Avela Makoyi is an AWEI Research Associate & MSc Candidate with a BSc Agric (Animal Production) degree from the University of Fort Hare (UFH) and training in Wildlife Management and Beef and Game Farming. Avela's MSc research, titled “Assessing the Socio-economic Consequences of Human–Wildlife Conflict on Smallholder Farming Households Adjacent to Protected Areas,” examines how wildlife-related losses affect rural livelihoods and shape the sustainability of wildlife-based economies. The study focuses on generating policy-relevant evidence to inform inclusive conservation governance and equitable benefit-sharing in landscapes where conservation and agriculture intersect.