The UN Environment Programme is putting its weight behind a new report that shows organic agriculture in Africa can boost yields, improve soils and increase cash-in-hand for poor farmers.

Based on this evidence, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner is urging Western donors to take a “fresh look" at organic agriculture as a way of addressing food security and poverty reduction in Africa.

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Hidden aid tying via NGOs, emergency relief and state agencies

An OECD report on donor progress in aid untying suggests that a growing portion of bilateral aid is no longer tied to the procurement of goods in donor countries. But there are “grey areas", such as NGO grants and humanitarian assistance, which donors do not report as tied. And the study is silent about the practice by some donors of channelling ODA through national state agencies.

Sweden and Norway have both been caught in diplomatic rows with Ethiopian authorities, but they have adopted very different approaches. Norway intends to step up aid funding and invest in hydropower, while Sweden is likely to draw down its aid level due to human rights concerns.

Norway is offering aid to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in exchange for putting the reigns on logging activities. Can little Norway offer a carrot big enough to put a dent in Indonesian forest policy?

More competition in Finnish NGO funding

The Finnish Foreign Ministry has redefined its selection criteria for NGO multi-annual grants. In an application round starting this fall, new NGOs will be competing for fresh funds of EUR 4 million.

MSF criticises armed aid convoys in DRC

Médecins Sans Frontières criticises the use of military-assisted convoys of relief assistance in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A report last year by the Danish National Audit Office pointed to the need to evaluate Danish NGO support to civil society funded by the Foreign Ministry.