Gareth Haysom

Cape Town

Gareth Haysom is a researcher at the African Food Security Urban Network based at the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town. Gareth’s research focuses primarily on issues of urban food governance in cities of southern Africa. A key output of this work is to encourage cities to play an active role in the food system.
In addition to his work with AFSUN, Gareth is a research fellow at the Sustainability Institute (linked to Stellenbosch University) where he set up a Sustainable Agriculture specialisation within the Sustainable Development post- graduate degree in 2008. This was arguably the first – and is possibly still the only – university programme that actively considered aspects such biodynamic agriculture and permaculture within the degree focus in South Africa.
Gareth’s key area of interest includes understanding the consequences and possible opportunities associated with the intersections between wider sustainability challenges, including the likes of ecosystem destruction and climate change, with urbanisation and changes in the food system.