Dr Miho Taka is a senior lecturer at Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR), Coventry University. She received her Ph.D degree in international relations and sociology from Coventry University for her thesis on “Conflict Coltan: Local and International Dynamics in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” She also holds a BA in Education from Osaka Kyoiku University, an MA in Third World Studies from Coventry University and a Master of Public Administration from Warwick Business School.

Miho has various living and working experiences from Japan, England, Sweden and Rwanda. After working as the Country Director of an NGO in Rwanda for four years, she has become interested in the relationship between natural resources and violent conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. Her research areas include natural resource management, resource-related conflict, corporate social responsibility and global governance. She published in African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, a book, titled ‘New Perspectives on Human Security,’ amongst others. She is a member of Japan Association for Human Security Studies, Japan Forum of Business and Society and CSR of Extractive Industries in Developing Areas and is a reviewer for several international academic journals in corporate governance area.

I am interested in how socio-economic and environmental issues around natural resources interact and impact in unforeseen ways, including violent conflict. I examine current policies and practices to manage natural resources ethically and responsibly, especially in conflict-affected regions, and hope to identify how the private sector can and should contribute effectively through multi-stakeholder processes.