Ewan Robinson

Ewan Robinson is a postdoctoral fellow in water, poverty, and sustainability for the Pulte Institute for Global Development and a doctoral candidate in global development at Cornell University. Previously, he worked as a policy researcher at the Institute of Development Studies, where he advised international development agencies on nutrition and equity in informal food systems across three African countries. Robinson holds a master's degree in global development from Cornell University, a master's degree in geography, and a bachelor's degree in natural resources and environmental sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Robinson's research examines the institutional dynamics accompanying resource tenure change and processes of agricultural development, particularly in rural African contexts. He employs ethnographic methods and participatory spatial approaches to study how rural women and men repurpose land policies, institutional mechanisms, and property infrastructure in pursuit of local visions for rural livelihoods and social relations. Robinson collaborates with civil society organizations and community groups in Tanzania to co-produce research and contribute to policy advocacy supporting rural producers' resource rights and development visions. He has conducted long-term field research in Tanzania and Senegal and has undertaken consultancy research and provided training in Nigeria and Ghana.

Robinson has published in Geoforum, World Development Perspectives, and IDS Bulletin. He is the author of several dozen policy briefings, consultancy reports, and media pieces. A list of his publications is available on ResearchGate.

Focus: Water, Poverty, and Sustainability