Prof. Jaya Kritika Ojha is an Associate Professor at FABS. She is a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and undergone Faculty Development Programme in Management from IIM Ahmedabad. She obtained her first master’s degree, M.Sc. in Human Development with minor in Development Communication from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India. She was a scholar of the India-Italy Development Cooperation and completed her second masters’ in Development Studies from the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy with special focus on Non-Farm Activities and Rural Development in Developing Countries.

At FABS, Prof. Jaya takes courses such as Values and Ethics in Management and Agro Ecology & Production Systems. She has previously taught courses such as Sustainable Livelihood Systems, Development Theories and Practices, Social Mobilisation, Collective Action and Commons, Rurbanisation and Climate Change.

An ardent traveller to remote rural pockets of India, Prof. Jaya keeps exploring, understanding and documenting the nuances of development in rural agri. and non-farm sectors in India. Working on the issues of ‘people’, ‘participation’ and ‘institutional processes’ for sustainable development inspires and interests her. She devises approaches, strategies and innovative methodologies to look for concrete options and interventions, designs instruments and alternatives to enable people and communities for a bigger change.

Her current research concerns concentrate on Producer Organisations-FPOs, Agro-Ecology, Livelihoods, Women Capabilities and Leadership, Gender, Collective Action, Collectivisation and Communitisation in the third world. Prof. Jaya has contributed in making of various documentaries on issues like rural livelihoods and community development. She applies interdisciplinary frameworks, theories and tools drawn from the fields of development management, political economy, gender, sustainability studies, public policy, participatory approaches and human development.

Prof. Jaya is a recipient of University Gold Medal for her bachelors from Rajasthan Agriculture University, Bikaner. She has been awarded ICAR JRF & SRF fellowships and MHRD-IIT (Ph.D.) fellowship. She has published several research papers in the journals of national and international repute. She has also presented research papers in different international- national conferences and seminars.

Prior to joining FABS, Prof. Jaya has worked as Assistant Professor with Development Management Institute, Patna and The M.S. University of Baroda, Gujarat. She is a National Resource Person for National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in India. She has also worked with the grassroots’ organizations in India such as PRADAN, SRIJAN and URMUL; Research organizations namely NIRD Hyderabad and Desert Resource and Research Centre at Rajasthan, India.