Person

Imogen Bellwood-Howard

Imogen Bellwood-Howard

Research Fellow

Imogen’s research focuses on food systems and human-environment interactions and she has worked extensively in West African urban and rural agricultural settings. Her current research interests include sustainable and low-input agricultural practices, city region food systems and rural-urban linkages, informal urban and rural food markets, and the application of circular economy ideas to food systems.

Her recent work has addressed agricultural commercialisation and water resource use, urban agriculture, agroecology, the African Green Revolution, and knowledge construction between farmers, researchers and extension agents. Imogen’s interdisciplinary research approach draws on environmental geography, with influences from agroecology, socioecological systems thinking, science and technology studies, political ecology and practice theory. As an interdisciplinary researcher, she uses qualitative as well as quantitative and participatory methods.

Throughout her work, Imogen has been dedicated to dissemination and stakeholder engagement, for example by facilitating policy dialogue processes on agriculture in West African cities. With local partners, she has made several Ghanaian-language training, documentary and feature films on agricultural themes, exploring the crossover between dissemination and popular culture. Her more recent research explores the role of the arts in environmental policy communication.

Google Scholar
http://goo.gl/No6Fn3

Research

Project

Urbanisation in Africa and China

As African countries experience rapid urbanisation, there is a need to ensure that this process is well managed, and underpinned by strong public policy and social governance, to support economic development and social welfare. China has much to share from its experience of rapid...

Programme

Ghana Development Hub

The Ghana Development Hub, part of the IDS International Initiatives, provides focus in a geography at the leading edge of development thinking and practice due to accelerating environmental, economic, pollical and social change. It recognises that tackling challenges such as climate change,...

Opinions

Opinion

Arts-for-change: environmental deliberation in Africa

Collaborative art-making may promote relationships between groups with little experience of engaging together directly in east and west Africa, in contexts where policy dialogue is already emotive and value-based. Arts based methods in democratic deliberation and 'arts-for-change' In...

7 June 2023

Opinion

Can artisanal milk markets in Ghana and Kenya support rural livelihoods?

Milk plays important cultural, nutritional and economic roles in the lives of agropastoralists in Kenya and Ghana. Our research finds that agropastoralists and policy actors alike are intrigued by the potential of a market for heritage milk products, but market development is impeded by poor...

Eric Kioko & 3 others

3 May 2023

Publications

Imogen Bellwood-Howard’s recent work

Past Event

Art, environnement et activisme en Afrique

How can the arts be used in environmental communication and dialogue? We present experiences using arts-led deliberation from across Africa. Citizens, researchers, activists, policy actors, artists and others are welcome. Watch now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Q-wul9fjU Activists and...

8 December 2022

News

Activists and policy makers explore the role of art in development

Citizen Voice, a project exploring the potential role of the arts in dialogues between environmental activists and policy actors in West Africa, has this week released a song co-created by activists, civil society representatives and policy actors in...

2 March 2022

Past Event

What are the priorities for realising SDG 6.2 in Ghana?

How are we doing on SDG-6 to ensure safely managed sanitation for all in Ghana? Where is progress being made, and how is this being achieved? What challenges remain? How can we accelerate efforts and reach those most in need? This webinar brings together academics, policy actors and...

20 January 2022