The thematic readers collated here offer you background and information. The range of themes is extended constantly, making return visits to this space worthwhile.

Case studies from practical experience are available for the readers "Agribusiness", "Funding of Services", "Knowledge and Information Management" and "Reform of Public Service Provision".

• Pro-Poor Services in Value Chain Promotion – Concept
  Carmen Hess, Andreas Springer-Heinze, Wolfgang Bertenbreiter, Peter Jarchau and Paul-Mathias Braun contributed to this new version, edited in 09/2007. It deals mainly with value chain promotion, since it is a widespread approach while the basic ideas are as valid for promoting regional development.
  en-Agribusiness-Concept-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.55 MB (English)
• Pro-Poor Services in Value Chain Promotion – Case Studies
  This version was up-dated in 09/2007 and contains cases from Kenya and Ecuador presented by Paul-Mathias Braun and Reinhild Bode.
  en-Agribusiness-Casestudies-2007.pdf, 0.42 MB (English)
• Decentralization of Services
  In addition to the various forms of decentralisation, strategies are depicted and possibilities and limitations explored.
  en-decentralisation-reader-2005.pdf, 0.19 MB (English)
• Extension and Research Approaches for Rural Development
  Carmen Hess is the author of the new version of the Extension Reader, updated in 09/2007. Northern donors, including the World Bank, show renewed interest in providing support to demand-led agricultural extension and research systems. They agree that services must be provided in a fundamentally different way than in the past.
  en-Extensions-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.32 MB (English)
• Funding of Services
  Wilhelm Elfring has revised this reader putting focus on relations between the objective of reducing rural poverty and the decline of finance allocation to agricultural extension and research.
  en-Funding-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.56 MB (English)
• Skills Development in Rural Areas
  Elisabeth Baehr and Teddi Sander have developed this reader subdivided into three parts: introduction, methodologies and concepts, and good practices and case studies.
  en-Skills-Development-Introduction-2007.pdf, 0.29 MB (English)
  en-Skills-Development-Concepts-2007.pdf, 0.32 MB (English)
  en-Skills-Development-Cases-2007.pdf, 0.30 MB (English)
• Quality Management in Development Cooperation
  What is quality management and why bother with quality management? This reader deals with promoting quality management and identifies instruments and tools as well as limitations of quality management. Carmen Hess is the author and the reader was edited in 09/2007.
  
  en-Quality-Management-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.55 MB (English)
• Rural Training
  The reader presents an overview of rural training strategies and concepts and gives attention to the complex of funding of rural training, qualification of trainers as well as to difficulties of quality management of rural training.
  en-rural-training-reader-2005.pdf, 0.29 MB (English)
• Reforming Rural Service Provision
  Rural services comprise agricultural extension, advisory and research, regulatory and quality ensuring standards, business development, information and training. The reader was up-dated with contributions by Carmen Hess, Willi Ehret, Juergen Hagmann, Regina Birner, Rainer Neidhardt, Ulrich Schmidt and Paul-Mathias Braun in 09/2007.
  
  en-Rural-Service-Provision-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.68 MB (English)
• Case Studies: Reform of Public Service Provision
  The case study of the reform of public services in Colombia and Peru.
  en-service-provision-cases-2005.pdf, 0.13 MB (English)
• Agricultural Research Systems
  The reader deals with different approaches in agricultural research, shows their importance for agricultural innovations and provides advice on impact monitoring.
  en-research-systems-reader-2005.pdf, 0.26 MB (English)
• Adult Education
  Concepts oriented on practical experiences form basic principles of adult training. A relation between training, everyday life and experiences has to be established to strengthen the capacity to act of the target group.
  en-adult-education-reader-2005.pdf, 0.07 MB (English)
• Case Studies: Funding of Services
  Case studies on "Funding of Service", with experiences from South America and examples from Benin, Zimbabwe, Ghana and other countries.
  en-funding-cases-2005.pdf, 0.31 MB (English)
• Knowledge Management and Knowledge Systems for Rural Development
  This reader was up-dated by Carmen Hess in 09/2007. It is about knowledge management, principles for knowledge-sharing, knowledge networks for rural development and knowledge systems in rural areas.What is this distinction between data, information, explicit and implicit knowledge good for?
  en-Knowledge-Management-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.22 MB (English)
• Case Studies: Knowledge and Information Management
  Various experiences and applications of knowledge and information management from practice. The concept of CEFE  (Competency-based Economies through the Formation of Enterprise) is also explained.
  en-knowledge-cases-2005.pdf, 0.39 MB (English)
• Media in Rural Development
  Written by Paul Mundy, with contributions of Karin Bohmann, Ibrahim Khadar, Oumy Ndiaye, Riccardo del Castello, Helen Hambly, Dietrich Müller-Falcke, Peter Rave, Andrea Wetzer, Volker Hoffmann, Mathias Braun. Includes amongst others articles on Rural Radio, ICTs, and Web 2.
  en-Media-Reader-2007.pdf, 0.48 MB (English)
• Participatory Approaches
  Participatory approaches are hugely important for innovations in rural areas. That is why we offer you various approaches here, focused mainly on participatory research and extension.
  en-participatory-approaches-reader-2005.pdf, 0.18 MB (English)