Thematic Interests: Development Policy and Management, Rural Sociology; Sociology of Food and Agriculture, Environmental Sociology
Specific Topics: Natural Resources Management, Civil Society and Non-governmental Development Organisations, Agricultural Commodity Value Chains, Governance Reforms
Publications
Books:
Gupta, S. (2016). Politics of Water Conservation: Delivering development in rural Rajasthan, Cham, Switzerland: Springer International; ISBN:978-3-319-21391-0
Journal Articles:
Ayobami, A, Gupta.S. Okoruwa, V.O. and Birner, R. 2022 The role of institutions in sustaining competitive bioeconomy growth in Africa: Insights from the Nigerian maize biomass value-web, Sustainable Production and Consumption 30 (2022): 186-203
Daum, T., Villalba, R., Oluwakayode, A., Mayienga, S.M., Gupta, S. and Birner, R. (2021) Uber for tractors? Opportunities and challenges of digital tools for tractor hire in India and Nigeria. World Development, Vol 144, August 2021, 105480
Lin, J., Gupta, S., Loos, T. And Birner, R. (2019) Opportunities and Challenges in the Ethiopian Bamboo Sector: A market analysis of the bamboo-based value web. Sustainability, 11 (6): 1644
Mengistu, T.W., Gupta, S. and Birner, R. (2018) Analysis of maize biomass use in Ethiopia and its implications for food security and the bioeconomy. Food Security, 10 (6): 1631-48
Poku, Adu-Gyamfi, Birner, R, and Gupta, S. (2018) Is Africa ready to develop a competitive bioeconomy? The case of the cassava value web in Ghana. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 200: 134-147
Poku, Adu-Gyamfi, Birner, R. and Gupta, S. (2018) Making contract farming arrangements work in Africa’s bioeconomy: Evidence from cassava outgrower schemes in Ghana. Sustainability, 10 (5): 1604
Verma, R., Gupta, S. and Birner, R. (2018) Can vigilance-focused governance reforms improve service delivery? The case of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in Bihar, India, Development Policy Review doi: 10.1111/dpr.12344
Poku, Adu-Gyamfi, Birner, R. and Gupta, S. (2018) Why do maize farmers in Ghana have a limited choice of improved seed varieties? An assessment of the governance challenges in seed supply, Food Security, 10 (1): 27-46
Verma, R, Gupta, S and Birner, R (2017). Can Grassroots Mobilization of the Poorest Reduce Corruption? A tale of governance reforms and struggle against petty corruption in Bihar, India, Development and Change 46 (2): 339-363
Gupta, S. (2014). From Demanding to Delivering Development: Challenges of NGO-led development in rural Rajasthan, India, Journal of South Asian Development 9 (2): 121-145
Gupta, S. (2014). Worlds Apart? Challenges of multi-agency partnership in participatory watershed development in Rajasthan, India, Development Studies Research 1:1, 100-112
Gupta, S. (2011). Demystifying 'Tradition': The politics of rainwater harvesting in rural Rajasthan, India, Water Alternatives 4(3): 347-364
Book Chapters:
Gupta, S. and Sinha, S. (2008). Beyond 'dispositif' and 'depoliticisation': Spaces of civil society in water conservation contexts in rural Rajasthan, India. In Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and Robert Wasson (eds), Water First: Issues and Challenges for Nations and Communities, New Delhi and London: Sage; ISBN: 978-0-7619-3625-1
Conference Presentations
'"Land Grabs", Dispossession and Agricultural Transformation: Revisiting land-acquisition debate in the light of empirical evidence from Ethiopia'. Annual Conference of the International Rural Sociological Association (IRSA), Toronto, Canada (10-14 August, 2016)
'Bio-Economy and Regional Planning', Session Chair, Organized by the German Academic Exchange (DAAD), Stuttgart, Germany (2 December, 2015)
'Impact of sustainable certification on smallholder farmers: The case of abaca cultivators in Catanduanes, Philippines', Tropentag - Annual Conference on Tropical and Sub-tropical Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, Berlin, Germany (16-18 September, 2015)
'Ethiopian Agriculture in Transition', GlobeE Project Status Seminar, Organized by the Germany Ministry of Education and Research, Potsdam, Germany (4-6 March, 2015)
'Institutions for Sustainable Livelihoods: A value-chain analysis of Abaca production in the Philippines', Inter-Agency Workshop on Abaca Production, Visayas State University, Leyte, Philippines (7-10 August, 2014)
'Biomass-based Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: the role of governance and institutions', Inception Workshop, BiomassWeb Project, Accra, Ghana (10-13 October, 2013)
'Multi-agency Partnership in Natural Resource Management: Evidence from participatory watershed development in rural Rajasthan, India', Annual Conference of the German Society of Economic and Social Sciences in Agriculture (GEWISOLA), Berlin, Germany (September, 2013)
'From Demanding to Delivering Development: Challenges of NGO-led development in rural Rajasthan, India', Tropentag - Annual Conference on Tropical and Sub-tropical Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, Stuttgart, Germany (17-19 September, 2013)
'Community-based Natural Resources Management: Problems and prospects', First World Forum of the International Sociological Association, Barcelona, Spain (5-8 September, 2008)
'National Goals, International Agenda and Local Needs: Evidence from water conservation and watershed development programmes in Rajasthan, India', European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies, Manchester, UK (5-8 July, 2008)
'The politics of water conservation and watershed development in rural Rajasthan', South Asian Studies Alliance Conference, Claremont Graduate University, CA, USA (29-30 March, 2008)
Work Experience
Hans Ruthenberg Institute, University of Hohenheim, Germany (August 2011-October 2017)
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK (June 2006-July 2011)
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK, 2009-10 (Visiting Fellow)
Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK, 2009-11 (Guest Lecturer)
Awards
Article Featured in Editor's Choice Collection (2014), Journal of South Asian Development
Director's Teaching Prize (2009), SOAS, University of London
Thesis Writing-up Grant (2007), Sir Ernest Cassel Educational Trust, UK; Gilchrist Educational Society, UK
Felix Scholarship for PhD at SOAS (University of London), 2002-06