Albert Irambeshya holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Bayreuth and is currently a lecturer at the University of Rwanda in the School of Arts and Social Sciences. He holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Rwanda and another Master’s degree in Human Rights and Conflict Resolution from the University of Burundi. He has published several academic papers on elderly care, as well as a study on the poverty profile of urban informal settlements in Rwanda. In addition, he has contributed book chapters to the Handbook on Inequalities in Later Life and to the volume Old Age, Gender, and Social Security in Africa and Europe. ORCID 0000-0003-4164-3953.
MIASA Project: Caring for Older People Amid Rural-Urban Migration in Rwanda: The transformative Role of Technology in Shaping Care Practices
The project examines how older people in Rwanda are cared for in the context for rural-urban migration. Traditionally, older people in Rwanda depend on close, day-to-day support from family members. However, this long-standing obligation of proximate care by younger generations is increasimgly challenged by patterns of rural-urban migration. As Rwanda enters the digital era, migrants are using digital technology to care for those left behing in the village. Drawing on the narratives and lived experiences of older adults in rural area and their children in the city of Kigali, the study explores how digital interactions reconfigure family care across distance. The project seeks to investigate the types of care that provided by migrants to their parents and the the way the care expectations of older people are met despite the geographical distance between them. Furthermore, it analysis the challenges migrants face when caring for their older parents from a distance.
Selected publications
1. Uwizeye, Dieudonne; Irambeshya, Albert; Simeon Wiehler; and François Niragire. (2022). “Poverty Profile and Efforts to Access Basic Household Needs in an Emerging City: A Mixed-Method Study in Kigali’s Informal Urban Settlements, Rwanda.” Cities & Health 6(1): 98–112.
2. Irambeshya, Albert. (2023). Social Protection for Older People in the Context of Social Changes in Rwanda. University of Bayreuth. Thesis. https://katalog.uni-bayreuth.de
3. Irambeshya, Albert. (2023). The Use of Social Media in Enacting Emotional Care to Elderly People During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Empirical Evidence from Rwanda. In the University of Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers, No 41. (Online
Publication. https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00007388).
4. Irambeshya, Albert. (2024). Older People Reimagining and Envisioning Preventive Care Through Land Acquisition: Evidence from Rwanda. In Social Inclusion, Vol.12 (Online Publication: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v12.7483).
5. Irambeshya, Albert. (2024). Caring for childless older people in the land of a thousand hills: empirical evidence from Rwanda. In C. Earl & P. Taylor (Eds.),
Research handbook on inequalities in later life (pp.237-247). Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheltenham.
6. Häberlein, Tabea & Irambeshya, Albert. (2024). Housing and Food Provision in Old Age Gendered Positionalities in Rural Rwanda and the Borderland of Togo and Benin. In H. Hak & B. Lindt (Eds), Old Age, Gender, Social Security in Africa and Europe. Lit Verlag, Berlin
7. Irambeshya, A. et al. (2026). Linking nutritional status to agricultural and food system in Rwanda: Evidence and policy implication. Frontier in Sustainable Food System. DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1693799
