Special issue  

New theoretical approaches like actor–network theory have become influential in human geography, questioning previous approaches to addressing human–environment relations. In this paper, I use the example of a controversial, forest-based climate protection scheme, REDD+, to show how these approaches are changing research foci and practices – from an analysis of the neoliberalization of nature to the making of markets and from the effects on human users to those on non-humans.

Policymakers and academics primarily discuss the use of data from Earth observation (EO) satellites by developing countries, to promote development, at a theoretical level. Accordingly, based on interviews and other methods, this paper looks at practices and experiences of researchers, who use such data in southwest Nigeria, arguing that we need to develop more collaborative and appreciative perspectives on science in developing countries to address our global challenges.

Drawing on qualitative research on the production and use of weather information for small-scale farmers in western Kenya in the context of a changing climate, this paper shows how navigating the uncertainties of the weather is enabled by a combination of scientific and experiential knowledge. Inspired by work in science and technology studies, I argue that these different forms of knowing should not be treated in opposition but as connected resources through which farmers relate to their world.

This article questions an essentialist view of modern water, finding new relevance regarding models of blended finance that rely on transparent data of digital systems to close the financing gap in water provision. Ethnographically tracing the implementation of pay-as-you-go (PAYGo) water dispensers in two settings in Kenya, I show that the transparent performance data form part of the enactment of only one water reality amidst multiple waters in relation to their sociotechnical environments.

My ethnographic work in a technological pilot project in southern Tanzania provides insights into the test of an AI system to foster agriculture based on digital information in order to boost the development of rural areas. The experimental combination of a development project and the testing of a digital technology perpetuates the metaphor of Tilley's "Africa as a living laboratory", especially in the postcolonial context, and calls for a critical approach to these ventures.

We follow the refuge crop policy adopted worldwide to delay the evolution of pest resistance in insects to genetically engineered cotton. We aim to deconstruct the prevalent narrative of accusing farmers for not complying with insect resistance management strategies as we adopt the perspectives of subaltern actors involved in the refuge policy assemblage. Methodologically, we applied a literature review, document analysis and descriptive and interpretative statistics, and cluster analysis.