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Communities who rely directly on the natural environment for their survival typically have developed risk management strategies to enable them to avoid dangerous thresholds of change to their livelihoods. Development policy appropriate for natural resource-based communities requires an understanding of the primary drivers of social-ecological change, the ways in which affected households autonomously respond to such drivers, and the appropriate avenues for intervention to reduce vulnerability. Coffee has been, and still remains, one of the most important commodities of the Mesoamerican region, and hundreds of thousands of smallholder households in the region are dependent in some way on the coffee industry for their livelihood stability. We used the Analytical Network Process to synthesize expert knowledge on the primary drivers of livelihood change in the region as well as the most common household strategies and associated capacities necessary for effective response. The assessment identified both gradual systemic processes as well as specific environmental and market shocks as significant drivers of livelihood change across the region. Agronomic adjustments and new forms of social organization were among the more significant responses of farmers to these changes. The assessment indicates that public interventions in support of adaptation should focus on enhancing farmers' access to market and technical information and finance, as well as on increasing the viability of farmers' organizations and cooperatives.

A persistent fall of coffee prices in the 1990s brought the International Coffee Organisation, national governments, and coffee companies to propose the promotion of good quality highland coffee as the exclusive strategy for Central America to neutralize the negative income effects. This implies that cultivation on low- and medium-altitude lands should be discouraged, which means that 60% of the coffee growers and workers will lose their means of subsistence in this region. We have used a combined environmental-global commodity chain approach to question the new common wisdom. In buyer-driven chains, there are different quality attributes to satisfy consumers wants. As most food products, coffee receives quality premiums for both sensorial and non-sensorial credence characteristics. However, mass consumption markets in developed countries are served by powerful downstream roasters with blends that contain a major part of low sensory quality coffees. Market demand and a credence characteristic as the highly rewarded environmental friendliness should both be considered in assessments. This creates opportunities for lowland growers to stay in business and for mass coffee markets to become more sustainable. [Econlit: L660, Q170, Q560] © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This paper's main purpose is to use the capability approach for analysing how micro hydro power plant projects in Bolivia contribute to development and equality. As secondary purposes, it aims to analyse environmental effects and sustainability of the projects and to draw an outline between energy and Human Development. To that end, we examine nine projects implemented in indigenous communities of the Bolivian rural area.We first explain the role played by energy services in Human Development, focusing on their contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Then we describe the context of nine development aid projects implemented in Bolivia and the characteristics of an impact assessment on these projects committed by the Bolivian Social Grants Program. This assessment is re-examined through the lens of the capability approach. Thus, attention shifts to equality issues in the fields of ethnicity, gender and income. Finally we analyse the environmental effects and the sustainability of the proects. This paper is an example of "best practice project", showing how renewable energy can help improving people's life in a clean and sustainable way and how the capability approach is a powerful tool for assessing this improvement.

During the past decade, Evaluation practice has experienced a significant development in Spain, especially in the Aid sector. More evaluation processes have been pushed forward and more resources have been allocated, but we do not really know to what extend evaluations have been useful to promote change. In this work we analize evaluation use from a broader perspective: evaluative design, process, structure and context. Following the most recent literature, we point out some suggestions in key issues as evaluation design and process use, but we also try to expand opportunities by paying attention to context and organizational structure as necessary dimensions for evaluation use.Keywords: Evaluation, Development Aid, Utility, Knowledge Management ResumenDurante la última década, la evaluación ha experimentado un crecimiento significativo en España, especialmente en la Ayuda al Desarrollo. Si bien en este periodo se han realizado muchas evaluaciones y dedicado cada vez más recursos, en la actualidad no sabemos bien hasta qué punto las evaluaciones han resultado útiles para generar cambios. En el presente trabajo se analiza la utilidad de las evaluaciones desde una mirada más amplia que incluye el diseño, el proceso, la estructura y el contexto evaluativo. Siguiendo la literatura más reciente en el área, se apuntan propuestas en aspectos como el diseño y proceso evaluativo, pero se amplía el espacio de posibilidades poniendo mayor atención al contexto y a la estructura organizacional que permita dicha utilización.Palabras Clave: Evaluación, Ayuda al Desarrollo, Utilidad, Gestión del Conocimiento El uso de las evaluaciones en la Ayuda al Desarrollo. El caso de la Cooperación Española. Revista de Evaluación de