The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of the proposed development plan of São Sebastião, a major container terminal in Santos. A secondary objective was to assess the impact of the proposed terminal on truck traffic … Read More
Bringing a market based approach to supporting food security in West Africa
West Africa is home to a large number of Africa’s poor. In parts of the region, the incidence of hunger, malnutrition and poverty is among the highest in Africa. Over the past decade regional governments have pursued misconceived policies to achieve national food sovereignty, periodically imposing export bans, which exacerbate shortages and resulting in price rises for food in neighbouring countries. These policies failed to take advantage of complementarities between drier conditions in the North and tropical conditions in the South, which could increase the availability of food and reduce its cost across the region. As a result, the agricultural sector of each country had failed to fulfil its full potential. Nathan developed a market systems approach to enable DFID to demonstrate how greater and more sustainable regional trade in food could reduce food insecurity.
Focusing on trade between Nigeria and Niger, and between Ghana and Burkina Faso, Nathan helped develop a £15m, five-year support programme for regional staple food markets in West Africa.
Highlights:
* Direct benefit for over 72,000 farmers and support for over 360,000 rural poor in targeted regions.
* Increased annual productivity of 160 per cent for 3,000 famers, through better input use.
* Increased annual value addition of 20 per cent for 10,000 farmers through access to finance.
* Investment in innovative new systems, including creating over 58,000 metric tonnes of warehouse receipt system (WRS) storage space by 2017.… Read More
Designing a new instrument for donors to engage with the private sector Despite recognition of the key role of the private sector, and particularly the financial sector, in generating economic growth and reducing poverty around the world, traditional approaches to … Read More
Peru’s telecom regulator, Organismo Supervisor de Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones (OSIPTEL), sought advice on the implementation of telecom regulations outlined in the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA). Nathan analyzed in depth the U.S regulatory experience with unbundling network elements. … Read More
With Colombia’s strategic geographic location at the mouth of South America, which provides port access to both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and proximity to the Panama Canal and U.S. markets, Columbia is an attractive option for international companies looking … Read More
For Gerdau, one of the largest long steel producers in the world, Nathan conducted study to estimate the availability and use of ferrous scrap, a vital raw material for new steel production in three countries, i.e., Peru, Mexico and Argentina. … Read More
The Government of Ecuador granted a 50-year concession to a private operator/investor to design, finance, construct, operate, maintain, own, and manage a 27 MW run-of-the-river hydropower plant with an estimated investment cost of US$45 million. On behalf of the Inter-American … Read More
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) sought assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Advancing Philippine Competitiveness (COMPETE) Project to strengthen the authority’s regulatory capability. The objective was to avoid a second downgrade of the Philippines’ civil … Read More
The petroleum sector in Colombia has been a major beneficiary of the improved security situation, relatively sustained economic growth, and a liberalized foreign investment regime. While Colombia’s production had generally been allocated for domestic consumption, production surpassed domestic demand in … Read More
The USTDA awarded several grants to support the expansion of the port sector in Colombia, including one to fund feasibility studies associated with terminal rehabilitation at the Port of Salgar. The port is located along the Magdalena River near the … Read More