ABSTRACT Transforming academic knowledge into effective development practice is at the heart of virtually all disciplines. However, a hybrid type of professionals – between academics and practitioners, better known as “pracademics” – who spearhead this transformation receive little recognition in the academic space. This work reports on one such colleague, Wandile Sihlobo, who is within the agricultural economics discipline, a branch of applied and development economics. An agricultural economist’s major role consists in analysing how the agricultural sector is linked to and affected by other sectors of the economy and promoting the more efficient management of agribusinesses. In terms of practice, an agricultural economist may work in academia, industry, or in the government sector. In this regard, Sihlobo juggles academia and the industry as a relational broker, providing theoretical sound and practical advice to policymakers, thus, enhancing their decision-making and project management capacity, and effectively sharing crucial knowledge with the public.

ABSTRACT This study provides evidence on the evolution and dynamics of banditry and how they are enabled through interlocking factors of governance deficits in northwest Nigeria. It relies on first-hand perspectives gathered covertly and directly from the bandits, defectors, residents, and victims. The paper provides a significant contribution to knowledge by analysing the real and potential impacts of banditry. It links causation to the effects, and shows how the continuous interaction of these factors generates a cycle of polycrisis in northwest Nigeria. The study yields insights for theory and offers direction on the policy imperatives for combatting banditry. The paper concludes that the governance framework to eliminate, neutralise, and disrupt banditry must embrace four strategies − the peacebuilding approach, security sector reform, development, and strategic social support to victims.

ABSTRACT Important agricultural technologies do not always reach smallholder farmers at the pace required to improve production. The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture’s farmers’ hubs is designed to improve access to new technologies. We describe how these businesses fit into the innovation system of Bangladesh and document what products and services are being provided to the community. We surveyed 300 farmers who were participants or non-participants living near six study hubs. The most used service (97 per cent or participants) was seedlings grown in specialised soil less media, which is a product supported through their research mechanism and where there are few alternatives in the market. However, other services like farm machinery, and purchasing of produce were less well used by participants. The location of the farmers’ hubs in smaller communities can enhance these farmers’ access to certain information and technology.

ABSTRACT Current challenges in approaches to understand and shift social norms relate to the absence of a methodology guided by an ethical framework that recognises the power dynamics inherent in social norms research and intervention design. This is particularly the case for social and gender norms related to sexual reproductive health rights, child marriage, harassment in public places, gender-based violence, unpaid care work, and gendered work roles. This article draws on the experiences of social norms research undertaken by Oxfam and partners in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Pakistan that sought to embed a feminist and participatory approach throughout the research cycle. In particular, it draws on lessons learned from a key component of a wider feminist participatory methodology, Oxfam's Social Norms Diagnostic Tool, developed in 2017, adapted and implemented in four different countries.

ABSTRACT Following the Grand Bargain, there has been increasing focus on aid localisation and partnerships between international and local aid agencies. Yet there has been less scholarly attention on how and why international agency policies and partnerships can cause unintended harm to civil society organisations and their staff. Drawing on James Scott’s seminal work Seeing like a State, and interviews with Myanmar civil society organisation leaders in 2023, this article argues that international agencies often attempt to render civil society “legible” through processes of systematisation and codification. However, these processes can in turn sideline accrued experiential and contextual knowledge, or metis, which is necessary for local organisations’ survival, especially in times of instability. The article highlights several instances in Myanmar where the marginalisation of this more contextual knowledge results in unintended harms. The article concludes that international agencies’ acknowledgement of metis is a crucial and yet still under-recognised pillar of aid localisation.

ABSTRACT Identifying vulnerable socioeconomic groups enables policymakers to design relevant intervention strategies and garner the support necessary to implement them. Previous studies indicate that COVID-19 contributed to widening socioeconomic inequalities, but a gap remains in understanding the impacts of the pandemic on ethnic groups in mountainous areas in Vietnam. We conducted interviews and applied logistic regression methods to analyse the relationships between socioeconomic factors and the likelihood of losing income due to the pandemic. We found that Indigenous people, communes, jobholders with more physical contact at work, groups that include more boys, and smaller residential landholders were more likely to suffer from COVID-19-related income loss. The findings of this study enable the Vietnamese Government and practitioners to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on households in mountainous areas. This study may guide the government toward developing policies for reducing the impact of similar pandemics on those groups in mountainous locations.

ABSTRACT The Indonesian Government has set ambitious climate targets and commitments, and now appropriate climate action is needed to achieve these targets. This viewpoint article identifies gaps in financing to achieve Indonesia’s climate commitments and suggests funding mobilisation strategies for climate action; it also recommends policy options to utilise available funding effectively and efficiently. It was estimated that realising climate commitments requires up to USD 276 billion in total, and the financing gap to realise this is around 53 per cent. To achieve the climate target, the government needs appropriate financing strategies. Securing funding from national and international sources, as well as from public and private sources, is critical to filling the gap and establishing financial source diversification. The limited state budget must be optimised through financial instruments such as green bonds, carbon pricing, and fiscal transfers. International financial sources must also be mobilised through bilateral, regional, and multilateral channels.