Pathways to Sustainability: the STEPS Centre approach

How do we deal with the spread of HIV/ AIDS or avian ‘flu? How can farmers in dryland Africa cope with the challenges of climate change? How do we address…

Peri-urban sustainability

Over the last five years, the ESRC STEPS Centre has explored the management of resources in peri-urban areas, and how sustainability can be defined and sought in this context. We…

Rethinking Regulation: international norms and local realities

Technologies are finding their way to more remote and diverse corners of the globe, bringing with them significant opportunities for human development, but also risks – to individuals, the environment,…

Pathways in and out of maize

In a region where droughts and other extreme weather events are common, maize is central to food security for most households across East and Southern Africa. From national policy to…

Environmental Change and Maize Innovation Pathways in Kenya: Seeking Resilience through Diversity (maize briefing 1)

In Kenya, STEPS Centre research partners from the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), the Centre for African Bio-entrepreneurship (CABE), Tegemeo Institute at Egerton University, in association with the Institute…

Biosafety Regulation: Lessons from Kenya and the Philippines

Both Kenya and the Philippines have been regarded as ‘test cases’ for biotechnology and biosafety regulatory development in their respective regions. Biosafety and its regulation has become the lightning rod…

Contesting sustainabilities in the peri-urban interface

This research report is intended to inform and encourage debate on the management of resources in the peri-urban fringe. In particular it demonstrates how the dominant, mainstream, strategies for water…

Anthropogenic Dark Earths in Africa: Project Case for Support

Biochar: “Triple Wins”, Livelihoods and Technological Promise

Biochar is a carbon-rich product that results when biomass is burned under oxygen-deprived conditions. There is both technological optimism and debate about its potential. The addition of biochar to soils…