Deborah Sporton
Senior Lecturer,
University of Sheffield, Department of Geography
Projects
I am currently working on a collaborative project with colleagues at the University of Namibia that is funded by the UK Economic Research Council from 1/8/2005-30/11/2006. The research is focused on elderly livelihoods in southern Africa where the significance of population ageing has been heightened by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Drawing on multi-method research focused on the Omusati region of northern Namibia, the project is investigating the contemporary role of the elderly in household livelihoods, their vulnerabilities and capabilities and the institutional and policy contexts that frame these. In particular the research will explore how elderly livelihoods have been affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.