Opinion

Opinion

The dynamics of ‘success’ in A1 land reform areas of Zimbabwe

There are many different versions of ‘success’ in Zimbabwe’s A1 land reform areas as we found out across 11 different ‘success ranking’ exercises in our sites in Mazowe, Gutu, Masvingo and Matobo districts. A total of 208 people (113 men, 95 women) were involved in different workshops,...

Ian Scoones

9 June 2025

Opinion

Why tax and customs administrations should do more to address gender issues

Domestic revenue mobilisation (taxation, tariffs, etc.) is recognised as the most sustainable way of financing development. For lower-income countries, this mode of financing is all the more important today, in a context of reduced development aid. An effective tax system is based, among...

Eugénie Ribault

5 June 2025

Opinion

Pathways to agricultural sustainability in Ghana

Farmers in Ghana are beginning to feel the consequences of decades of environmentally unsustainable practices such as soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, and dwindling household resources, yet their national agricultural policy remains focused on short-term economic gains. A recent panel...

Imogen Bellwood-Howard

5 June 2025

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

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Showing 1–12 of 2251 results

The dynamics of ‘success’ in A1 land reform areas of Zimbabwe

Why tax and customs administrations should do more to address gender issues

Pathways to agricultural sustainability in Ghana

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

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