© University of Greenwich

NRI's social scientists are involved in a wide range of research on development opportunities and problems, at every level from the household to that of national policy. This research is rooted in NRI's strong tradition of interdisciplinary research on natural resource management, but in recent years has widened to include research on common property resources, financial institutions, ethical trade, and the non-farm rural economy. All our research is grounded in the need to overcome poverty and foster sustainable livelihoods: sustainable in both the economic and environmental senses.

Our research in development studies is structured around five broad themes, although many researchers are active on more than one theme:

• Processes and Institutions in Agricultural Innovation
• Environment, Vulnerability and Policy
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Local Economic Development
• Finance and Trade

Funding

Most of our development studies research is funded by major aid donors, such as DFID, the World Bank and the European Union, and our research, advisory and consultancy work all closely inform each other. In addition we are able to use our own resources to reflect more broadly on and synthesise the conclusions of research and consultancy projects, and to supervise research students.

Recent projects include:

• Rural transport in Uganda (DFID Crop-Post Harvest Programme, £297,000)
• The development of promotional strategies for crop protection research in Semi-Arid Africa (DFID Crop Protection Programme, £200,000)
• Fish distribution from coastal communities: market and credit access issues (DFID Post-Harvest Fisheries Programme, £131,000)
• Sustainable Water Management Improves Tomorrow's Cities' Health (SWITCH) Project (EU Framework 6, University of Greenwich share £255,000)
• Assessing the social impacts of codes of practice (DFID Programme of Advisory and Support Services, £248,000)
• Strengthening local agricultural innovation systems in Tanzania and Malawi to adapt to the challenges and opportunities arising from climate change and variability (DFID-IDRC Climate Change Adaptation in Africa Programme, £234,000)
• Governance implications of private standards initiatives in agri-food chains (ESRC-DFID Joint Programme, £199,000)

Partnerships

NRI undertakes development studies research in partnership with a broad range of institutions in developing and transitional countries, in the UK and in other countries of the North. Our partners include universities, specialist social science research institutes and agricultural research organisations, both national and international. They also include NGOs, community-based organizations, aid donors and projects, and trade associations.

Dissemination

NRI strongly believes in matching the form of dissemination to the needs of the target audience or audiences. In much of our research, especially our research on agricultural technologies. We have worked hard to understand the most effective ways in which technology development can be communicated to farmers, and many publications aimed at farmers themselves, agricultural extension workers, or the private sector, have resulted. Our research on development policy and development practice is disseminated through our own Policy Series and other NRI publications, including several recent books, to make it available to a wide development community, especially in developing countries.

Our works also appear as networks papers and publications of other research organizations and of aid donors. Through our links with donors, we are able to make presentations and participate in high-level national and international workshops on policy. We are increasingly using project websites and CD-ROMs to communicate in a flexible way with a variety of development stakeholders (see links below). All of our researchers are encouraged to submit papers to peer-reviewed journals and participate in academic conferences: to bring our work to the attention of our academic peers, to encourage the exchange of ideas and constructive criticism, and to contribute to an international knowledge base on development studies that is more durable and obtainable than grey literature. Journals in which we have recently published include World Development, Journal of International Development, and Food Policy among many others.

RAE

NRI social scientists were included in the University of Greenwich's submission to the Agriculture Unit of Assessment in the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which achieved a rating of 4. In 2001 14 social scientists were submitted to the newly-established sub-panel for Development Studies under Geography, achieving a rating of 3b alongside some other leading suppliers of applied research and consultancy in development. The submission to the Development Studies sub-panel in 2007 will include 10 staff and we will endeavour to achieve a rating consistent with the quality of our research, its policy relevance, and our success in attracting funding from development donors.