Bio

Dr. Hannah Wittman is an agroecologist and environmental sociologist who conducts community-led research on the ways that the rights to produce and consume food are contested and transformed through struggles for agrarian reform, food sovereignty, digitalization of agriculture, and agrarian citizenship. Her work on open-source digital tools for agroecology and data justice aim to improve data gaps related to assessing agroecological performance for climate resilience.

Website: http://www.landfood.ubc.ca/person/hannah-wittman/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=JxF8aw0AAAAJ&hl=en

Projects

LiteFarm project LiteFarm Dashboard

Agroecological Transitions for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation

Diversified Agroecosystems Research Cluster (Wittman is the PI of this cluster)

Advancing Agroecological Transitions Through Visual Methodologies

Exploring Ethical Data Governance for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation in Canadian Agriculture 2023 – present

Agroecological Transitions in Latin America

Indigenous Foodlands Conservation Areas 2023 – present

Tech For Nature: GHG and Livestock Modules for Litefarm 2022 – present

Measuring Progress Towards Food Sovereignty: The effect of mediated markets on re-defining socio-ecological value in the food system 2015 – 2019

Unconventional Tenures: A Comparative Analysis of Community-Based Land Reform and Agrarian Citizenship in Brazil, Guatemala and Canada 2011 – 2014

Courses

ENVR 350 Applied Environmental Ethics

LFS 500 Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems Seminar

ASIC 220 Introduction to Sustainability

Featured Publications

I Andrade, H Wittman, PB Rebollar, A Tecchio, VA Turnes, AA Cazella. Measuring the maturity of the basket of territorial goods and services: evidence from Southern Brazil. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 10, 2026

E Duncan, SL Ruder, KB KC, H Wittman, E Fraser. The political economy of agricultural data governance: Farmer perspectives on trust in data sharing. Journal of Rural Studies 123, 2026

D James, J Blesh, J Liebert, N Magnanti, Z Mehrabi, C Motter, H Wittman. Exploring the role of a social carrier in advancing agroecology and territorial autonomy. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 49 (4), 587–612 2025

SL Ruder, H Wittman. Agricultural data governance from the ground up: Exploring data justice with agri-food movements. Big Data & Society 2025

LV Rasmussen, I Grass, Z Mehrabi, OM Smith, R Bezner-Kerr, J Blesh, LA Garibaldi, ME Isaac, CM Kennedy, H Wittman, P Batáry. Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture. Science 2024

H Wittman Food sovereignty: An inclusive model for feeding the world and cooling the planet One Earth 6 (5), 474-478 2023

J Blesh, Z Mehrabi, H Wittman, RB Kerr, D James, S Madsen, OM Smith, … Against the odds: Network and institutional pathways enabling agricultural diversification One Earth 6 (5), 479-491 2023

S Klassen, F Migrante, H Wittman Sharing the struggle for fairness: Exploring possibilities for solidarity & just labour in organic agriculture Canadian Food Studies 2022

A Heckelman, MJ Chappell, H Wittman A polycentric food sovereignty approach to climate resilience in the Philippines Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 10 (1), 1-21 2022

E Bowness, H Wittman Bringing the city to the country? Responsibility, privilege and urban agrarianism in Metro Vancouver The journal of peasant studies 48 (6), 1141-1166 2021

V Ricciardi, Z Mehrabi, H Wittman, D James, N Ramankutty Higher yields and more biodiversity on smaller farms Nature Sustainability 2021

H Wittman, D James, Z Mehrabi Advancing food sovereignty through farmer-driven digital agroecology International Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources 47 (3), 235-248 2020

W Valley, H Wittman, N Jordan, S Ahmed, R Galt An emerging signature pedagogy for sustainable food systems education Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 33 (5), 467-480 2018

H Wittman, J Blesh Food sovereignty and Fome Zero: connecting public food procurement programmes to sustainable rural development in Brazil Journal of Agrarian Change 2017

LJ Powell, H Wittman Farm to school in British Columbia: mobilizing food literacy for food sovereignty Agriculture and Human Values 35 (1), 193-206 2018

BE Graeub, MJ Chappell, H Wittman, S Ledermann, RB Kerr, … The State of Family Farms in the World World Development 2015

AA Desmarais, H Wittman Farmers, foodies and First Nations: getting to food sovereignty in Canada Journal of Peasant Studies 2014