Dr Zannie Langford

Honorary Research Fellow

School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability
Faculty of Science

Overview

Zannie Langford is an agricultural economist and social scientist. She has undertaken a range of applied research projects focusing on land tenure, global value chains, smallholder agribusiness and rural development financing in Northern Australia, Indonesia and the Pacific. Her books include 'Assembling Financialisation: Local actors and the making of agricultural investment' (Berghahn books) and 'Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry' (Routledge). She has been awarded over $1.6 million in funding, most recently to lead a DFAT funded KONEKSI Collaborative Research Scheme project exploring the impacts of climate change on seaweed farming in Indonesia.

Qualifications

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

Publications

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Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

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).

View all Available Projects

Publications

Featured Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah, Walyandra, Zulung Zach, Lapong, Imran and Armis, Risya Arsyi (2024). Farmer decision-making in the Indonesian seaweed industry. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 177-193) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-10

  • Langford, Zannie (2024). Introduction. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 1-20) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-1

  • Langford, Zannie (2024). Conclusion. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 227-237) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-13

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah, Walyandra, Zulung Zach, Lapong, Imran and Armis, Risya Arsyi (2024). Environmental and socio-economic constraints to marine seaweed farming. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 150-176) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-9

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah, Walyandra, Zulung Zach and Armis, Risya Arsyi (2024). Export commodity frontiers and the transformation of village life. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 101-122) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-7

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah, Walyandra, Zulung Zach, Armis, Risya Arsyi and Lapong, Imran (2024). From communal access to private ownership: negotiating rights to the sea. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 123-149) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-8

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah, Walyandra, Zulung Zach, Armis, Risya Arsyi and Lapong, Imran (2024). Gendered work and casual labour in the Indonesian seaweed industry. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 194-209) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-11

  • Langford, Zannie (2024). Preface: The seaweed expansion. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. xvii-xxii) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah and Waldron, Scott (2024). Reconciling Indonesian seaweed industry statistics from different sources. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 239-250) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

  • Langford, Zannie, Ruhon, Radhiyah, Walyandra, Zulung Zach, Armis, Risya Arsyi and Lapong, Imran (2024). Seaweed marketing. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 210-226) edited by Zannie Langford. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-12

  • Waldron, Scott, Langford, Zannie, Pasaribu, Syamsul, Nuryartono, Nunung, Julianto, Boedi and Siradjuddin, Irsyadi (2024). The Indonesian seaweed industry. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 51-76) edited by Zannie Langford. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-4

  • Ruhon, Radhiyah, Waldron, Scott, Langford, Zannie, Komarek, Adam, Zhang, Jing and Cahyadi, Eko (2024). The South Sulawesi seaweed industry. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 77-98) edited by Zannie Langford. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-5

  • Zhang, Jing, Langford, Zannie and Waldron, Scott (2024). The global carrageenan industry. Globalisation and livelihood transformations in the Indonesian seaweed industry. (pp. 23-50) edited by Zannie Langford. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003183860-3

  • 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

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

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).