Advancing Wildlife-Friendly Coffee and Cocoa Farming for Conserving Endangered Primates in Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire

This PhD’s overall aim is to investigate how shifting to more sustainable and pro-wildlife farming techniques for coffee and cocoa cultivation can alleviate pressures on endangered primates while empowering smallholder farmers. Focusing on Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire, the PhD student will explore integrating biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic improvements into global coffee and cocoa supply chains. The student will examine the potential for Wildlife Friendly™ certification to transform agricultural landscapes into tools for conservation. 

Context  

Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire are biodiversity hotspots, hosting remarkable primate diversity, with 64 and 22 species respectively. Yet two thirds are threatened with extinction, with three species from each country (Indonesia: Pongo tapanuliensis, Simias concolor, Nycticebus javanicus; Côte d’Ivoire: Cercopithecus diana roloway, Cercocebus atys lunulatus, Procolobus badius waldroni) amongst Earth’s 25 most threatened primates. With Indonesia as the world’s 4th largest coffee producer, and Côte d’Ivoire as the world’s foremost cocoa producer, unsustainable farming practices for these crops have led to habitat loss and forest fragmentation, contributing directly to endemic primate decline. Being two of the world’s most widely consumed commodities, meeting increased consumer demand for coffee and cocoa in part drives this deforestation and land conversion. 

The global trade of coffee and cocoa rely predominantly on smallholder farmers, who typically cultivate plots of 2–5 hectares. That most Indonesian coffee and almost all Ivorian cocoa is grown by smallholders provides an opportunity for empowering resource-poor farmers to produce these agro-commodities more sustainably, e.g., implementing organic practices and integrating shade and fruit trees with cocoa and coffee to improve crop quality and household livelihood. Indeed, through empowerment and training on adopting wildlife-friendly agroecology and specifically agroforestry practices, there is potential to transform these agricultural landscapes into tools for conservation.  

The Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN) certification scheme requires protection of endangered species, and has shown promise in promoting biodiversity and socio-economic benefits. Pro-wildlife certification’s broader feasibility and farmer benefits remain understudied. This doctoral project evaluates WFEN certification’s potential to restore forest connectivity, improve primate habitats and populations, and enhance smallholder livelihoods. 

Research Objectives 

• Identify agroforestry practices that reduce habitat destruction and conserve primates, including a meta-analysis. 
• Combine social and ecological methods to evaluate agroforestry practices in coffee and cocoa landscapes in Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire, assessing their feasibility for WFEN certification, and desirability by smallholders. 
• Co-develop wildlife-friendly farming practices with smallholders and assess their feasibility through ecological and focus group data. 
• Explore UK consumer perceptions of Wildlife Friendly products to inform their market potential. 

Research Methods 

Year 1:  

• Conduct desk-based research on agroforestry;  
• train in: ethnographic and ecological methods, data analysis, and language skills (Bahasa Indonesia and French); 
• prepare for fieldwork by obtaining ethical approvals and developing data collection strategies. 

Year 2:  

• Undertake fieldwork in Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire, collaborating with farmers and conservation NGOs to gather ecological and socioeconomic data.  
• Methods include livelihood measurements, interviews, sentiment analysis, alongside ecological data collection (including animal abundance, phenology and camera trapping). 

Years 3–4:  

• Analyse and write up results; 
• conduct UK-based focus groups with suppliers, and  
• disseminate findings via conferences, publications, and partner engagement. 

Impact 

This doctorate offers a unique opportunity to advance wildlife conservation, sustainable agriculture, and socioeconomic resilience in Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire.  

Your research will align with multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals and contribute to primate conservation and socially-sustainable livelihoods, while fostering practicable pathways for ethical consumer markets worldwide. 

This PhD offers 

• Access to field sites where supervisors have extensive experience and networks. 
• Training in ecological methods, political ecology approaches, language skills, and conservation stakeholder engagement. 
• Developing transferrable employability skills. 
• Contribution to critical global conservation and biodiversity issues. 
• Opportunities for career development through interdisciplinary collaboration, publications, and conference participation. 
• Monthly supervision meetings by Prof Nekaris and Dr Maguire-Rajpaul, with expertise in agroforestry and conservation.  

This PhD is supervised across departments, and the student will be a member of both Life Sciences and the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI). The student will be welcomed into the ARU research community, and provided with: 

• their own desk space;  
• dedicated group research space; 
• writing days; 
• peer support meetings; 
• PhD seminars; 
• seminars and ARU conferences developing key research skills (literature review, methods, conference preparation, etc.); 
• ARU Doctoral School training; 
• CaRM research methods modules; 
• Pastoral care and well-being events. 

If you would like to discuss this research project please contact Professor Anna Nekaris [Email Address Removed] or Dr Victoria Maguire-Rajpaul: [Email Address Removed]

Who are we looking for? 

A motivated researcher with:

• a 1^st or a 2:1 (or expected to achieve) Bachelor’s degree in a cognate discipline [essential];
• a Master’s degree in a cognate discipline such as Conservation Biology, Environmental Science, Political Ecology, Agriculture, or a related field [desirable];
• Although training will be offered, desirable skills include:
• experience in qualitative/quantitative research;
• experience conducting interviews, focus groups;
• knowledge to conduct ecological assessments and analyse data (including statistics and GIS);
• language skills in French and/or Bahasa Indonesia (training provided if needed).
• willingness to undertake international fieldwork, including in remote/rural settings

You’ll need to be prepared to study on a full-time basis, attending at our Cambridge campus, starting in September 2025. You would be expected to live a reasonable travel distance from the campus during the PhD.  

How do you apply? 

Applications must be submitted through our online application portal on our website: https://www.aru.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research/vc-phd-scholarships

 You will also the following documents available electronically to upload them to the application portal (we can accept files in pdf, jpeg or Word format): 

1.     Certificates and transcripts from your Bachelor and Master’s degrees (if applicable) 

2.     Your personal statement explaining your suitability for the project. We recommend uploading this as a Word or pdf file, but you can also type it directly on the form.  

3.     Curriculum Vitae 

You do not need to upload a research proposal with your application, only a personal statement is needed.     

We will review all applications after the submission deadline of 16 March 2025. Interviews are expected to take place on 28 April 2025.

If you have any queries relating to the application process or the terms and conditions of the studentship, please email [Email Address Removed]