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Institute of Development Studies

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) delivers world-class research, learning and teaching that transforms the knowledge, action and leadership needed for more equitable and sustainable development globally.

Through equitable and sustainable partnerships, we work with governments, philanthropic foundations, non-governmental organisations, academics and civil society to transform approaches to progressive social, political and economic change in ways that ultimately make a difference to people’s lives.

We have helped foster innovative new partnerships that have generated millions of dollars in additional tax revenues in Africa that can be reinvested in countries’ national development. We have worked to provide solutions to environmental problems that build on local people’s knowledge and practices. We have highlighted the role of local communities in bringing an end to deadly epidemics like the Ebola virus. We have nurtured hundreds of exceptional development leaders and champions including political leaders, country Ambassadors and government officials, civil society leaders and entrepreneurs.

Our reputation for research and international outlook is second to none and reflected in our performance in the latest QS World University Rankings where we are ranked first in the world for development studies, together with the University of Sussex. We are also ranked as the number one international development policy think-tank by the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 33 articles

Ghana’s e-levy has hit traders in the country’s informal sector the hardest. Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images

Ghana’s e-levy is unfair to the poor and misses its revenue target: a lesson in mobile money tax design

Domestic resource mobilisation cannot be achieved by over-taxing the livelihoods of the most vulnerable workers in the informal sector.
Donkeys allow herders to travel further in the rocky terrain of southern Tunisia. Linda Pappagallo/Pastres

How pastoral farming can help to avoid a biodiversity crisis

Pastoral communities should be included in conservation initiatives – but the ecology of pastoral lands has long been misunderstood.
The Koli community depend on fishing, but fish stocks off Mumbai’s coast have been declining. Akella Srinivas Ramalingaswami/Shutterstock

Facing the dual threat of climate change and human disturbance, Mumbai – and the world – should listen to its fishing communities

Facing human threats, Mumbai’s Koli community are taking risk reduction into their own hands – other vulnerable coastal settlements should take note.
A lot of African countries have implemented taxes on electronic transactions. Wikimedia Commons

New data on the e-levy in Ghana: unpopular tax on mobile money transfers is hitting the poor hardest

The tax on electronic transactions has not generated as much revenue as the government of Ghana expected.
À Nairobi, la capitale du Kenya, le bétail, conduit vers de nouveaux pâturages dans un contexte de grave sécheresse, se faufile dans la circulation urbaine. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images

Il ne faut pas confondre les vaches et les voitures dans les débats sur le changement climatique

Un discours simpliste tenu par des activistes, des célébrités, des philanthropes, des décideurs politiques voudrait que « tous les animaux d'élevage soient mauvais ». Ce qui est loin de la réalité.
Delegates arrive at the COP26 climate summit on November 4, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

COP26: Two worlds talked past each other – or never even met

At COP26 in Glasgow everyone was committed to saving the planet, but there were highly divergent views about how to do it.
Informal head porter workers Percent Boatemaq (left) and Lusaka Fuseina (right) carrying goods on their heads at Agbogbloshie market in Accra, Ghana. Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images

The World Bank and IMF are using flawed logic in their quest to do away with the informal sector

Influential international actors like the World Bank and the IMF should focus on expanding social protection rather than focusing on eliminating the informal economy.
Cattle driven into the Kenyan capital Nairobi for new pasture amid a severe drought navigate through city traffic. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images

Cows and cars should not be conflated in climate change debates

A simplistic ‘all livestock are bad’ narrative is promoted by campaigners, celebrities, philanthropists and policymakers alike. A much more sophisticated debate is needed.

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