New Working Paper on Understanding Yemen's Economy
This working paper, authored by Richard Barltrop, TPP Associate and LSE Middle East Centre visiting senior fellow, explores how the prevailing picture of Yemen's economy is incomplete and misleading. Economic estimates ignore between half and two-thirds of the country. Analyses overlook Yemen’s relative strengths in infrastructure, agriculture and remittances, and overestimate the importance of oil and gas. This inaccurate picture of Yemen’s economy, which ignores the political context, has significant consequences. It contributes to an international misapprehension, whereby the country’s economy is seen primarily in terms of precarity and humanitarian emergency, with capabilities and resilience under-recognised.
The paper makes four recommendations to the international community:
1. Take a political economy perspective, combining analysis of Yemen’s economy with an understanding of the actual political and governance situation in the country.
2. Move away from unexamined assumptions and clichés about Yemen, and instead find and use new sources of data.
3. Draw on more accurate understandings of Yemen’s economy to contribute to peace efforts.
4. Use these fuller understandings to rebalance assistance to Yemen, with a shift from humanitarian towards development and peace-supporting aid.
TPP supports innovative apiculture initiative in the Republic of Congo
(Photo shared by @AfricanBee)
The Policy Practice is supporting an apiculture initiative in the Republic of Congo with Palladium under the Partnerships for Forests. Led by Theodore Trefon, it aims to scale beekeeping into a market-based model, combining political economy analysis, digital tools and participatory revenue systems.
Two decades of Thinking and Working Politically in Nigeria
This blog sets out how our team of Nigeria experts helps development partners navigate Nigeria's political economy, from shaping programme design to providing just-in-time analysis during implementation. Read about our work across governance, education, climate, agriculture and conflict, and why our grounded, advisory approach matters more than ever as development budgets tighten.
New guidance on stakeholder analysis and network mapping
In collaboration with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice, TPP Director Laure-Hélène Piron and TPP Principal Wilfred Mwamba have prepared a guidance note on how to undertake a dynamic stakeholder analysis and political network mapping, both of which can be used to support international cooperation and development partnerships.