A highly addictive substance with strong stimulant properties is being grown in the conflict torn hills of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Between 50 and 80% of the harvest is then smuggled by boat and by road across the …
The visible abundance successfully veils the deprivation of a vast majority - how easily one can be deceived by the expansive lush green crop fields and mango laden trees, I thought as I drove down south Punjab on a day …
When I think of fragile and conflict affected states such as Afghanistan, Somalia or the Congo, in the development context, I think of humanitarian projects or perhaps peace building initiatives. These are generally short-term programmes aimed at dealing with emergencies …
The UK and Tajikistan are really very similar. They are a similar size (both around 140,000 square kilometres), they are home to several ethnic groups, and their capital cities (London and Dushanbe) are the largest cities in each country, and …
Bamyan is a beautiful province in Afghanistan and home to the Hazaras, an ethnic Shia minority who make up 9% of the Afghan population. They are believed to be descendants of Genghis Khan's army and have distinctive features. My visit was …
The end of the year is always a time for reflecting on what has gone well and hasn't: 2011 has been my first full year at DFID, working on the topic of green growth – one of the hottest issues …
Ok so I admit that’s a provocative title. But in many countries taking action on the two c-words “climate change” just isn’t a key priority. There are, perhaps, good reasons for this. A lot of countries feel there are more …
"Green growth" is en vogue in the development and international affairs world. The Republic of Korea has created a new Global Green Growth Institute, and a major UN Summit to be held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2012 will …
There's nothing quite like a drive in the country to understand the scale of a country's development needs. Whether in an armoured vehicle back in Helmand, on a field trip in Zambia in a previous role to see what scope …
I have just returned from a break at home with my family. I find being away from them one of the hardest challenges of living here. When I do see them it’s often difficult to fully explain life in Afghanistan. …
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