2301, 2019

Dar es Salaam’s new rapid bus system won international acclaim – but it excludes the poor

By 643577|January 23, 2019|Cities, NGOs, Transport|1 comments

This post is written by  Matteo Rizzo, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at SOAS. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Bus rapid transit systems (BRT) have become the fashionable solution to chronic traffic congestion and low quality public transport – endemic problems for many cities in developing countries. BRTs typically operate using dedicated bus lanes, while passengers pay their fares before

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0807, 2017

The Bernstein and Byres Prize in Agrarian Change for 2016

By Jo Tomkinson|July 8, 2017|Agriculture, Journal of Agrarian Change, Labour|0 comments

This post has been jointly written by the editors of the Journal of Agrarian Change: Liam Campling, Cristóbal Kay, Jens Lerche, and Carlos Oya. It is part of the Journal of Agrarian Change blog, hosted on the Development Studies at SOAS blog. The ‘Bernstein & Byres Prize’ has been awarded since 2008 by the Journal of Agrarian Change (JAC) to the best article published in that year. An award of £500 is

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2211, 2016

What Does Trump Mean for Sub-Saharan Africa?

By Jo Tomkinson|November 22, 2016|Aid, Civil society, Neoliberalism|0 comments

Michael Jennings is a Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in the SOAS Department of Development Studies. His research interests include the politics and history of development processes in sub-Saharan Africa; governance, civil society, non-governmental organisations and faith-based organisations; and social aspects of health in Africa. On the scale of some of the things that emerged from the mouth of now US president-elect Donald Trump on the campaign scale, allegedly calling

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2704, 2016

Reshaping the Debate on Land Alienation in Africa: What are the Origins of Social Change?

By Jo Tomkinson|April 27, 2016|Agriculture, Neoliberalism|2 comments

Matt Kandel is a Newton International Fellow in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS. One Monday afternoon last August I was seated underneath a large palm tree with my friend, Simon, in Soroti Town in rural eastern Uganda, both of us relaxing and seeking a minor respite from the equatorial African sun.  The subject of our conversation was the weekend-long clan meeting that he and his family had organised

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0412, 2015

Valletta Summit: Aid For Africa Is Not the Solution to the Refugee Crisis

By Jo Tomkinson|December 4, 2015|Migration, Uncategorized|0 comments

Laura Hammond is a Reader in Development Studies and Head of Department at the SOAS Department of Development Studies. Her research interests include food security, conflict, forced migration and diasporas.

Giving more development aid to Africa may be a good idea, but the proposition that it will be an effective way of stemming the flow of migrants out of Africa towards Europe is deeply flawed.

At the recent Valletta Migration Summit between European and African leaders in Malta, the European Union announced the establishment of an Emergency Trust Fund for Africa to promote stability and to address the root causes of irregular migration and displacement. The EU has pledged 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) and has asked member states to make additional contributions to match that amount.

The funds are to be spent on an array of activities including generating employment opportunities, reintegrating returnees, providing basic services for local populations, and promoting environmental sustainability. Money will also be directed at law enforcement, border management, containing and preventing irregular migration, combatting trafficking and smuggling and countering radicalisation and extremism.