The Gaza Foodways Team

Meet the Gaza Foodways Team:

TEAM LEAD FOR GUPAP: Ahmed Sourani is the Co-Founder & General Coordinator of GUPAP specialising in organizational development, policy change and civil society networking. He has long-term experience with local and international NGOs, and is actively involved in local, national, regional & global agricultural development spaces. Ahmed holds Masters in Participation, Power & Social Change from IDS at the University of Sussex, High Professional Diploma in Management of NGOs from Bir-Zeit University, and a Bachelor degree in English Literature from the Islamic University of Gaza.

Alaa Jayab is a passionate and motivated Community Interventions & Relations Coordinator at GUPAP. Working for years to enhance the resilience of urban women producers and centering their voices, she is the coordinator of Urban Women Agripreneurs Forum (UWAF) to build this social movement to advocate their rights, influence food policies and play a key role in local food system space.

Muhammad Zimmo is GUPAP’s monitoring, evaluation and learning coordinator. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, with solid experience in community-based development projects. Before joining GUPAP, he spent 12 years with Interpal, a UK organisation providing relief for Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank & refugee camps in Jordan & Lebanon. As part of the Gaza Foodways team, his role is as coordinator of GUPAP’s contributions – including with UWAF members and policy advocacy.

Faten Nabahin is GUPAP’s gender specialist with over 6 years of experience in conducting participatory needs assessments, mapping and evaluations related to different aspects as socioeconomic, education, psychosocial, agriculture and rehabilitation. She has participated in gender audits for 9 agencies and developed gender mainstreaming plans and manuals. She graduated with a professional diploma in CSOs Management from Islamic University-Gaza (IUG), and MBA from IUG.

TEAM LEAD FOR PHG: Ayman Rabi is the Executive Director of Palestinian Hydrology Group, and is the Principal Investigator on the Gaza Foodways project. He has an MSc and PhD in Water Resources Engineering and has MBA in Business Administration. He has more than 25 years of water and environmental related experience, and has participated in several local, regional and international EU funded water and environment related research.

Asma Samaan is PHG’s Project Co-ordinator, leading the technical supervision of the project’s activities, support planning and implementation of new approaches. She is an Environmental Engineer with 6 years’ experience in public health and WASH projects.

Riyad June is a geological engineer and the director of PHG in Gaza, with over 30 years experience in environmental project management, including WASH, public awareness, wastewater treatment and wells rehabilitation. He has presented in many local and international conferences and workshops on water issues.

Mohannad Matar is a civil engineer, in the field of building construction, including residential, hospitals, roads and water infrastructure. Within the Gaza Foodways project Mohannad takes on the role of coordinating all contributions by PHG, with a focus on supporting the four Challenge Prize teams with UCAS, and overseeing the City Food System Actor Networks.

TEAM LEAD FOR CAWR: George McAllister is the conceptual and methods lead on Gaza Foodways, interested in inclusive processes that invite people into co-learning and decision-making to stimulate new ways of thinking and acting together. As a political agroecologist she has been working in conflict-affected and disaster-prone environments for over 25 years. Until October 2024 she was the assistant professor leading CAWR’s Stabilisation Agriculture Programme. She is now an independent researcher remaining part of the Gaza Foodways team.

Chiara Tornaghi is a critical human geographer and scholar-activist, with a background in politics, sociology and planning. Her research interests include urban agroecology, critical pedagogies, food justice and the social production of space. She is a Senior Research Fellow at CAWR and a member of the Royal Geographic Society.

TEAM LEAD FOR UCAS: Samah Hammouda leads on the project’s Challenge Prize innovations and the development and hosting of our diploma on Urban Agroecology & Food Sovereignty. She has a Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Jordan. She also has worked as a trainer in life skills, entrepreneurship, total quality management, design for e-learning, and has experience in developing labour and market-driven curricula (at bachelor and diploma levels).

Tamer Eshtawi has 17 years of experience in water sciences. He is an assistant professor in water resources at UCAS. He has carried out several research projects on climate change and non-conventional water resources and technical studies including water resources engineering and the water-agriculture-energy nexus.