I am a community development worker and an early career researcher with a master’s degree in International Cooperation and a PhD in Food, Agriculture and Environment from the University of Pisa.

During my PhD, my research was focussed on the analysis of the organizing practices enacted by small farmers to contribute to the sustainability of local food systems. Concomitantly, I also had the opportunity to join a multidisciplinary educational program at the Regional Academy on the United Nations where I carried out in-depth desk research on women and water scarcity in the Jordan River Basin region in collaboration with the OSCE. I spent my PhD visiting period abroad at the Rural Sociology Department of Wageningen University & Research. I’m currently working in the 2020 project FARMWELL, which addresses the phenomenon of irregular work in agriculture aiming to improve farmers’ and farm workers’ mental, physical and social wellbeing through social innovations.

After several yet short collaborations in inter-territorial projects dealing with human rights and youth empowerment, more recently I have worked as operations director with a small Kenyan NGO. The related projects were mainly focused on water security and safety and mitigation of health risks in local communities in Kenya and Rwanda. Since 2021, I am also a freelance journalist, mainly committed to impact journalism with a constructive approach to social and environmental issues.

Key research interests

• Environmental and social impacts of food production in a globalized world
• Dynamics, inequalities, decent work, human rights in supply chains
• Community organizing practices for social innovation
• Rural livelihoods and rural poverty in developing countries

Core competences

• Experience in qualitative research approaches
• Participatory methods for community development projects
• Certificate in project cycle management

Current EU-funded projects

FARMWELL – Improving farmers’ wellbeing through social innovation

See the list of all projects the group is involved in here

Some recent publications

Duckett, D., Bjørkhaug, H., Arnalte Mur, L., Pamioli, L. (2022) New ‘old’ risks on the small farm: Iconic species rewilding in Europe. Land Use Policy 118(2) DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106115

Palmioli, L., Grando, S., Di Iacovo, F., Fastelli, L., Galli, F., Prosperi, P., Rovai, M., Brunori, G. (2019) Small farms’ strategies between self-provision and socio-economic integration: effects on food system capacity to provide food and nutrition security. Local Environment 25(3) DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2019.1697869

Check my other publications: