AgEcon Bytes: Celebrating Excellence

My current research focuses on evaluating the impacts of programs and policies in developing countries and the role of market structures of modern agricultural markets. Here are some details on three projects I am currently working on with graduate students and colleagues.

1. Integrated Pest Management in Bangladesh: Understanding the effects of an agricultural technology package called “integrated pest management activities (IPMA)” on agricultural outcomes of groundnut farmers in rural Bangladesh. Groundnut farmers in Bangladesh, like in other developing countries, suffer from low yields and productivity due to threats from pests and diseases, the negative effects of which can be reduced through an integrated pest management approach. Using a randomized experiment involving 800 farmers, we are implementing training and extension services to farmers to evaluate the effectiveness of IPMA on groundnut farmer outcomes.
2. Costs from Reduced Humanitarian Assistance in Somalia and Uganda: Climate change and conflicts have a tremendously negative impact on lives and livelihoods in many African countries. In Somalia, we are evaluating the effects of reduced humanitarian assistance from international organizations on welfare and food security outcomes of internally displaced populations from severe droughts and conflicts. Similarly, in Uganda, a country that hosts the highest number of refugees in Africa, we are measuring the humanitarian effects of reduced donor funding on refugees and host populations. Both these studies utilize state-of-the-art applied general equilibrium modeling and a reduced-form econometric approach implemented on primary household data.
3. Welfare Effects of Changing Consumption Patterns in the U.S.: The U.S. consumers spend more on food away from home than at home, and increasingly so in the last decade. We are investigating the welfare effects of this changing consumption pattern within a supply chain framework that also incorporates the high concentration and market power of the U.S. food manufacturing sector from the farm to the retailers. We utilize secondary data within an integrated demand and market structure framework to answer our policy-relevant research questions.

I am currently working with several graduate students from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the Department of Economics.

• Nandini Das, a 5th-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Economics, is working on the IPMA Bangladesh project. Two of Nandini’s three dissertation chapters are on topics of agricultural technology adoption in the context of groundnut farmers in Bangladesh. She also recently published a paper on the impacts of a financial literacy training program on refugee youths in Uganda in The Journal of Development Studies.
• Deepak Kumar, a 4th-year Ph.D. student, and Tao Qi, a 3rd-year Ph.D. student, both in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, are working on the Cost of Reduced Humanitarian Assistance project in Somalia and Uganda. Deepak’s research also explores the local economic effects of refugees in East Africa and of typhoons in Vietnam. Tao also works on food labels and food safety issues with my colleague, John Bovay, associate professor and Kohl Junior Faculty Fellow.
• Bheom Seok Kim, a 2nd-year Ph.D. student, and Kendyl Lewis, a 1st-year Ph.D. student, both in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, are working on understanding the welfare effects of changing consumption patterns in the U.S. They are advised by the co-investigator of the project funded by USDA NIFA, George Davis, professor and interim department head.

The graduate students who would be a great fit in my research program are those who are passionate about the application of economic theories and econometric tools in real-world problems. Students with strong foundations in microeconomic theory and applied econometrics have the prerequisites to be good researchers. However, the most important traits in graduate students for their success as researchers are their passion, hard work, and dedication towards their research, which fundamentally aims at improving the lives of people and societies.

The students can evolve within the research process by taking ownership of research projects, professionally interacting with donors, external collaborators, and with their willingness to constantly learn and improve their technical, written, and oral skills. Research can often be a lonely journey, so students with strong and resilient personalities tend to contribute more to research projects and become more successful researchers/professionals.

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