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Background report
Dying as Transformation to Ancestorhood: The Sherbro Coast of Sierra Leone
People who live in the Sherbro coastal area of Sierra Leone have a social organisation based upon descent from named ancestors and acestresses. Ancestors, the living, and those not yet born constitute a great chain of being. This continuum of…
Background report
Les Gens du Riz (The Rice People)
This is a chapter on Kissi Funerals in the region of Guekedou and Kissidougou. Whilst this is based on fieldwork conducted in 1945-6, many of the ritual practices and meanings were current and observed in Kissi villages in 1991-3. For…
Foresight paper
Disease Scenarios Africa – Countries
The bulk of the scenario modelling took place in June 2014 at a workshop in Naivasha, Kenya, with later work taking place at a workshop at the Institute of Development Studies, UK, in early 2015. The workshops included participants…
Evidence review
A Practitioner’s Guide for Facilitating People Centred Adaptation: Participatory Adaptation Handbook
This book has been compiled by a group of practitioners from South Africa, Ethiopia and Germany, and draws on our collective experiences in supporting local communities in adapting to increasing climatic variability and change. The authors have written this book…
Background report
International Peacekeeping: Special Issue: HIV/AIDS and Post-Conflict Societies in Africa
Intorductory article to edition of International Peacekeeping which explores HIV/AIDS in post-conflict societies in Africa. It assesses the key aspects of these societies that contribute towards the spread and impact of the epidemic, such as poorly functioning national health systems,…
Background report
A Rapid Qualitative Assessment of Oral Cholera Vaccine Anticipated Acceptability in a Context of Resistance Towards Cholera Intervention in Nampula, Mozambique
While planning an immunization campaign in settings where public health interventions are subject to politically motivated resistance, designing context-based social mobilization strategies is critical to ensure community acceptability. in preparation for an Oral Cholera Vaccine campaign implemented in Nampula, Mozambique,…
Evidence review
At Home with Mastomys and Rattus: Human-Rodent Interactions and Potential for Primary Transmission of Lassa Virus in Domestic Spaces
The multimammate mouse (Mastomys natalensis) is the reservoir for Lassa virus (LASV). Zoonotic transmission occurs when humans are directly or indirectly exposed to fluids of the multimammate mouse, such as urine, saliva, and blood. Housing characteristics and domestic organization affect…
Evidence review
Camel Milk, Amoxicillin, and a Prayer: Medical Pluralism and Medical Humanitarian Aid in the Somali Region of Ethiopia
This paper details how exposure to new clinics, diagnostic technologies, and pharmaceuticals during humanitarian relief operations in the Somali Region of Ethiopia shaped local pluralistic health systems and altered the ways in which residents subsequently conceived of and treated illness…
Briefings
Communicating Risk in Public Health Emergencies
During public health emergencies, people need to know what health risks they face, and what actions they can take to protect their health and lives. Accurate information provided early, often, and in languages and channels that people understand, trust and use,…
Background report
Cultural Transmission of Traditional Ecological Knowledge among Batwa Pygmies and Ntomba Bantou in Lake Tumba Landscape, Democratic Republic of Congo
This paper is a case study which aims to examine how today’s techniques related to different livelihood activities, but also in the social field, are acquired and transmitted among Batwa (pygmies) and Ntomba (bantou) communities living in the two villages (Moheli…
Background report
Ebola and Lessons for Development
As the Ebola crisis continues to unfold across West Africa and the international community belatedly responds, broader questions arise beyond the immediate challenges on the ground. These fundamentally challenge our understanding of ‘development’ as framed and practised in past decades.…
Background report
Engaging ‘Communities’: Anthropological Insights from the West African Ebola Epidemic
The recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa highlights how engaging with the sociocultural dimensions of epidemics is critical to mounting an effective outbreak response. Community engagement was pivotal to ending the epidemic and will be to post-Ebola recovery, health system…
