Nicole Renaud
Senior Northern Development Officer at Northern Alberta Development Council
Master of Arts in Geography, Memorial University
Nicole’s Master’s research titled Mapping a History of Water Security in the Peruvian Highlands: A Case Study of Mullak’as-Misminay, Peru, took place in Peru, examining small-scale irrigation projects with smallholder farmers. Nicole’s work was supported through a CIDA Students for Development Internship. The primary objective of her doctoral research “A comparative study of smallholder farming resilience under water stress in Malawi” was to assess agroecological and Green Revolution approaches in terms of agricultural water security, particularly concerning drought vulnerability, and the specific implications for gender relations among smallholder farmers. In examining the broader contours of gender relations. Nicole was seeking to understand the parallels between gender marginalization and smallholder farming marginalization. Nicole’s research employed a comparative case study methodology using mixed methods in two regions. The agroecology case study was in the Ekwendeni area of northern Malawi where farmers are using agroecological methods as part of the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities (SFHC) project. SFHC is a long-term participatory project that has facilitated 200 farmers in organizing agroecological experiments on climate change adaptation using agroforestry, legume intercrops and farmer-led research. The Green Revolution case study took place in the Salima District of central Malawi where the Government of Malawi is administering a large-scale irrigation project along Lake Malawi. Nicole works as a Senior Northern Development Officer at the Northern Alberta Development Council.