Chris Chancellor

Chris is a British-Indonesian, born in the Philippines, raised in England and now based in the Netherlands. With an academic background in land rights, he now divides his time between running a small-scale market garden, developing local food chains in his area through producer association Streekwaar, and research and writing work on the topics of land rights, agroecology and sustainable food systems.

As a young teenager, Chris’ passion for social and environmental justice was ignited after witnessing the devastation created by the Sidaorjo mud flow, whilst visiting family in Surabaya, Indonesia. This eventually led to an academic trajectory including research on land rights struggles and social movements related to coastal land reclamation in Jakarta Bay, sugar cane plantation development in the Aru Islands, Indonesia, and plans for European soybean production concentrated in Eastern Europe. In addition, he has written reports and policy analyses on agroecology and sustainable food systems for various NGOs, and has also carried out work monitoring the investments of development finance institutions.

Throughout these experiences he has engaged and collaborated with various NGOs and peasant organisations working on agroecology and food sovereignty, and inspired by the people and principles present within this movement, he decided to make regenerative agriculture a central part of his livelihood. Chris is a co-founder of Tuinderij het Lichtveen, an agroecological market garden in Bennekom, The Netherlands.

Contrary to the Brit abroad stereotype, learning languages is a big hobby: Chris speaks English, Indonesian, Dutch, and Spanish as well as some rusty Romanian, and there is a long list of new ones to take on. Aside from that, cooking, hiking, birdwatching and keeping up to date with the latest developments in the sporting world occupy his free time.

Expertise: Land rights & land grabbing; agroecology & food sovereignty; regenerative agriculture; local food chains; seed saving.
Skills: Research & writing; policy analysis; proofreading & editing; guide & toolkit creation; workshop hosting. 

Contact: chris@cultivatecollective.org