Institute of Development Studies

Biography

Christophe Béné is a Research Fellow in the Vulnerability and Poverty Reduction team at the Institute of Development Studies. He is a socio-economist and policy analyst by training with 15 years of experience in developing countries. Through inter-disciplinary research his work focuses on poverty and vulnerability analysis in relation to governance and policies of natural resource management.

Before joining IDS, he worked 3 years as Research Fellow in the Center for Economic and Management of Aquatic Resources at the University of Portsmouth (UK) and then 7 years as Scientist and then Senior Advisor for the WorldFish Center -one of the 15 centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). He has a PhD in fisheries sciences from the University of Paris, a post-graduate Diploma in Development Economics from the School of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia (UK), and a Master and a BSc degree both in Marine Environmental Sciences, from the University of Marseille (France).

He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in international journals, and several book chapters. Through his professional career, he worked in more than 20 countries in the Caribbean, South and South-East Asia, Sub-Sahara Africa, and the Pacific region.

Selected Projects and Recent Work

• Adaptive Social Protection

Thematic Expertise

Governance; Poverty; Adaptive Social Protection.

Geographic Expertise

Latin America and the Caribbean; Pacific; South East Asia; Sub Saharan Africa.

Selected Publications »»

• Kawarazuka, N. and Béné, C. (2011) 'The Potential role of Small Fish in Improving Micronutrient Deficiencies in Developing Countries: Building the Evidence', Public Health Nutrition
• Béné, C. et al. (2011) 'Testing Resilience Thinking in a Poverty Context: Experience from the Niger River Basin', Global Environmental Change , Elsevier
• Béné, C. and Friend, R. (2011) 'Poverty in Small-Scale Inland Fisheries: Old Issues, New Analysis', Progress in Development Studies 11.2 11(2):119-144
• Béné, C., Lawton, R. and Allison, E.H. (2010) '“Trade Matters in the Fight Against Poverty”: Narratives, Perceptions, and (lack of) Evidence in the Case of Fish Trade in Africa', World Development 33.7 38(7):933-954
• Béné, C., Hersoug, B. and Allison, E.H. (2010) '“Not by Rent Alone”: Analysing the Pro-Poor Functions of Small-Scale Fisheries in Developing Countries', Development Policy Review 28(3):325-358
• Béné, C., Belal, E., Ousman Baba, M. et al (2009) 'Power Struggle, Dispute and Alliance Over Local Resources: Analyzing ‘Democratic’ Decentralization of Natural Resources through the Lenses of Africa Inland Fisheries', World Development 37.12:1935-1950
• Béné, C. (2009) 'Are Fishers Poor or Vulnerable? Assessing Economic Vulnerability in Small-Scale Fishing Communities', Journal of Development Studies 45(6):911-933
• Béné, C., Steel, E., Kambala Luadia, B. and Gordon, A. (2009) 'Fish as the “Bank in the Water”: Evidence from Chronic-Poor Communities in Congo', Food Policy 34(1):108-118
• Béné, C. and Merten, S. (2008) 'Women and Fish-for-Sex: Transactional Sex, HIV/AIDS and Gender in African Fisheries', World Development 36(5):875-899
• Béné, C. (2005) 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Discourse, Policy Controversies and the Role of Science in the Politics of Shrimp Farming Development', Development Policy Review 23.5:585-614, Wiley-Blackwell