Dr Amiena Bayat (PhD Development Economics) is an associate professor of Economics at the Institute for Social Development (ISD), University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. She is a committed development practitioner and researcher, whose goal is to engage in the challenge of poverty alleviation and the development of sustainable livelihoods in Southern Africa. She holds a PhD in Economics from UWC, and an MA in Development Economics from Williams College (USA), which she obtained as a Nelson Mandela Economic Scholar. She has worked on many projects/research assignments that deal with the issues of local economic development, poverty alleviation, and broader socioeconomic development. She also has a keen interest in issues related to food security and food systems. Over the past few years, she has undertaken research for the South African Presidency, United Nations Development Programme, VLIR (Flemish Interuniversity Council), National Treasury, and the European Union.
