Ethiopia. Africa’s oldest independent country. Africa’s second largest in terms of population. A country that has never formally been colonised. The home of one of the oldest Christian churches. A country that has fascinated many with its unique cultural heritage. Ethiopia faces challenges on many fronts, in education, water and sanitation, health, nutrition and poverty,…

My career began when, aged 21, I went out to Botswana in September 1974 as an ODI Fellow (yes, ODI Fellows were much younger in those days).  I spent three years in Gaborone as an economist/­planning officer firstly in the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and subsequently in the Ministry of Agriculture.  My…

In the first part of 2016, Ray Purcell led a technical assistance team based in Botswana supporting the Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis (RVAA) Programme of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which included work on the preparation of the draft RVAA Strategic Plan. Here he describes some of the background to it and presents…

On the African Palm Oil Frontier in The Guardian  On 23 November, I went, for the first time in my life, to the offices of The Guardian adjacent to King’s Cross station. The event was a panel discussion, supported by RSPO (the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) on Africa the new palm frontier: can we…

In December of last year, Paris hosted the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, which saw the first ever global commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The historic agreement requires developed and developing nations to limit their emissions so that global average temperatures do not exceed a two degree increase over pre-industrial levels. Beyond this two…

When we talk about gender equality, the empowerment of women – in all aspects: economic, political and social – is an important foundation which cannot be ignored. Addressing the underlying strategic issues around women’s empowerment is much harder and more complex than addressing practical needs like women’s access to drinking water, health services and so…

In October 2015 Mokoro launched a long-term multi-country strategic research project in support of women’s land rights. The WOLTS[1] project has been initiated with a two-year pilot study in Tanzania and Mongolia focusing on the effects and impacts of mining investments in pastoralist communities. The study is examining the state of women’s land tenure security…

Through recent interactions with a French PhD student, Francesca Di Matteo, who is working on land in Kenya, I was invited to a conference on Politics of State Interactions on Land Rights in East Africa, held at IFRA (Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique), Nairobi on 22-23 June. It was essentially an academic conference. Presentations…

I have now learned this from my own experience: if a consultant works very long in one job, even if it is on a part-time basis, they lose their identity as a consultant. They become a staff member! And when that happens, and one has the personality of a free-flying bird like mine, it is…

This is written at the desk of Martin Adams, who has been a leading figure in Mokoro for several decades but, sadly, announced his retirement at the company’s Quarterly Meeting, just hosted by him and Gerda at their lovely home in rural Denmark. Both Martin and I were strongly influenced by A.T. (Dick) Grove, who…