Short presentation

I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen.

My primary fields of research focuses on resource, agricultural, and behavioral economic topics. 

• Institutions in decentralized natural resources and environmental management
• Economics of climate adaptation and mitigation
• Farmer organizations and rural livelihoods
• Economic preferences (risk and prosocial preferences)
• Economics of religion
• Field experiments

Current research projects:

1. Rural households, Agriculture, and Climate change – why and how farmers (do not) adapt in Ethiopia (RACE): I coordinate RACE project, which is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The project aims to investigate why and how rural households in Ethiopia (do not) adapt through a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and experimental methods, using an integrated watershed management lens.
2. Community-Based Forestry and the Modernization of Smallholder Farming: The case of Ethiopia: I co-coordinate this project, which is funded by J-PAL. The project aims to investigate the impact of Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) intervention (devolving extraction rights to local communities) on the modernization of farming, rural livelihoods and forest conservation using experimental methods.
3. Climate-smart Futures in Rural Tanzania (CliFT): I lead a work package in CliFT project, which is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The project aims to investigate the role of farmer organizations on climate change adaptation of smallholder farmers through a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and experimental methods.
4. Breeding for coffee and cocoa root resilience in low input farming systems based on improved rootstocks (BOLERO): As part of a larger EU-funded project, I participate in work package 5, which aims to investigate perceived risks, adoption and productivity of grafted coffee using qualitative and quantitative methods.

Teaching (course responsible): Advanced Development Economics; Agriculture and Food Policy 

Personal website:
https://sites.google.com/view/gakahsay/home