Visiting Scholar

Rafael Salgado

Dr. Rafael Salgado is a passionate, early-career researcher from the small Brazilian town of Viçosa, which is renowned for its top-ranked Agricultural University – Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV). He grew up on the periphery surrounded by, and sometimes facing, poverty and food insecurity.

Those early experiences sparked a strong interest in how a wealthy country like Brazil, one of the world's largest food producers, could be home to so many food insecure people.

With a degree in Agribusiness Management and a Master's and PhD in Business Administration, specializing in Public Administration and Government, Dr. Salgado's work explores the role of the state (particularly public food procurement policy) in supporting small-scale, family farmer livelihoods, combatting food insecurity, and strengthening agri-food system sustainability.

Since 2022, Dr. Salgado has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at UFV, conducting research funded by the Brazilian government. His current project analyzes the impacts and challenges of agricultural cooperatives supplying government food procurement programs that prioritize sourcing from family farms in three Brazilian regions.

Dr. Salgado's research contributes to the field of elaborating, implementing, and evaluating public policies and programs that support small-scale, family farmers. It also highlights other state and civil society actions that can strengthen sustainable agri-food systems and reduce food insecurity in Brazil.

Dr. Salgado was recognized as having one of the best PhD theses in Rural Administration in Brazil. He is an active member of the Canadian Public Policy Network and the Brazilian Society of Economics, Administration and Rural Sociology (SOBER). Prior to coming to Guelph, he spent time in the Faculty of Forestry, Geography and Geomatics of the Université Laval.