Prior to joining SLU, I was an adjunct lecturer at the Department of Nutrition at Uppsala University (UU) and Education Trainer and Administrator at the Karolinska Institutet (KI), Sweden.
From 2008–2010, I served as a Scientific Coordinator and Trainer with the International Foundation for Science (IFS) and was responsible for the area of Food Science & Nutrition as well as Women in Science. During my two-year employment at IFS, I brought together a cadre of African professionals and together conducted workshops and trained mentees and mentors on scientific writing and communication for the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) programme.
For the last twenty-five years, I have conducted research mostly in Africa, and published peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, popular science, media debates and books on issues dealing with food and nutrition security, farmer plant varietal preferences, particularly from a gender perspective; as well as the cultural ecology of food preferences. I engage an interdisciplinary approach in understanding and contributing to the debates of gender in agriculture, rural change, livelihoods and consequences on various developmental outcomes.
My other interests include interrogating and harnessing the skills of African agricultural professionals in the Diaspora for Africa’s development. I regularly facilitate in the Making Markets Matter a capacity- and network-building agribusiness training programme targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets, particularly in Africa. My principle qualifications include a PhD in International Health from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, a Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition from Uppsala University, Sweden and a Bachelor´s degree in Food Nutrition and Institutional Management from East Carolina University, USA.
