Ruth Smith

Profile

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Leeds working on the social dimensions of food systems transformation within the FoSTA-Health project. My interdisciplinary background spans international development, gender studies, and environmental change, with a focus on power, justice, and participatory methods in agricultural policy and practice across sub-Saharan Africa.

I completed my PhD in Gender and International Development at the University of Leeds, where my research explored the neoliberal co-optation of feminist discourse in agricultural transformation agendas. My doctoral work critically examined how gender equality and women’s empowerment are framed, measured, and operationalised within development policy – particularly through concepts such as ‘gender mainstreaming’, ‘women’s empowerment’ and ‘smart economics’ – and how these framings shape intervention logics and implementation outcomes.

Before this, I completed my Masters in Environment and Development at Leeds. I have held research and advisory roles across academia, government, and international institutions, including the UNFCCC and Natural England. I bring a strong commitment to decolonial feminist praxis and the use of participatory and reflexive methodologies, including photovoice, to amplify marginalised voices within development spaces.

Research interests

My research interests sit at the intersection of gender, power, development, and food systems transformation. I am particularly interested in how feminist concepts – such as empowerment and agency – are translated into policy and practice through development institutions, and how these translations reproduce, resist, or transform inequalities.

My recent work has critically explored the discursive and material consequences of donor-driven gender agendas, including the use of quantitative empowerment indices, such as the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), and gender-transformative approaches in agricultural policy. I am currently investigating the everyday politics of participation in food systems transformation initiatives in East Africa, with a particular focus on intersectionality, voice, and representation within knowledge co-production processes.

I am also interested in the role of philanthrocapitalism and international donor institutions in shaping gender and climate development agendas, and how African feminist and decolonial perspectives can inform more contextually grounded and relational approaches to transformation.

Qualifications

• PhD in Gender and International Development
• MSc in Environment and Development

Professional memberships

• Sustainability Research Institute
• Priestley Centre for Climate Futures

Student education

I have taught on various social science modules across the School of Earth and Environment and the School of Geography. I am also providing supervision support to numberous Masters students.

Research groups and institutes

• Sustainability Research Institute