I am a social geographer specialising in the human-environment interface in West Africa and work as an independent researcher and rural development consultant.
I gained my undergraduate degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. During my course I took a year out to do an internship with CARE in Niger which started my infatuation with the people and environment of this incredible country. Hooked and curious, I then gained a scholarship to do a PhD in the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia.
My thesis focussed on the inter-dependencies between peoples’ engagement with farming and the temporal and spatial dimensions of their wider livelihoods and was based on in-depth fieldwork in a Hausa community. The abstract of my thesis can be found here and if you would like an electronic copy of the full work, please contact me. I also wrote a paper in the Journal of International Development that summarises some of my main findings (link to abstract here).
Since my thesis I have worked on various projects and consultancies. In recent years years I have swapped the aridity of Niger for the humidity of Liberia which has been a great learning process. The following is a list of those reports which I have authored in full or part that are available on the web.
Climate Change: Enhancing Adaptive Capacity (a desk study)
Woodfuel in Niger: Crisis or Adaptation in the Last Ten Years?
Evaluation Of Emergency Mitigation Strategies In CARE-Niger Programs
Use of NTFPs around Sapo National Park, Liberia
The Socio-Economic Setting of Communities Adjacent to Sapo National Park, Liberia
Agriculture and Land Tenure around Mount Tokadeh, Liberia (only pages 6-45 are my work, and has been slightly edited including removing my name)
Fisheries Assessment around Buchanan, Liberia (from page 43 with some parts written by a marine biologist I collaborated with)
Report of an Investigation into Continuous Cropping Opportunities in Northern Nimba
A Preliminary Study of Lowland Farming in 15 Settlements in Northern Nimba
Rapid Survey of Hunting and the Bushmeat Trade in and around Sangarédi, North-west Guinea