Joseph J. Chunga is a Research Fellow at Centre for Social Research (CSR) of the University of Malawi. He is also a political science lecturer in Political and Administrative Studies department. Before joining CSR in 2012, he was a Staff Associate (2007-2009) and later a Lecturer (2009-2012). Joseph is a PhD candidate in political studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration obtained in 2009 and 2007 respectively.
At CSR, he specialises in governance and democracy studies. His areas of research interest include: electoral politics, political culture, political economy analysis, political parties, constitutionalism, and policy analysis. Over the past ten years he has been conducting various studies in these areas and he is competent in quantitative, qualitative and mixed research designs. Among others, he is a co-investigator for Malawi team of the Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across Africa. He has previously contributed to Global Integrity project as a Lead Researcher for Malawi. He was also involved in production of African Governance Report III commissioned by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Besides studies in governance and democracy, Joseph also researches in other areas including disability and sanitation.
Recent Publications
Biran, A., Danquah, L., Chunga, J., Schmidt, W., Holm, R., Itimu-Phiri, A., Jones, H., Kuper, H. & White, S., (2018). A Cluster-Randomized Trial to evaluate the impact of an inclusive, Community-Led Total Sanitation Intervention on sanitation access for people with disabilities in Malawi. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 98, pp 984 – 994. ISSN 0002-9637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.17-0435. Available: http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.17-0435
Mactaggart, I., Schmidt, W., Bostoen, K., Chunga, J., Danquah, L., Halder, A.K., Jolly, S.P., Polack, S., Rahman, M., Snel, M., Kuper, H., & Biran A., (2018). Access to water and sanitation among people with disabilities: results from cross-sectional surveys in Bangladesh, Cameroon, India and Malawi. BMJ Open 2018;8:e020077. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2017-020077. Available: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/8/6/e020077.full.pdf
Isbell, T., & Chunga, J., (2017). Malawians increasingly cautious about exercising right to ‘free’ political speech, Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 176. Available: http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatches/ab_r7_dispatchno176_freedom_of_expression_in_malawi.pdf
Chunga, J., and Mazalale, J., (2017). Is Malawi losing the battle against ‘Cashgate’? Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 149. Available: http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Briefing%20papers/ab_dispatchno149_corruption_in_malawi_1.pdf
Chunga, J., (2017). Malawians losing confidence in elections, demand reforms. Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 148. Available: http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Dispatches/ab_r7_dispatchno148_malawi_elections.pdf
Scanlon, T., Uguru, O.P., Jafry, T., Chinsinga, B., Mvula, P., Chunga, J., Zimba, L.M., Mwape, M., Nyundo, L., Mwiinga, B., and Chungu, K. (2016). The role of social actors in water access in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Malawi and Zambia, Water Resources and Rural Development, Vol. 8, 25-36. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212608216300079.