Making a living and securing basic necessities in challenging environments. Including issues such as: social protection, climate change, resource scarcity, human capital, disabilities, resilience, and wellbeing.

Building peace in the new oil frontiers of Northern Kenya

Since the discovery of oil five years ago in Northern Kenya, explorations have spread to more than 30 drilling and testing sites. This has brought foreign investment, and in turn, new work opportunities, corporate social investment in schools and health clinics, and options for personal enrichment through contracts and tenders. In an area long inhabited by pastoralists, this rapid development has created tensions, resistance, and conflict around both access to new opportunities and also the impacts on lives and livelihoods.

Blood bricks: examining the climate change-modern slavery nexus in the Cambodian construction industry

'Climate change and slavery: the perfect storm?' - this was the prescient headline of The Guardian (2013) which called for more international conversation on the links between these urgent threats to environmental and human security. This study forwards this call by examining the inter-linkages between climate change, different axes of structural inequality (e.g. gender, age), and vulnerability to trafficking into modern slavery.

Negotiating conflict: environmental violence, economic development and the everyday practices of islanders
In developing countries experiencing high levels of poverty and inequality, getting the balance right between economic development and protection of the natural environment can be a major challenge for policymakers. This project will use an innovative approach known as 'everyday studies': a way of investigating the routine and seemingly mundane.
Armed Group Governance and the Sustainability of Environmental Resources: The Case of the Philippines

Principal Investigator: Ana Maria Ibáñez. Lead Organistion: University of the Andes - Colombia

Unrest in Nigeria. Charred vehicle remains after a bomb blast at Terminus market in Jos.
Development frontiers in crime, livelihoods and urban poverty in Nigeria (FCLP)
This mixed-methods research aims to bring together key development concerns related to sustainable livelihoods, social vulnerability, and poverty to build an alternative account of 'insecurity and crime' in African cities.
Pastoralists in the Afar Region, Ethiopia
Water-security in Ethiopia and the emotional response of pastoralists (WEEP)

Pastoralists are farmers who raise livestock, and move their herds in search of fresh pasture and water supplies. There are 12 million in Ethiopia and they are often in extreme poverty. Unfortunately the pastures they use are disputed and they often come into conflict with other land users. The changing climate is altering resource availability and this can make the conflicts worse. The government is trying to persuade them to diversify their farming activities and grow arable crops as well.

Blog: Research impact - make it, don’t fake it
Kelly Shephard, Head of Knowledge, Impact and Policy at IDS, presents a new series of impact stories, produced by the ESRC-DFID Impact Initiative, which examine a range of challenges that occurred during the research process, the different approaches taken, and how barriers in achieving impact were overcome. Ultimately, the stories demonstrate how research funded through the ESRC-DFID Strategic Partnership is improving the lives of people around the world in positive ways.

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