We’re pleased to welcome Khadija Kaffa to the Rural Sociology Group as a visiting scholar from Kyoto University, Graduate School of Agriculture. Khadija is a PhD candidate whose research adopts a feminist lens to examine how rural women farmers in arid regions of Morocco navigate and assert agency at the intersection of resource access, collective action, and power relations, particularly under pressures of climate stress. During her time at RSO, she is expanding her work to explore how patterns of out-migration reshape household dynamics and contribute to transformations in local food systems in migrants’ home communities.

Research focus

Khadija’s research focuses on the experiences and strategies of rural women farmers in Morocco, highlighting the ways they negotiate resource constraints, power relations, and collective action in the context of climate and socio-economic pressures. A recent extension of her work investigates how migration patterns influence household dynamics and drive changes in local food systems, emphasizing women’s agency in shaping outcomes for both livelihoods and community sustainability.

Her work brings a feminist perspective to debates in rural sociology, agrarian change, and food systems studies, connecting local empirical insights to broader theoretical and comparative discussions.

Current work at RSO

During her visiting stay at the Rural Sociology Group, Khadija is developing the new dimension of her research that examines the intersections of food, gender, and migration. She aims to deepen both the theoretical and empirical grounding of this work, particularly in understanding how these dynamics shape transformations in rural food systems under conditions of out-migration. This visit also provides an opportunity to engage with scholars working on critical agrarian, feminist, and food system studies.

Why RSO and Wageningen?

RSO is an international reference for critical and interdisciplinary research on agrarian change, rural development, and sustainability. Khadija was drawn to Wageningen for its rich space for interdisciplinary dialogue, particularly around questions of gender, mobility, and food system transformation. This visit offers valuable opportunities for exchanging ideas with scholars exploring related issues in diverse geographic and social contexts.

Beyond research

Outside academia, Khadija enjoys food and cooking as a way of connecting with others. She also practices stained glass art, which allows her to express emotions and creatively interpret elements from her fieldwork and research in a visual and artistic form.

We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Daniella Gac Jiménez to the Rural Sociology Group as a visiting scholar from the University of Chile. Daniella is Assistant Professor of Sociology and works on rural and socio-environmental transformations, focusing on how small-scale farmers navigate climate, socio-economic, and territorial change. During her time at RSO, she is engaging in comparative and theoretical discussions on rural transformation and rurality across different contexts.

Research focus

Daniella’s research focuses on rural and socio-environmental transformations shaping contemporary rurality. She examines how processes unfolding in rural territories under conditions of a triple crisis—climate change, socio-economic pressure, and territorial reconfiguration—affect small-scale farmers. Her work highlights everyday practices of adaptation, resistance, and bricolage, as well as uneven trajectories of transformation, inclusion, and exclusion.

Research agenda associated with ANID funding

Daniella’s research agenda is closely linked to competitive funding from Chile’s National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), particularly through her Fondecyt project. This agenda focuses on understanding rural and socio-environmental transformations shaping contemporary rurality, examined empirically through processes unfolding in rural territories under conditions of a triple crisis.

Through her ANID-funded research, she investigates how small-scale farmers and rural communities respond to overlapping pressures such as climate change, territorial reconfiguration, and sectoral policies, including energy transition processes. Rather than treating these dynamics as purely structural or technocratic, her work emphasizes everyday practices, social reproduction, and situated forms of adaptation, resistance, and bricolage, highlighting uneven outcomes of inclusion and exclusion.

This research contributes to debates in rural sociology and socio-environmental studies in Chile and Latin America, while also engaging with international discussions.

Current work at RSO

During her visiting stay at the Rural Sociology Group, Daniella is developing work connected to her ANID-funded project (Chile), which examines how contemporary transformations—including the energy transition—are reshaping rural territories in central Chile. At RSO, she is particularly interested in advancing theoretical and comparative discussions on practices, rural transformation, and rurality across different territorial contexts.

Why RSO and Wageningen?

RSO is an international reference for critical and interdisciplinary research on agrarian change, rural development, and sustainability. Daniella was drawn to Wageningen for its strong space for theoretical dialogue on practice-based approaches, which she sees as key for rethinking the challenges of rural sociology and rurality in Chile and Latin America.

Beyond research

Outside academia, Daniella enjoys walking, eating, and exploring food markets as ways of observing everyday life and local cultures. During her stay in the Netherlands, she has been particularly interested in Dutch everyday practices such as cycling, open public spaces, and local markets, valuing slow rhythms and exploration.