To die a good death: the story of NGO closures
Ailbhe Treacy, MSc International Development: Development Management
Why do development charities in the UK close? How do these closures impact the wider sector? My MSc Dissertation aimed to answer these important questions by examining UK development NGO closures between 2016 and 2021. The findings suggest that smaller and younger NGOs, faced with a changing donor landscape and a lack of diversified funds, are disproportionately impacted by dissolutions. read more…
New Open Access book: Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’: Political Order and Distributive Crisis
Ethiopia stands out as a leading example of state-led development in Africa and yet in 2020 it descended into civil war. Tom Lavers’ new open access book offers a comprehensive, multi-sector analysis of Ethiopia’s project, charting the rise and fall of its ‘developmental state’.
In the following summary, Tom outlines the key themes of the book.
Under the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that ruled Ethiopia from 1991 until 2019, donors, academics and media alike lauded Ethiopia for shedding its past image of famine to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Ethiopia made rapid progress on virtually every available socioeconomic indicator and launched a series of mega-projects, including new railways, hydropower dams and industrial parks. read more…
Understanding Sustainable Value Capture for Ghana’s Cocoa Farmers on the Cocoa-Chocolate Value Chain
Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng and Emefa Tonorgbevi Awuku
There’s more than meets the eye in the world of cocoa and chocolate. Beyond the sweetness of your favourite chocolate bar lies a complex web of challenges and opportunities, particularly for those at the very beginning of the journey – the cocoa farmers. Today, we want to share a glimpse into our new journal article titled Understanding Sustainable Value Capture for Ghana’s Cocoa Farmers on the Cocoa-Chocolate Value Chain. Don’t worry; we promise to keep it simple! read more…
How politics and power shape state capacity
Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do ‘pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness’ emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa?
Edited by Sam Hickey, Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa follows 10 years of research from the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre.
We are pleased to say that the book is Open Access. Read an extract from the opening chapter by Sam Hickey and Kate Pruce below. read more…
“What does your £1 mean to you?” Celebrating the launch of One World Together
Nicola Banks and Chibwe Henry
Last month we were delighted to hold an intimate celebration marking the start of One World Together. We were joined by our magnificent Youth Board, our four inspiring partner organisations and a fantastic and welcoming audience at the University of Manchester.
This was not only an opportunity to introduce a movement that has been in the making for more than two years. It was a chance to really showcase what we are seeking to do, bringing in our four partners to highlight what this new collaboration means to them. Our Youth Board also demonstrated the way we envision One World Together becoming an engaged and dynamic youth-powered movement for change. read more…
“Powerful and humanising”: bringing research on ageing and displacement to life
Tess Hartland is a PhD researcher in Sociology, and a member of Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group. Her research focuses on experiences of ageing among refugees and asylum seekers living in Greater Manchester. Here, she reflects on the creation of Echoes of Displacement, a co-produced comic developed from her research. read more…
The desire for dignity in Nepal rattles political relations
Clare Cummings, Research Associate, Global Development Institute
Almost two decades since waves of protests spread across southern Nepal demanding respect and rights for the Madhesi ethnic group, the desire for dignity continues to disrupt Nepali politics.
In 2007, the Madhesi, who are an ethnic group from the border region with India, began mobilising, demanding citizenship rights, equality and inclusion within the Nepali state. They sought an end to their discrimination, in which the state treated them as foreign citizens due to their cultural ties with north India. Until 1958, Madhesi Nepalis could not even enter Kathmandu without a visa.
In 2015, in response to sustained political action by the Madhesi, the Nepali Constitution finally accorded greater rights to the Madhesi and other minority groups and introduced a new federal structure, including a province in the Madhesi dominant region. However, in Nepal, anti-India nationalism is still strong and the Madhesi, with their familial, cultural and economic links to India, are caught in the anti-India discourse. read more…
In Conversation: Kathy Dodworth + Elisa Gambino
In this episode Elisa Gambino is joined by Kathy Dodworth. They discuss Kathy’s new book, Legitimation as Political Practice, her transition from working at an NGO to academia and the idea of the non-state
MSc Human Resource Management Residential Visits
Students on our MSc Human Resource Management Enhancement Programme (HRMEP), recently took part in a residential visit to Bristol, Bath, Salisbury, Birmingham and Ironbridge.
The MSc HRMEP has developed over seven years, with support from Heads of School and Faculty, to offer closer student engagement with a wide range of organisational contexts in the field of HR practice, with a focus on the professional, cultural and social dimensions of student’s experience. HRMEP aims to equip learners with a robust theoretical framework in human resource management and at the same time to provide students with an opportunity to gain insights into practice-focused human resource practices across a wide range of management contexts and sectors. read more…
From Online Fieldwork to In-Person Discussions: Sharing Microfinance Research Findings in Rural Indonesia
Namira Samir, PhD Researcher, Global Development Institute
Namira Samir is a final year PhD Candidate at Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester. Her PhD research investigates the interplay between credit, human capabilities, and labour in Indonesia. In May 2023, she visited the Credit & Savings Institution, where she had previously conducted her primary data collection, to share her main research findings with the borrowers and key officers.
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions left me without a choice. Since I was determined to collect primary qualitative data, I had to conduct my fieldwork remotely.
Finding a Credit & Savings institution that would allow me to speak to their members through an electronic form of communication was an arduous task that consumed five months. Institutions I had previously approached were concerned about potential data leakage. One of these events was reported when I had completed interviews with five respondents at a Credit Institution. The key officer said: “Recently, our members received texts that seemed to be predatory lending and even though we trust that you will not circulate their personal information, at this time, we can only allow in-person data collection.” As a result, I terminated the data collection at that institution and was unable to use the five interviews collected. read more…