The Cocoa Diaries
Kwame Asamoah, International Development: Globalisation, Trade and Industry MSc alum
The cocoa chocolate industry is one of the most complex industries to understand. While over 4 million smallholder cocoa farmers produce over 4 million metric tons of cocoa beans a year, their national governments receive less than $10bn from an industry worth over $130bn.
I mentioned countries, not the cocoa farmers because, in Ghana, the farmer is entitled to only a percentage of a price they have no hand in setting. Currently, they receive an estimated 65% of the world market price from the sector regulator, although this is an improvement on the 1%, they received in the 1950s. read more…
New Open Access Book: The Politics of Distributing Social Transfers: State Capacity and Political Contestation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
Social protection has risen to a prominent position on the global development agenda since the turn of the millennium. Considerable attention has been devoted to debating the merits of different policy designs and the political factors shaping the adoption of different models. Yet ultimately, the ability of any social transfer programme to deliver on its promises is dependent on the effective implementation and distribution of social transfers in line with its objectives. read more…
Global Development Institute Merit Awards
The Global Development Institute Merit Awards provide three full scholarships for academically excellent professionals studying a GDI campus-based master’s course commencing in September 2022. The scholarship covers the tuition fees, living expenses, flights to the UK and visa costs.
The Global Development Institute is where critical thinking meets social justice. Researchers at the Global Development Institute are addressing some of the biggest challenges the world faces, from inequality and the politics of development to globalisation. We strive to address specific problems and make an impact in the real world. Cutting-edge insights from our research are incorporated in our postgraduate teaching and many of our 10,000 alumni become development leaders. For the last 60 years, The University of Manchester has been at the forefront of Development Studies and The Global Development Institute continues to drive forward new ideas promoting sustainable development and social justice for all.
For the next academic year we’re able to offer three fully funded scholarships for resident citizens of Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia or Uganda and have not previously studied outside Africa. read more…
New Handbook challenges dominant development paradigms
A new handbook, The Routledge Handbook on Global Development, co-edited by the Global Development Institute’s Nicola Banks, has been published. The volume shows how processes and experiences of development have influenced people’s lives in both positive and negative ways, drawing attention to structural inequality and disadvantage alongside potential opportunities for positive change. read more…
Leaving Some Behind? LGBTI Exclusion in Development
Jonathan Stephen, MSc student, Global Development Institute
This blog translates some of the key discussion points raised in my MSc Dissertation looking at LGBTI exclusion from development and, in particular, multilateral organisations. My research asked if development is ready ‘to come out’? I used the LGBTI Inclusion Index to evaluate the nature of LGBTI exclusion in development and the declaration to leave no one behind. Steered by this dilemma, the research uses the UNDP and World Bank’s publication of the LGBTI Inclusion Index to interrogate the quality and inclusive nature for LGBTI citizens to participate in the design and delivery and subsequently, feel the benefits of the index. read more…
When Covid-19 hits transnational urban lives: localisation and new solidarities
Tanja Müller, Professor of Political Sociology, Global Development Institute
Semhar (not her real name) lives in an urban neighbourhood in Nairobi. She had, by local standards, a fairly comfortable life. She and her partner and two children are urban refugees from Ethiopia with the correct papers to live and work in Nairobi. They always regarded their stay in Nairobi as temporary and waited for the opportunity to move on to the UK, either through formal resettlement or with help from relatives.
Semhar’s partner could not easily find work in Nairobi, so she became the family’s breadwinner with a qualified position. But then an opportunity arose for her partner to relocate to the UK, and they decided not to waste this chance but that he should go ahead. She would stay behind with the children and read more…
DSA Call for papers: Development Studies Association conference 6-8 July 2022
Academics from the Global Development Institute are helping to convene a number of panels at the annual Development Studies Association conference taking place 6-8 July 2022. This year’s conference adopts justice and equity as central normative lenses to explore just futures in an urbanising and mobile world, facing a climate and ecological crisis in a pandemic or post-pandemic context.
There is a call for papers for all panels at the DSA Conference; visit the DSA website for more information. The deadline for submitting papers is 11 March (extended deadline). read more…
Human Resource Management Enhancement Programme: Guest Lecture from the Morrinson Wealth Wellbeing
The University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute offers a range of taught master’s programmes focusing on human resource management (MSc HRM), organisational change (MSc OCD), human resource management and development by distance learning (MSc HRM&D [DL]) and managing and delivering development projects (MSc MIDP). read more…
Human Resource Management Enhancement Programme: Guest Lecture from the IBM
The MSc Human Resource Management programme aims to equip learners with a robust theoretical framework for careers in human resource management and, at the same time, provide students with an opportunity to gain insights into practice-focused human resource practice across a wide range of management contexts and sectors. read more…
Podcast: African cities and urban sustainability: A conversation with Shuaib Lwasa
Our latest podcast episode features Shuaib Lwasa, founder and director of the Urban Action Lab, in conversation with Seth Schindler. They reflect on COP26 in Glasgow, discuss how Africa can position itself as an innovator in climate solutions, and talk about urban development in African cities.
Shuaib Lwasa is professor of urban sustainability at Makerere University in Uganda. Having worked extensively on interdisciplinary research projects primarily focused on African cities, but also in South Asia, he established the Urban Action Lab in 2010.
Seth Schindler is senior lecturer in urban development and transformation at the Global Development Institute and co-research director of the African Cities Research Consortium.
The full transcript of this podcast is available here.