The impact of urbanisation on the health and environmental sustainability of diets in sub-Saharan Africa

The Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures focuses on advancing the science of sustainability and connecting it with the policy debate around how humans can live in a more sustainable way.

Grantham.sheffield.ac.uk

This PhD will investigate rural to urban migration in a case study country in Africa. The country selected will be decided with the successful candidate and supervisors. Longstanding issues of undernutrition are now compounded by obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes, heart disease) in Africa.

This shift is particularly happening in urban areas due to changing dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles, with the trend most evident in women and increasing most rapidly amongst the poor. Little is known about the environmental impact of this nutrition transition. This PhD will assess the impact of migration from rural to urban areas on sustainability of diets (in terms of nutrition, health and environment) but also the impact of migration on food culture, including shifts towards eating more convenience foods, changes in people’s social relations and connectedness with food. It will involve conducting inter-disciplinary studies.

The post would suit a motivated student interested in nutrition, diet and food security, with an enthusiasm for a mix of different types of fieldwork with the general public and with policy makers in an urban African setting. We are particularly keen to have applications from people with experience of working in low and middle income settings, and ideally with a background that covers nutrition, health and geography.

This PhD would provide insight into:
- How the food environment changes when people migrate from rural-to-urban areas in a case study African country.
- The impact of the changing food environment on people’s dietary patterns and food-related behaviours, on their health and on the social and environmental sustainability of their diets. It could include quantifying the impacts of traditional (rural) vs modern (urban) dietary patterns on their carbon footprint.
- Attitudes to dietary change of urban residents and particularly to major foods that shift, i.e. meat, ultra-processed foods, energy dense sweet drinks and consumption of snacks and convenience foods.
- The policy options available, acceptable and feasible to develop a more sustainable food system in the case study African country.

We expect the PhD to involve a combination of qualitative and quantitative studies. However, the ideas and research questions detailed above are not set in stone. It will be important for the successful applicant to put their own stamp on the project, and to show a capacity for original research design and critical thinking. Therefore, we will be particularly interested to see how applicants adapt the project to suit their own particular strengths and interests.

You will be supervised by Professor Michelle Holdsworth (School of Health and Related Research, Public Health section)- http://www.shef.ac.uk/scharr/sections/ph/staff/profiles/michelleholdsworth and Dr Megan Blake (School of Geography)- https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/staff/blake_megan

Prof. Holdsworth has expertise in conducting research in Africa, particularly on the determinants of dietary behaviour in urban areas and developing evidence based nutrition policy. She also has expertise in investigating attitudes and beliefs around sustainable diets. Dr Blake has expertise in food justice and the role of social institutions and practices for shaping the environments in which people gain access to the resources needed to sustain their livelihoods.

She has studied the resources needed (money, knowledge, etc) to access safe, healthy, affordable and culturally appropriate food in ways that are also sustainable. You will be based in ScHARR (The School of Health and Related Research) http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr and be a member of the food, nutrition and society research theme http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/sections/ph/research/food

We are recruiting Scholars who will combine outstanding intellect with a strong commitment to public engagement, leadership and action. These ambitious individuals will complete interdisciplinary PhD research projects to help solve the challenges of sustainability. They will be supported by the Centre through a unique training programme, designed to equip them with the skills to become policy advocates and leaders in sustainability matters.

Key words: Nutrition, food, Africa, health, urban, policy

’You must select "Apply Online" to make an application’
Please note: in online application process please select ‘standard PhD’ not DTC option

Please use full and correct title for the PhD you are applying for and fill in supervisors name on the online form.

For enquiries or additional information, please contact Michelle Holdsworth, [Email Address Removed] and Megan Blake, [Email Address Removed] .