معرفی
Jane Battersby is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental & Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town and a Research Associate of the African Centre for Cities (ACC). Her research focuses on urban food systems, food security policies, and spatial transformation in post-apartheid urban areas. She holds a PhD from Oxford University, a Masters from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and a BSc(Hons) from King’s College, London.
Her key affiliations include leadership roles in the African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN), the Consuming Urban Poverty Project, and the Hungry Cities Programme. She is the PI of the Nourishing Spaces project and serves on multiple international advisory boards. Battersby’s work bridges theory and practice, addressing urban food policy gaps and informing government strategies at national and local levels.
Her research interests emphasize urban food poverty, food security theory, and the interplay between spatial and identity transformations in cities like Cape Town. She has contributed to policy briefs on urban food systems governance and led studies for institutions such as the South African Cities Network (SACN) and the German Development Agency (GIZ).
Recipient of the 2017 Premio Daniel Carasso award, Battersby actively engages in policy advocacy through advisory roles in the South African Vulnerability Assessment Committee (SAVAC). She has supervised students across honours to post-doctoral levels and authored/co-authored over 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
Her recent projects include analyzing supermarket expansion impacts, informal food economies, and climate-resilient urban food systems. She co-edited Rapid Urbanisation, Urban Food Deserts and Food Security in Africa (Springer, 2016) and contributes to public discourse via platforms like The Conversation and The Nature of Cities.
