Dr. Kirit Patel
Dr. Kirit Patel is an Assistant Professor in the International Development Studies Program, Menno Simons College affiliated with the University of Winnipeg & Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg. Dr. Patel has extensive experience as an academic, development policy analyst, and community development practitioner. His research is focused on food and nutrition security, farm conservation of agrobiodiversity, farmers’ innovations, technology and gender, environmental justice, and farmers’ rights.
Dr Patel recently concluded an interdisciplinary project, revalorizing minor millets for Enhancing the food and nutritional security of women and children in rainfed regions of South Asia (RESMISA), funded by the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF). This project involved social and plant scientists and students from five Canadian Universities, and several NGOs and research institutions from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Dr Patel’s work under the RESMISA project was focused on socioeconomic and policy issues affecting conservation, cultivation, production, and consumption of small millets in South Asia. Some of the work done on identifying technological constraints faced by women farmers led to current phase of SAK project, led by Dr Manish Raizada, in collaboration with LIBIRD in Nepal. Dr Patel can be contacted at k.patel@uwinnipeg.ca, Tel: 204-953-3852.
Published Papers and Book Chapters:
Kirit Patel, David Guenther, Kyle Wiebe, and Ruth-Anne Seburn 2014 Promoting Food Security and Livelihoods for urban poor through the informal sector: A Case Study of Street Food Vendors in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. Food Security, Vol 6(6): 861-878. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12571-014-0391-z.
Devkota, R., Khadka, K., Gartaula, H.N., Shrestha, A., Upadhyay, D., Chaudhary, P., and Patel, K. 2014. Farmers’ seed networks and agrobiodiversity conservation for sustainable food security: A case from the mid-hills of Nepal. International Journal on Biodiversity Watch, p. 1-32. [Status: Revisions accepted and in Press]
Kirit Patel and Kathryn Dey 2013. The Trajectory of Environmental Justice in India: Prospects and Challenges for the National Green Tribunal, in Tim, M, Trivedi N and D Vajpeyi (eds), Perspectives on Governance and Society. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, pp. 160-174.
Newmaster S G , R Subramanyam, D Shanmughanandhan, J J Chitilappilly, S Ramalingam and K Patel 2013. Genomic valorization of the fine scale classification of small millet landraces in southern India, Genome, Vol 56(2): 123-127.
Kirit Patel. 2004. Plants, Property and Patents: Farmers Rights over Plant Genetic Resources in Developing Countries, in Erbisch, F. H. and Maredia, K. M. (Eds). Intellectual Property Rights in Agricultural Biotechnology, second edition. NY: CAB International, p. 95-106.
Manuscripts submitted 2015 (under review):
Gartaula, H.N., Kirit Patel, Derek Johnson, and M. Karthikeyan 2015. Agrarian transition, food security and small farmers: Examining the interplay between food security approaches and household wellbeing in rural Tamil Nadu, India. South Asian Journal of Development Studies, p. 1-37. [Status: under review]
Matt Little, Sally Humphries, Kirit Patel, and Cate Dewey 2014. Decoding the type 2 diabetes epidemic in rural India: Patients’ knowledge, explanatory models, and narratives. Medical Anthropology, p. 1-56. [Status: Second revision of manuscript is under review]
Warren Dodd, Sally Humphries, Kirit Patel, Shannon Majowicz, Cate Dewey 2015 Determinants of temporary labour migration in southern India, Journal of Development Studies. P. 1-45 [Status: under review]
Barkman, Janna, Shailesh Shukla and Kirit Patel 2015 Indigenous agricultural knowledge-based school competition as an informal learning approach to enhance local food security: Case study from Anchetty, India, Pedagogy Culture and Society, p. 1-35. [Status: Under Review}