Dr. Mehwish Zuberi
Principal Investigator (WP1, Indigenous Innovations)
Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE)
Mehwish is a geographer and researcher working at the intersection of smallholder livelihoods, agricultural policy, and sustainability in the Global South. She holds a PhD from Humboldt University of Berlin, where her dissertation examined how productivity-centred policies affect smallholder farmers in South Punjab, Pakistan, arguing for a reframing that centres smallholders' experiences and visions. With over eight years of experience across Europe and South Asia, her research focus is agricultural transformation and rural change in smallholder farming systems, focusing on the interactions between technology, agrarian policies, farmer decision-making, and socio-environmental sustainability. Currently, she serve as one of the Principal Investigators of SMALLPAK, focusing on local innovations pertaining to agroforestry and integrated livestock-crop production, as well as ways to scale them for resilient and equitable smallholder farming systems.
Research interests
- Resilient smallholder farming systems
- Gendered roles and decision-making in agriculture
- Participatory research and knowledge co-production
- Indigenous innovations
- Integrated crop-livestock production
- Scaling and governance of agricultural innovations
Work experience
2026 - present
Principal investigator, SMALLPAK
Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), Germany
2019 - 2025
Doctoral researcher, TRANSECT (Agrarian and Social-Ecological Complexities Local Bioeconomy Scenarios in Central and South Asia)
Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), Germany
2018 – 2019
Research Assistant, Circulus (Opportunities and Challenges of Transformation Towards a Sustainable Circular Bio-Economy)
Research Assistant, POLYFORES (Decision-making Support for Forest Ecosystem Services in Europe – Value Assessment, Synergy Effects and Trade-Offs)
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany
2017
Intern, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Initiative in Himalayas
German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), Nepal
Education
2026
PhD Geography
Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
2019
M.Sc. Environmental Governance
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany
2015
B.Sc. (Hons.) Sociology and Anthropology
Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan
Selected publications
Zuberi, M., Spies, M., & Nielsen, J. Ø. (2026). The making and unmaking of the Bacillus thuringiensis cotton assemblage in South Punjab, Pakistan. Geoforum. Volume 171, Issue 104578. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104578
Raab, C., Nguyen, V. D., Barrett, B., Zakirova, A., Zuberi, M., Alff, H., & Spies, M. (2026). Crop type classification in smallholder agriculture of Central and South Asia using Sentinel-1/2 data fusion. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 102007
Zuberi, M. (2026). Navigating Agricultural Transformation Pathways. [Doctoral dissertation, Humboldt University of Berlin]. Open Access Publication Server of the Humboldt University. doi:10.18452/37540
Zuberi, M., Spies, M., Ø. Nielsen, J.Ø. (2025). Constrained Spatial Imaginaries of Smallholder Farmers: Perspectives from South Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences. Volume 22, Issue 1. Special issue on 'Co-Creating Transdisciplinary Research and Learning for Transformative Socio-Environmental Change’. doi:10.1080/1943815X.2025.2536263
Zuberi, M., Spies, M., Ø. Nielsen, J.Ø. (2024): Is there a future for smallholder farmers in Bioeconomy? The case of ‘improved' seeds in South Punjab, Pakistan. Forest Policy and Economics. Volume 158. Special issue on ‘Bioeconomy Governance in the Global South: State of the Art and the Way Forward’. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2023.103100
Spies, M., Alff, H., Raab, C., Zakirova, A., Zuberi, M. (eds.) (2023): Sustainable Food and Biomass Futures? Localised Approaches to Agricultural Change and Bioeconomy. Eberswalde. doi:10.57741/opus4-837
Zuberi, M., Raab, C., Spies, M. (2022) Landnutzungswandel im Baumwollgürtel Pakistans. Gen-Baumwolle, Agrardiversifizierung und ökologische Herausforderungen im Süden des Punjab, Geographische Rundschau. 75/4, 20-25
Spies, M., Zuberi, M., Mählis, M., Zakirova, A., Alff, H., Raab, C. (2022) Towards a participatory systems approach to managing complex bioeconomy interventions in the agrarian sector. Sustainable Production and Consumption. doi:10.1016/j.spc.2022.03.020
Zuberi, M. (2021). Between Disconnects and Flows: Reflections on Doing Fieldwork in Rural South Punjab during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Südasien-Chronik - South Asia Chronicle. 11/2021, 521-540, Südasien Seminar der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, pp. 521-540. https://www.iaaw.hu-berlin.de/de/region/suedasien/publikationen/sachronik/sachronik
Luo, A., Zuberi, M., Liu, J., Perrone, M., Schnepf, S., Leipold, S. (2021) Why common action and interest are not enough for environmental cooperation. Lessons from the Chine-EU cooperation discourse on circular economy. Global Environmental Change. 71.
doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102389