Jordan Blekking is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Global Development. Broadly, he is interested in human-environmental interactions and how these interactions shape livelihoods in Southern and Eastern Africa. He has on-going research in two distinct areas. First, he is investigating how smallholder farmers’ perceptions of environmental conditions vary across locations and how these perceptions inform their cropping decisions in areas experiencing high rainfall variability. Second, he uses publicly available, high resolution (<250m) remotely sensed products to investigate how urban food retail environments change as African urban areas grow. Jordan has conducted research in Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa.
Jordan earned his Ph.D. in Geography from Indiana University in 2022. His doctorate focused on how rapid urbanization in Southern African cities impacts the development of food retail environments and urban food systems. Jordan earned a Master of Science in Geography from Indiana University, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and Applications from Michigan State University, and an Associates of Arts from Kellogg Community College. Jordan served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia from 2012 to 2015.
Blekking, J., Waldman, K., Davies, J., Kaputula, M., Nelson, E., & Robeson, S. M. (2023). Rapid urbanization and uneven development of the food retail environment. Geoforum, 147, 103893.
Brondizio, E. S., Giroux, S. A., Valliant, J. C., Blekking, J., Dickinson, S., & Henschel, B. (2023). Millions of jobs in food production are disappearing—a change in mindset would help to keep them. Nature, 620(7972), 33-36.
Blekking, J., Giroux, S., Waldman, K., Battersby, J., Tuholske, C., Robeson, S. M., & Siame, G. (2022). The impacts of climate change and urbanization on food retailers in urban sub-Saharan Africa. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 55, 101169.
Blekking, J., Gatti, N., Waldman, K., Evans, T., & Baylis, K. (2021). The benefits and limitations of agricultural input cooperatives in Zambia. World Development, 146, 105616.
