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Research projects 8
Large-scale land deals are among the most challenging development issues of today. They have attracted considerable attention for various reasons, including their implications for environmental justice and changes in local livelihoods. This phenomenon, also known as "land grabbing," is a significant driver of environmental change globally and, locally, it prompts a substantial reconfiguration of access to land and land-based social relations. While proponents frame the phenomena as a development opportunity, encompassing improvement in the livelihoods of local people, opponents counter-frame it as an impoverishing scheme. In Ethiopia, which is a primary target for large-scale land acquisitions, land is a major resource for state control and foreign direct investment. As the foundation of their livelihoods and anchor of their identity, it is simultaneously a vital resource for the local people. Many studies have indicated the adverse consequences of large-scale land transfers in terms of both procedural imperatives and outcome indicators. However, there is limited research that compares its processes and outcomes among countries characterized by different political histories, land policies, and state-society relations. In order to address this knowledge gap, this study attempts to answer questions of procedural justice (process) and distributive justice (outcome). Procedural justice is operationalized through the concepts of recognition, representation, and participation, whereas distributive justice relates to the (re)distribution of environmental benefits and burdens among stakeholders. The study applies a political-ecological approach as the overarching theoretical framework, complemented by analytical insights derived from recent advances in environmental justice conceptualizations. Methodologically, it will adopt a mixed-methods approach, involving the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis. Based on empirical evidence and contextualizing the local livelihood dynamics within broader structural and political-economic conditions, this study contributes to the ongoing debate on livelihood impacts and environmental justice implications of transnational land acquisitions.
Team
The overall objective of the project is to support Higher Education Institutions in Tanzania, Mozambique and Ethiopia to provide education that promotes sustainable socio-economic development. Application of renewable energy and adoption of energy-efficient lighting products and systems have the great potential to reduce the increasing energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. Tanzania, Mozambique, and Ethiopia have large potential of renewable energy and energy saving by applying energy efficient techniques. The project will support the development of much needed technical expertise and experience in the field of energy efficient lighting.
Team
PRE-LEAP-RE aims to contribute to identifying and formulating a strategic jointly designed Research and Innovation Agenda for renewable energy (RE) collaboration between Europe and Africa and establishing the organizational principles for its implementation in a forthcoming Joint Programme. The project will bringing together national funding agencies from EU and African States, involving key European and African actors of energy research. The key anticipated outcome of the PRE-LEAP-RE project is a European Joint Programme (EJP) in the field of RE.
Team
Spurred by the quest for improved performance, industrial firms have often embraced the international market, consequent to which they are continually embroiled in cross-border competitive rivalries in multiple markets. Against this backdrop, this study explores the cross-border investment location choices and competitive interactions of mobile network operators (MNOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, with particular focus on the 16 such firms that had proven significant presence across multiple countries in the region as of 2014.
Team
Given the growing importance of mobile telecoms in the economy of the fast-emerging Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this research aims at exploring the multimarket competition strategies of the mobile network operators (MNOs) with cross-border activities in the region. It is, therefore, expected that the findings emanating from the study would deepen our present understanding of internationalization and multimarket competition, drawing from mobile telecoms in the emerging region context.
Team
The ENhHANCE project proposes enhancements for SECE-AAiT and CoICT-UDSM in engineering education, research capacity and industry outreach through collaborative activities with COMNET-Aalto. The COMNET-Aalto department is a long-established and leading unit for research and education in Finland in the area of networking and communications engineering, and plans to leverage that extensive knowledge and experience for the benefit of the partner HEIs (SECE-AAiT and CoICT-UDSM).
Team
Prof. Riku Jäntti (Aalto), Prof. Jyri Hämäläinen (Aalto), Dr. Edward Mutafungwa (Aalto), Beneyam Haile (Aalto), Dr. Dereje Hailemariam (AAiT), Dr. Eneyew Adugna (AAiT), Prof. Henry Kundaeli (CoICT-UDSM), Dr. Honest C. Kimaro (CoICT-UDSM)
This project will identify the properties of soil, symbiotic microorganisms and agroforestry practices which improve the production of ecosystem services (BNF, AM, C sequestration) for food security in a changing climate. It will also identify the socio-economic feasibility of the management practices, including inoculation of legumes, and the knowledge networks required for their implementation.
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Kristina Lindström, Aregu Amsalu Aserse , Mila Sell, MarkkuYli-Halla, Helena Kahiluoto, Asefa Fassil, MauritzVestberg, Zebene Asfaw, Mesel Negash
Urban poverty in developing countries is fuelling the rapid growth of informal settlements which the UN defines as ‘slums’. Governments want to redevelop valuable slum land in the city centre for official and commercial purposes and to resettle slum dwellers to modern high-rise condominiums outside the city center, but target populations (former slum dwellers) are not always being reached by these programs. We focus on the cities of Addis Ababa and Dar es Salaam and ask: What are the exclusionary processes and forms of political economy that give rise to urban poverty in both of these cities? What are the best methods for understanding the lives of the highly mobile poor and elucidating the often hidden and invisible processes of resource flows, networking, and creation of privilege? More specifically, we investigate the reasons for why the poor are not being resettled in condominium housing, and whether the mismatch between the government’s original plan and the actual outcome arise from (a) policies and decisions which have, intentionally or unintentionally, excluded the urban poor, or from (b) the choices made by the poor themselves, because the new condominiums do not meet their needs (for livelihoods, social networks, access to services, etc. Our research methods are ethnographic: primarily in-depth, semi-structured interviews, including life history interviews.
Team
Prof. Laura Stark, Prof. Elias Yitbarek, Dr. Tiina-Riitta Lappi, Dr. Susanna Myllylä, MS Yonas Alemayehu, MS Imam Mahmoud, MA Jyri Mäkelä