EfD Program for Central America
The Environment for Development Program for Central America works for strengthening the research capacity and the interface between academia and policy makers in the quest for sustainable development.
Our goal is to contribute to the design of long lasting policies to alleviate poverty and improve the management of natural resources by strengthening the research capacity and the interaction between academia and policy makers in Central America.
The overall objective of the Environment for Development (EfD) initiative is to support poverty alleviation and sustainable development by building environmental economics capacity in policy making processes. More specifically, EfD aims to fill four gaps that presently preclude sustainable poverty alleviation. The identified gaps are:
A capacity gap – that there are not enough trained environmental economists.
An analytical gap – that there is not enough applied research carried out on poverty and environmental management.
A communication gap – that the existing academic knowledge is not communicated to policy makers and civil servants.
An institutional gap – that in many countries there is no institutional platform to ensure that available resources reach domestic academic capacity in order to analyze pressing environmental and poverty concerns.
Organization
The EfD Program for Central America is an integral part of the research group on Socio-economics of Environmental Goods and Services (SEBSA) of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE, by its Spanish acronym).
SEBSA: This group fosters the use and conservation of natural resources through the implementation of innovative economic and policy instruments among different projects at CATIE and with its partners. Greater economic value and improved social and environmental conditions are essential components of policy making. Striking an adequate balance in our development that fosters technology and policy adoptions that aim at diminishing environmental deterioration and ecosystem recovery, while promoting social and economic development, is a fundamental step in this direction. To contribute to this approach, CATIE established nearly a decade ago an interdisciplinary team working on Socio-economics of Environmental Goods and Services (SEBSA). SEBSA develops interdisciplinary actions in environmental economics and policy, forestry economics and land use policies, as well as concepts and tools promoting best practices in natural resource management. Furthermore, it provides consultancy and training services, strengthening regional capacities and links with relevant public and private institutions. Over the past 10 years, our experience has been rewarded with the trust and support of national, bilateral, and multilateral institutions; research and educational partner institutions at the national, regional and international level; and close collaboration with different local decision-makers, the private sector and CATIE's regional projects.
CATIE: CATIE is an international institution focusing on research and graduate education in the agricultural sciences and natural resources. Its mission is to benefit humanity through the application of knowledge, experiences, and technologies in order to stimulate development, conservation, and the sustainable use of natural resources in the American tropics.
The collaboration between SEBSA, CATIE and EEU is governed by an EfD agreement.
