Stanford University

Social Justice and Environmental Activist Kumi Naidoo Named Payne Distinguished Lecturer

Authors
News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs

The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) is pleased to welcome Kumi Naidoo as the next Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer. Effective November 7, 2023, Naidoo will be based at FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), with a simultaneous affiliation at the Center for Food Security and the Environment (FSE).

The Payne Lectureship at FSI aims to raise public understanding of the complex policy issues facing the global community and advance international cooperation.

Naidoo has a distinguished career as an activist, including in South Africa, where he was an organizer of anti-apartheid activities. He was forced into exile in the United Kingdom under pressure from the pro-apartheid South African Security Police, but returned in 1990 following Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, whereupon he organized for the legalization of the African National Congress.

Naidoo turned his activism to the issues of climate change in 2009, when he joined Greenpeace International, serving as the executive director until 2015. In 2010, he released his first book, “Boiling Point: Can Citizen Action Save the World?”, in which he urges unity and cooperation in facing the urgency of the climate crisis. He has also served as the secretary general of Amnesty International and other global human rights organizations.

"FSI is lucky to be able to bring leaders like Dr. Naidoo to Stanford to help our community think about global challenges like climate change and development from new perspectives. With all of his experience as a frontline activist, Kumi is going to be a wonderful resource to our students and scholars,” says Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute.

 

We need to reach people in their hearts, body and soul. I look forward to continuing to work on one of the solutions I have been pursuing which is the need to harness the power of arts and culture.
Kumi Naidoo
Payne Distinguished Lecturer


As the Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Naidoo will have the opportunity to teach a seminar to the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy, mentor undergraduate and graduate students across FSI’s centers, and present the annual Payne Lecture in the winter of 2024. Naidoo’s multi-disciplinary expertise at the crossroads of social justice and environmental advocacy will bring welcome perspectives to the intellectual communities at CDDRL, FSE, and FSI, and across Stanford’s campus to places like the new Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

“At a time when we are seeing a convergence of multiple crises in the world and some troubling trends, including the rise of fascism, continuing climate denialism, a challenge to the multilateral system and more, I am pleased to have this opportunity to engage in reflective work on the question of ‘How can activism win bigger and faster?’” says Naidoo. 

He continues, “One of the key reasons we are not getting as much urgency and momentum to act on climate and intersecting challenges is the communications deficits activism comes up against: at an objective level, we face a challenging ownership structure of mainstream media which leaves little place for narratives and perspectives pushing for substantive structural and systemic change.”

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Naidoo as this year’s Payne Lecturer,” shared Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director of CDDRL. “With his remarkable background as a human rights activist and a global leader in environmental and social justice, Kumi brings a wealth of knowledge and insight that will undoubtedly spark meaningful conversations and inspire our students, faculty, and the greater Stanford community."

Previous Payne Distinguished Lecturers include Rose Gottemoeller, former deputy secretary of NATO; Ertharin Cousin, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture; Brett McGurk, former presidential envoy to defeat ISIS; and Jung-Seung Shin, former Ambassador for the Republic of Korea, among others.

The Payne Lectureship is named for Frank E. Payne and Arthur W. Payne, brothers who gained an appreciation for global problems through their international business operations. The Payne Distinguished Lecturer is chosen for his or her international reputation as a leader, with an emphasis on visionary thinking; a broad, practical grasp of a given field; and the capacity to clearly articulate an important perspective on the global community and its challenges. 

Speaking to his upcoming time at Stanford, Kumi Naidoo outlined some of his goals for his research and lectureship while at FSI.

“At a subjective level, change agents tend to try to move people primarily by facts, figures, policy and rational arguments. This approach has tended to ignore the need to reach people in their hearts, body and soul. I look forward to continuing to work on one of the solutions I have been pursuing which is the need to harness the power of arts and culture, what increasingly is referred to as Artivism. I am hoping to use my time at Stanford University to interrogate these issues and share through my writing and podcast (Power, People and Planet) some of the perspectives that challenge the way that conventional activism has tried to foster structural and systemic change.”

Read More

Hero Image
All News button
1
Subtitle

Naidoo brings a multi-disciplinary perspective from his experiences as a leader at Greenpeace International, Amnesty International, and other causes to the students and scholars at FSI and beyond.

Improving environmental practices in agricultural supply chains: The role of company-led standards

Paragraphs

Food retailers and manufacturers are increasingly committing to address agricultural sustainability issues in their supply chains. In place of using established eco-certifications, many companies define their own supply chain sustainability standards. Scholars remain divided on whether we should expect such company-led programs to affect change. We use a major food retailer as a critical case to evaluate the effectiveness of a company-led supply chain standard in improving environmental farm management practices. We find that the company-led standard increases the adoption of most environmental best management practices among the company's fruit, vegetable and flower growers in South Africa. This result is robust across two identification strategies: a panel analysis of over 950 farm audits and a cross-sectional matching analysis using original survey data. In-depth interviews suggest that the program's unique focus on capacity building through audit visits by highly trained staff, coupled with a close business relationship between the retailer and their growers help to explain the increased effectiveness of the program as compared to other private environmental standards. Contrary to the argument that company-led initiatives are mere window dressing, this study provides a critical example of the positive role private governance mechanisms can play in improving environmental farm management practices globally.

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Journal Publisher
Global Environmental Change
Authors
Jens Hainmueller
Eric Lambin
External URL

Glwadys A. Gbetibouo

Energy and Environment Building
MC 4205
473 Via Ortega, room 365
Stanford CA 94305

(650) 721-2203
0
Postdoctoral scholar
Glwadys_profile_pic.jpg
MS, PhD

Glwadys Aymone Gbetibouo is a citizen from Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) where she received an Ingénieur Agronome degree in 2000 at the Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët Boigny. She then joined the University of Pretoria to pursue post-graduate studies in agricultural and environmental economics and policy analysis. She obtained both a MSc degree in Agricultural Economics in 2004 and a PhD in Environmental Economics in 2011 from the University of Pretoria. Her research interests include global warming and agriculture. Her area of expertise is on measuring the impacts of climate change on agriculture and the adaptation behavior and vulnerability of rural communities to climate change and variability.

Prior to joining FSE, Glwadys has been working as an international climate change consultant at C4EcoSolutions, a private consulting firm based in South Africa. During her time at C4 EcoSolutions, she has been involved in developing climate change adaptation project documents for the United Nations Agencies for funding under the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) Least Developing Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). Also she has provided technical guidance and advisory services for the implementation of climate change projects in countries such as Djibouti, Lesotho. Mozambique, Niger and Zambia.

Glwadys’s current research is on small scale irrigation technologies and adaptation to climate change.

Structural Change and the Future of Indian Agriculture

-

 
 

Binswanger-Mkhize's talk will look at past and likely future agricultural growth and rural poverty reduction in the context of the overall economy of India, in which growth has accelerated sharply since the 1980s, but agriculture still has not followed suit. Despite slow growth, urban-rural consumption, income and poverty differentials have not risen. This is because urban-rural spillovers have led to a sharp acceleration of rural non-farm growth and income. Binswanger-Mkhize proposes an optimistic vision can be realized if agricultural growth accelerates, high and widely shared economic growth leads to strong spillovers to the rural economy, and the rural non-farm sector continues to flourish. This would enable the rural sector to keep up with income growth in the urban economy and rural poverty would rapidly decline. However, if agricultural growth fails to accelerate, and overall economic growth falters, a more pessimistic vision is also possible. Binswanger-Mkhize will also discuss the role of prices and wages in determining agricultural growth, rural poverty and nutrition, and the two interlinked income parity issues: rural-urban and agricultural-non-agricultural incomes parity.

Marianne Banziger, Deputy Director, Research & Partnership at International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) will provide commentary.

Download pdf
Download pdf

Bechtel Conference Center

Hans Binswanger-Mkhize Adjunct Professor Speaker School of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing
Marianne Banziger Deputy Director, Research & Partnership Commentator International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Symposiums
Global Food Policy and Food Security Symposium Series

Modelling farmers’ adaptations strategies to climate change and variability. The case of the Limpopo Basin, South Africa

Paragraphs

This paper examines climate adaptation strategies of farmers in the Limpopo Basin of South Africa. Survey results show that while many farmers noticed long-term changes in temperature and precipitation, most could not take remedial action. Lack of access to credit and water were cited as the main factors inhibiting adaptation. Common adaptation responses reported included diversifying crops, changing varieties and planting dates, using irrigation, and supplementing livestock feed. A multinomial logit analysis of climate adaptation responses suggests that access to water, credit, extension services and off-farm income and employment opportunities, tenure security, farmers' asset base and farming experience are key to enhancing farmers' adaptive capacity. This implies that appropriate government interventions to improve farmers' access to and the status of these factors are needed for reducing vulnerability of farmers to climate adversities in such arid areas.

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Journal Publisher
Agrekon
Authors
Glwadys A. Gbetibouo
Glwadys Gbetibouo
R.H. Hassan
C. Ringler
External URL

Vulnerability of the South African farming sector to climate change and variability: An indicator approach

Paragraphs

This paper analyses the vulnerability of South African agriculture to climate change and variability by developing a vulnerability index and comparing vulnerability indicators across the nine provinces of the country. Nineteen environmental and socio-economic indicators are identified to reflect the three components of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The results of the study show that the regions most exposed to climate change and variability do not always overlap with those experiencing high sensitivity or low adaptive capacity. Furthermore, vulnerability to climate change and variability is intrinsically linked with social and economic development. The Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, which have high levels of infrastructure development, high literacy rates, and low shares of agriculture in total GDP, are relatively low on the vulnerability index. In contrast, the highly vulnerable regions of Limpopo, Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape are characterised by densely populated rural areas, large numbers of small-scale farmers, high dependency on rain-fed agriculture and high land degradation. These large differences in the extent of vulnerability among provinces suggest that policymakers should develop region-specific policies and address climate change at the local level.

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Journal Publisher
Natural Resources Forum
Authors
Glwadys A. Gbetibouo
Glwadys Gbetibouo
Claudia Ringler
Rashid Hassan
External URL

Andy Gerhart

0
Former PhD student, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment & Resources
Andy_cropped_headshot.jpg

Andy earned his doctorate in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at Stanford University where he studied the Chilean salmon farming industry to understand human relationships with marine environments. He is in the process of writing an environmental and social history of the industry.

Before coming to Stanford, he researched aquaculture policy with Dr. Becky Goldburg at The Environmental Defense Fund; instructed in and administered marine science education programs at the Catalina Island Marine Institute; and worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service in the Alaskan pollock and California drift-gillnet swordfish fisheries.

Previously he attended the Colorado College as a Boettcher scholar to study environmental science, history and literature. His interest in environmental studies largely coalesced during a year spent teaching at Uthongathi School in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.

Measuring the economic impact of climate change on major South African field crops: a Ricardian approach

Paragraphs

This study employed aRicardian model to measure the impact of climate change on South Africa's field crops and analysed potential future impacts of further changes in the climate. A regression of farm net revenue on climate, soil and other socio-economic variables was conducted to capture farmer-adapted responses to climate variations. The analysis was based on agricultural data for seven field crops (maize, wheat, sorghum, sugarcane, groundnut, sunflower and soybean), climate and edaphic data across 300 districts in South Africa. Results indicate that production of field crops was sensitive to marginal changes in temperature as compared to changes in precipitation. Temperature rise positively affects net revenue whereas the effect of reduction in rainfall is negative. The study also highlights the importance of season and location in dealing with climatechange showing that the spatial distribution of climatechangeimpact and consequently needed adaptations will not be uniform across the different agro-ecological regions of South Africa. Results of simulations of climatechange scenarios indicate many impacts that would induce (or require) very distinct shifts in farming practices and patterns in different regions. Those include major shifts in crop calendars and growing seasons, switching between crops to the possibility of complete disappearance of some field crops from some region.

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Journal Articles
Publication Date
Journal Publisher
Global and Planetary Change
Authors
Glwadys A. Gbetibouo
Glwadys Gbetibouo
R.M. Hassan
External URL

Walter Falcon featured in the world hunger documentary ''Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger''

Authors
Walter P. Falcon
Walter P. Falcon
Pat Mallinson
News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs
The film "Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger," hosted by NPR's Scott Simon, offers a compelling examination of both the problem and solutions surrounding world hunger. The program aired on PBS station KQED/San Francisco on Wednesday, November 2nd at 11:00 p.m.

SEATTLE - There are a billion hungry people in the world. Fifteen thousand children-the equivalent of five times the victims of the World Trade Center bombings-die each day of hunger. Yet it doesn't have to be this way. We can end hunger-if we make a commitment to doing so. The new one-hour documentary Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger shows how it can be done. Shot on location in the United States, South Africa, Kenya, Rome, Mexico and Brazil, Silent Killer examines both the problem of hunger and solutions. The documentary and its companion Web site (www.SilentKillerFilm.org) will provide viewers with inspiration and information to become part of the effort to end hunger.

Produced by Hana Jindrova and John de Graaf (Affluenza, Escape from Affluenza), in association with KCTS/Seattle Public Television, Silent Killer will air on several California public television stations as follows:

KTEH/ San Jose: Sunday, October 16 at 5:00 p.m. (please confirm).

KOCE/ Huntington Beach: Sunday, October 23 at 4:00 p.m.

KQED/ San Francisco: Wednesday, November 2 at 11:00 p.m., repeating on

KQED Encore (Digital Channel 189), Thursday, November 3 at 10:00 p.m.

KVCR/ San Bernardino: Thanksgiving evening, Thursday, November 24 at 8 p.m.

KVIE/ Sacramento: Airdate and time to be announced.

KCSM/ San Mateo: Airdate and time to be announced.

(For all other stations, please check local listings).

Narrated by National Public Radio's Scott Simon, the film begins in South Africa's Kalahari Desert, where razor-thin Bushmen use the Hoodia cactus to fend off hunger. But now, a drug firm has patented the Hoodia's appetite-suppressant properties and is using it to make a diet product for obese Americans and Europeans. Hoodia is a metaphor for a world where some people die from too much food, but millions more die from too little.

We discover how serious the problem is in Kenya as we meet Jane Ininda, a scientist who is trying to make agriculture more productive in her country, while her own brother, Salesio, barely survives the drought, poor soils and pests that constantly threaten his crops. Through powerful stories, we come to understand the dimensions of the hunger crisis.

At the World Food Summit in Rome, we learn how activists have been working to end hunger since President John Kennedy declared war on it in 1963. But today, America's commitment to food security is less clear. In fact, world financial commitments to hunger research are now in decline.

But Silent Killer does not leave viewers feeling helpless. A visit to Brazil finds a nation energized by a new campaign called FOME ZERO-Zero Hunger. In the huge city of Belo Horizonte, we meet a remarkable leader and see how, under the programs she supervises, the right to food is guaranteed to all. In the countryside, we are introduced to the Landless Peasants' Movement, which is giving hope to millions of hungry Brazilians.

Can we end hunger, or will it always be with us? Why should we try? What will it take? What are we doing now? Can biotechnology play a role, and if so, how? Is hunger just a problem of distribution, or do we still need to produce more and better crops? These are the questions considered in this exquisitely photographed documentary.

EXPERTS featured in Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger and available for press interviews include:

David Beckmann - President, Bread for the World. Since 1991, Reverend David Beckmann has served as president of Bread for the World, a Christian group that lobbies the U.S. government for policy changes to end hunger in the United States and around the world.

Per Pinstrup-Andersen - World Food Prize Laureate 2001. A native of Denmark, Per Pinstrup-Andersen is the H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy at Cornell University. He also serves as the chairman of the Science Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

Chris Barrett - Development Economist, Cornell University. Dr. Barrett is a professor of applied economics and management at Cornell University. His focus is on rural communities, primarily in Africa, concentrating on the dynamics of poverty, food security and hunger.

Walter Falcon - Development Economist, Stanford University. Dr. Falcon is the Farnsworth Professor of International Agricultural Policy at Stanford University (emeritus), co-director of the Center for Environmental Science and Policy, and former director of the Stanford Institute for International Studies.

PROGRAM TIE-INS: October 16 is the 25th observance of World Food Day-a worldwide event designed to create awareness, understanding and year-round action to alleviate hunger. (See www.worldfooddayusa.org.) In addition, October 24 is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and its first agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

CREDITS: Silent Killer was produced by Hana Jindrova and John de Graaf in association with KCTS/Seattle Public Television and is narrated by NPR's Scott Simon. Writer: John de Graaf. Photographers/Editors: Diana Wilmar and David Fox. Composer: Michael Bade. Executive Producer: Enrique Cerna, KCTS. Funding was provided by The Rockefeller Foundation.

DISTRIBUTOR: Silent Killer is presented nationally by KCTS/Seattle Public Television and is distributed by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).

WEB SITE: See www.SilentKillerFilm.org for more information about the film, including a full transcript, in-depth interviews with film characters and experts on hunger, a guide for teachers, a list of hunger facts and myths, a detailed "Take Action" section and additional resources. Color images from the film are posted on the site for press use, along with an online press kit.

All News button
1

Jeffrey R. Koseff

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terman Engineering Center, M-9
Stanford, CA 94305-4020

(650) 736-2363
0
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor of Chemical Engineering, by courtesy
koseff.jpg
PhD

Jeff Koseff, founding co-director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, is an expert in the interdisciplinary domain of environmental fluid mechanics. His research falls in the interdisciplinary domain of environmental fluid mechanics and focuses on the interaction between physical and biological systems in natural aquatic environments. Current research activities are in the general area of environmental fluid mechanics and focus on: turbulence and internal wave dynamics in stratified flows, transport and mixing in estuarine systems, phytoplankton dynamics in estuarine systems, coral reef, sea-grass and kelp-forest hydrodynamics, and the role of natural systems in coastal protection. Most recently he has begun to focus on the interaction between gravity currents and breaking internal waves in the near-coastal environment, and the transport of marine microplastics. Koseff has served on the Board of Governors of The Israel Institute of Technology, and has been a member of the Visiting Committees of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at Carnegie-Mellon University, The Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, and Cornell University. He has also been a member of review committees for the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan, The WHOI-MIT Joint Program, and the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. He is a former member of the Independent Science Board of the Bay/Delta Authority. He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2015, and received the Richard Lyman Award from Stanford University in the same year.

FSI senior fellow, by courtesy, Co-director, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Subscribe to South Africa