Metadata
Title
Kiah Smith
Category
general
UUID
9437afdea3874ef98540001aa8caf5ce
Source URL
https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/14632
Parent URL
https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/hmbs/schools-institutes-centres/qco...
Crawl Time
2026-03-23T12:00:10+00:00
Rendered Raw Markdown 
# Kiah Smith

**Source**: https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/14632
**Parent**: https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/hmbs/schools-institutes-centres/qcops/our-people

Dr

# Kiah Smith

Email:
:   [k.smith2@uq.edu.au](mailto:k.smith2@uq.edu.au)

## Positions

Affiliate of Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies
:   Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies
:   Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

UQ Amplify Senior Research Fellow
:   Institute for Social Science Research
:   Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

### Background

**Kiah Smith** is a Sociologist with expertise in **environment, sustainable development and food justice**. With a strong record of international publications on food justice, food security, climate resilience, financialisation, ethical trade, green economy, sustainable livelihoods, gender empowerment and food system governance, Kiah’s work contributes new understandings of the **social dimensions of food system transformation** at the intersection of multiple crises. Using mostly **qualitative, participatory methodologies** (such as action research and future scenario planning), her research emphasises the role that civil society plays in transformative policy making that is systems-focused and inclusive of social-ecological perspectives. For example, her ARC DECRA study - Fair Food, Civil Society and the Sustainable Development Goals - examined how civic stakeholders are able to resist, reshape or redefine what a just and sustainable food system might look like, based on co-design and collaboration with civil society, local government, advocacy groups and grassroots food actors (food hubs, community gardens, and food charities) in Australia. This interdisciplinary research agenda can best be summarised as one where ‘food futures’ are closely connected with ‘deep’ sustainability, rights, justice and empowerment, within the growing field of ‘sustainability transitions’.

Other past and present studies include: Multifunctional horticulture - land, labour and environments; Ethical consumption and COVID; Responsible innovation in digital agriculture; Employment policy and indigenous food sovereignty in remote Australia; Financialisation of food and farmland in Australia; Resilience and governance of Australian food systems during crisis; and Mapping civil society, human rights and the SDGs. Kiah has conducted research in Australia and internationally, she has worked with local NGOs (in Africa and Australia), with the United Nations Research Institute in Geneva, and in multidisciplinary research teams spanning the social and natural sciences both here and abroad. Kiah is also a *Future Earth* Fellow, treasurer of the *Australasian Agrifood Research Network*, and executive member of the RC40 on Food and Agriculture in the *International Sociological Association*. Her work at the nexus of academia and policy/advocacy contributes to the growing movement for the right to food in Australia and globally.

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### Availability

Dr Kiah Smith is:
:   Not available for supervision

### Fields of research

[Environmental sociology](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5102)
[Human Society](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4755)
[Rural sociology](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5332)
[Social change](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5051)
[Sociological methodology and research methods](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=6614)
[Sociology](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4861)
[Sociology of gender](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=6700)

### Qualifications

- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

### Research interests

- #### Food Justice

  Civic/ alternative food networks; Fair Food organising; Community food policy making; Food citizenship; Social solidarity economy; Environmental justice; Right to food

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- #### Agrifood Political Economy

  'Financialisation of Food and Farming' in Australia, with a focus on agribusiness investment in the the North Queensland sugar industry; Supermarket power and industry 'greening'; Food crisis, multiple crises (food, climate, economic); Horticulture and regional development

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- #### Sustainable Development

  SDGs; Social dimensions of green economy; UN policy processes; Research translation

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- #### Food systems governance

  Resilience of long and short food chains; Adaptive, reflexive governance; Food systems in 'crisis', e.g. flooding, climate change; Food systems transformation;
  Multi-stakeholder participation and power; climate change

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- #### Gender and Ethical Trade

  Fair and ethical trade, e.g. 'ethical consumption and production' networks; Ecofeminism; Smallholder food production/trade in the Global South; Sustainable livelihoods
  Gender empowerment; Conventions, standards, multistakeholder regulation

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### Research impacts

Over the past decade, Kiah has collaborated with *FIAN International* on the right to food, *UN Women* on their ‘Feminist Plan for Sustainability and Social Justice*’,* *UNRISD* programmes on ‘A new eco-social contract’ and ‘Localising the SDGs’, and *Future Earth* through her ‘Fair Food Futures’ podcast and animation. She has provided expertise to global food security policy making through participation in the *UN High Level Panel on the Sustainable Development Goals* (2018), *UN Food Systems Summit Civic Dialogues* (2021), 2022 *People’s Summit* , and the UN *SDG Summit* in 2023.

Kiah's research has informed submissions to the Australian government, including to the Senate inquiry on resilience and flooding (2013), Australia's progress on the SDGs (2018), Financial Investment (2020), Food Pricing and Food Security in Remote Indigenous Communities (2020), and Food Security (2022), as well as to civic initiatives such as the AFSA People’s Food Plan (2023) and CSIRO's discussion paper on ‘Transforming Australian Food Systems’ (2022). At the Centre for Policy Futures, Kiah’s expertise in justice, rights and empowerment will contribute across the focal areas, and help to build the Centre’s capacity for research as social action, non-traditional research translation and impact, and policy engagement with the SDGs.

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[Search Professor Kiah Smith’s works on UQ eSpace](http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/list/author_id/8270)

[All
(72)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/14632/all)
[Book
(1)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/14632/4747)
[Journal Article
(25)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/14632/4748)
[Other Outputs
(13)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/14632/4749)
[Conference Publication
(25)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/14632/4751)
[Book Chapter
(8)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/14632/4752)

Featured

2025

Journal Article

##### Solidarity finance and food democracy in civic food networks in Australia: what role for ‘citizen-financiers’?

Smith, Kiah, Cruz, Daniel and Langford, Zannie (2025). Solidarity finance and food democracy in civic food networks in Australia: what role for ‘citizen-financiers’?. Agriculture and Human Values, 42 (3) 106799, 1-17. doi: 10.1007/s10460-025-10708-1

[Solidarity finance and food democracy in civic food networks in Australia: what role for ‘citizen-financiers’?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:d5297df)

Featured

2023

Journal Article

##### Social science as social action to address inequalities

Staines, Zoe, Smith, Kiah, Plage, Stefanie, Nahar Lata, Lutfun, Fay, Suzanna, Zheng, Zhaoxi, Simpson Reeves, Laura, Beazley, Helen, Kuskoff, Ella, Clarke, Andrew, McGowan, Glenys, Shevellar, Lynda and Prangnell, Jonathan (2023). Social science as social action to address inequalities. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (1), 108-127. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.272

[Social science as social action to address inequalities](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:f4266f0)

Featured

2022

Journal Article

##### Tracking farmland investment in Australia: Institutional finance and the politics of data mapping

Smith, Kiah, Langford, Alexandra and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2022). Tracking farmland investment in Australia: Institutional finance and the politics of data mapping. Journal of Agrarian Change, 23 (3), 518-546. doi: 10.1111/joac.12531

[Tracking farmland investment in Australia: Institutional finance and the politics of data mapping](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:45abdfc)

Featured

2022

Journal Article

##### Scaling up civic food utopias in Australia: The challenges of justice and representation

Smith, Kiah (2022). Scaling up civic food utopias in Australia: The challenges of justice and representation. Sociologia Ruralis, 63 (1), 140-159. doi: 10.1111/soru.12368

[Scaling up civic food utopias in Australia: The challenges of justice and representation](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:d3a0874)

Featured

2022

Journal Article

##### Introduction to the special issue – imagining rural futures in times of uncertainty and possibility: progressing a transformative research agenda for rural sociology

Malatzky, Christina and Smith, Kiah (2022). Introduction to the special issue – imagining rural futures in times of uncertainty and possibility: progressing a transformative research agenda for rural sociology. Journal of Sociology, 58 (2), 144078332110711-143. doi: 10.1177/14407833211071126

[Introduction to the special issue – imagining rural futures in times of uncertainty and possibility: progressing a transformative research agenda for rural sociology](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:8bb04d6)

Featured

2021

Journal Article

##### Finance's social license? Sugar, farmland and health

Smith, K. and Lawrence, G. (2021). Finance's social license? Sugar, farmland and health. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 10 (12), 1-11. doi: 10.34172/IJHPM.2021.11

[Finance's social license? Sugar, farmland and health](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:f4a9b4e)

Featured

2021

Journal Article

##### Workfare and food in remote Australia: 'I haven't eaten... I'm really at the end...'

Staines, Zoe and Smith, Kiah (2021). Workfare and food in remote Australia: 'I haven't eaten... I'm really at the end...'. Critical Policy Studies, 16 (1), 36-59. doi: 10.1080/19460171.2021.1893198

[Workfare and food in remote Australia: 'I haven't eaten... I'm really at the end...'](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:a21befb)

Featured

2020

Book Chapter

##### Neoliberal Globalization and Beyond: Food, Farming, and the Environment

Lawrence, Geoffrey and Smith, Kiah (2020). Neoliberal Globalization and Beyond: Food, Farming, and the Environment. The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology. (pp. 411-428) edited by Katherine Legun, Michael Bell and J. Keller. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108554558.026

[Neoliberal Globalization and Beyond: Food, Farming, and the Environment](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:9c2bf18)

Featured

2019

Journal Article

##### Localizing SDG2 Zero Hunger through “Fair Food” in Australia

Smith, Kiah (2019). Localizing SDG2 Zero Hunger through “Fair Food” in Australia. Asian Development Perspectives, 10 (2), 135-148. doi: 10.22681/ADP.2019.10.2.135

[Localizing SDG2 Zero Hunger through “Fair Food” in Australia](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:3023111)

Featured

2018

Book Chapter

##### Zero Hunger discourse: neoliberal, progressive, reformist or radical?

Smith, Kiah (2018). Zero Hunger discourse: neoliberal, progressive, reformist or radical?. Contested sustainability discourses in the agrifood system. (pp. 89-110) edited by Douglas H. Constance, Jason Konefal and Maki Hatanaka. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.4324/9781315161297

[Zero Hunger discourse: neoliberal, progressive, reformist or radical?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:c3be9c8)

Featured

2016

Journal Article

##### The resilience of long and short food chains: a case study of flooding in Queensland, Australia

Smith, Kiah, Lawrence, Geoffrey, MacMahon, Amy, Muller, Jane and Brady, Michelle (2016). The resilience of long and short food chains: a case study of flooding in Queensland, Australia. Agriculture and Human Values, 33 (1), 45-60. doi: 10.1007/s10460-015-9603-1

[The resilience of long and short food chains: a case study of flooding in Queensland, Australia](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:356099)

Featured

2016

Book Chapter

##### Food Systems Failure: Can we Avert Future Crises?

Smith, Kiah (2016). Food Systems Failure: Can we Avert Future Crises?. Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies. (pp. 250-262) edited by Mark Shucksmith and David L. Brown. London: Routledge.

[Food Systems Failure: Can we Avert Future Crises?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:390544)

Featured

2015

Journal Article

##### Connecting resilience, food security and climate change: lessons from flooding in Queensland, Australia

MacMahon, Amy, Smith, Kiah and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2015). Connecting resilience, food security and climate change: lessons from flooding in Queensland, Australia. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 5 (3), 378-391. doi: 10.1007/s13412-015-0278-0

[Connecting resilience, food security and climate change: lessons from flooding in Queensland, Australia](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:364316)

Featured

2014

Book

##### Ethical trade, gender and sustainable livelihoods: women smallholders and ethicality in Kenya

Smith, Kiah (2014). Ethical trade, gender and sustainable livelihoods: women smallholders and ethicality in Kenya. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203383940

[Ethical trade, gender and sustainable livelihoods: women smallholders and ethicality in Kenya](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:341007)

Featured

2012

Journal Article

##### Gender and food security in a fair, green economy?

Smith, Kiah (2012). Gender and food security in a fair, green economy?. Development, 55 (1), 81-89. doi: 10.1057/dev.2011.118

[Gender and food security in a fair, green economy?](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:369853)

2025

Journal Article

##### From ethical consumers to collective action: advancing healthy and sustainable food systems

Freeman, Camille, Smith, Kiah and Cullerton, Katherine (2025). From ethical consumers to collective action: advancing healthy and sustainable food systems. Health Sociology Review, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1-20. doi: 10.1080/14461242.2025.2594616

[From ethical consumers to collective action: advancing healthy and sustainable food systems](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:fd43fcb)

2025

Other Outputs

##### Towards a movement map for Australia: final report

Smith, Kiah, Fiore, Giuliana and Horton, Joanna (2025). Towards a movement map for Australia: final report. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/6e7f835

[Towards a movement map for Australia: final report](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:6e7f835)

2024

Other Outputs

##### Fair Food Futures: transforming food systems through food justice

Smith, Kiah (2024). Fair Food Futures: transforming food systems through food justice. F St Lucia, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.

[Fair Food Futures: transforming food systems through food justice](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:3d2d020)

2024

Other Outputs

##### Coastal horticulture in Northeastern Australia: global networks and regional development

Smith, Kiah, Azeredo, Rafael, Coe, Neil, Cross, Rebecca, Heyman-Griffiths, Seren, Neilson, Jeff, Pritchard, Bill and Wang, Zoe (2024). Coastal horticulture in Northeastern Australia: global networks and regional development. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.

[Coastal horticulture in Northeastern Australia: global networks and regional development](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:827c0fa)

2024

Journal Article

##### From coalitions to social movements: Lessons from civic food coalition formation in Australia

Freeman, Camille and Smith, Kiah (2024). From coalitions to social movements: Lessons from civic food coalition formation in Australia. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 30 (1), 1-17. doi: 10.48416/ijsaf.v30i1.528

[From coalitions to social movements: Lessons from civic food coalition formation in Australia](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:f8112e3)

### Current funding

- 2023 - 2026

  High-value horticulture and global production networks in coastal Australia (ARC Discovery Project administered by the University of Sydney)

  University of Sydney

  [Open grant](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/58186)

### Past funding

- 2020 - 2023

  Leaving No One Behind: An investigation of the role and performance of civil society organisations in achieving the SDGs in Germany and Australia

  Universities Australia - Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme

  [Open grant](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/38512)
- 2019 - 2023

  Fair Food Futures, Civil Society and the Sustainable Development Goals

  ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award

  [Open grant](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/37088)
- 2019 - 2021

  Civic networks, food justice and the SDGs: designing fair food futures for Australia

  UQ Early Career Researcher

  [Open grant](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/37261)

### Availability

Dr Kiah Smith is:
:   Not available for supervision

### Supervision history

#### Completed supervision

- 2026

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [COVID-19 Impacts on Alternative and Local Food Systems: Unpacking the Potential for Sustainable Food Production and Consumption](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:7418ea0)

  Principal Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Associate Professor Katherine Cullerton](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/22350)
- 2025

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Australian Civic Food Networks in Food Systems Governance: Experiences, Challenges, and Opportunities](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:1fbbd69)

  Principal Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Associate Professor Peter Walters](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1414)
- 2025

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Digital and Agricultural Innovation, and Alternative Agriculture Practices in Australia](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:07e03cb)

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Professor Kristen Lyons](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1304)
- 2025

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Women's Empowerment Through Contract Farming: Vegetable Seed Value Chains in Bangladesh](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:36b2556)

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Dr Rajendra Adhikari](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/24368)
- 2024

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Evaluating hydrogen attitudes and citizen transformation through deliberation](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:2d25b26)

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Dr Alastair Stark](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/2670)
- 2020

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Agri-food transformations in Northern Australia: The work of local actors in mediating financial investments](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:f1ad0b4)

  Associate Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Lawrence](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1120)

### Enquiries

For media enquiries about Dr Kiah Smith's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

[communications@uq.edu.au](mailto:communications@uq.edu.au)

## External profiles

- [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8707-0893)
- [ResearcherID](https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/C-8317-2014)
- [Scopus](https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=7410184252)

## Personal links

- [Personal profile](https://social-science.uq.edu.au/profile/747/kiah-smith)
- [Google Scholar profile](http://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=bj88Qp0AAAAJ&hl=en)
- [Fair Food Futures website](https://fairfoodfutures.com)

## Social media

- [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiah-smith-28133585/)

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