We work around Africa to increase access to basic services, help after humanitarian emergencies and empower girls and women, ultimately helping people lift themselves out of poverty. In these blogs country teams discuss their work and progress towards these and other goals.
In Tanzania, as in many African countries, there is evidence of the informal economy wherever you look. As you walk through the streets of Dar Es Salaam, there are small stalls everywhere, selling fruit and veg, plants, mobile phone sim …
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. It's currently in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, its economy is slowing and it's vulnerable to climate change. It's landlocked, in a relatively unstable region that includes borders with …
My son has a book called 'What do people do all day?' It doesn't include anyone who works in development, so I hope these new blogs by DFID staff can help put that right, and explain to people what we …
Recently, I sat down to dinner with Hilary Armstrong MP, who was in Tanzania to undertake some voluntary work in a leading Tanzanian non-governmental organisation working in education. She was in the country to celebrate the 50th anniversary of VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) – …
Ethiopian folklore has it that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. A goatherd liked the taste and the feeling that followed when he plucked and ate some berries from what we now know as a coffee tree. Coincidentally, I have a coffee …
Throughout the six years I have worked in DFID I have always wanted to work in one of our offices based in a developing country. Living overseas, close to the ‘front line’ of delivering aid has to be the top …
Finally, I’m off and running… or perhaps crawling? In August 2008 I moved to Addis Ababa with my wife and two small children to become Head of DFID Ethiopia. Many people think of Ethiopia as a dry and dusty country. …
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