Trends in Development 2012

At the end of the year, Isobel Coleman writing for the Council of Foreign Relations identifies three major trends for international development in the coming year. The full article is linked here. 

An excerpt is below: 

As the world adjusts to seven billion people, and begins its creep toward eight billion, doing more with less will become increasingly important...   Greater efficiency and effectiveness in development is paramount. 

Three trends to watch in the coming year that can help improve development outcomes. 

 1) mHealth and mGovernance Applying mobile phone technology to global health challenges has huge potential to improve health outcomes... MHealth is still in its infancy, but the potential is there for some transformative improvements to health care delivery in rural areas. MGovernance is also an area to watch. Mobile phones are becoming a tool for governments to communicate information, build connections with citizens, and receive feedback, particularly in countries with little infrastructure. 

2) Agricultural Productivity As competition for resources becomes more intense in the coming decades, dramatically increasing how efficiently we use available resources – in particularly, energy, food and water – will be a critical part of the solution to closing the gap between supply and demand... In the horn of Africa, poor governance and climate conditions have combined to create chronic food shortages and famines...  As drought spreads to West Africa, innovations in this field will be another important trend to watch in 2012. 

3) Establishing Identity Registering minorities and women allows them better access to legal channels to claim their rights, whether that is to report a crime, dispute ownership of land or other property, or gain access to social services and education. Gaining state recognition is certainly the first step for the 12 million stateless people in the world, but it is also the first step to citizenship for billions of people in developing countries that have no official identity... Other countries with millions of unregistered citizens, who in some places are disproportionately women, should watch closely.