Kenya

Research and activites

Photo/illustration by Rasmus Fly Filbert

Webinar

Locally-led climate change adaptation: From principles to practice

Online via Zoom

Climate change adaptation in the Global South is urgent. Locally-led approaches are gaining momentum. But what does that mean in practice and does it work? This webinar launches a new DIIS report on lessons from locally-led adaptation in East Africa
Brief

2023

Climate change adaptation: One size does not fit all

Climate change policies assume that everyone adapts in the same way. Research from Kenya shows they don’t.
Photo/illustration by KRCS-Denis Onyodi via Flickr copyright license

DIIS Blog

2023

African Climate Summit

A potential turning point for global diplomacy and climate action
Photo/illustration by Mikkel Funder

Webinar

Governing climate change adaptation: Lessons from the ground

Online via Zoom

How should climate change adaptation be governed? This webinar examines how climate change adaptation policies and projects govern mobility, land rights and finance in the African context, and what the lessons are for adaptation governance.
Webinar

Experiences of women, peace and security in diverse African contexts

Online Zoom meeting

In this webinar, national and regional practitioners of the women, peace and security agenda exchange their experiences in advancing women’s role in peace governance and challenges for policy implementation in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali and beyond
Photo/illustration by Joerg Boethling / Alamy Stock Photo

Livestreaming

How can finance for climate change adaptation be spent more effectively?

DIIS Auditorium

The seminar analyses the institutional architecture of how and where finance for climate change adaptation is spent and which route of transfer it follows from national to local levels
Photo/illustration by Marie Gravesen

DIIS Blog

2023

The face of climate change along Turkana’s Turkwel river

A recent fieldtrip to Kenya’s Turkana County underscores that climate finance cannot be reduced to a question of funds, or the understanding of numbers going from one category to the next in an excel sheet. It is also important to focus on the socio-political circumstances and the different kinds of power dynamics operating on the ground. This is exactly what the GAP project sets out to do.
DIIS Policy Brief

2023

How to encourage private sector climate initiatives in Kenya
Livestreaming

Somali diaspora humanitarianism in complex crises

DIIS Auditorium

When disaster strike, diaspora groups are often first responders and remain engaged during lengthy and complex crises. Join this roundtable where we discuss practices, possibilities and pitfalls
Photo/illustration by Finn Stepputat (background picture)

Livestreaming

Trade makes states: Governing the greater Somali economy

DIIS Auditorium

The control of trade and transport is key to statemaking. A new book suggests that this, rather than the control of people and territory, can make or unmake state projects in areas like Somalia. This seminar introduces the ideas behind the book
Book

2023

Trade makes states

The control of commodity flows can make and unmake state projects in the politically fragmented Somali territories, new book shows.
Journal Article

2023

Multilateral climate finance coordination

Politics and depoliticization in practice
Journal Article

2023

Suburban pastoralists: Pastoral adaptation strategies at the rural-urban interface in Nairobi, Kenya

New research shows how pastoral climate change adaptation strategies bridge rural and urban landscapes
DIIS Working Paper

2022

Devolution of donor funded climate change adaptation finance

Analysis of the nature of international adaptation finance received in Kenya and Tanzania, with emphasis on devolved projects
DIIS Working Paper

2022

Mapping climate adaptation finance in Kenya's devolved governance system: a case of Makueni County

A look into the figures from Kenya’s national strategies to it’s model county
Photo/illustration by Marie Ladekjær, DIIS

Web Article

2022

Why are fences so provoking?

Fences are not only a convenient tool for structure. Fencing also tells a story about power, exclusion and social dynamics.
DIIS Policy Brief

2022

Three factors may spark violence in Kenya's 2022 elections

As Kenya is heading towards its general election, a volatile combination of violent histories, climate change-induced conflict and ethnic tensions threatens to ignite widespread violence.
Photo/illustration by Mikkel Funder

Rights and resilience

DIIS Auditorium

Exploring the links between climate change adaptation and land rights
Journal Article

2021

Fencing and de-fencing East Africa’s grasslands

New article explores how Kenya’s conflicts around boundary making and unmaking communicate much more than contemporary contestations. Rather, they are driven by unaddressed violent pasts as well as uncertain futures.
Book

2020

Governing African Oil and Gas

Boom-Era Political and Institutional Innovation
Book

2020

New book explores violent conflict in Kenya’s highlands

'The contested lands of Laikipia' explores the conflicts leading up to a year of land invasions prior to Kenya's 2017 general election
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

DIIS Comment

2020

Sub-Saharan Africa

Nine Months into the Pandemic with No End in Sight
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Book Chapter

2020

Pastoralists occupy smallholder land in Kenya

40 years of land tenure ambiguity has opened new pastoral frontier
DIIS Working Paper

2019

Hybrid rules in livestock value chains in East Africa

New DIIS Working Paper on livestock trading in the Kenya-Somali borderlands
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Forskningsprojekt

7 January 2019

New research project on diaspora groups as humanitarian actors

Exploring how Somali diaspora groups mobilize, channel and deliver humanitarian assistance

Book Chapter

2023

Raising fiscal revenues

The political economy of Somali trade taxation

Ahmed Musa, Kirstine Strøh Varming & Finn Stepputat

Trade makes states. London: Hurst Publishers
Book

2023

Trade makes states

Governing the greater Somali economy

Finn Stepputat
Journal Article

2023

Multilateral climate finance coordination

Politics and depoliticization in practice

Jakob Skovgaard, Kevin Adams, Kendra Dupuy, Adis Dzebo, Mikkel Funder, Adam Moe Fejerskov & Zoha Shawoo

Global Environmental Politics, 23

Download (pdf, 283.5 KB)
Journal Article

2023

Suburban pastoralists: Pastoral adaptation strategies at the rural-urban interface in Nairobi, Kenya

Sylvia Rotich, Mikkel Funder & Martin Marani

Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice, 13

Download (pdf, 1.4 MB)
Book Chapter

2023

Introduction

Trade and state formation in Somali East Africa and beyond

Finn Stepputat

Trade makes states. London: Hurst Publishers
DIIS Working Paper

2022

Devolution of donor funded climate change adaptation finance

Per Tidemand, Andrew Hattle, Esbern Friis-Hansen, Beatrice Sumari, Peter Rogers, Judith Mulwa & Millicent Omala

Download (pdf, 420.9 KB)
DIIS Working Paper

2022

Mapping climate adaptation finance in Kenya's devolved governance system: a case of Makueni County

Judith Mulwa & Marie Ladekjær Gravesen

Download (pdf, 441.8 KB)
Journal Article

2021

De-/Fencing Grasslands

Ongoing Boundary Making and Unmaking in Postcolonial Kenya

Mette Løvschal & Marie Ladekjær Gravesen

Land, 10

Read publication (external link)
Journal Article

2020

Livestock trade and devolution in the Somali-Kenya transboundary corridor

Philemon Ong’ao Ng’asike, Finn Stepputat & Jesse Njoka

Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice, 10

Download (pdf, 875.9 KB)
Book

2020

Governing African Oil and Gas

Boom-Era Political and Institutional Innovation

Luke Patey, Ricardo Soares de Oliveira & Nelson Oppong

Read more about the publication (external link)
Book

2020

The contested lands of Laikipia

Histories of claims and conflict in a Kenyan landscape

Marie Ladekjær Gravesen
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Book Chapter

2020

Twilight Institutions

Land-buying Companies & their Long-term Implications in Laikipia, Kenya

Marie Ladekjær Gravesen, Jeremy Lind, Doris Okenwa & Ian Scoones

Land, Investment & Politics. Rochester, NY: James Currey Ltd

Read publication (external link)
DIIS Working Paper

2019

Fusing formal and informal trading

Emerging practices in the livestock value chains between Kenya and Somalia

Philemon Ng'asike

Download (pdf, 859.6 KB)
Working papers etc.

2018

Entrust we must

The role of 'trust' in Somali economic life

Neil Carrier & Hannah Elliott

Download (pdf, 519.7 KB)
DIIS Report

2017

Urban insecurity, migrants, and political authority

Nairobi, Beirut, Hargeisa and Yangon

Helene Maria Kyed, Finn Stepputat, Peter Albrecht, Lars Erslev Andersen & Maya Mynster Christensen

Download (pdf, 2.3 MB)
Working papers etc.

2017

Sweet secrets

sugar smuggling and state formation in the Kenya–Somalia borderlands

Jacob Rasmussen

Download (pdf, 696.8 KB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Web Article

2017

Whatever happened to East Africa's oil boom?

Luke Patey

Read the full article
Working papers etc.

2017

A Belated Boom

Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and prospects and risks for oil in East Africa

Luke Patey

Download (pdf, 1.5 MB)
Working papers etc.

2016

Corridors of Trade and Power

Economy and state formation in Somali East Africa

Tobias Hagmann & Finn Stepputat

Download (pdf, 846.2 KB)
Working papers etc.

2016

Governing economies in areas of limited statehood

anthropological perspectives

Jacob Rasmussen & Kirstine Warming

Download (pdf, 677.5 KB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Report

2016

Hustling for Security

Managing plural security in Nairobi’s poor urban settlements

Megan Price, Peter Albrecht, Francesco Colona, Lisa Denney & Wangui Kimari

Download (pdf, 2 MB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Journal Article

2016

Fragmented Peacekeeping

The African Union in Somalia

Peter Albrecht & Cathy Haenlein

The RUSI Journal, 161

Read publication (external link)
DIIS Book

2015

Establishing Public Private Partnerships

Lessons Learned from the Global South

Kristoffer Nilaus Tarp, Søren Vester Haldrup & Malene Alber Lassen

Download (pdf, 927.1 KB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Journal Article

2015

Civil society faces uphill climb in East Africa’s budding oil economies

Luke Patey

This is Africa (Financial Times)

Read publication (external link)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Journal Article

2015

Local bureaucrats as bricoleurs

The everyday implementation practices of county environment officers in rural Kenya

Mikkel Funder & Martin Marani

International Journal of the Commons, 9

Read publication (external link)

Brief

2023

Supporting pastoralists' adaptation to climate change: Beyond "one size fits all"

Sylvia Rotich, Martin Marani & Mikkel Funder

Download (pdf, 433.3 KB)
Photo/illustration by KRCS-Denis Onyodi via Flickr copyright license

DIIS Blog

2023

African Climate Summit

A potential turning point for global diplomacy and climate action

Esbern Friis-Hansen & David Lyndorff Paris

Read publication (external link)
Photo/illustration by Marie Gravesen

DIIS Blog

2023

The face of climate change along Turkana’s Turkwel river

Marie Ladekjær Gravesen & David Lyndorff Paris

Read publication (external link)
DIIS Policy Brief

2023

How to encourage private sector climate initiatives in Kenya

Judith Mulwa & Marie Ladekjær Gravesen

Download (pdf, 7.9 MB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2022

Three factors may spark violence in Kenya's 2022 elections

Marie Ladekjær Gravesen & Evans Muriu

Download (pdf, 1.2 MB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

DIIS Comment

2020

Sub-Saharan Africa

Nine Months into the Pandemic with No End in Sight

Dane Fetterer

Read publication (external link)
DIIS Policy Brief

2017

Policing Practices in a Global Perspective

From Aarhus to Manila

Peter Albrecht, Maya Mynster Christensen, Mette-Louise Johansen, Helene Maria Kyed, Paul Mutsaers, Dennis Pauschinger, Finn Stepputat, Francesco Colona, Jairo Matallana-Villarreal, Louise Wiuff Moe, Naomi von Stapele, Anna Warburg, Morten Koch Anderse…

Download (pdf, 8.4 MB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

DIIS Comment

2015

Climate financing must impact locally

Lily Salloum Lindegaard
DIIS Policy Brief

2015

Fragmented Peacekeeping: Regional Interests Define the African Union Mission in Somalia

Peter Albrecht

Download (pdf, 3.5 MB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2014

The role of human rights in climate change adaptation

evidence from civil society in Cambodia and Kenya

Ian Christoplos, Mikkel Funder, Colleen McGinn & Winnie Wairimu

Download (pdf, 2.3 MB)

Photo/illustration by Rasmus Fly Filbert

Webinar

Locally-led climate change adaptation: From principles to practice

Online via Zoom

Climate change adaptation in the Global South is urgent. Locally-led approaches are gaining momentum. But what does that mean in practice and does it work? This webinar launches a new DIIS report on lessons from locally-led adaptation in East Africa
Photo/illustration by Mikkel Funder

Webinar

Governing climate change adaptation: Lessons from the ground

Online via Zoom

How should climate change adaptation be governed? This webinar examines how climate change adaptation policies and projects govern mobility, land rights and finance in the African context, and what the lessons are for adaptation governance.
Webinar

Experiences of women, peace and security in diverse African contexts

Online Zoom meeting

In this webinar, national and regional practitioners of the women, peace and security agenda exchange their experiences in advancing women’s role in peace governance and challenges for policy implementation in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali and beyond
Photo/illustration by Joerg Boethling / Alamy Stock Photo

Livestreaming

How can finance for climate change adaptation be spent more effectively?

DIIS Auditorium

The seminar analyses the institutional architecture of how and where finance for climate change adaptation is spent and which route of transfer it follows from national to local levels
Livestreaming

Somali diaspora humanitarianism in complex crises

DIIS Auditorium

When disaster strike, diaspora groups are often first responders and remain engaged during lengthy and complex crises. Join this roundtable where we discuss practices, possibilities and pitfalls
Photo/illustration by Finn Stepputat (background picture)

Livestreaming

Trade makes states: Governing the greater Somali economy

DIIS Auditorium

The control of trade and transport is key to statemaking. A new book suggests that this, rather than the control of people and territory, can make or unmake state projects in areas like Somalia. This seminar introduces the ideas behind the book
Photo/illustration by Mikkel Funder

Rights and resilience

DIIS Auditorium

Exploring the links between climate change adaptation and land rights
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Forskningsprojekt

7 January 2019

New research project on diaspora groups as humanitarian actors

Exploring how Somali diaspora groups mobilize, channel and deliver humanitarian assistance
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Forskningsprojekt

6 December 2018

New joint research effort on climate change adaptation

DIIS joins Kenyan and Danish partners in the Rights and Resilience project
Interview

21 September 2018

The China model’s false promise

Infrastructure alone does not bring development
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Forskningsprojekt

5 April 2018

Climate finance: the politics and practices of coordination

Nordic research project on climate finance coordination kicks off

Photo/illustration by Marie Ladekjær, DIIS

Web Article

2022

Why are fences so provoking?

Fences are not only a convenient tool for structure. Fencing also tells a story about power, exclusion and social dynamics.

DIIS Experts

Photo/illustration by Jette Mariboe, DIIS

Charlotte Epstein

Global security and worldviews

Senior Researcher

chep@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Jessica Larsen

Foreign policy and diplomacy

Senior Researcher

+45 9390 6099

jela@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Jethro Norman

Peace and violence

Postdoc

jeno@diis.dk
Luke Patey

Foreign policy and diplomacy

Senior Researcher

+45 9132 5479

lpa@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Marie Ladekjær Gravesen

Sustainable development and governance

Postdoc

91325552

malg@diis.dk
Mikkel Funder

Sustainable development and governance

Senior Researcher

+45 3269 8697

mfu@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Nauja Kleist

Migration and global order

Senior Researcher

+45 3269 8667

nkl@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Peter Albrecht

Global security and worldviews

Senior Researcher

+45 3269 8772

paa@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Sarah Seddig

Peace and violence

PhD Candidate

ssed@diis.dk