Opinion by Ellen Hillbom and Erik Green, Readers in Economic History with a special interest in African Economic History Among the general public and the researchers, Africa has been described as a continent in permanent poverty with weak economic growth. Today the situation is different. Several African countries are among the international growth-leading economies, foreign...
Apartheid, which in Afrikaans means separation, has deep, entangled roots in South Africa. Over the centuries a society was formed with segregation and xenophobia that characterised everyday life. With his book “Ingen enkelriktad väg till frihet” (No one-way road to freedom), historian Jonas Sjölander wants to discover new layers and see other nuances with regard to Sweden’s sanctions against...
Social anthropologist Anna Hedlund has studied violence in places like Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Bouganville and the Solomon Islands, all the while knowing that it was in the eastern Congo that exposure was at its worst. How do the underlying political, economic and social mechanisms work in war zones? Deep in the Congolese forests she met with...
A billion dollar market with fatal consequences. Falsified medicines are a virtually unknown health threat to the Swedish general public, although these drugs are among the ones purchased online. The proportion of Swedes who buy medications online is increasing. “Clear and recurring information on the dangers of falsifications is now a must”, writes Susanne Lundin. Three bodies in contorted positions. Arms and...
How are the residents of villages in Tanzania who are victims of land grabbing doing? Physical geographer Emma-Li Johansson used art to come closer to people’s thoughts, worries and dreams of the future. How would they visualise the phenomenon? What stories would they include? “We did three paintings in each village: one representing...
To respond to the increasing social and economic vulnerability, smallholder farmers in East Africa have started more long term collaborations. The formation of local collaborative groups strengthens both the individual and the collective capacity to address challenges and improve living conditions, as demonstrated by Lund researchers Elina Andersson and Sara Gabrielsson in a comprehensive study. The living conditions of smallholder farmers in East Africa have...
African countries are showing an increased interest to invest in agriculture. Many welcome this development, but there are also those who warn that conventional modernised agriculture is likely to disadvantage both the vast majority of smallholder farmers and the environment. Sustainability researcher Ellinor Isgren is investigating so-called agroecological farming and...
Access to good sanitation is a basic human right. For many years, major international organisations have focused on giving people in poor countries access to adequate sanitation facilities. But pre-designed toilets and external experts are not always the best solution. Sara Gabrielsson, researcher at LUCSUS, believes that self-help through training and other methods...
The need for food, animal feed and fuel in the Sahel belt is growing year on year, but supply is not increasing at the same rate. New figures from 22 countries indicate falling availability of resources per capita and a continued risk of famine in areas with low ‘primary production’ from plants. Rising temperatures present...
