Challenging power through methods

By Linet Mwirigi, Maureen Kabasa, Kennedy Mbeva and Joel Onyango In every sphere of life, different methods and power relations are at play. The dynamics and dimensionality of power and…

Envisioning the future in the present: making sense of uncertainty

The STEPS symposium on ‘the politics of uncertainty’ made me think about a couple of questions that I have been concerned with in my research work, but that I have…

Woman walking with goat

Results of four-year zoonoses research showcased in One Health ‘Special Issue’

Infectious diseases traceable to animals are driven by climate change, land-use change and the massive expansion of towns and cities, according to contributors to a paper in a major new…

Herder with camels

New research on pastoralism in Africa funded by European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded one of its prestigious Advanced Grants to STEPS director Prof Ian Scoones. Ian will take this opportunity to build upon his earlier work…

One Health Day: 3 November 2016

Read our ‘One Health stories’ on how research from the STEPS-led Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa consortium was used to inform responses to zoonotic disease.

The sugar rush in southern Africa

In a new post on his Zimbabweland blog, STEPS director Ian Scoones discusses a new special issue looking at sugar in South Africa. “It is a good moment to review…

Empowering chickens?

In his latest Zimbabweland blog, STEPS director Ian Scoones looks at the latest scheme from Bill Gates to distribute chickens to help poor rural women.

Dryland landscape with trees, people and animals

Why we should stop talking about ‘desertification’

A great new book has just been published called ‘The End of Desertification? Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands’, available at a shocking price from Springer. It is edited by…

Why Britain’s decision to leave the EU is bad news for Africa

The fallout from the UK referendum that ended in victory for those wanting the country to exit from the European Union (EU) is still reverberating around the world. But what…