Are you looking for a PhD position (4 years) in public administration and policy? Are you interested in how West African cocoa value chains can transform to be more sustainable and just? We are seeking a PhD candidate in public administration and policy who will combine their passion, skills and knowledge of sustainable cocoa value chains, bottom-up governance and critical methodologies.Global agri-food systems are under increasing scrutiny for reproducing unsustainable and unjust outcomes. Despite decades of initiatives such as Fair Trade International and Rainforest Alliance certifications, evidence of transformative impact remains ambiguous. These schemes have often improved awareness but not necessarily altered the structural conditions underpinning environmental degradation, labor precarity, or the persistent poverty of peasant farmers. At the same time, the global political economy of agri-food is being reshaped by shifting trade alliances, geopolitical tensions, and evolving governance mechanisms. This conjuncture invites renewed theorization of how value chains might be governed differently to produce more sustainable and equitable futures.
In recent years, calls to “decolonize” global value chains have gained prominence, yet the practical and analytical implications of such calls remain underdefined. What would it mean, in concrete governance terms, to decolonize global agri-food systems? How might institutions, standards, and trade relations be restructured to address the historical asymmetries of power that continue to shape them?
These questions are especially urgent in West African cocoa economies, where the paradox of hungry farmers producing for the world’s consumption remains stark. Global dependence on African cocoa contrasts with the enduring poverty and food insecurity of producers – a contradiction that challenges prevailing governance frameworks and narratives of “inclusive” development.
This PhD research invites critical engagement with these tensions by examining the political economy and governance of agri-food value chains from an African perspective. It aims to explore how “decolonizing” agendas can move beyond critique to inform tangible institutional and policy reforms. This requires unpacking the power relations that structure value chains – among smallholders, state actors, multinational corporations, and civil society organizations – and analyzing how alternative epistemologies and practices might reorient governance toward just and sustainable outcomes. Possible research questions include:
- How are African smallholders organized and represented in the policymaking and implementation process of cocoa value chain development?
- How do they experience and negotiate global sustainability and trade regimes in practice?
- What governance processes could rebalance relations among states, value chain actors, and producer communities to enable more equitable transformations?
- How can dialogical encounters – such as workshops between EU officials and African smallholders – serve as sites for rethinking the epistemic and institutional foundations of “decolonized” value chain governance?
Your duties and responsibilities include: - Perform high quality and original research on the topic outlined above.
- Develop innovative conceptual and methodological approaches to study the decolonization of agri-food governance arrangements.
- Successfully publish results in top quality academic outlets.
- Contribute to outreach, societal debates and educational activities as part of a wider team.
- Mobilize results for peasant farmer communities and their civil society and state representatives.