Publications in the Climate Change & Energy category:

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…

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…

Biocharred Pathways to Sustainability? Triple Wins, Livelihoods and the Politics of Technological Promise

‘Biochar’ is currently the focus of extraordinary levels of both technological optimism and debate. As a substance, biochar refers quite simply to the carbon-rich product that results when biomass –…

Environmental Change and Maize Innovation in Kenya: Exploring Pathways In and Out of Maize

This paper summarises the findings of the STEPS Environmental Change and Maize Innovation in Kenya project. Maize is an important staple crop in Kenya, socially, politically and economically. This project…

Low Carbon Development: The Role of Local Innovative Capabilities

The term “development” is synonymous with economic growth. Theory and empirical evidence suggests decoupling energy use from economic growth is unlikely, implying an urgent need to decarbonise energy use and…

Amazonian Dark Earths in Africa?

This book chapter offers preliminary evidence concerning the existence of dark earth analogues in one part of West Africa and uses this to probe the historical and ecological arguments that…

Agri-food System Dynamics for Sustainability

In an era of rapid change, growing risk and uncertainty, there are many challenges to the sustainability of agricultural policy and practice in the developing world. Concerns about chronic hunger,…