This body of work concentrates on filling data gaps in the economics of agri-food systems as the paradigm shifts from focus on the agricultural sector to an expanded view of the whole of agri-food systems. Topics of interest include quantifying and identifying the economic value of agri-food systems, people who labor in agri-food systems, understanding how agri-food systems support livelihoods and the quality of jobs and livelihoods they provide, and livelihood pathways out of agri-food systems in the developmetn process.

Ongoing

• Estimating value added and labor productivity in agri-food systems. An FAO-funded project in collaboration with Chris Barrett, Jing Yi, and Shiyun Jiang of Cornell University with FAO colleagues Piero Conforti, Jose Rosero Moncayo, Veronica Boero, Silvia Cerilli, and Michele Vollaro to estimate the value added of agri-food systems. Manuscript and FAO working paper in preparation.

  Project dates: January 2023 - November 2024.

• Estimating global and country-level employment in agri-food systems. A collaboration with Ben Davis, Paul Winters, Erdgin Mane, Yonca Gurbuzer, Giulia Caivano, Natalia Piedrahita, Nidhi Chaudhary, and Ramya Ambikapathi to estimate the number of people employed, otherwise laboring in (in ways that do not meet the international statistical classification definition of employment), or dependent upon agri-food systems for their livelihoods. Project dates: April 2021 - present

  FAO Statistics Working Paper

Related publications

• Schneider, K., De La O Campos, A.P., Cavatassi, R., Davis, B. (2024) “Resilient and inclusive rural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa under climate, demographic, and social change: Challenges and opportunities for income growth and job creation.” Global Food Security, 43, 100815. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100815.