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In what ways do norms and expectations about the actual processes of saving and borrowing create a disjuncture between the formal sector and indigenous experiences? Bridging this divide between every day and formal financial concepts and practices is part of the key to being...

When the Canadian company Bedford Biofuels (BB) started talks with local ranch owners in Tana Delta district (Kenya) about subleasing their land for a large jatropha plantation, they were not the first ones to come to the region for a large-scale agricultural project. Nor...

This article explores financial strategies used by smallholder farmers in the face of the challenging conditions following the economic crisis in the early 2000s in Zimbabwe. It considers the sources, circulation and importance of cash among farmers in the cash-scarce society...

Les contes présentés dans ce livre ont été recueillis chez les Kapsiki au Cameroun en 1972-1973. Ils se répartissent en quatre groups: Écureuil le rusé; Panthère, hyène et les autres animaux; La mort, la pluie et les hommes; Le monde des humains. Les contes sont précédés d'...

Rite and revenge : the taste of justice. Reciprocity is one of the main rules in human interaction, as people balance what they receive from and give to others quite meticulously, both in kind and in acts. Negative reciprocity, the proportionality of how others inflict on us...

This volume analyses the relationship between sacred space, identity, contested ownership and boundaries of the sacred in Africa and Europe, notably South Africa and the Netherlands. Contributions: Introduction: dynamics of construction of the sacred (Paul Post, Walter van...

In this chapter the author explores the notion of agency as a theory of causation, as a culturally viable way to explain "why things happen". He points out that not only "good" is attributed to agency, but also "evil". If an event is attributable to well-known regularities,...

This research project aims at understanding the expectations and motivations of young women in Ghana's Upper East region to start their own business. Supporting the owners of small-scale businesses in the informal economy has become a central objective of the global...

Internet connectivity is widely considered to be a game changer for knowledge economies of developing countries. The arrival of submarine fibre-optic underwater cables in East Africa in 2009 and 2010 is seen by many as a strong case in point. The fast evolution of the...

This white paper was produced by the Bellagio Big Data Workshop Participants; a group of activists, researchers and data experts who met at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Centre to discuss the question of whether, and how, big data is becoming a resource for...

By tracking the changing nature of wasta, or personal intermediation, in the Khartoum labour market, this paper examines the impact of Islamist policies on state-society relations in Khartoum, Sudan. It argues that economic liberalisation and higher education expansion...