Janet G. Townsend

Trust, accountability, and face-to-face interaction in North–South NGO relations

Janet Townsend is a Research Fellow in Geography at the University of Durham. Her interest in NGOs came from women pioneer settlers in Latin American rainforests, when Mexican respondents proved to see NGOs as the best prospective outside help. Emma Mawdsley lectures at Birkbeck College, University of London. In addition to her NGO research, she is working on the environmental beliefs and behaviours of Indias middle classes. Gina Porter is working with Emma Mawdsley and Janet Townsend on a joint study of NGO–state relations in Ghana and India. Her other current research focuses on market access, market institutions, and related urban food-supply issues in Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.Janet Townsend is a Research Fellow in Geography at the University of Durham. Her interest in NGOs came from women pioneer settlers in Latin American rainforests, when Mexican respondents proved to see NGOs as the best prospective outside help. Emma Mawdsley lectures at Birkbeck College, University of London. In addition to her NGO research, she is working on the environmental beliefs and behaviours of Indias middle classes. Gina Porter is working with Emma Mawdsley and Janet Townsend on a joint study of NGO–state relations in Ghana and India. Her other current research focuses on market access, market institutions, and related urban food-supply issues in Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.

Feminists in the rainforest in Mexico

Abstract Government policy in Mexico has borne heavily on rural areas, and particularly on women. This article examines the present plight of women in new land settlements in the Mexican rainforests, comparing the problems they themselves identify with those apparent in the world literature on land settlement; comparisons are also made with the Colombian experience. Four pioneer localities in Mexico are described, and from an assessment of one of them it is argued that options are as much constrained by skills as by access to capital. To the incomer, sustainability defines the attractive economic options; to the women, any source of increased income is welcome, however exploitative and insecure. To the incomer, it is apparent that the ‘grass revolution’ and government policy together require these women to rethink their lives. To the women, all this appears surmountable, while the real problems are those of domestic violence, marital rape and male alcoholism: one womans voice is represented at length. Who, it is asked, defines a research agenda in the search for a solution to the problems of these localities? What coalition can there be between the centralised knowledge of the vast land settlement literature, the academic visiting these localities and those who are “living this whole thing”?

Teaching Geographical Information Handling Skills for Lower‐income Countries

Geographical Information Systems are seen by many as a quick ‘fix’ for the problems of lower-income countries and people in those countries have been encouraged to adopt this perception, along with the technology. As teachers of students from LICs, we seek to avoid reproducing a contextless transfer of technical skills and rather aim to promote an education based on the limitations of the technology and on the nature and construction of information. While identifying GIS as one of many components of ‘geographical information’, we emphasise the importance of including ‘non-GIS’ staff in the education process. We advocate a ‘problem-posing’ approach to the teaching of ‘Geographical Information for Development’ and discuss some of the challenges which this raises, both for teachers and students.

Changing fortunes in anti‐poverty programmes in Bangladesh

The level of poverty in Bangladesh has remained high by any standard since independence. Strategies to reduce poverty in Bangladesh have sought (i) to increase production and income and (ii) to redirect the flow of income and consumption. In most strategies, income generation predominates with redistribution playing a minor or a complementary role. Three salient characteristics of government programmes to reduce poverty in rural Bangladesh are their lack of commitment to their supposed goals, their inefficacy in reaching the poor, and their lack of co-ordination with non-governmental organizations. These weaknesses help account for the persistence of poverty in rural Bangladesh over the last three decades. The emphasis has now shifted to the work of non-governmental organizations, but this article argues that their programmes suffer from some of the same problems.

Co-producing a post-trafficking agenda : collaborating on transforming citizenship in Nepal

This article discusses how a new agenda on post-trafficking is gaining momentum through academic and activist anti-trafficking collaborations focused on co-producing knowledge with women who have returned from trafficking situations. Co-production of this nature is important as the issues raised by post-trafficking scenarios are largely ignored in anti-trafficking strategies, and the stigmatisation and poverty which women in these circumstances encounter means they rarely have a voice in policy-making. Drawing on research in Nepal, we present four types of co-produced data around transforming citizenship post-trafficking, and reflect on the strategies for generating and using them for advocacy purposes.

Where angels fear to tread? Mapping women and men in India.

The authors have produced the Atlas of Women and Men in India, using material from the 1991 Census, mainly at district level. The Atlas may be unacceptable to Indian geographers because it seeks to question the authority of numerical data and of maps, and to Western geographers because this is “mapping before we understand the process”. The authors introduce maps of the sex ratio in India and explore through a map of changes in the sex ratio 1981–91 some numerical, analytical, and ethical problems of such mapping. The Indian feminist activists consulted want the Atlas for advocacy: does this justify its production?

Magdalena, river of Colombia

Abstract Problems of environmental perception are often critical in Third World development. Most Colombian decision‐makers today believe that the physical navigability of the Magdalena river has greatly deteriorated: after dominating Colombian transport for over four centuries, the river has lost its place to road and rail in the last twenty years. Documentary evidence suggests that the apparent decline in navigability since Colonial times may be a function of technological, not environmental change. Although for so long the best route available, the Magdalena has always been costly and dangerous, as modern planners should be aware.