Independent Studies

CBEY RAI independent study projects are completed for credit and open to all Yale graduate students. We are accepting 2 to 3 students per project. Each independent study is the equivalent of a 3-credit course (YSE) or a 4-unit course (SOM) with the equivalent of 7-10 hours a week of work for one semester. Students must apply and be accepted to register for these independent studies.

Priority Application Deadline: Wednesday, August 26, 2026 by 11:59pm

Acceptance Notifications: will be sent by 5pm Friday August 28, 2026

CBEY Independent Study Project #1:DEBBO: A Centre for Food, Culture, and Community in Ho, Ghana
CBEY Independent Study Project #2:Connecticut Food & Farm Policy to Increase Food Access and Support Local Farms
CBEY Independent Study Project #3:The State of Regenerative Agriculture in the Global South
- Note: Project #3 is a full-year project with 1.5 credits/2 units in both the fall and spring semesters.

- Scroll down to see full project descriptions -

Three women smiling while processing grains in a brightly colored room.

PARTNER: Chef Fatmata Binta of the Fulani Kitchen Foundation & the DEBBO Collective

Fall 2026 Semester: 3 credits/4 units

DEBBO (“woman” in Fulfulde) is a planned center for food, culture, and community in Ho, Ghana’s Volta Region, extending the work of the Fulani Kitchen Foundation beyond its existing base in Daboya. The center is envisioned as a hub where West African women can train in traditional food processing, including the production of fonio, an ancient indigenous grain; host cultural and culinary tourism experiences; and build sustainable, income-generating enterprises rooted in Fulani food heritage.

Students will work with Chef Binta, to create an operations model and basic economic framework for the DEBBO center using a fonio value chain analysis developed with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ghana Ministry of Agriculture as a foundation. The project will also involve researching best practices and business models from similar agritourism and cultural centers, as well as interviewing fulani women farmers and key stakeholders about each element of the center. Students will also create a slide deck summarizing the essential components and plans for the DEBBO center, which will be used to promote the project and raise capital.

Chef Binta is the 2022 Basque Culinary World Prize winner and FAO Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa; her existing centre in Daboya, built with prize funds, supports women farmers’ cultivation and processing of fonio and can serve as a model/reference point for the DEBBO centre in Ho.

DELIVERABLES:

Operations model for the DEBBO Center
Basic economic framework to compliment the operations model with the aim of creating an economically self sustaining center
Slide deck illustrating the key elements of the center to be used for raising capital

PREFERRED SKILLS OR BACKGROUND:

All graduate students are welcome to apply. Students with experience in any of the following areas are preferred: business, management or social enterprise experience; hospitality, culinary, agriculture, sustainability or tourism background; nonprofit/NGO program design; familiarity with West African markets a plus; French language skills a plus.

CBEY Resident Fellow, Tagan Engel will be the Advisor for this project.

CBEY will select 2 to 3 students to work as a team on this project

Learn more and apply here

Priority Application Deadline: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, by 11:59 pm

Acceptance Notifications: will be sent by 5 pm Friday, August 28, 2026

Assorted fresh tomatoes on a farmers market table with people in the background.

PARTNERS: New CT Farmers Alliance & the CT Food Sovereignty Collective/Omnibus Bill Steering Committee coordinators

Fall 2026 Semester: 3 credits/4 units

A broad coalition of Connecticut food and farm advocates are leading a campaign for an omnibus bill for the 2027 legislative session, jointly promoting multiple proposals to systematically end food insecurity and support local food production. Connecticut has the highest rate of food insecurity in New England but spends less per capita than states like Vermont and Massachusetts to address it. Simultaneously, USDA spending cuts to multiple local food and agriculture programs have had a large negative impact on families and farmers in the state.

Students will work with the New CT Farmer Alliance and the CT Food Sovereignty Collective to create a communications toolkit for this campaign to be used by the broader food coalition in grassroots and grasstops outreach to build support for the bill. Research and deliverables will include: reviewing similar communications toolkits, gathering input from key stakeholders, identifying best practice language for local food procurement, and refining talking points and communicating powerful data points to create materials illustrating the necessity, feasibility, and benefits of a systemic approach to increasing food access and supporting local food production for all Connecticut residents.

DELIVERABLES:

A communications tool kit to be used in organizing efforts to build support for the bill.
Identify examples of best practice language to ensure that a percentage of funding is allocated towards local procurement.
Identify areas where local food purchasing could be added to the omnibus bill so that it is woven throughout spending in various sectors, not only in Farm to School programs.

PREFERRED SKILLS OR BACKGROUND:

All graduate students may apply. Students with experience in public policy, community organizing, communications and graphic design, local food procurement, and food systems, especially welcome.

CBEY Resident Fellow, Tagan Engel will be the Advisor for this project.

CBEY will select 2 to 3 students to work as a team on this project.

Learn more and apply here

Priority Application Deadline: Wednesday, August 26, 2026 by 11:59 pm

Acceptance Notifications: will be sent by 5 pm Friday, August 28, 2026

Person working in a field with mountains and a village in the background under blue sky.

Fall 2026 & Spring 2027 Semesters: 1.5 credits/2 units each semester for a total of 3 credits/4 units.

This project will expand on a similar US focused project completed through CBEY’s Regenerative Ag Initiative in 2020 by investigating the current state of regenerative agriculture in the Global South. Students will conduct interviews with key stakeholders across the agricultural ecosystem to better understand the current landscape, the economic, environmental, and political forces at play, and the challenges faced by people and organizations throughout the agricultural value chain.

The research phase will include literature reviews as a base, plus interviews with farmers, investors, food companies, nonprofits, researchers/scientists, and regulators, to get a rounded understanding of the systems that influence power, justice, nature, and climate in the agriculture sector. The focus of these interviews may include the impact of corporate regenerative agriculture commitments, land access, commodities markets, workers’ rights, and an analysis of how global procurement and funding models influence outcomes. This project will culminate in a series of articles published through CBEY and the Conservation Finance Network.

This is a 3 credit YSE/ 4 Unit SOM project that will take place over two semesters with half the credits assigned to each semester. The research will be conducted over the Fall 2026 semester, and writing and publication will take place in the Spring 2027 semester. All grad students are welcome to apply. Students with a global south perspective and some experience in agriculture and/or food systems preferred.

DELIVERABLES: A series of articles (likely 3 to 4) addressing the key themes that emerge from the research.

PREFERRED SKILLS OR BACKGROUND:

All graduate students may apply. Students with a global south perspective and some experience in agriculture and/or food systems preferred.

CBEY Resident Fellow, Tagan Engel will be the Advisor for this project.

Emma Thornton, MBA/MEM ‘27 will be one of the three student leads on this project. We are looking for two students to join her.

Learn more and apply here

Priority Application Deadline: Wednesday, August 26, 2026, by 11:59 pm

Acceptance Notifications: will be sent by 5 pm Friday, August 28, 2026

Have an idea for an independent study at the intersection of business and the environment? Talk to us about how this might fit into the work we are doing at CBEY.