the ability to manage successfully the interaction between the physical, spiritual, biological and economic/social environment." Agenda 21: Chapter 6. Protecting and Promoting Human Health Conditions (1992)

"IDRC will help build a program of research into environmental impact assessment in relation to human health conditions." Meeting the Global Challenge: Themes and Programs of the International Development Research Centre (1993)

"IDRC will support research to help developing countries deliver public services, namely health and education, in ways that are more effective, equitable, and financially sustainable." Corporate Strategy and Program Framework, 2000–2005 (2000)

For most of its history, the town of Buyo has been an isolated backwater in the humid equatorial forests of southwestern Côte d'Ivoire. In the late 1960s, the national government initiated a development scheme to tap the region's fertile soils. But it wasn't until the 1980s when a hydroelectric dam was built on the Sassandra River at Buyo that development took off. Today, Buyo is part of Côte d'Ivoire's "new coffee and cacao belt," and a magnet for migrants.

Buyo's economic development has dramatically changed the way people interact with their surrounding environment. As the forest cover has thinned, rainfall has dropped and biodiversity has dwindled. The heavy use and misuse of fertilizers and pesticides has polluted Lake Buyo and its surrounding watershed. The lack of sanitation and waste disposal facilities has further compromised water quality. Water-borne diseases and respiratory ailments are on the rise; malnutrition and poverty are widespread.

To curb the mounting health problems, Ivorian researchers have adopted an "ecosystem approach to human health." The idea is to find ways of managing the local environment to improve its health and the health of the people who live in it. IDRC has played a leading role in promoting ecosystem approaches to human health.

In Buyo, local people are working in close collaboration with a team of experts from the health, social, and natural sciences to define priorities and establish a research agenda. Researchers will also examine the differing health effects of resource use on men, women, and children.

Once the analysis is completed, the community will have a clearer picture of the factors affecting their health. They can then make informed decisions about how best to protect themselves and their environment. For example, in the past year, slow sand filters have been piloted to see if the simple robust technology can meet Buyo's critical need for clean drinking water. The filters have proven effective in removing 80 to 90 percent of microbiological contaminants and up to 60 percent of heavy metals. In Buyo, a team of young people has adapted the filters for local use and is promoting their use.

Cities Feeding People

"The overall human settlement objective is to improve the social, economic and environmental quality of human settlements and the living and working environments of all people, in particular the urban and rural poor." Agenda 21: Chapter 7. Promoting Sustainable Human Settlement Development (1992)

"Urban environment management will help provide urban communities with information, skills, and capacity to assess water supply, study waste management practices, and identify food security problems." Meeting the Global Challenge: Themes and Programs of the International Development Research Centre (1993)

"Other research interests include land degradation, soil productivity, urban agriculture, community resource management, and the preservation of biodiversity." Corporate Strategy and Program Framework, 2000–2005 (2000)

In Amman, Jordan, gardens are sprouting in the most unlikely places. In a densely populated Palestinian refugee camp, fruit, vegetables, and herbs grow between tightly packed concrete houses. Across town in a more upscale neighbourhood, one family has transformed a plot outside its apartment building into a mini-farm. While such practices have been common in Latin America and Africa for decades, urban agriculture within a bustling Middle Eastern city is a relative rarity. Amman, home to 31 percent of the country's population, is one of the first to embrace urban agriculture: about one in six households cultivates gardens and raises livestock.

With support from IDRC, the Jordan Department of Statistics conducted a multifaceted survey – the first of its kind in Jordan — to determine the extent of urban agriculture and identify main bottlenecks in the way of its development. The project surveyed 1 350 households in Amman and estimated that 50 000 households — rich and poor — practice urban agriculture, devoting devote as much as 15 percent of their land to gardens.

The survey was designed to influence government policies to strengthen urban agriculture, recognizing that growing food in the city may may help ensure food security in water scarce, rapidly urbanizing Middle Eastern countries. Urban farming can also provice nutritious, affordable food for the poor. Initial recommendations propose that policies be developed to govern pesticide and fertilizer use, to develop standards for safely reusing greywater from showers, kitchens, and laundry facilities, and to provide credit to urban farmers.

National Sustainable Development Strategies — Best Practices

When world leaders endorsed the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, they agreed to a process of change, one that would set them on the road to sustainable development. Since 1992, more than 70 countries have established National Councils for Sustainable Development (NCSDs) to oversee the implementation of the Earth Summit agreements and to promote and implement sustainable development nationally.

To help countries integrate environmental priorities — particularly global environmental conventions — into national sustainable development strategies and legislation, IDRC is supporting a project to analyze and recommend an appropriate approach. The project is being carried out by the Earth Council's NCSD Program, in collaboration with the NCSD secretariats in three countries: Mexico, the Philippines, and Uganda. The resulting environmental policy integration guidelines will be presented to each participating country's official delegation to the Rio+10 Summit and at the Rio+10 NCSD Global Forum in September 2002.

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