Sarah Cummings

Sarah Cummings is a Research Associate in Knowledge Technology and Innovation, actively advancing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of sustainable development, decolonization of knowledge, and epistemic justice. Her work critically examines power dynamics in knowledge production and advocates for inclusive systems that integrate marginalized perspectives within international development contexts.

Her primary research domains include:

• Sustainable Development and integration of multiple knowledges for SDG achievement
• Decolonization of knowledge systems and epistemic justice frameworks
• Knowledge Management for Development (KM4D) and community-driven practices
• Critical discourse analysis of private sector roles in development
• Food systems resilience in crisis-affected regions like the Horn of Africa
• Social capital dynamics in grassroots development initiatives

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on dismantling Western-centric knowledge hierarchies through empirical studies of African communities, informal markets, and digital archives. Her work demonstrates how indigenous knowledge systems—particularly in Zimbabwean food markets and Ethiopian rural enterprises—can transform sustainable development models when centered in policy design.

Cummings serves as co-promotor for the PhD project 'Using informal agricultural markets to reveal the contest between knowledge, values and politics', which has generated significant policy traction with references in Wikipedia, 27 policy citations, and 87 Mendeley readers. She actively shapes the KM4D community's evolution through editorial leadership in its journal and conceptual contributions to knowledge management's sixth generation.