Richard Bwalya is an economist, lecturer at the University of Zambia, and policy consultant with extensive experience in development and agricultural economics. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and an MSc in Applied Agricultural Economics. His research focuses on poverty, food security, nutrition, and agricultural policy using applied econometric and mixed-methods approaches. His recent publications include work on household food security and infant feeding practices, health-care-seeking behaviour, and savings groups and rural wellbeing. He has led multiple evaluations for development partners in Zambia.
Becky Carter is a researcher in the Rural Futures research cluster at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). Her work explores themes of climate preparedness, social protection across development and humanitarian domains, and unpredictability and risk management. She is particularly interested in the roles of mid-level policy actors and frontline workers and how they navigate political and cultural dynamics.
Antony Chapoto is an agricultural and development economist with extensive experience in African agriculture, environment, and food systems. He is the Executive Director, Africa Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ANAPRI) Secretariat. Previously, he served as Research and Innovation Director, Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) (2014–23) and played a key role in its establishment. He also worked at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Michigan State University. His research focuses on food systems transformation, climate change, agricultural productivity, and policy. He holds a PhD (Michigan State University), a master’s degree (University of Zimbabwe), and a bachelor’s degree (Africa University).
Levison Chiwaula is a Professor of Economics at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) and Director of Research at the MwAPATA Institute, Malawi. He holds a PhD in Economics, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany and over 20 years’ experience in teaching and research. Levison has a track record of winning research grants and publishing in peer-reviewed journals. He has led and participated in projects funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the former UK Department for International Development (DFID), the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), and the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) and provided consultancy services to governmental and non-governmental organisations.
Lucia da Corta is a development economist and Research Associate at the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN), hosted at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). She was previously a Research Associate at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). She has over 20 years’ experience across Africa and South Asia. Lucia specialises in qualitative methodologies for research and policy/programme evaluation, focusing on poverty, gender, and youth dynamics under rapid climatic, economic, and political change. She co-developed the IDS professional course, ‘Mixed Methods Research and Evaluation: Addressing Poverty and Inequality Dynamics in a Complex, Fast-Changing World’. Recent publications include Rural Pathways Out of Poverty (2025, IDS).
Vidya Diwakar is the Deputy Director of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), where she leads a suite of mixed methods studies on poverty dynamics and resilience. Her work focuses on gender-disaggregated drivers of poverty escapes, conflict and intersecting crises as drivers of poverty traps, and the role of multisectoral programming in supporting poverty reduction. Vidya has led a range of large multi-country policy oriented research and evaluation studies on poverty dynamics in East, West, and Southern Africa, and South and Southeast Asia for international organisations and bilateral aid agencies.
Marta Eichsteller is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at University College Dublin, specialising in the qualitative exploration of social inequalities spanning local, national, and global contexts. With a wealth of experience, she has conducted impactful projects, from exploring local civil society engagement in the UK to evolving European identities and the persistent fight against poverty in African and Asian regions. Marta’s distinctive focus on biographical aspects of social transformation lends depth to her work, offering profound insights into the human stories behind societal shifts. Her expertise enriches the field of social inquiry, contributing to a deeper understanding of the intricacies of chronic poverty dynamics.
Joseph Goeb is an agricultural economist and a Senior Research Fellow at the MwAPATA Institute, Malawi. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University, and a Visiting Professor at Kasetsart University, Thailand. He holds a PhD in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics from Michigan State University. His research examines agri-food value chains, input markets, and resilience in fragile and conflict-affected settings, with a focus on Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Anderson Gondwe holds a PhD in Economics from Stellenbosch University, South Africa and an MA and BSc in Economics from the University of Malawi. He is a Research Fellow at the MwAPATA Institute, Malawi. His research interests include agricultural and development economics.
Marja Hinfelaar is the Director of Research and Programmes at the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (SAIPAR), Lusaka, Zambia. Marja received her PhD in History in 2001 from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, where her dissertation focused on the history of women’s organisations in Zimbabwe. She is the co-editor of One Zambia, Many Histories: Towards a History of Post-Colonial Zambia (2008, Brill), co-author of Governing Extractive Industries: Politics, Histories, Ideas (2018, Oxford University Press), and co-editor of Democracy and Electoral Politics in Zambia (2020, Brill). Marja has been resident in Zambia since 1997.
Cheryl Joseph is an Institute of Development Studies (IDS) alumna, having completed a Master of Arts in Poverty, Policy and Development Practice, with a focus on social protection, poverty reduction, and climate adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa. She has previously worked as an international development practitioner, supporting project implementation and institutional grant management for programming across Africa and Southeast Asia. Her thematic areas of focus included economic inclusion, access to education, and knowledge mobilisation. Currently, Cheryl works at a grant-making organisation supporting municipalities to implement climate adaptation projects across Canada and is a trustee for a charity supporting women and marginalised communities in South India.
Judith Samwel Kahamba is a postdoctoral researcher in Development Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland and a lecturer at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from China Agricultural University, a master’s in Contemporary Development from Beijing Normal University, and a BSc in Home Economics and Human Nutrition from Sokoine University of Agriculture. Her research covers poverty, gender, climate adaptation, transnational policy localisation, agricultural political economy, and state–society relations. Her recent articles appear in International Development Planning Review (2025, 2026), Social Sciences and Humanities Open (2025), and Global Social Challenges Journal (2026).
Mary Lubungu is an agricultural economist with a PhD in Agricultural Sciences (University of Hohenheim, Germany), an MSc in Agricultural and Applied Economics (University of Malawi), and a BSc in Agricultural Sciences (Agricultural Economics) (University of Zambia). She has 20 years’ experience in agriculture and rural development, including 15 years in research, focusing on poverty dynamics, livestock development, and value chain analysis. She is currently an independent consultant (Research Fellow) affiliated with the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI). Her recent publications include ‘Understanding the Drivers of Household Hunger and Resilience in Zambia: Implications for Nutrition Programming’ (2026, Agrekon).
Arthur Monze Moonga is a public health and development researcher with over 12 years’ experience in mixed-methods research, specialising in health systems strengthening, social systems, governance, and environmental sustainability. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic and Social Research (CESOR), University of Zambia, within the Social Systems, Governance and Environment Cluster, and Managing Associate at the Institute of Research and Development (IRED), Zambia. His work spans poverty dynamics, HIV prevention, and climate resilience. He is co-author of Financial Inclusion and CSA Adoption – Enhancing the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers to Climate Change in Zambia (2025, Institute of Development Studies).
Brian Mulenga holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics with 12 years’ experience in agri-food systems policy research and analysis. Prior to his current position as Executive Director for the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), he was the Research Director (2024–5) and a Research Fellow (2019–23) at IAPRI. His work is transboundary covering the Southern and East African regions. It focuses mainly on agricultural markets and trade, climate change and natural resources management, and agricultural diversification and productivity. He applies quantitative and qualitative research tools to generate data and evidence to inform the design and implementation of pro-poor policies and programmes.
Bonface Nankwenya holds an MSc in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and the University of Pretoria. He is a Research Analyst at the MwAPATA Institute, Malawi. Prior to joining MwAPATA, he worked as a Research Analyst for WorldFish and as a Research Analyst for the NEPAD Regional Fish Node/ SANBio at LUANAR. He has led in the implementation of research and development projects on inclusive business models and value chains, impact analysis, climate smart agriculture, and policy analysis.
Nixon Nembaware is an independent consultant specialising in gender equality, youth inclusion, and resilience programming. He currently supports multi-country initiatives, including the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF), where he contributes to gender and youth inclusion strategy design and measurement frameworks. Previously, he served as a lead analyst with the Mercy Corps Resilience Knowledge Hub. Nixon holds an MPA (Zimbabwe), an MA in Peace and Human Security (Japan), and is completing an MA in Women’s, Children’s and Nature Rights in Environmental Governance (University of Nairobi). His research interests focus on social norms, differential vulnerability, and inclusive resilience systems.
Kate Pruce is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). She has over ten years’ experience conducting research on social protection with a political economy lens, working extensively in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Zambia, as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. Kate has consulted for agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the Embassy of Ireland in a research and advisory role covering social protection-related topics such as cash plus, school feeding, food security, and nutrition-sensitive social protection.
Andrew Shepherd is Director of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, hosted at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), where he is an Honorary Associate. He has now led the production of four international Chronic Poverty Reports, the latest (2023) on Pandemic Poverty, and the previous one (2019) on Growth. Previously Director of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, he has also worked on several large evaluations of anti-poverty policies and programmes. He was previously a Director of Programmes at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London and a staff member of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Sudan, as well as a senior lecturer at Birmingham University.
Dr Joseph Simbaya (late) was a respected Zambian social researcher and medical anthropologist whose work bridged academic inquiry and policy practice. He served as Director of the Institute of Economic and Social Research (INESOR) at the University of Zambia, where he played a central role in advancing applied, policy-relevant research. Trained at the University of Zambia and the University of Amsterdam, his research focused on health systems, gender, HIV/AIDS, and poverty dynamics. He collaborated widely with national and international partners, and was a committed teacher and mentor, remembered for his humility, intellectual rigour, and dedication to public service.
Xiuli Xu is Professor of International Development and Dean of the College of International Development and Global Agriculture (CIDGA), China Agricultural University, Beijing. She has studied and worked in the development sector since the end of the 1990s. Her main research areas include China and international development, global governance, China’s foreign aid, development encounters in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the development agencies of African countries. She is the author of a series of acclaimed journal articles on China’s aid, development knowledge, and China’s overseas investment (World Development, Development and Change, Journal of Peasant Studies) and has won several international awards.