Opinion

Opinion

Former farm workers in Mvurwi: structural constraints on success

Former farm workers living in compounds on resettlement farms in Mvurwi are some of the most marginalised people across the land reform farms. ‘Success’ is limited by a set of major structural constraints that individuals cannot overcome by themselves. We conducted success rankings in two...

Ian Scoones

2 June 2025

Opinion

Understanding success in the villagised land reform farms in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe

Villagised farms, with allocated homestead areas and fields and common grazing, are the most common type of land reform farm across the country, including in Masvingo province. We have three such case study sites – Lonely Farm (Gutu), Wondedzo Wares (Masvingo) and Sanangwe (Masvingo). Across...

Ian Scoones

27 May 2025

Opinion

Negotiating demographic change: sustaining land reform success in Masvingo, Zimbabwe

The challenges of managing generational change within farm households was highlighted by the A1 self-contained land reform sites in Masvingo province. Here we have two such sites – Clare farm in Gutu district and Wondedzo extension in Masvingo district. In these sites, people were allocated...

Ian Scoones

19 May 2025

Opinion

Climate justice and disability: Why including lived experience matters

Disability and climate justice are important development themes, yet research on their intersection is lacking. More evidence that centres the lived experiences of people with disabilities is needed to help drive action and to ensure people with disabilities are more visible in climate policies...

Roz Price & 3 others

15 May 2025

Opinion

Making digital inclusion real: Reflections on digital accessibility in Uzbekistan

Every third Thursday in May, the world marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) — a moment to reflect on whether digital spaces are truly open to everyone. As Uzbekistan moves forward with its “Digital Uzbekistan – 2030” strategy, the promise of innovation risks excluding many...

Dilmurad Yusupov

15 May 2025

Opinion

When cash comes with nutrition and community: lessons from Zambia

Child undernutrition is one of the world’s most stubborn development failures—silent, invisible, and yet devastatingly widespread. Despite rising investments in social protection, the ‘nutrition yield’ of these programmes often remains unrealised — a missed opportunity hiding in plain...

Inka Barnett

Cleopas Gabriel Sambo

14 May 2025

Opinion

Community resilience in conflict zones: a distraction, a solution, or both? A personal perspective from Yemen

In the wake of nearly a decade of protracted conflict in Yemen, I found myself returning – mentally and emotionally – to a question that continues to haunt the development and humanitarian fields: can localised governance and community-driven strategies truly build resilience in fragile,...

Mamoon Al Absi

13 May 2025

Opinion

War in the time of right-wing populism and divisive media

India and Pakistan went to war last week. I was in India on 22 April when the tragic terrorist attack in Pahalgam (in India-controlled Kashmir) happened, and in Pakistan as India was contemplating an attack on Pakistan in response to its alleged involvement in Pahalgam, and when the attacks were...

Shandana Khan Mohmand

13 May 2025

Opinion

Mother or student? Why I stopped trying to choose

Akinyi Ochieng, currently studying MA Gender & Development at IDS, is a Chevening scholar and a mother of two. In this blog post, Akinyi shares the emotional reality of balancing motherhood with full-time study—reflecting on the overwhelming guilt of being away from her children for the first...

Akinyi Ochieng, MA Gender & Development, Class of 2024-25

13 May 2025

Opinion

Commercialising agriculture drives ‘success’ in Mvurwi’s land reform areas in Zimbabwe

Mvurwi is a thriving high potential agricultural area, where commercialisation of tobacco and horticultural products are at the centre of success in the A1 land reform areas. We conducted two success rankings – in Hariana (12 men and 7 women) and Ruia (32 men and 23 women) farms – which...

Ian Scoones

12 May 2025

Opinion

Fifty years post war, Vietnam’s future for economic success

The busy streets of Hanoi are full of Vietnamese flags and many people dressed in military attire to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of Vietnam War (or the American War as it is sometimes called in Vietnam). With celebrations across the country, an estimated 13,000 people attended the...

Ayako Ebata

9 May 2025

Opinion

The Indian government’s weaponisation of gender in Operation Sindoor

The Indian government’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack which killed 26 civilians in Indian occupied Kashmir was disguised as a ‘military retaliation’ - a war for peace. In the early hours of May 7, 2025, the Indian army launched Operation Sindoor in Pakistan and...

Jigyasa Agarwal

9 May 2025

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Showing 1–12 of 2248 results

Former farm workers in Mvurwi: structural constraints on success

Understanding success in the villagised land reform farms in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe

Negotiating demographic change: sustaining land reform success in Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Climate justice and disability: Why including lived experience matters

Making digital inclusion real: Reflections on digital accessibility in Uzbekistan

When cash comes with nutrition and community: lessons from Zambia

Community resilience in conflict zones: a distraction, a solution, or both? A personal perspective from Yemen

War in the time of right-wing populism and divisive media

Mother or student? Why I stopped trying to choose

Akinyi Ochieng, MA Gender & Development, Class of 2024-25

Commercialising agriculture drives ‘success’ in Mvurwi’s land reform areas in Zimbabwe

Fifty years post war, Vietnam’s future for economic success

The Indian government’s weaponisation of gender in Operation Sindoor

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