New climate emphasis within analysis of multilateral agricultural investments in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agriculture plays a dominant role in the economies of sub-Saharan African countries though productivity has historically lagged behind other regions. In the past two decades, agriculture has been re-prioritized in policy and governments are increasingly mobilizing funding from diverse sources to finance agricultural development projects.

Conceptualizing Self-Sufficiency for Aid Recipient Countries

Multilateral and bilateral donors generally intend for economic development aid to recipient countries to decrease over time and for those countries to move toward greater self-sufficiency. Recent EPAR research looks at whether the concept of "self-sufficiency" for aid recipient countries is defined in the academic literature, grey literature, and donor policy documents. 

Donors’ Dilemma: Bilateral versus Multilateral Aid Channels

Foreign aid donors face many decisions about how they should disburse aid, and must be able to justify these choices to their constituents. Among the choices that donors must make is whether to allocate via bilateral versus multilateral channels. Bilateral aid is distributed directly from donor countries to recipient countries, or to multilateral organizations with donor-imposed restrictions on its use.