About Company
From our inception in 1979 within the University of Oxford to a global development consultancy, we have been dedicated to supporting policymaking around the world.
Where we started
We started in 1979 as a team of four people in the Food Studies Group at the University of Oxford. Back then we focused on addressing agricultural and food security problems in Africa. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, we built and strengthened our capabilities, establishing some of the specialisms for which we are renowned today, including economic development, social policy, health care, public financial management, and statistics.
During this period, we delivered landmark work, including:
- Researching and establishing one of the first nationwide food security monitoring systems, in Kenya;
- Conducting the first living standard measurement surveys in Angola’s capital, Luanda, helping influence the government to liberalise the food and retail market.
- Helping inform agricultural policy during South Africa’s democratic transition, removing subsidies and introducing interventions to support large scale farmers.
The early years
In 1996, we were established as a limited company, separate from the University, with the objective of combining high-quality analysis and practical experience to reduce social and economic disadvantage in low- and middle-income countries.
Our new organisation was owned by staff, former employees, and those who believed in our vision. This commitment to employee ownership and empowerment continues today through our Employee Benefit Trust, formed in 2017.
Our work continued to bring about transformative change; our public expenditure reviews in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan underpinned social policy decisions in newly independent states following the breakup of the Soviet Union; and in Armenia our support to the Gegharkunik and Tavush regional administrations led to nationwide adoption of our policymaking approaches.
Over time, we increased both the number of countries we supported and the funders and partners we collaborated with. In the early 2000s, our ‘Making markets work for the poor’ framework and ‘Drivers of pro-poor change’ political economy analysis tools helped to shape the newly established UK Department of International Development’s core policies.