Jeffrey Neilson

Jeff's research focuses on economic geography, environmental governance and rural development in Southeast Asia, with specific area expertise on Indonesia.

Jeff is currently leading a five-year research project examining the livelihood impacts of farmer engagement in value chain interventions across Indonesia. This research is contributing to cutting-edge international debates on the development effects of sustainability and certification programs, Geographical Indications and direct trade initiatives. His team collaborates with non-government organisations, development agencies, governments and the private sector to address the global challenge of poverty reduction. Research findings are contributing to a global shift within value chain sustainability programs towards an enhanced service delivery function and greater sensitivity to the livelihood priorities of rural households. This research project is also contributing to conceptual developments in global value chain theory, including the opportunities for regional development to be stimulated (or not) through engagement with the global economy.

Jeff’s research interests are diverse and include issues of food security and food sovereignty, the global coffee industry, the global cocoa-chocolate industry, agrarian reform movements, sustainable livelihoods and alternative measures of well-being, agroecology, and environmental governance. Jeff is a fluent Indonesian language speaker and has conducted extended periods of ethnographic field research in the Toraja region of Sulawesi, where he pursues research in cultural change, landscape history, the ceremonial economy and oral poetic traditions.