Meet Our Team: Professor Julian May [10.02.26]
Professor Julian May is Director of the DSTI–NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security, holder of the UNESCO Chair in Science and Education for African Food Systems, and a Commissioner for South Africa’s National Planning Commission.
[Translate to English:] His research focuses on food security, childhood deprivation, and malnutrition, with a strong emphasis on evidence-based approaches to poverty reduction. He is an expert in Applied Poverty Reduction Assessment and has led impact assessments and poverty diagnostics in over 20 countries across Africa, Latin America, and the Indian Ocean Islands. His work addresses the structural causes of poverty, including asset inequality, information asymmetries, health shocks, demographic transitions, and food system governance, as well as policy options such as land reform, social grants, information technology, and urban agriculture.
As an applied economist, Professor May has also completed more than 100 research reports for governments, the private sector, and civil society organisations. He currently serves as the Academy of Science of South Africa’s Treasurer.
Professor May holds a PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, along with degrees in Development Studies, Economics, and Social Science.
