Coffee and Kilimanjaro

Having climbed through the night, Charlie Nixon reaches the summit of Kilimanjaro

It took more than a year to reach our budget of £9,500, obtain research permits and make the necessary contacts in the field and in the UK. In this College, members proved an enormous help. We were very grateful to the Keble Association for a grant of £300. With this encouragement, and with the approval and advice of Gordon Smith and Professor Tim Burt, we approached former Keble geographers to ask for a small contribution. The response was amazing, and a total of nearly £500 was donated. Particularly encouraging was the number of responses from Old Members who had undertaken similar projects during their time here, or knew the area and offered advice and support. Thank you to everyone who helped.

Interviewing coffee farmers on Mount Meru

Three dissertations were researched in Tanzania, focusing on the changing welfare of agriculturally dependant communities growing coffee on the steep, eroded slopes of Mount Meru. Working with Anaeli Elibariki, a Tanzanian student from the University of Dar Es Salaam, detailed interviews assessed the relative economic and social welfare of households following the introduction of structural economic reforms imposed by the IMF and World Bank in 1986. A second study examined the changing role of women under these circumstances. Visibly high rates of erosion on the steep slopes prompted the third study ­ of soil degradation resulting from the pressure to cultivate plots of land more intensively and to farm new and often unsuitable areas.

Having been approached by a UK based charity, the expedition also delivered (with an extended weight limit from Gulf Air) a large supply of medical equipment to a hospital in Moshi near the fieldwork site. We concluded the expedition with an exhilarating ascent of the 5,895m Mount Kilimanjaro.

A fuller report of the expedition and research results can be obtained from Charlie via the Keble Development Office.

Lisa Weston receives her prize from Arundel McDougal of Rowe and Maw, after winning the third annual Law Society mooting competition.

The Art of Advocacy

The annual Law Society mooting competition is an event now firmly established in the College calendar.
The idea originated with Richard Leiper ('94). Now a tenant in the Lord Chancellor's set of chambers, Richard returned to judge the early rounds, whilst Marion Simmons QC, Master of Moots at Gray's Inn, judged the final. As in previous years, Rowe and Maw continued their generous sponsorship of this and other aspects of the study of Law at Keble.