November 2008 - present
Lecturer and research fellow, Department of Geography at the University of Cologne:

November 2013 to present
Project coordinator and post-doctoral researcher within the DFG-funded research project BanD-AID (“Bangladesh Delta: Assessment of the causes of sea level rise hazards and integrated development of predictive modeling towards mitigation and adaptation” )

March 2010 to December 2012
Project coordinator and researcher within the DFG-funded research project "ImPOrt"  (Germany, Australia) 

November 2007- February 2009 
Research assistant and lecturer at the Department of Geography, University of Bamberg 

November 2007 - present
PIPER Publishers Munich (freelance)
Book reviewer for the non-fiction sector (Dutch and English books, commission basis)

Juli 2006 - present
Translator (German-English) (freelance)
e.g. for Prof. Dr. Torsten Fritzlar, Institute for Didactics of Mathematics, Martin-Luther-University in Halle-Wittenberg;
Prof. Dr. Peter Dannenberg, Institute for Geography, University of Cologne.

September 2006 - Oktober 2007 
Nigor Net BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Marketing and Distribution Manager in Europe for the outdoor sports equipment brand Eureka!

2009 - 2013
PhD in Economic Geography (University of Cologne)

2000 – 2006
M.A. Angewandte Kulturwissenschaften / Applied Cultural Science M.A.:
Human Geography, Business Administration, Tourism Management
(University of Lüneburg)

2005 
ERASMUS-study abroad programme at Christelijke Hogeschool Nederland (CHN), Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

• Economic Geography
• International Trade & Supply Chain Management
• Global environmental and social standards
• Smallholder livelihoods
• Organic agriculture and industry
• Food Security
• Global South Studies
• EU, Australia, Bangladesh, India

Description:
Smallholder farming is regarded as the backbone of agriculture and food security. Particular scrutiny in recent academic debates, also among economic geographers, has been given to the implications of the agri-food globalization for small-scale or smallholder farmers (SHF). One prominent issue is the rise of standard regulation and certification systems, including private food standards, and the ongoing debate about whether these standards display a barrier for SHF in the Global South and hamper livelihood improvement and poverty reduction, or if they could induce product and or process upgrading mechanisms (exclusion debate).

It is often argued that alternative marketing strategies, such as organic or fair trade farming, can improve SHF livelihoods by increasing income due to premium prices offered in these market segments. Traditionally, organic and fair trade production in countries of the Global South has been export-oriented, driven by increasing demand in the Global North. However, recent developments indicate that markets for these types of products are growing also in countries of the Global South, and in the BRICS countries in particular, where demand of the upper- and rising new middle class for more sustainable and healthy foods are growing. This may imply that produce from these countries that was previously targeted for export markets can now be redirected or increased to meet own domestic demand. This project aims to examine this recent development by the example of India, where small-scale structures dominate the agrarian system. At the same time, double-digit growth has been observable in the domestic organic market and is expected for Fair Trade products. 

Outcomes of the empirical study proposed here contribute on both conceptual and practical levels. Conceptually, the main argument made here is that (global) value chain analyses can benefit by more explicit and fruitful linkages to livelihood and convention theory frameworks. Practically, it shall reveal relative advantages of access to and participation in domestic as opposed to export production, presumably characterized by different quality understandings and governance structures, for SHF-livelihood outcomes. By analysing the examples of inclusion of SHF in two distinctive value chains (Organic as a more established movement and fair trade as a relatively new momentum of alternative food movement), we can compare dynamics at different stages of market maturity.

Support:  
DFG

Project Management: 
Amelie Bernzen

Duration: 
2016 - 2019

Description: 

Region: Asia

Department: Institute for Geography

Link: www.geographie.uni-koeln.de

Research Area: Natural Commodities and Changing Markets in the Global South

Period: 2013-16

Person(s): Boris Braun; Amelie Bernzen