Development Futures in Kenya and Tanzania Beyond 2015

On the road towards the post-2015 development framework, the “Development Futures in Kenya and Tanzania Beyond 2015” book presents views from Kenya and Tanzania to complement the post-2015 debate that thus far has taken place mostly at the international policy circles. The book is based on over fifty interviews in Kenya, Tanzania and Finland and ten workshops carried out in the first half of 2013. The research has been commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and has been carried out under the BEYOND 2015 project (Kenya and Tanzania Beyond 2015: Exploring domestic debates and envisioning development futures)

Malmö was the start of an incredibly fulfilling journey for me

I vividly remember that day in May of 2002 when Oscar Hemer, the head of the Communication for Development (ComDev) Program at Malmö University, sent me an email telling me that I had been selected for the Masters degree programme at the university. I was in my office in Nairobi, having had a particularly frustrating day, and contemplating whether a career in the United Nations was really worth the trouble. Oscar’s email jolted me. I felt a rush of adrenaline followed by a sobering reality check. After having been accepted by several universities to do post-graduate degrees, I inevitably had to decline the offers because I simply couldn’t raise the fees

Afro-Pessimism in the Discourse on Urban East Africa

Rasna Warah argues that the literature on urbanization in Eastern Africa has been dominated by a pessimistic perspective that focuses on slums and informality, while ignoring the positive impact of urban living on the region's poor. Urbanization has been a critical factor in the development of societies, and that low levels of urbanization in Eastern Africa have hindered economic and social progress in the region. Warah urges governments in the region to adopt pro-urban strategies that can harness the enormous potential of cities as engines of economic growth and development.