Inclusive Economies

Our work explores what characterises inclusive economies and how these can be achieved, particularly in a world where new technologies, rural to urban migration, and growing youth populations are disrupting and putting new pressures on people’s lives and livelihoods.

Our research looks at the impacts of business and markets on development and inequality and explores the potential for novel market-based solutions to work for the poorest and most marginalised based on gender, ethnicity and disability.  It explores alternatives that enable workers, consumers and communities to have a real voice.

It continues to revitalise debates on agriculture as a key pathway out of poverty and towards inclusion, particularly for young people. Our work is focused on identifying what opportunities exist in a period of agricultural commercialisation and rural transformation and how far different groups are able to access them.  It also understands how new technologies such as drones or blockchains pose risks, but can also be harnessed to improve the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people.  In a rapidly urbanising world where cities have become focal points for economic growth, jobs and innovation but also for poverty, inequality, vulnerability and conflict, our work explores what this means for both urban and rural people, and the opportunities and challenges they face in living safe and fulfilling lives.

People

Jodie Thorpe

Research Fellow

Philip Mader

Research Fellow

Richard Jolly

Research Associate

Ana Pueyo

Research Fellow

Carlos Fortin

Research Associate

Rachel Sabates-Wheeler

Research Fellow

Keetie Roelen

IDS Honorary Associate

Giel Ton

Research Fellow

Programmes and centres

Projects

Recent work

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Brief

Key Considerations: Community-Based Surveillance in Public Health

This brief offers key considerations for CBS programming to guide policymakers, public health officials, civil society organisations, health workers, researchers, advocates, and others interested in health surveillance. It is based on a rapid review of CBS guidance and social science literature.

24 May 2023

Past Event

Youth employment and political representation in Africa

The population in sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing and the youngest in the world, yet the politicians ruling them are typically among the oldest. In some East African countries, the current rulers are yesterday’s rebels. Some have developed a range of authoritarian practices to stay...

24 May 2023

Working Paper

Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration: Concepts and Assumptions

Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration Working Paper 1

This working paper is the product of the Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration. It is designed to bring together our thinking on how infrastructure can shape the food and nutritional security of urban marginalised populations. Infrastructure assemblages include the material...

Jane Battersby
Jane Battersby & 13 others

23 May 2023

Opinion

Knowledge translation in the Global South: A language perspective

Anywhere in the world, knowledge translation (KT) is facilitated through a process of communicating messages to an audience, who will ultimately use that information to inform their own opinions and actions. However, the way that information is perceived, digested, discussed, and passed on is...

23 May 2023

Report

Conflict-Sensitive Social Protection: Somalia Country Report

In a context of weak central political authority and persistent conflict, Somalia’s fledgling social protection sector continues to lean heavily on humanitarian actors for its delivery. It is also largely externally driven and financed, with consequences for the calibre of sector coherence.

23 May 2023

Report

Conflict-Sensitive Social Protection: Kenya Country Report

Kenya’s social protection system has matured significantly over the last decade, although its resilience in violent conflict has not been tested given the country’s relative stability. Even so, Kenya has significant vulnerabilities, particularly its high spatial and social inequalities, and...

23 May 2023

Past Event

Randomised control trials and complexity in tax interventions

The RCT debate is often heated: it seems you can only either love or hate them. This seminar aims to spark a cooler discussion about the pros and cons of RCTs, using the practical examples of two studies on taxation in Rwanda. Watch now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDKcykdVs04 Tax...

23 May 2023

Opinion

Drought and resilience: some lessons from Kenya

I recently wrote an article for The Conversation together with Tahira Mohamed on the drought situation in Kenya. We’d spent a few weeks in Isiolo and Marsabit counties exploring ‘resilience projects’ alongside local responses by pastoralists. The disconnect was extreme and many people...

22 May 2023

Opinion

Building resilience from below: the vital role of ‘reliability professionals’ and their networks

The numerous external interventions focused on resilience are often disconnected from local realities, as we discussed in the first blog in this series. Certain standard formulations of problem and solution are offered, informed frequently by a negative narrative about pastoralism and the...

Tahira Mohamed

19 May 2023

Brief

Playing Politics with Periods: Why the Abolition of the ‘Tampon Tax’ is Spreading Across the World

ICTD Research in Brief; 86

From pet food to sunscreen, proposals to cut value-added tax (VAT) on a range of products and services are ever increasing. One of the best-known and far-reaching campaigns of this type has been the fight to abolish VAT on feminine hygiene products. More popularly known as the ‘tampon...

Maisie-Rose Byrne

18 May 2023

Why learn with us.

In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).