Priscilla Claeys

Priscilla Claeys is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University. Her work bridges academia and activism through transdisciplinary research focused on food sovereignty, human rights, and agrarian movements. She holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the University of Louvain (2013) and serves as President of FIAN International, a human rights organization.

• PhD, Political and Social Sciences (UCL, 2013)
• MA, Business Administration (UCL)
• MA, Environmental Management (ULB)

Claeys specializes in human rights, food sovereignty, land and seed rights, and gender justice. Her research examines legal mobilization by transnational agrarian movements like La Via Campesina and the institutionalization of peasant rights in international law. Recent projects focus on women's communal land rights and climate crisis mitigation.

Her 15 most recent publications (2023-2025) emphasize UNDROP implementation, corporate power in food systems, and participatory governance. Keywords span Human Rights, Food Sovereignty, Environmental Law, and Agroecology, with subfields including epistemic violence, multi-stakeholder cooperatives, legal mobilization, and climate-resilient food systems.

Scientific Awards

• Doctoral thesis HERA Award (2017)

Claeys mentors PhD students and engages with grassroots networks in her role as a scholar-activist. She contributes to global discussions on agrarian policy and sustainable development goals, particularly SDG2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG13 (Climate Action).