Opinion

Opinion

The maize value web in Zimbabwe: new business opportunities

Last week, the ‘hidden middle’ around maize production and sale was introduced. From across our sites in Chikombedzi, Triangle, Matobo, Wondedzo, Chatsworth and Mvurwi, in this blog we offer a few case studies of the diversity of players in these business networks. The scale of operations...

Ian Scoones

2 May 2023

Opinion

Pastoral schools and uncertainty in southern Europe

A forthcoming EUI working paper by Alessandro Dessi explains the findings from a study on pastoral schools in southern Europe, asking how they are responding to the issue of uncertainty. Schools to train new pastoralists are booming in southern Europe. The aim of these initiatives is often...

Michele Nori

28 April 2023

Opinion

To improve lives in Afghanistan, international efforts must step up

Afghanistan's political and humanitarian crisis has deteriorated since the arrival of the Taliban in August 2021. Several major actors, including UN agencies and large INGOs have now reached a point where they can no longer operate in the country in the current environment. This situation is...

Mezhgan Temory

27 April 2023

Student Opinion

Why I started a business that impacts people and the planet

Entrepreneur Pauline Koelbl was in the first cohort to study MA Poverty & Development. She has set up a gender lens investment fund called ShEquity, which aims to close the gender funding gap in Africa. Watch a video of Pauline’s interview about how IDS has shaped her career, or read excerpts...

Pauline Koelbl

26 April 2023

Opinion

Maize markets in Zimbabwe: a complex web of hidden activity

This year looks like it will be a bumper harvest, with the recently published crop assessment expecting a massive 2.3 million tonnes of maize, up 58% from last year. Maize is central to a complex web of small-scale businesses supporting production, transport, processing and marketing. These...

Ian Scoones

25 April 2023

Opinion

Reclaiming peace from patriarchal frameworks of security

The Women, Peace and Security agenda has sought to incorporate the voices and experiences of women into peacebuilding and conflict prevention strategies. However, the focus within this has predominantly been to bring women into institutional and traditionally patriarchal peace processes –...

Sofya Shahab

Chloe Skinner

24 April 2023

Opinion

Disability inclusion in practice: Lessons from participatory research in Uganda

Including the most marginalised people in development research and programming is crucial to achieving the compelling global call to ‘leave no-one behind’. However, this is not always straightforward or easy to achieve. Our research to date has found that there are time and resourcing needs,...

Jackie Shaw

Carolina Holland-Szyp

24 April 2023

Opinion

The Dana+20 Manifesto on Mobile Peoples’ Rights

Historically our ways of life and our human rights were too often depreciated and denied. Some of us experienced violence, forced displacement and sedentarisation. Laws were framed to deny us the same rights that were accorded to settled farmers. Our rights to our lands, territories, and the...

Ariell Ahearn & 2 others

21 April 2023

Opinion

The ‘hidden middle’: the transformation of agri-food systems in Africa

There is an unrecognised but vast ‘hidden middle’ of private sector businesses operating in Africa between agricultural producers and food consumers. This is made up of a range of private actors providing transport, trading, brokerage, finance, storage, warehousing, processing and so on....

Ian Scoones

18 April 2023

Opinion

What can we learn from social media during pandemics?

The growth in social media use in Africa has opened new opportunities to hear from diverse voices, offering public health policymakers the opportunity to take opinions of affected populations into account in real time. During pandemics it is difficult to continue with traditional social science...

Catherine Grant

Kelley Sams

18 April 2023

Opinion

As Safe as Houses? Still dealing with asbestos in social housing

Asbestos is a serious toxin that when disturbed can result in serious or fatal injury from modest levels of exposure. It is 14 years since we authored a report for the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) ‘As Safe as Houses? Dealing with Asbestos in Social Housing...

Linda Waldman

Heather Williams

17 April 2023

Opinion

Can pastoralists benefit from wildlife conservation in Kenya? A case study from Amboseli

In a previous post, I summarised a recent article that I wrote with colleagues on the changing system of access and benefits within Maasai land in southern Kenya. This post only hinted at ongoing changes in land tenure, and the closely related, extremely complex issue of wildlife conservation...

Ryan Unks, PASTRES post-doctoral researcher

14 April 2023

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Showing 277–288 of 2072 results

The maize value web in Zimbabwe: new business opportunities

Pastoral schools and uncertainty in southern Europe

To improve lives in Afghanistan, international efforts must step up

Why I started a business that impacts people and the planet

Maize markets in Zimbabwe: a complex web of hidden activity

Reclaiming peace from patriarchal frameworks of security

Disability inclusion in practice: Lessons from participatory research in Uganda

The Dana+20 Manifesto on Mobile Peoples’ Rights

The ‘hidden middle’: the transformation of agri-food systems in Africa

What can we learn from social media during pandemics?

As Safe as Houses? Still dealing with asbestos in social housing

Can pastoralists benefit from wildlife conservation in Kenya? A case study from Amboseli

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