Explore our knowledge

Ditte Perge Sørensen

PhD fellow

Topics
Food Value chains Qualitative methods Sustainability Latin America Culture

Primary research areas

Sustainability in global value chains

I study how ideas about sustainability are created, negotiated and put into practice across global value chains. I am particularly interested in how sustainability is translated between consumers and companies in the Global North and producers in the Global South, and how sustainability governance takes different forms across contexts.

Coffee and avocado value chains in Latin America

I study coffee and avocado value chains, with a particular focus on Colombia. I seek to understand how the Latin American context, i.e. culture, institutions, natural environment and history, shapes how sustainability practises are enacted in the agricultural sector.

Greening the economy

I study what becomes valued and prioritised as businesses seek to become more sustainable, and how the benefits and costs of the green transition are distributed between actors and places across global agricultural value chains.

I bring different perspectives together to shape a greener economy for all.

My research explores how sustainability takes shape across global value chains and how different perspectives, priorities and local realities influence the green transition. I am particularly interested in connecting the experiences of producers and communities in the Global South with the sustainability ambitions of companies and consumers in Europe.

Focusing on agricultural value chains, including coffee and avocado in Colombia, I study how culture, institutions, history and the natural environment shape what sustainability means in practice. I examine what gets prioritised, who benefits, and how sustainability initiatives affect and interact with people and places differently.

My ambition is to generate knowledge that can help companies develop sustainability initiatives that are better informed by the realities of production locations - and contribute to a green transition that includes all actors across the value chain.

Outside activities

I have no outside employments or activities