Why I'm passionate about my topic: Understanding supply chains.

What leads a person to research one very specific topic when there’s a world of academic fields out there? Beyond coincidence, luck and timing, I believe that many of us have some formative experiences that take us on our academic “quest.”

From cherry trees to sustainable food systems

For me, it started with climbing cherry trees and watching my grandmother water her herbs and tomatoes. Then I began questioning our food systems while volunteering for a charity redistributing surplus foods from supermarkets. Together with a passion for languages, this interest later took me to South America, where I was frustrated not to find any local chocolate in an Ecuadorian supermarket, only big international brands. 

Today, I’m here at the University of Basel researching sustainability governance of coffee, palm and cocoa in Colombia for my doctorate. Our SNSF project EXPECT-AGRI looks at how new European sustainability legislation on deforestation and corporate due diligence is dealt with by these three sectors in Colombia and Côte d’Ivoire.

Between Colombian fieldwork and international policy

In the months I spend every year in Colombia, I typically interview stakeholders across these value chains and organize focus groups with producers. We investigate how the new requirements are perceived and interpreted, how they interact with national legislation and rural norms, and whether we can already see changes on the ground.