LANDac
Knowledge Facilitator
Gemma Betsema has a background in Sociology and International Development Studies. She graduated from the University of Amsterdam in 2010 with a thesis about local adaptation strategies to climate change of small-scale farmers in rural Cambodia. Research areas of interest within international development include small-scale agriculture, climate change adaptation strategies, land issues, the UN Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure, responsible investment and food security. Gemma has worked for research funding agency WOTRO, and was involved in short-term assignments for the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), the VU University’s Centre for International Cooperation (CIC) and as a consultant on land governance for DGIS (Directorate General International Cooperation) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, she contributed to a MVO Nederland commissioned study at the Utrecht University into Dutch and European entrepreneurs in the agro-food sector and their CSR activities. She started working at LANDac in 2012. Since 2015, Gemma has been closely involved in the development of a knowledge agenda on land governance and food security (together with the Food & Business Knowledge Platform and other partners), including a country-specific learning trajectory on land governance and food security in Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda. As part of this knowledge agenda, she also co-authored the publication ‘Flowers for food? Scoping study on Dutch flower farms, land governance and local food security in Eastern Africa’.