Development aid fell by 4% in real terms in 2012, following a 2% fall in 2011. Though this decline must be reversed, it is not the only issue to address. Also being questioned is how that aid is measured in the first place. As Jon Lomoy explains, while it is high time to revisit the concept of official development assistance, the outcome of the discussion will influence the effectiveness of development policy over the next decade or more.

Could action on gender help jumpstart efforts to make the Millennium Development Goals deadline by 2015? The third goal already explicitly aims to “promote gender equality and empower women” (MDG3), but gender has a direct and profound impact on several other targets, too.

Over the past 50 years, the world has seen unprecedented welfare gains. But these gains have been uneven, and progress indicators may mask absolute numbers that have actually become worse.

The good intentions of governments and donors to ensure long-term food security for all may be melting away in the face of the current global financial and economic crisis.

Africa did not cause the economic crisis, but will suffer from it. What are the prospects?

There are just six years to go to the deadline set by the international community for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The trouble is, reports now indicate that no sub-Saharan African country will attain all the goals by 2015.

Everyone puts off visits to the doctor and dentist at one point or another; but how often do people forego a check-up, treatment, or decide not to fill a prescription just because it costs too much?

Development aid rose to a new record in 2008. While good news in a crisis, how can the trend be maintained?

More than two billion people in developing countries rely on agriculture to meet their basic food and income needs. While the development community has long recognised the importance of investments in agriculture to fuel economic growth, the strategies employed have been erratic, sometimes misdirected, and often ineffective. As a result, benefits that poor people might have derived from a vibrant agricultural sector have not materialised.

Will the Millennium Development Goals launched in 2000 be met by the agreed deadline of 2015? This question is at the top of discussions in government and development agencies around the world. There have been several initiatives to help focus minds and boost international progress towards meeting the goals, not least by the G8.

The best intentions in the world will not be enough to undo the damage done by the global economic crisis to the hopes of fully achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. With just five years left to that target date, the 2010 edition of the OECD’s Development Co-operation Report alerts readers to the probable shortfalls in aid expected in 2010, as compared with commitments made in 2005 at the Gleneagles G8 and UN Millennium +5 summits. Since the report was published, new OECD data estimate a shortfall of $18 billion in 2010 compared with the 2005 pledges, largely because of reductions in gross national income among donor countries. Africa will be most affected, because some European donors who give large shares of their official development assistance to that continent will not meet their ambitious targets.

Can global agriculture and food systems provide for the predicted 9 billion people living in the world in 2050? Predictions of global famine are not new, but recent setbacks in the fight to eradicate hunger have brought agriculture back to centre stage in international discussions.

Imagine a type of nut that could save hundreds of thousands of people in poor countries from starvation. In fact, imagine one that costs about $20 per child for a month, roughly the same as therapeutic milk, but which, unlike most other therapeutic foods, does not require preparation, is packaged, keeps fresh after opening, and can be easily transported and distributed directly to parents and children.