Latin America & THE CARIBBEAN

CURRENT PROGRAMS: 

CDF is working in collaboration with the Center on Conflict and Development at Texas A&M University, and other partners to conduct the following programs in Latin America: 

Mexico: Focused Deterrence Impact Evaluation - A multi-year impact evaluation of focused crime deterrence interventions in Chihuahua, Ciudad Juarez, and Nuevo Leon. The primary purpose of this evaluation is to: (a) ensure accountability to stakeholders; (b) assess the direct causal impact of innovative focused deterrence crime prevention approaches; and (c) assess the conditions needed for successful and focused crime deterrence implementation in Northern Mexico. 

Mexico: Learning for Local Crime and Violence Prevention - The purpose of the learning activity is to support local stakeholders to examine the contribution of multi-sectoral, municipal prevention strategies and local system strengthening efforts for sustainable reductions in crime and violence rates, and use the lessons learned to adapt policies and programming. This learning activity will also provide an understanding of crime and violence trends in Mexico as well as their drivers. 

Link to completed programs.                         

CDF partners with organizations to implement programs to combat violence and promote peace through food security,  local organizations, and youth engagement in communities struggling to recover from conflict.  

Conservation in Action

The Conflict and Development Foundation supports the ongoing research, extension, and development efforts of Conservation in Action.

Project Manager: Dr. Leslie Ruyle

Dr. Leslie Ruyle is a Research Scientist in the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government & Public Service where she teaches "Women, International Development, and Environmental Conflict". She also teaches "Natural Resource Policy" for the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management. An ecologist working across disciplines to create innovative solutions for conservation, conflict, and development, she holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, and has managed university-based initiatives for NSF and USAID. Having lived in four countries and traveled to over 90 countries in her career, she has broad experience in international applied conservation and research including stints at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute-Panama, Honduran Coral Reef Foundation, Applied Biodiversity Science Program, Earthwatch, the Center on Conflict and Development, and the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs. Her work has been recognized with the UN’s Equator Prize Initiative, the Dean of AgriLIfe’s Award for Interdisciplinary teams, The Founder’s Excellence Award from her alma mater Montana State University- Northern, and the Dean of the Bush School’s Award for Excellence.

Currently, she is working on three international programs: 

1. an entrepreneurship program in regions of conflict, conservation concern, and limited connectivity (EC3) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

2. a human-wildlife coexistence project for ranchers in Botswana to protect both cattle and predators like lions and cheetah

3. a marine project in Costa Rica called Tiburones and Tortugas for shark and turtle conservation.

Fieldwork:

Faculty Fieldwork - It Takes a Village - Texas A&M Foundation

Aggie students contributed to the program by developing an app to help local businesspeople with their finances and bookkeeping. Ruyle’s group has also built a co-working space where Wakisha participants can use computers, electricity and the internet.

MORE: https://www.txamfoundation.com/Fall-2018/Faculty-Fieldwork.aspx

Podcast:

Professor Leslie Ruyle is expanding students’ horizons while breaking down barriers to innovation (Episode 69) - She Said/She Said Podcast

I traveled to Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas to meet with Leslie Ruyle, a professor of international affairs at The Bush School of Government and Public Service. Leslie is working to break down academic barriers that often stand in the way of solving some of the world’s most challenging problems. And, she’s drawing […]

MORE…. https://shesaidshesaidpodcast.com/episodes/professor-leslie-ruyle-expanding-students-horizons-while-building-their-confidence/

The Conflict and Development Foundation is engaged across Eastern Congo to advance agricultural production systems, protect natural resources, and build capacity for governance and stability in the region.

The Congo Peace Center (CPC)

CDF and Texas A&M University's Center on Conflict and Development established the Congo Peace Center (CPC) at the  Université Catholique du Graben (UCG) in Butembo, North Kivu to support and achieve sustainable peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and facilitate its integration into a more stable and peaceful Great Lakes region.  The center aims to promote regional dialogue, conflict and development publications, and other activities with the goal of leading to stability. The CPC is committed to achieving good governance, inclusive economic development, and national integration and reconciliation.

CPC Objectives

The Congo Peace Center will:

• Promote national and local community dialogue as a sustainable foundation for Congolese peace and development;

• Establish civic, economic, and security training programs for Congolese citizens and officials;

• Elevate Congolese voices as the key to setting the country’s agenda for development and governance;

• Raise awareness and reinforce institutional capacities regarding justice and the fight against impunity;

• Join the DRC in equipping itself of new forms of decentralized and participative governance and laws;

• Build capacity for peace-building and conflict prevention at the local level across Congo;

• Build a common regional strategy aimed at the eradication of negative forces and promotion of cross-border development;

• Contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty through integrative and labor-intensive community projects;

• Focus on institutional development and transparency in decision-making as a key to progress and sustainability.

In an area of northern Botswana roughly the size of Yellowstone National Park, 15,000 elephants compete with 15,000 people for access to water, food, and land. These elephants are not neatly contained in parks - they roam freely, often in areas where people are planting fields, herding livestock, and walking their children home from school. As more land is converted to arable farming and as the elephants' range expands, encounters between people and elephants are becoming more frequent as are incidents of devastating human-elephant conflict. Ecoexist seeks to reduce conflict and foster coexistence between elephants and people. The team finds and facilitates solutions that work for both species. Our approach connects science with practice. In the short term, we empower farmers with practical, affordable, and effective tools to reduce conflicts with elephants. In the long-term, we collaborate with local, national and international stakeholders to develop political and economic strategies for addressing the root causes of conflict. We endeavor to address human-elephant conflict in ways that may be modeled throughout Botswana and beyond.

Visit ecoexistproject.org for more information.

The Conflict and Development Foundation supports the ongoing research, extension, and development efforts of conservation agriculture production systems in Ghana.  This is carried out through a variety of programs looking at on-farm production management, land tenure systems, and soil fertility trials across Ghana.

The main focus is the Center for Conservation Agriculture which serves as a research and training center in a public-private partnership between agribusiness and agricultural institutions.  This first of its kind institution that serves as a focal point for no-till research and activities as part of a Brown Revolution soil conservation approach.  This center’s research will be a world-class in-field example of how conservation-based techniques can lead to better long-term results for smallholder farmers around the world than traditional practices, and its outreach activities will make it well known throughout Ghana, then West Africa, and eventually across the continent of Africa.  The center designs, tests, and implements context-appropriate, high-yielding, conservation-based agriculture systems for rural smallholder farmers in Africa.