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Dr Martin del Valle Menendez

Specialism

Linking farmer knowledge with climate services to strengthen food security and resilience.

Within the PICSA programme, my work focuses on:

  • Supporting the design and implementation of the PICSA approach with farmers, extension services, and institutional partners.
  • Developing data-driven tools to analyse climate information and evaluate farmer decision-making processes.
  • Leading scoping studies and contributing to capacity-building initiatives across diverse agricultural and climatic contexts.

Areas of interest

  • Participatory approaches linking farmers’ knowledge with climate services and policy
  • Climate adaptation and resilience in smallholder and pastoralist systems
  • Agroecology and sustainable food systems for child nutrition and rural development
  • Data governance and open-source tools for agricultural decision-making
  • Interdisciplinary collaborations at the nexus of science, policy, and humanitarian action

Research centres and groups

  • Participatory Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA – University of Reading)
  • One Health Field Network (OHFN - The University of Edinburgh)

Background

Martín del Valle is an agronomist with a PhD in Agriculture and Food Security from the University of Edinburgh. His doctoral research, “The Role of Data Governance in Food and Nutrition Security: Insights from a Multi-Method Approach to Public Policy and Practices in Chile”, explored how data systems shape agricultural decision-making and national food security policies. He joined the University of Reading in 2025 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, working on the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) programme.

Martín’s research interests lie at the intersection of agroecology, food systems, and climate adaptation, with a strong emphasis on participatory approaches that bridge farmers’ knowledge with climate services and institutional decision-making. He has collaborated on agroecological child-nutrition projects in Southern Africa, educational initiatives for pastoralists in East Africa, and climate service applications in Central Asia and the Caribbean.

He has experience across Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia on projects supported by the World Food Programme, national governments, universities, and NGOs. His work integrates both qualitative and quantitative methods, combining field-based agricultural research with data-driven analysis to inform farmer decision-making, strengthen resilience, and support sustainable development. His current research focuses on scaling and adapting the PICSA approach to diverse contexts, developing open-source digital tools, and deepening its impact on farmers, extension services, and policy processes.

Academic qualifications

BSc Agricultural Sciences; MSc Animal Sciences; PhD Agriculture and Food Security

Selected publications

  • Del Valle M, M., Shields, K., Borthwick, F., Grant, L., Boza, S., del Valle, J. P., … Del Fierro, R. (2025). Co-creating a common language for an agroecological transition through local food governance: lessons learned from discussion and practice in Mashue, Los Ríos, Chile.  Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2025.2456935
  • Del Valle M, M., Shields, K., Boza, S. (2024). Integration and coherence in food governance—a comprehensive analysis of food security public programs in Chile. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8:1431969. Doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1431969
  • Del Valle M, M., Shields, K., Boza, S. (2024). Using Household Dietary Diversity Score and Spatial Analysis to Inform Food Governance in Chile. Nutrients,16,2937. Doi.org/10.3390/nu16172937
  • Silva, A., Barrera, A., Ribera, L., Del Valle M, M. (2024). Food sovereignty, food security, and international trade: evidence from Chile. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 8. Doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1388498
  • Del Valle M, M., Hernández, R., Boden, L., & Riveros, J. L. (2023). Redefining Food Sources: Exploring the Disconnect between Goat Farming and Its Perceived Sustainability—A Case Study in Chitima, Mozambique. Sustainability, 15(14), 11071. doi.org/10.3390/su151411071
  • Del Valle M, M., Shields K., Alvarado Vásquez-Mellado, S., Boza, S. (2022) Food governance for better access to sustainable diets – a review. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets. doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.784264
  • Del Valle M, M., Ibarra, JT., Aguirre Hörmann, P., Hernández, R., Riveros, JL. (2019). Local Knowledge for Addressing Food Insecurity: The Use of a Goat Meat Drying Technique in a Rural Famine Context in Southern Africa. Animals. 9. 808. Doi: 10.3390/ani9100808.

Publications

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