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Search within Central and East Africa, Food security and livelihoods,
39 results found
Case study
SSHAP learning note: Building a localised approach
This learning note shares insights, experiences and lessons from SSHAP's approach to the localisation of its operational responses in sub-Saharan Africa.
Infographic
Alleviating chronic food insecurity in South Sudan arfr
This infographic summarises the Key Considerations briefing on responding to food insecurity in South Sudan, highlighting the importance of investment in agriculture and livelihoods, market access and infrastructure, and promoting sustainable peace.
Briefing
Alleviating chronic food insecurity in South Sudan arfr
This Key Considerations brief analyses the causes of food insecurity in South Sudan and the responses by government and non-government actors and partners, and offers considerations for these actors to support ending food insecurity, especially via bolstering agriculture and livelihoods.
Research paper
Psychosocial health in adolescent unmarried motherhood in rural Uganda: Implications for community-based collaborative mental health education, and empowerment strategies in the prevention of depression and suicide
Using co-produced Open Space and ethnographic methods, we examined the psychosocial impact of unmarried motherhood on girls and their communities, and explored problem-solving with key local stakeholders. Findings indicate that girls experience extreme stress, social exclusion and rejection by their…
Research paper
Motorcycle Taxis, Extended Lockdown and Inequality at Work in Kampala, Uganda
In this article, we draw on in-depth qualitative data from interviews with riders, carried out at different stages of the pandemic, to show how the composition of labour within the sector has been reworked by a series of ‘selective exits’…
Research paper
The Implications of Sugarcane Contract Farming on Land Rights, Labor, and Food Security in the Bunyoro Sub-Region, Uganda
The Ugandan government has long promoted agricultural commercialization as key to Uganda’s economic future. Sugarcane commercialization, in the form of contract farming (CF), has been a preferred instrument, leading to the emergence of large and medium sugar corporations in Uganda’s…
Research paper
A qualitative study to explore dietary knowledge, beliefs, and practices among pregnant women in a rural health zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo
This paper shows that various social, economic, and environmental factors within the local community influenced dietary practices among pregnant women in rural DRC. A comprehensive approach is required to improve nutrition, and address food insecurity, cultural practices and improve the…
Research paper
Peace Starts with Peace of Mind: Study of the Intersection between Postconflict Trauma, Peacebuilding and Economic Development in Northern Uganda
This study examines an intervention implemented by TPO Uganda in northern Uganda addressing mental health challenges, conflict mediation and economic empowerment. The research consisted of 23 individual in-depth interviews and 16 focus group discussions, supported by a quantitative questionnaire completed…
Research paper
Diverging Discourses: Animal Health Challenges and Veterinary Care in Northern Uganda
This paper draws on policy documents guiding the veterinary sector, interviews with faculty staff at Makerere University and with veterinarians and paraprofessionals in northern Uganda, and ethnographic fieldwork in smallholder communities. The aims of this study were to contribute to…
Research paper
Similar, yet different! Comparing Ugandan secondary cities’ food system and nutritional transformations to findings from African primary cities.
This research focuses on the food, farming and health experiences of two secondary cities of Uganda (Mbale and Mbarara), comparing findings with studies of primary African cities.
Research paper
Understanding malnutrition management through a socioecological lens: Evaluation of a community-based child malnutrition program in rural Uganda
The objective of this evaluation was to understand the factors influencing malnutrition management in a CMAM program in rural Uganda, using the socioecological model to assess the multilevel determinants of outpatient malnutrition management. This evaluation used qualitative methods to identify…
Research paper
Borderlands, Identity and Urban Development: The Case of Goma (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
This paper challenges traditional studies that explore border sites from a central or capital city perspective. Focusing on expressions of identity in the border city of Goma, it illustrates how the struggle for political, social and economic control affects local…
Research paper
“A Woman’s Degree Must End in the Kitchen”: Expectations of Women in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
This study draws on a qualitative approach to explore how adolescents perceive women’s and men’s roles in marriage and family life. A sample of 56 boys and girls aged 16–20 from two urban and two rural high schools in South…
Background report
Chiefs’ Courts, Hunger, and Improving Humanitarian Programming in South Sudan
South Sudan has seen the most frequent reporting of localised famine conditions globally between 2013-2020, on average at least one pocket of famine conditions every two months. Focusing on identified famines, however, masks a broader and even more frequent issue…
Research paper
Re-conceptualizing sustainable urban sanitation in Uganda: why the roots of ‘Slumification’ must be dealt with
Country-wide urbanization in Uganda has continued amidst institutional challenges. Previous water and sanitation interventions have not addressed underlying issues of poorly managed urbanization, which is linked to low productivity, urban poverty, unemployment, limited capacity to plan and offer basic services.…
Research paper
The Framing of Malnutrition by Parliamentarians in Uganda
The quest for political commitment to reducing malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa draws attention to the role of national parliamentarians. Whereas parliamentarians have the authority to ratify legislation, monitor policies and budgets and transform behaviour, little is known about how malnutrition…
Briefing
Food distribution and corona-politics in Uganda: the view from Kampala
Ahead of presidential, parliamentary and local elections planned for 2021, urban food relief distribution in Uganda became politicised as people struggled under COVID-19 lockdown measures. As narratives of ‘liberation’ resurfaced amid the government’s health response, the securitisation of corona-politics further…
Research paper
In the Long Run: Ugandans Living with Disability
Uganda has progressive legislation in place to support the rights of people with disabilities, and has received donor support for special education and community-based rehabilitation programs over the years. Yet while political mobilization and interventions aiming to minimize disabling conditions…
Research paper
Impact of COVID-19 public health restrictions on older people in Uganda: “hunger is really one of those problems brought by this COVID”
In Uganda, older adults (aged 60 and above) form 2.7 percent of the population and are amongst the poorest members of society without a steady income or state pension system. Most older people in Uganda (and generally in sub-Saharan Africa)…
Research paper
Home Is Where the Heart Is: Identity, Return and the Toleka Bicycle Taxi Union in Congo’s Equateur
While many ex-combatants in the DRC continue to be re-recruited into militia groups, one group that has reintegrated successfully is the Toleka—a several-thousand-strong group of ex-combatants who returned (or remained) in the provincial capital of Mbandaka (Equateur province). The Toleka…
Research paper
Capitalizing Community: Waste, Wealth, and (Im)Material Labor in Kampal
Biomass briquettes have emerged as a development silver bullet, supposedly converting waste to wealth and tackling crises of unemployment, urban waste management, and rural deforestation. Briquettes have captured the imagination of international environmental NGOs operating in many African cities who…
Research paper
Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study from a Cohort of HIV Clients in Uganda.
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the food security of people in low-income countries. This is important for people living with HIV (PLWH) because HIV medication should be taken with food to avoid side-effects. We used survey data (n = 314) and qualitative interviews…
Research paper
War, Displacement and Rural–Urban Transformation: Kivu’s Boomtowns, Eastern D.R. Congo
This article addresses rural–urban transformations in the war-torn Kivu provinces. The spectacular growth and development processes of fast-expanding boomtowns in Kivu’s rural areas serve as an entry point to investigate the relationship between conflict, displacement, urbanisation and development in Eastern…
Briefing
The view from Gulu on Uganda’s food distribution and corona-politics
When presidential, parliamentary and local elections were slated for early 2021, the politicisation of COVID-19 food distribution was being widely discussed. In Gulu, the effects of the pandemic were felt sharply amongst those reliant on food relief. The central government’s…
Background report
Food Security and Nutrition Vulnerability and Risk Analysis in Former Warrap and Northern Bahr el Ghazal States
The trends reported in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) show a growing food security crisis in South Sudan, with a high proportion of people sliding into crisis in almost all parts of the country, with millions of people,…
Thesis
Navigating Obstacles, Opportunities and Reforms: Women’s Lives and Livelihoods in Artisanal Mining Communities in Eastern DRC
This thesis drew upon ethnographic methods to ‘zoom in’ on the diverse and changing roles of women in artisanal mining. Over a 15-month period, the research was carried out at four mining sites: two in South Kivu (Kamituga and Nyabibwe)…
Research paper
Motivations of men and women for migration to artisanal and small-scale mining sites in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) sites in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) present livelihoods opportunities within an evolving security situation, thus offering the potential for economic and physical security. This paper presents survey data detailing reasons why men and…
Research paper
Policing men: militarised masculinity, youth livelihoods, and security in conflict-affected northern Uganda
Relations between militaries and masculinities—and hegemonic masculinity and the state—are well-established in the literature on gender and development. However, there is less research on how militarised masculinities relate to state governance strategies. This paper, based on qualitative research conducted in…
Research paper
The role of social networks in savings groups: insights from village savings and loan associations in Luwero, Uganda
Studies of village savings and loan association (VSLAs) programmes in several African countries portray these initiatives as spaces that increase financial access for the poor, improve livelihoods, and provide members with social capital. Little is known, however, about their impact…
Research paper
Struggling over land in post-conflict Uganda
Land dispossession and conflicts over land compound resettlement efforts in post-conflict contexts. This is particularly true in rural sub-Saharan African countries, where the vast majority of livelihoods depend on maintaining access and rights to cultivable land. This article engages in…
Research paper
Resources and resourcefulness: Roles, opportunities and risks for women working at artisanal mines in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Two dominant narratives have characterized the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): (1) the horrific abuse of women through sexual violence and (2) the use of “conflict minerals” to fuel the fighting. These two advocacy narratives intersect…
Background report
Livelihoods, Access to Services and Perceptions of Governance: An Analysis of Pibor County, South Sudan from the Perspective of Displaced People
Based on qualitative interviews in Juba with displaced people from Pibor County in 2013, this article examined internal state-building processes, international engagement with the state, and livelihoods and response in rural Pibor County. The authors focus in particular on how…
Background report
Livelihoods, Access to Services and Perceptions of Governance: An Analysis of Uror and Nyirol Counties, South Sudan
This report is one of a series based on qualitative fieldwork conducted by the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) South Sudan team in Uror and Nyirol Counties, Jonglei State, South Sudan in January and February 2013 (prior to the outbreak…
Book chapter
“Économie de la débrouille à Kinshasa informalité, commerce et réseaux sociaux” fr
Comment, dans un contexte de crise économique et sociale durable, les citadins réinventent-ils les moyens de leur survie à Kinshasa ? C’est à cette question que cet ouvrage s’attache à répondre. On y trouve une description ethnographique minutieuse des dispositifs…
Research paper
‘Instead of Begging, I Farm to Feed My Children’: Urban Agriculture – An Alternative to Copper and Cobalt in Lubumbashi
The collapse of a large mining company in the 1990s forced many unemployed workers in Lubumbashi, DRC to look at alternative means of survival. The post-mine era was characterized by acute economic crisis at a time of rapid population growth…
Research paper
Conflict, trade and the medium-term future of food security in Sudan
This article considers that the classic neoliberal prescription of peace, growth and foreign investment may deepen (and obscure) the needs and grievances of those historically left behind in a dysfunctional development process.
