I am Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex Business School, and a development and agricultural economist. I study how farmers in India and sub-Saharan Africa make decisions — about their soils, about new technologies, about land and labour — and how the information available to them shapes what they do. Much of my recent work is on environmental questions: soil degradation, adaptation to a changing climate, and antibiotic use and emissions in livestock farming.

Before embarking on a career as an economist, I was an agricultural engineer with an interest in tropical agricultural systems. I completed a BSc and MSc in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Leuven (Belgium) and worked for several years in tropical agriculture and forestry, including in Tanzania and Vietnam. In 2003 I switched to economics, starting with an MSc in International Development at the University of Namur (Belgium), and completed my PhD at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in 2010. My first academic job was at the University of Pittsburgh, as an Assistant Professor. I joined the University of Sussex in 2014 as a Lecturer, and have been Professor of Economics since 2023.

In addition to academic research, I have advised and consulted governments and international organisations on agricultural development, including the UK government, the United Nations and the World Bank, and I have worked with non-governmental organisations including Oxfam, the Clinton Development Initiative, Development Alternatives and the Sehgal Foundation. My research has been featured in the media, including the BBC World Service, BBC Asia Network, the Indian Express and the Business Standard.