Professor Valerie Nelson

Livelihoods and Institutions Department
Natural Resources Institute, Faculty of Engineering & Science+44 (0)1634 88 3156
Professor Valerie Nelson has a first degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge, and a MSc in Rural Resources and Environmental Policy from Wye College, University of London. She has worked in international development since 1992, initially in Belize on forest planning and management, conducting field research in Mayan and migrant communities and followed by research at an agricultural research institute of the University of the State of Mexico in indigenous communities in the central highlands of Mexico. Following a 6-month stint in Bavaria supporting partnership development between European, Latin America and Asia protected areas, she joined Oxfam GB's policy department, evaluating their South-South Environment Learning Programme. Valerie joined NRI in 1996 and has since worked as a social development specialist on a wide range of research and consultancy projects in agriculture and natural resources management in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Valerie has led significant research projects in her specialist areas, including: The social dimensions of natural resource management; Gender and climate change adaptation; Smallholder agricultural adaptation and climate change; Governance of sustainability in global value chains; Fair trade and sustainability standards; and Sustainable supply chain initiatives and responsible business. She has led the NRI Sustainable Trade and Responsible Business Programme since 2013. Early work included pioneering of the use of participatory video in natural resources management in Malawi (1996-1998).
She has led multiple complex evaluations and research studies, including multi-country studies, on the following: Fairtrade impact; Sustainability standards and poverty impact; Corporate codes of practice and poverty impact; Trade and global value chains; Responsible, accountable and transparent enterprise; Climate resilience; Forests, livelihoods and sustainable agriculture; Governance of Private Standards. High level consultancies have been undertaken for, amongst others, UNDP, EC, Irish Aid, DFID (now FCDO) and ISEAL.
Valerie is interested in understanding how sustainable and equitable production, trade and consumption can be facilitated in the light of global challenges around food security, biodiversity loss, climate change, and inequality.
- Evaluative learning for the FCDO Partnerships for Forests Programme (Part of a team led by LTS)
- Team leader for the FCDO Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning on the Responsible, Accountable and Transparent Enterprise Programme.
- Team leader for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning of the FCDO Trade and Global Value Chains Initiative
- Team leader for the Evaluative Learning on the EC Malawi Global Climate Change Resilience Alliance (GCCA) programme
- Team Leader, Empowerment of Drylands Women. A study on Gender and Drylands focusing on issues of Resilience, Land Rights and Governance (UNDP)
- Climate Impacts Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement or CIRCLE Programme – Quality assuror. FCDO Programme, managed by the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the African Academy of Sciences, developed the skills and research output of early career African researchers in the field of climate change and its impacts.
- Assessing the poverty impact of sustainability standards (Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade) in Kenyan and Indian tea and Ecuadorian and Ghanaian cocoa' (FCDO funded, 2009-2013).
- Assessing the impact of Fairtrade in cotton: Senegal, Mali, Cameroon and India. Fairtrade Foundation and Max Havelaar, France in collaboration with IDS, University of Sussex (2009-10)
- Climate Learning for African Agriculture (CLAA). Team member in a two-year project funded by FCDO's Climate and Development Knowledge Network investigated how climate issues (of both adaptation and mitigation) are incorporated into the policy, planning, management and implementation of agricultural research and advisory services throughout Africa
- Team Leader: Assessing the Social Impact of Codes of Practice in Kenyan cut Flowers and South Africa wine industries (2002‐2005).
- Farms of the Future: Climate Change adaptation project involving climate modelling, participatory video and farmer exchanges (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, CCAFS funded project).
- Politics and governance of private standards (ESRC-FCDO) research in collaboration with the University of Leeds
- Nelson, Valerie J., Rueda, Ximena and Vermeulen, Walter J.V. (2018) Challenges and opportunities for the sustainability transition in global trade (Introduction). Business Strategy and the Environment, 27 (2). pp. 173-178. ISSN 0964-4733 (Print), 1099-0836 (Online) (doi:10.1002/bse.2008)
- Nelson, Valerie and Phillips, David (2018) Sector, landscape or rural transformations? Exploring the limits and potential of agricultural sustainability initiatives through a cocoa case study. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27 (2). pp. 252-262. ISSN 0964-4733 (Print), 1099-0836 (Online) (doi:10.1002/bse.2014)
- Lamboll, Richard, Nelson, Valerie, Posthumus, Helena, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302, Adebayo, Kolawole, Alacho, Francis, Dziedzoave, Nanam, Mahende, Grace, Sandifolo, Vito, Sanni, Lateef, Abayomi, Louise, Graffham, Andrew, Hillocks, Rory and Westby, Andrew (2015) Practical lessons on scaling up smallholder-inclusive and sustainable cassava value chains in Africa. Food Chain, 5 (1-2). pp. 28-52. ISSN 2046-1879 (Print), 2046-1887 (Online) (doi:10.3362/2046-1887.2015.004)
- Nelson, Valerie and Tallontire, Anne (2014) Battlefields of ideas: changing narratives and power dynamics in private standards in global agricultural value chains. Agriculture and Human Values, 31 (3). pp. 481-497. ISSN 0889-048X (Print), 1572-8366 (Online) (doi:10.1007/s10460-014-9512-8)
- Nelson, Valerie and Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 (2014) Exploring issues of rigour and utility in Fairtrade impact assessment. Food Chain, 4 (1). pp. 14-33. ISSN 2046-1879 (Print), 2046-1887 (Online) (doi:10.3362/2046-1887.2014.003)
- Tallontire, Anne, Opondo, Maggie and Nelson, Valerie (2013) Contingent spaces for smallholder participation in GlobalGAP: insights from Kenyan horticulture value chains. The Geographical Journal, 180 (4). pp. 353-364. ISSN 0016-7398 (Print), 1475-4959 (Online) (doi:10.1111/geoj.12047)
- Tallontire, Anne and Nelson, Valerie (2013) Fair trade narratives and political dynamics. Social Enterprise Journal, 9 (1). pp. 28-52. ISSN 1750-8614 (doi:10.1108/17508611311329994)
- Nelson, Valerie and Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 (2012) The impact of Fairtrade: Evidence, shaping factors, and future pathways. Food Chain, 2 (1). pp. 42-63. ISSN 2046-1879 (Print), 2046-1887 (Online) (doi:10.3362/2046-1887.2012.005)
- Boyd, Emily, Grist, Natasha, Juhola, Sirkku and Nelson, Valerie (2009) Exploring development futures in a changing climate: frontiers for development policy and practice. Development Policy Review, 27 (6). pp. 659-674. ISSN 0950-6764 (Print), 1467-7679 (Online) (doi:10.1111/j.1467-7679.2009.00464.x)
- Tallontire, Anne, Opondo, Maggie, Nelson, Valerie and Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 (2009) Beyond the vertical? Using value chains and governance as a framework to analyse private standards initiatives in agri-food chains. Agriculture and Human Values, 28 (3). pp. 427-441. ISSN 0889-048X (Print), 1572-8366 (Online) (doi:10.1007/s10460-009-9237-2)
- Nelson, Valerie and Stathers, Tanya ORCID: 0000-0002-7767-6186 (2009) Resilience, power, culture, and climate: A case study from semi-arid Tanzania, and new research directions. Gender & Development, 17 (1). pp. 81-94. ISSN 1355-2074 (Print), 1364-9221 (Online) (doi:10.1080/13552070802696946)
- Nelson, Valerie, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 and Ewert, Joachim (2007) The impacts of codes of practice on worker livelihoods: empirical evidence from the South African wine and Kenyan cut flower industries. Journal of Corporate Citizenship (28). pp. 61-72. ISSN 1470-5001
Book Section
- Nelson, Valerie and Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 (2015) Fairtrade international’s multi-dimensional impacts in Africa. In: Raynolds, Laura T and Bennett, Elizabeth A., (eds.) Handbook of Research on Fair Trade. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK, pp. 509-531. ISBN 9781783474608 (doi:10.4337/9781783474622.00040)
- Nelson, Valerie, Tallontire, Anne, Opondo, Maggie and Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 (2014) Pathways of transformation or transgression? Power relations, ethical space and labour rights in Kenyan cut flower value chains. In: Goodman, Michael K. and Sage, Colin, (eds.) Food transgressions: Making sense of contemporary food politics. Routledge, pp. 15-38. ISBN 978-0754679707
Book
- Nelson, V., Maynard, B., Blowfield, M., Burchell, R., Collinson, C., Tallontire, A. and Thornback, J. (2001) Ethical trade, people and forests (A manual). Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, UK.
- Blowfield, Michael, Gallat, Stephanie, Malins, Annabelle, Maynard, Bill, Nelson, Valerie and Robinson, Dawn (1999) Ethical trade and sustainable rural livelihoods. Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, UK. ISBN 0-85954-503-2
Edited Book
- Nelson, Valerie (ed.) (2017) Fairtrade Impacts: Lessons from around the world. Fairtrade Impacts. Practical Action Publishing, Hampshire, UK. ISBN 978-1853399077 (doi:10.3362/9781780449067)
Working Paper
- Nelson, Valerie, Morton, John, Apenteng, Essie Aduwa Ape and Lamboll, Richard (2013) African Agricultural Research and Advisory Services under Climate Change: Perspectives from an E-Discussion. [Working Paper]
- Tallontire, Anne, Nelson, Valerie, Dixon, Jami and Benton, Tim G. (2012) A review of the literature and knowledge of standards and certification systems in agricultural production and farming systems (NRI working paper series on sustainability standards No. 2). [Working Paper]
- Nelson, Valerie (2000) Zambia feeder roads research project rural transport policy toolkit: Livelihoods profile for North and Luapula provinces. [Working Paper]
Monograph
- Nelson, V., Haggar, J., Martin, A. ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302, Donovan, J., Borasino, E., Hasyim, W., Mhando, N., Senga, M., Mgumia, J., Quitanar-Guadarrama, E., Kendar, Z., Valdez, J. and Morales, D. (2016) Fairtrade Coffee A study to assess the impact of Fairtrade for coffee smallholders and producer organisations in Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, and Tanzania. Technical Report. University of Greenwich, Chatham, UK.
- Nelson, Valerie, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302, Ewert, Joachim, Hasan, Abu Ala, Opondo, Maggie, Flint, Michael, Hartog, Maaike and Priebe, Jan (2016) Trade and Global Value Chains Initiative: Mid-Term Evaluation Report. Technical Report. University of Greenwich, Chatham, UK.
- Morton, J., Kisauzi, D., Ohiomoba, I., Demby, D., Mangheni, M., Moumouni, I., Parkinson, V., Suale, D., Lamboll, R., Nelson, V. and Quan, J. (2014) Climate, agriculture and knowledge in Africa: Agricultural research and advisory services in the face of climate change. Final synthesis report of the climate learning for African agriculture project. Project Report. University of Greenwich (NRI), FARA and AFAAS, Chatham, UK.
- Nelson, Valerie, Smith, Sally, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 and Vanhuyse, Fedra (2012) Comic Relief trade Programme Evaluation. Technical Report. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham, UK.
- Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 and Nelson, Valerie (2012) Impact assessment policies and practices of EIARD members: study. Technical Report. AGRINATURA-EEIG Secretariat, Paris, France.
- Nelson, Valerie, Morton, John F., Chancellor, Tim ORCID: 0000-0002-4442-7001, Burt, Peter and Pound, Barry (2010) Climate change, agriculture and Fairtrade: identifying the challenges and opportunities. Working Paper. Natural Resources Institute, Natural Resources Institute [website] / Fairtrade Foundation [website].
- Nelson, Valerie, Galvez, Modesto and Blowfield, Mick (2000) Social impact of ethical and conventional brazil nut trading on forest-dependent people in Peru. Technical Report. Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, UK.
Other
- Kumar, R. ORCID: 0000-0002-0157-1310, Nelson, V., Martin, A. ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302, Badal, D., Latheef, A., Suresh Reddy, B., Narayanan, L., Young, S. and Hartog, M. (2016) Evaluation of the early impacts of the better cotton initiative on smallholder cotton producers in Kurnool District, India: Baseline report. ISEAL Alliance, London.
- Nelson, Valerie, Morton, John, Forsythe, Lora ORCID: 0000-0001-9931-4453, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 and Hartog, Maaike (2015) Achieving dryland women's empowerment: environmental resilience and social transformation. UNCCD, UNDP, Greenwich.
- Forsythe, Lora ORCID: 0000-0001-9931-4453, Morton, John, Nelson, Valerie, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 and Hartog, Maaike (2015) Gender and drylands governance: Empowering women for change. UNDP, UNCCD, Greenwich.
- Forsythe, Lora ORCID: 0000-0001-9931-4453, Morton, John, Nelson, Valerie, Quan, Julian, Martin, Adrienne ORCID: 0000-0001-9305-7302 and Hartog, Maaike (2015) Strengthening dryland women's land rights: local contexts, global change. UNCCD, UNDP, Greenwich.
- Nelson, Valerie, Forsythe, Lora ORCID: 0000-0001-9931-4453 and Morton, John (2015) Synthesis of thematic papers from the series ‘Women’s empowerment in the drylands. UNCCD and UNDP, Greenwich.
- Research, consultancy, training.
- Leader of the NRI Sustainable and Equitable Trade Programme.
- Council member of the UK and Ireland Development Studies Association (DSA) (6 years)
- Co-track chair of the Sustainable value chains track of the International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference (since 2016).