Spikes in food prices and fears stirred up by a changing climate, growing energy and water needs and land grabbing, have heightened concerns regarding food security and the sustainability of agriculture. Building on a body of scholarship and policy focused on the complexities of agriculture and food, scholars in this group promote innovative thinking on critical agri-food issues. We combine the study of global trends with nuanced understandings of local social, environmental and economic contexts, impacts and processes.

Our research activities draw on inter-disciplinary ideas about agriculture, land, agrarian change, distribution, consumption and food ‘cultures’ across time and space. We analyse and engage with policy debates related to food and agrarian issues: supermarkets, commodity chains, technology, land tenure and food security, gendered sustainability, conservation, fair trade, agro-ecology, restorative agriculture and food sovereignty. We explore and apply agri-food theories, approaches and findings in order to support progress towards agri-food sustainability, particularly in light of the immense challenges posed by climate change, human rights, hunger and inequality.

Our academics teach subjects within the Master of Environmental Management and Development degree program and the Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (MAAPD).

Relevant courses

• EMDV8082 Food Wars: Food Security and Agricultural Policy
• ANTH8107 The World Bank and the Organisation of Development
• EMDV 8079 Water Justice Governance and Management
• ANTH8038/39 Critical Issues in Gender and Development
• EMDV8009 Asia Pacific Environmental Conflicts: Causes and Solutions
• EMDV8011 Environmental Markets