Gracsious Maviza

I am a Gender and Migration Climate Security Scientist and the CGIAR Climate Security Regional Lead for the Southern Africa Team at the Alliance of Bioversity Internation and CIAT under the Climate Action Lever. I also serves as the Alliance Country Representative for South Africa, representing the Alliance’s strategic interests and partnerships within the country. In addition, I am a Research Fellow with the Department of Sociology at the University of the Free State, South Africa.

I lead research and policy engagement across the region, focusing on the intersection of food, land, and water systems with climate-induced vulnerabilities, human mobility, gender dynamics, peace, and security. I contribute to several key CGIAR Science Programmes, including Food Frontiers and Security (FFS), Climate Action Science Programme (CASP), Gender Accelerator (GEI), and Capacity Sharing (CapShare). Through these programmes, I work to elevate the visibility of climate, peace, and security issues by examining how the compounding effects of climate change reinforce vulnerability, affect human security and social cohesion and with what effects of gender and social inclusion. The overarching goal is to generate evidence that informs policy reforms aimed at advancing gender equity and social inclusion, promoting transformative outcomes, and strengthening social cohesion and sustainable peace across food, land, and water systems.

Furthermore, I am leading the integration of climate, peace, and security into academic and research curricula within universities in Southern Africa. I have also supported the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES) in developing their short course on climate, peace, and security, which is part of my broader commitment to building regional capacity to address climate-related security challenges through evidence-based education for organic policy reforms.

I hold a PhD in Development Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Master of Arts in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a BSc Honours degree in Sociology from the University of Zimbabwe.

Prior to joining the Alliance, I was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Sciences at the National University of Science and Technology (IDS-NUST) in Zimbabwe. I am also the co-founder of the Southern Women Academics Forum (SWAN), a network inspired by my own journey as an early-career woman in academia. SWAN aims to make academia a viable and empowering career path for women through targeted initiatives and mentorship.