Lídia Cabral is a Research Fellow, Postgraduate Research Co-lead, and the IDS Convenor of the MA in Food Systems and Sustainable Development. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist whose current work focuses on equity, justice, and solidarities in food systems and relations, with particular interest in the politics of knowledge, technology, innovation and sustainable development discourse and practice.
Lídia has 25+ years of experience in international development, working mainly in Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa and, more recently, in the UK. She began her career as a civil servant in Mozambique, working on development aid, sector budget planning, and public financial management. She later worked for Oxford Policy Management and the Overseas Development Institute, focusing on public policy and aid systems’ governance for agriculture and rural development. Over this period, she collaborated with several international organisations including the African Development Bank, FAO, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, IFAD, NEPAD, OECD, UNDP and UNEP, and bilateral aid agencies, such as Irish Aid, FCDO (formerly DFID), SDC, and SIDA.
After completing her PhD in Development Studies in 2016, Lídia joined IDS as Fellow and her work has focused on Brazil and international development, historical legacies and power in agrifood science and technology, and equity and justice in food systems. She has led research projects funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, and Newton Fund, and the British Council. She has collaborated with others on consultancies, policy advisory and advocacy work, and writing projects. In 2024, she was appointed member of the writing team of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) report on Resilient Food Systems. She is a founding member of the Food Equity Centre.
Lídia is currently supervising three Postgraduate Researchers. Patricia Ortega (supervised with John Thompson) is researching the livelihood and resistance strategies of mango producers in Oaxaca, Mexico, in the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Evelyn Nunez González (supervised with Miguel Loureiro) is researching healthy diets and the best interest of the child in Mexico. Mansi Nimbhal (supervised with Nicholas Nisbett) is researching millets-based livelihoods and gender dynamics among Adivasi women in India.
Lídia welcomes PhD applications and collaborations on topics such as: food equity and justice in relation to different aspects of food systems; social innovation and transformative change in local food systems; Green Revolution legacies and counter-movements, including agroecology and regenerative farming; knowledge politics, discourse and storytelling; intersections between rewilding, food and justice; Brazil in the world and South-South cooperation, particularly in relation to food systems.
