Dr Zannie Langford

Research Fellow

School of Agriculture and Food Sciences
Faculty of Science

Overview

Zannie Langford is a social scientist and economist with an interest in land, food and rural livelihoods in Indonesia, Northern Australia, and the Pacific. She has worked on a range of topics related to agribusiness and rural development with a particular interest in Indonesia and the Pacific.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Economics (Honours), University of New England
  • Bachelor of Engineering, The University of Queensland

Publications

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Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

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Available Projects

  • There is a global shift in development financing towards greater involvement of the private sector in the implementation of development projects. A commitment to this model was articulated in the 2015 United Nations Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which offered a ‘global framework for financing development’, designed to be a ‘means of implementation’ for the post-2015 development agenda. Rather than direct state investment in community development projects, the Agenda explicitly encouraged the use of impact investment or ‘blended value’ investment models for sustainable development, in which investments are made in enterprises which generate financial return as well as positive social and environmental impacts. It is argued that the use of private sector funds for development in this way will facilitate a shift in funding scale and offers new mechanisms for engagement the private sector in the implementation of development projects and the achievement of sustainable development goals. However, research linking the emerging global patterns of development financing with on-the-ground impacts in rural communities is still emerging, particularly in the context of rural agriculture. I am available to supervise students interested in exploring emerging trends in development financing from a range of angles, particularly using case studies from Indonesia and the Pacific islands.

  • Over the last two decades, seaweed farming has transformed rural livelihoods in many coastal communities across Indonesia. Driven by growing demand for carrageenan, a gelling agent used in a range of processed food, farming of carrageenan-containing seaweeds has expanded exponentially. The industry is almost completely dominated by smallholder farmers, who are able to work around seasonal and tidal variations. Seaweed farming has provided high incomes for of these farmers as it is often more profitable than fishing. However, it is also an industry characterised by risk due to the variability of ocean conditions and the impact of rainfall, which causes sudden changes in ocean salinity which often lead to widespread seaweed death – an issue which is likely to intensify with a changing climate. I am interested in supervising student wishing to explore socioeconomic dimensions of tropical seaweed farming in Indonesia and other tropical seaweed producing areas (eg. Philippines, Malaysia, Tanzania, Solomon Islands).

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Publications

Featured Publications

Book Chapter

  • Langford, Alexandra, Brekelmans, Alana and Lawrence, Geoffrey (2021). 'I want to sleep at night as well': guilt and care in the making of agricultural credit markets. Markets in their place: context, culture, finance. (pp. 122-140) edited by Russell Prince, Matthew Henry, Carolyn Morris, Aisling Gallagher and Stephen FitzHerbert. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429296260-7

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • There is a global shift in development financing towards greater involvement of the private sector in the implementation of development projects. A commitment to this model was articulated in the 2015 United Nations Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which offered a ‘global framework for financing development’, designed to be a ‘means of implementation’ for the post-2015 development agenda. Rather than direct state investment in community development projects, the Agenda explicitly encouraged the use of impact investment or ‘blended value’ investment models for sustainable development, in which investments are made in enterprises which generate financial return as well as positive social and environmental impacts. It is argued that the use of private sector funds for development in this way will facilitate a shift in funding scale and offers new mechanisms for engagement the private sector in the implementation of development projects and the achievement of sustainable development goals. However, research linking the emerging global patterns of development financing with on-the-ground impacts in rural communities is still emerging, particularly in the context of rural agriculture. I am available to supervise students interested in exploring emerging trends in development financing from a range of angles, particularly using case studies from Indonesia and the Pacific islands.

  • Over the last two decades, seaweed farming has transformed rural livelihoods in many coastal communities across Indonesia. Driven by growing demand for carrageenan, a gelling agent used in a range of processed food, farming of carrageenan-containing seaweeds has expanded exponentially. The industry is almost completely dominated by smallholder farmers, who are able to work around seasonal and tidal variations. Seaweed farming has provided high incomes for of these farmers as it is often more profitable than fishing. However, it is also an industry characterised by risk due to the variability of ocean conditions and the impact of rainfall, which causes sudden changes in ocean salinity which often lead to widespread seaweed death – an issue which is likely to intensify with a changing climate. I am interested in supervising student wishing to explore socioeconomic dimensions of tropical seaweed farming in Indonesia and other tropical seaweed producing areas (eg. Philippines, Malaysia, Tanzania, Solomon Islands).