Jaci van Niekerk is a researcher based in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town. Her Master’s dissertation in Environmental Management examined the early implementation of access and benefit-sharing legislation in South Africa, in the context of a medical plant endemic to the region, Pelargonium sidoides.Her research revolves around issues of social and environmental justice, with a particular focus on the impacts of policies and technologies on agricultural biodiversity and the livelihoods, well-being and food sovereignty of small-scale farmers.