Karl Rich

Expertise: 

• Agricultural and livestock modeling 
• Agribusiness and food systems 
• Agricultural policy and welfare analysis 
• Animal and aquatic health economics 
• System dynamics modeling 
• Participatory processes and community engagement 

My research has applied a variety of quantitative techniques, particularly multi-sector and system dynamics modeling, to agricultural and livestock issues in the developing world. Thematically, I have worked in two major areas.

1. I have extensive experience in animal and aquatic health economics, where I have worked in a range of interdisciplinary teams to assess the impact of disease outbreaks and to better understand behavioral drivers that mediate response. 
2. I have developed an extensive research agenda in the application of system dynamics modeling tools to agricultural and livestock value chains, creating models that integrate production, marketing, and consumption alongside their contextual drivers (including environmental, biophysical, and socio-cultural ones). 

Increasingly, both themes have used participatory processes to develop models with stakeholders, enhancing both their validity and ownership in decision-making. Within both these themes, I am also interested in method development from the standpoint of innovative quantitative models and processes for deployment in the field.   

Recent work has included impact assessments of animal diseases (African Swine Fever in Haiti, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam; East Coast Fever in Uganda; Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Rwanda and Uruguay; Peste des Petits Ruminants in Senegal); models of agricultural and livestock value chains in Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, and Nicaragua; and model development in the areas of adoption, innovation, and stakeholder mapping.

• Department Head, Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2026 - present
• Director, International Agricultural Programs, OSU Agriculture, Oklahoma State University, 2024-2025 
• Director, Master of International Agriculture Program, Oklahoma State University, 2021-2025 
• Team Leader, Foresight Modeling and Policy, International Livestock Research Institute, 2017-2021 
• Associate Professor of Agribusiness and International Development, Lincoln University, 2015-2017 (Head of Department, 2017) 
• Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 2010-2014 

• LEAD 21 Class 20 participant, 2024-2025 
• Member, U.S. Global Leadership Council, Oklahoma Chapter, July 2022-December 2025. 
• Invited member, World Health Organization (WHO) Working Group on Neglected Tropical Diseases, July 2015-May 2019. 
• Best article in Agrekon 2018 (with Machiweyi Kunzekweguta and Michael C. Lyne) 
• Stuland Research Prize, NUPI, 2012 
• Best Paper Recipient, International Agribusiness Management Association Meetings, Budapest, Hungary, June 2009 (with Brian Perry and Simeon Kaitibie) 

• Aboah, J., Campbell, Z.A., Dione, M., Kotchofa, P., Guy, I., Wieland, B., Lo, M.M., Rich, K.M. 2024. Examining the Economic Impact of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) on Small Ruminant Production in Senegal: A Gender-Disaggregated System Dynamics Modeling Approach. Agricultural Systems 217, 103928, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.103928.  
• Jean-Pierre, R.P., Hagerman, A.D., Rich, K.M. 2022. An analysis of African Swine Fever Consequences on Rural Economies and Smallholder Swine Producers in Haiti. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.960344.   
• Rich, K.M., Berends, J., Cooper, G.S. 2022. Enriching value chains through maps: Reflections and lessons from spatial group model building in Myanmar and India. Development in Practice 32(2), 259-265. DOI:10.1080/09614524.2021.1907545.  
• Berends, J., Rich, K.M., Lyne, M.C., Kaitibie, S. 2021. Analyzing pro-poor interventions as upgrades to the pork value chain in Southern Myanmar. Agricultural Systems 194, 103265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103265.   
• Cooper, G.S., Shankar, B., Rich, K.M., Ratna, N., Kadiyala, S., Alam, M.J., and Singh, N. 2021. How can aggregation systems better balance improved producer livelihoods with equitable fruit and vegetable distribution? World Development 148, 105678 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105678  
• Komarek, A.M., Dunston, S., Enahoro, D., Godfray, H.C.J., Mason-D’Croz, D., Rich, K.M., Scarborough, P., Springmann, M., Sulser, T.B., Wiebe, K., Willenbockel, D. 2021. Income, preferences, and the future of animal-source food demand. Global Environmental Change 70, 102343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102343  
• Perry, B., Rich, K.M., Rojas, H., Romero, J., Adamson, D., Bervejillo, J.E., Fernadez, F., Pereira, A., Perez, L., Reich, F., Sarno, R., Vitale, E., Stanham, F., Rushton, J. 2020. Integrating the Technical, Risk Management and Economic Implications of Animal Disease Control to Advise Policy Change: The Example of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Control in Uruguay. EcoHealth https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-020-01489-6.
• Brunton, L.A., Desbois, A.P, Garza Valles, M., Wieland, B., Mohan, C.W., Häsler, B., Tam, C.C., Le, P.N.T., Phuong, N.T., Van, P.T., Nguyen, H., El Tholth, M., Pham, D.K., Duc, P.P., Linh, N.T., Rich, K.M., Mateus, A.L.P., Hoque, M.A., Ahad, A., Khan, M.N.A., Adams, A., Guitan, J. 2019. Identifying hotspots for antibiotic resistance emergence and selection, and elucidating pathways to human exposure: Application of a systems-thinking approach to aquaculture systems. Science of the Total Environment 687, 1344-1356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.134
• Lie, H., Rich, K.M., van der Hoek, R., Dizyee, K. 2018. Quantifying and evaluating policy options for inclusive dairy value chain development in Nicaragua: A system dynamics approach.  Agricultural Systems 164, 193-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.03.008
• Rich, K.M., Rich, M., Dizyee, K. 2018. Participatory system approaches for urban and peri-urban agriculture planning: the role of system dynamics and spatial group model building. Agricultural Systems 160, 110-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2016.09.022