Sustainable food supply chains in Latin America – the case of emergent food commodities

About the Project

Food production and consumption are at the root of some of the world’s most intractable problems, including poverty, malnutrition, human rights issues, and other social and environmental challenges related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Crenna, Sinkko & Sala, 2019; FAO, 2018). Furthermore, some of the world’s most sought after agro-commodities are heavily linked to deforestation and biodiversity and habitat loss, especially in some important biomes in the Global South, such as the Amazon in South America, which is the largest tropical forest in the world. These biomes are being deforested at a rapid pace, with a detrimental impact on the global climate, biodiversity, ecosystem services and resources (Cerri et al., 2018).

This issue is largely driven by the increasing demand for food in the global markets and by the conditions in which the productive activities are operationalised in these global value chains, as in the case of the expanding demand for animal feed for livestock production (Heron, Prado & West, 2018). More recently, a growing global interest has aimed at certain food products, particularly due to health claims, such as açaí berry, whose global market was valued at approximately USD 712 million in 2017, expected to grow by a further 7-12% until 2025 (Globe Newswire, 2020; The MarketWatch, 2020).

Despite the increasing awareness and efforts to support more sustainable and socially just food practices, the growth of gastronomic multiculturalism and the search for healthy and nutritious alternatives to existing products have led to an interest in less well-known products, previously mainly produced for the local population (Grey & Newman, 2018; Kennedy, Parkins & Johnston, 2016). Nevertheless, existing research highlights the hidden environmental and social challenges associated with sudden spikes in the global demand for particular (indigenous) food products, including deforestation, labour and local community exploitation, biodiversity loss, changes in land use and lack of food control and consumer protection standards (Staricco, 2019; Green & Wang, 2020).

Against this background, and contributing to Northumbria University’s commitment to explore the world’s most urgent and complex challenges, this PhD project has a focus on supporting sustainable production and consumption patterns for the emergent food commodities in the Global South by investigating the following questions:

• How are the emergent food commodities related to increasing social and environmental risks and vulnerabilities?
• How are these emergent food commodities chains organised – actors, institutions, organisations, flow of knowledge and data?
• What are the new business models developed in these chains? How do they promote sustainable practices?
• What are the factors and market attributes that influence the consumption and commodification of these food products?
• How does available information (e.g. organic labels, fairtrade certification) influence consumers’ choices and attitudes towards these products?

The project seeks to investigate the factors that influence demand for emergent food products, building on existing work on sustainable supply chains and responsible business within Newcastle Business School and the Responsible Business Research Group. We welcome candidates with some experience of undertaking qualitative and/or quantitative research to focus on any region in the Global South, looking at a specific emergent food commodity (e.g. açaí berry in the Brazilian Amazon region) in order to further develop this project contributing to our current understanding of sustainable food supply chains.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Academic excellence i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities with preference for 1st class honours); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply if they are already a PhD holder or if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must:

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
• have settled status, or
• have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student.  

Applicants must be fully enrolled in the UK before stipend payments can commence and cover any additional costs that may be incurred, as these are not covered by the studentship:

• Immigration Health Surcharge https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application
• If you need to apply for a Student Visa to enter the UK, please refer to https://www.gov.uk/student-visa. It is important that you read this information carefully as it is your responsibility to ensure that you hold the correct funds required for your visa application, otherwise your visa may be refused.
• Costs associated with English Language requirements which may be required for students not having completed a first degree in English, will not be paid by the University.