James Keeley is a researcher, consultant and project manager specialising in food systems and agricultural development, China as an international development actor, and UK engagement with China on shared challenges and global public goods.

He was previously Head of the Programme Management Office for AgriTT, an FCDO funded trilateral cooperation programme in the agricultural sector with Chinese, Ugandan and Malawian partners combining technology adaptation, research, and knowledge management. He spent several years based in Ethiopia working as a researcher and consultant carrying out work for Irish Aid, the Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Before this he was Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) where he led work on China and worked on a range of agriculture, climate and sustainability themes. Prior to this he was a researcher at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, working on policy processes for GM crops in China and Zimbabwe and soils management in Africa. He writes and presents regularly for Oxford Analytica on China policy issues. He is co-author with Ian Scoones of ‘Understanding Environmental Policy Processes: cases from Africa’ (Earthscan).

He is an Associate with The Policy Practice.