Bio: Emmanuel Kumi has been a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS) of the University of Ghana since February 2021. He is an international development specialist with over a decade’s academic and professional experience in the fields of politics of development and political economy analysis, philanthropy and volunteerism, civil society advocacy and activism and NGO politics and management.
Dr Kumi has extensive research and teaching experience in mixed-methods research (quantitative and qualitative research design, techniques, data collection, analysis and inference) and has undertaken a number of research projects and consultancy services for academic institutions, philanthropic foundations and NGOs in Africa, Europe and North Africa.
Research: Dr Kumi’s research is broadly in the areas of international development with particular interests in the political economy of development, NGO politics and management, civil society advocacy, sustainability and African philanthropy. He is particularly interested in the interactions between these themes.
Much of his recent work has been concerned with capacity strengthening of civil society organisations, shrinking civic space, localisation of development aid, philanthropy and social mobilisation. His research is interdisciplinary in its approach and draws upon political economy, social policy, community development and economics.
Selected Publications:
Kumi, E., Kamruzzaman, P. (2021). Understanding the motivations and roles of National Development Experts in Ghana: ‘We do all the donkey work and they take the glory’. Third World Quarterly, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2021.1877127
Kumi, E., & Copestake, J. (2021). Friend or patron? Social relations across the national NGO-donor divide in Ghana. European Journal of Development Research, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-021-00375-3
Saharan, T., Matelski, M., Kumi, E. (2021). Negotiating organisational access as a multifaceted process: Comparative research experiences with three advocacy NGOs in Kenya. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211012593
Osei, L., Yeboah, T., Kumi, E., & Fredua Antoh, E. (2021). Government’s ban on artisanal and small-scale mining, youth livelihoods and imagined futures in Ghana. Resources Policy, 71, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102008
Kumi, E., Yeboah T., Kumi, Y. A. (2020). Private sector participation in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ghana: Experiences from the Mining and Telecommunications Sectors. The Extractive Industries and Society, 7(1), 181–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2019.12.008
Kumi, E. (2020). From donor darling to beyond aid? Public perceptions of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 58(1), 67-90. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X19000570
Kumi, E. (2019). Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals: An analysis of the potential role of philanthropy in Ghana. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 54(7), 1084–1104. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909619862591
Kumi, E. (2019). Aid reduction and NGDOs’ quest for financial sustainability in Ghana: Can philanthropic institutions serve as alternative funding routes? VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 30(6), 1332-1347. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11266-017-9931-4
Memberships:
- Member of the Development Studies Association (DSA-UK)
- Member of the Association for Research on Non-profit Organisations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).
- Member of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR).
- Member of the Association for Research on Civil Society in Africa (AROCSA).
- Member of the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP)