Browsing by Author "Kalina, Marc"

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    Not just a donor learning experience: exploring failure, accountability, and harm within a large aid funded biogas project in Malawi
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Kalina, Marc; Kwangulero, Jonathan; Boyd, Williams Natalie
    In Africa, investments in domestic biogas projects have yielded mixed results, with numerous poor outcomes reported. While many commonly cited barriers contribute to these failures, the role of structural issues rooted in development and aid remains underexplored and poorly understood. This investigation examined 72 tarpaulin-based biogas digesters funded by UNDP across seven districts in Malawi, which experienced rapid failure shortly after implementation. Unlike many biogas studies focusing on symptoms of failure this research focussed specifically on the governance and decision-making processes that led to failure. In-depth interviews with 65 of the beneficiaries and 15 stakeholders revealed that the project failed due to poor management, unclear leadership, and weak governance. The digesters were hastily installed in remote areas that had no local expertise just before project funding expired, amidst suspected corruption and a lack of biogas expertise among all project stakeholders. The project lacked accountability to beneficiaries, leaving them powerless to influence change in their own development project. Far from being a harmless learning opportunity, as it was described by some of the project's stakeholders, the project caused harm to beneficiaries who invested limited resources into the poorly executed biogas intervention. This study challenges the typical user-centred focus of failure analyses and underscores the importance of focusing on structural causes of failure. By focussing on systemic issues, we can foster more informed discussions on biogas projects. Moreover, this approach enables accountability to beneficiaries, which can inform decision-making regarding potentially flawed projects and help to hold institutions responsible for harm caused.
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    What a mess: Rethinking municipal waste management 30 years into South African democracy
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2024) Schenck, Catherina; Kalina, Marc
    Significance: Within South Africa, local governments hold the mandate for providing waste management services. Unfortunately, 30 years into our democracy, reliable waste management services remain out of reach for vast segments of the population – a situation which contributes to environmental degradation and increased inequality. Safeguarding service delivery and addressing inequalities requires deep structural changes and a rethinking of our waste management systems. This must include the decentralisation of waste management services to incorporate all stakeholders within the waste value chain, the depoliticisation of local government, and reconsideration of the financial model to allow for a basic level of services to all.