Assem Abu Hatab

• PhD in Economics
• Professor at Nordic Africa Institute

In the face of growing environmental pressures, understanding how governance can promote more sustainable dietary behaviours is increasingly critical. However, a synthesis of available intervention strategies for behavioural change is currently missing. This umbrella review synthesizes findings from 29 reviews published between 2018-2024, assessing...

This study employs a double‐bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation experiment to investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) of 313 Egyptian smallholder farmers in the Nile Delta region for improved irrigation services. The results from probit and bivariate probit models reveal an inverse relationship between water price and WTP, underscoring...

Background Gender disparities in access to inputs, markets, financial inclusion, and participation in strategic value chains are major developmental challenges in emerging economies. Participation in the edible insect value chain has become an essential source of income, food, and nutrition in some African countries. This paper uses a bivariate pro...

We examine the perceived business risks and impacts on performance associated with the Russian aggression in Ukraine in February 2022 among 450 Egyptian small and medium-sized agrifood enterprises. Our analysis identifies six distinct clusters of enterprises based on their perceived risks and three clusters based on the observed impacts of the war....

Purpose This study examines the willingness of Spanish and Lithuanian grain farmers to adopt a combined approach of preventive site-specific spraying (PSSS) and selective harvesting (SH), two precision agricultural technologies (below referred to as PSSS-SH) aimed at mitigating the risk of mycotoxin contamination in barley and wheat. Methods Data...

In the context of Uganda, this study delves into gender-based strategies aimed at enhancing women’s engagement in milk safety, value addition, and marketing within smallholder livestock farming. The objectives were two-fold: first, to document the current practices of women in milk safety, value addition, and marketing channels; second, to examine...

The COVID-19 pandemic had disruptive consequences for MENA countries’ agri-food value chains that exacerbated poverty and jeopardized food security. This study examines the relationship between individuals’ perception of contracting COVID-19 and their experience of food insecurity, using longitudinal data from the Combined COVID-19 MENA Monitor Hou...

Background The global food system is inflicting substantial environmental harm, necessitating a shift towards more environmentally sustainable food consumption practices. Policy interventions, for example, information campaigns, taxes and subsidies and changes in the choice context are essential to stimulate sustainable change, but their effectiven...

The Agri4D conference aims to bridge science, policy and practice to create a real-world impact on global food systems to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger. All stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners, civil society, private sectors, and policy makers, are invited to join the conference to co-create solutions t...

This study investigates the association between individuals’ concern about contracting COVID-19 and their compliance with recommended preventive and mitigation measures, namely wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing and handwashing, in the context of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The empirical analysis is based on a pan...

This paper evaluates the carrying capacity of cultivated land in Guangdong Province, China, using the entropy weight method. Ecological and environmental pressure significantly impacts capacity, while economic and social factors are stable. Production pressure fluctuates and rises. To improve capacity, we must reduce ecological and environmental pr...

Measuring sustainability at farm level is a priority for both research and policy and requires sustainability indicators to track progress. Indicators make the sustainability concept more concrete and guide farm level decisions, playing a decisive role in determining food system impacts on societies and the environment. Data availability is often a...

In an analysis of food system sustainability challenges and solutions among Swedish food system actors using Q-methodology, five perspectives were identified. One of the main three perspectives placed the highest priority on reduced meat consumption, food waste, and climate impact in agriculture, but downplayed strategies highlighted in the nationa...

There is widespread recognition of the global environmental impact of agricultural production on greenhouse gas emissions, but evidence is sparse regarding the impact in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In this study, we treat agricultural emissions as an undesirable output from agricultural production and apply the directional dista...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has emerged as an exogenous shock to global food supply chains, which foreshadows worrying impacts on Africa's food security and nutrition, and threaten to derail national and global efforts to end hunger and poverty and to achieve sustainable development goals on the continent. This article provides...

The generally held belief is that government spending on education and research and development is to bring about direct impacts on the advancement and sustainability of an economy. Nonetheless, this evidence is not prevalent within industrialized and third-world economies, particularly among the foremost ten carbon dioxide releasing economies. The...

In recent decades, Egypt has experienced rapid internal migration movements triggered by urbanization, socioeconomic development, and environmental changes. From a literature perspective, few scholarly studies have empirically examined the drivers and welfare impacts of internal migration in Egypt, despite the increasing recognition of its inextric...

The purchase and consumption of conventional vegetables from wet markets in Vietnam are like two sides of a coin: perceived food safety risks and perceived benefits. Drawing on a sample of 463 Hanoi consumers, this study employed a risk-benefit approach to analyze the purchase intention and consumption frequency of conventional vegetables at tradit...

Purpose A better understanding of the determinants of demand through accurate estimates of the elasticity of import demand can help policymakers and exporters improve their market access and competitiveness. This study analyzed the EU's demand for imported potato from major suppliers between 1994 and 2018, with the aim to evaluate the competitivene...

Background The global food system is causing considerable environmental harm. A transition towards more sustainable consumption is needed. Targeted public policy interventions are crucial for stimulating such transition. While there is extensive research about the promotion of more environmentally sustainable food consumption, this knowledge is sca...

A keynote speech presented at the Swedish Climate Sumposium, held on May 16, 2022

This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and on coping-strategies in urban and peri-urban areas of the Hyderabad, India. Household survey data were collected before (October 2018) and during (January 2021) the onset of the pandemic. Results from logistic regression with the standarized Food Insecurity Expecience...

Purpose: A better understanding of the determinants of demand through accurate estimates of the elasticity of import demand can help policymakers and exporters improve their market access and competitiveness. This study analyzed the EU’s demand for imported potato from major suppliers between 1994 and 2018, with the aim to evaluate the competitiven...

IPCC WGIII AR6 Ch7 AFOLU

Considering the significance of green governance in economic restructuring and the green technology revolution, this study examines the impact of China’s recent green governance policies and their implications in various regions; it also examines new models, methods, and development directions for China’s green governance in the future. Green gover...

Since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, traditional social and economic development agendas have been changing beyond recognition, with new partnerships and efforts focused on sustainability taking shape. This has flourished debates on the impact of development programmes...

In developing countries, urbanization and demographic changes are increasing food waste generation at household levels. However, it remains unclear how behavioural and personal characteristics influence the behaviours of urban consumers in developing countries regarding food waste. In this study, we extended the integrative model of behavioural pre...

The study aims to test the nexus of green financing with renewable electricity generation and energy efficiency. The study used data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique during the year of 2016 to 2020 in developed and developing countries. The findings show that there is a 24% possibility of worldwide rise in expenditures in renewable energy throu...

Like many other developing countries, urban sprawl is a growing phenomenon in India, which poses socioeconomic and environmental challenges that worryingly affect urban sustainability. In this study, a latent class clustering approach was used to investigate perceptions of urban sprawl among 622 urban and peri-urban dwellers in Hyderabad. The empir...

In light of the significance of green governance in economic restructuring and the green technology revolution, this study examines the impact of China's recent green governance policies and their implications in various regions; it also examines new models, methods, and development directions for China's green governance in the future. Green gover...

Economic expansion gives rise to modern and energy-efficient technologies and, thus, contributes to a decline in energy usage. Developing countries, including Pakistan, require tremendous efforts to sustain economic growth. However, to attain economic growth, these countries have to cope with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental p...

In China's agricultural economy, the relative importance of grains and other starchy staple crops is declining, while that of high-value agricultural products (HVAPs) is increasing. This transformation of the agricultural sector has profound effects on the technology choice for HVAPs, and then the income of farmers and poverty reduction. Using appl...

A monthly panel dataset was used to empirically examine the role of food prices in the emergence of social unrest in various geographic regions of Egypt between 1998 and 2013. A media discourse analysis traced reports in two leading Egyptian newspapers about social unrest, overall dissatisfaction with the government, and food price inflation. A fix...

There is a possibility that worldwide expenditures in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects could fall much further in 2017 and 2018. This may jeopardize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate change agreement. Lack of access to private financing slows the development of green initiatives. Now that sustainable ener...

In this paper, we carried out a systematic literature review to document the emerging scientific knowledge about COVID-19 impact on livestock systems and food security in developing countries to identify gaps and possible avenues for future research undertakings. Specifically, we systematically reviewed 68 peer-reviewed articles extracted based on...

Simple Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a substantial impact on small-scale broiler production systems in developing countries and put their supply chains at risk of disruption. Drawing on a survey of 205 small-scale commercial broiler farms (SCBFs) in Egypt, this study identifies the primary pathways through which the pandemic has affecte...

Like the rest of the world, African countries are reeling from the health, economic and social effects of COVID-19. The continent’s governments have responded by imposing rigorous lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus. The various lockdown measures are undermining food security, because stay at home orders have among others, threatened food pr...

Tea is one of the most important cash crops and widely consumed beverages worldwide and plays a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction, and food security in many developing countries. Nevertheless, very few empirical studies have analysed the comparative advantage of the tea industry in developing countries. Taking Fujian Province...

The coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has disrupted many activities along agri‐food supply chains in developing countries and posed unprecedented challenges in particular to small and medium agri‐food enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on a survey of 166 Egyptian agri‐food SMEs, this study investigates differences in‐ and determinants of COVID‐...

Tea is one of the most important cash crops and widely consumed beverages worldwide and plays a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction and food security in many developing countries. Nevertheless, very few empirical studies have analysed the comparative advantage of the tea industry in developing countries. Taking Fujian Province...

In developing countries, food-borne diseases, attributable to lack of, or inappropriate, food hygiene and handling practices at home, are expected to increase due to a rapid growth in the consumption of fats and animal source foods. The context-specific and situational practices corresponding to underlying traits of food hygiene and handling practi...

Over the last two decades, extensive literature has examined the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), a program that was launched in late 1990s to mitigate the environmental effects of agricultural production and reduce rural poverty. However, little empirical evidence exists with regard to the...

Background: Despite the growing literature on the efficiency and productivity of the Chinese healthcare system, less attention has been given to examining the undesirable outputs linked to healthcare services, including environmental pollution. Taking the atmospheric environmental pollution resulting from the incineration of medical waste as an un...

China’s collective forestland tenure reform has dramatically affected the business environment of domestic forest product firms. This study examines the impact of the said reform on the expected values of these firms, via the reaction of investors (as seen on the stock markets) towards the issuance of related policies. Based on signaling theory and...

Objectives: A growing literature the efficiency and productivity of health system, however, environmental pollution factors have not been used as undesirable outputs in Chinese research. Considering the amount of medical waste from healthcare services, this paper analyzes the growth and decomposition of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) change in the...

Background: Despite the growing literature on the efficiency and productivity of the Chinese healthcare system, less attention has been given to examining the undesirable outputs linked to healthcare services, including environmental pollution. Taking the atmospheric environmental pollution resulting from the incineration of medical waste as an und...

Background: Despite the growing literature on the efficiency and productivity of the Chinese healthcare system, less attention has been given to examining the undesirable outputs linked to healthcare services, including environmental pollution. Taking the atmospheric environmental pollution resulting from the incineration of medical waste as an und...

Over the past few decades urbanization and population growth have been the main trend all over the world, which brings the increase of economic benefits (EB) and the decrease of cropland. Cropland protection policies play an important role in the urbanization progress. In this study, we assess the trade-offs between EB and ecosystem services value...

Taking Fujian province in China as a case study, we carried out a spatiotemporal analysis of the determinants of tea industry’s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) during the period 2010-2018. The empirical analysis was based on a calculation of RCA indices and an estimation of a geographically and temporally weighted regression model using data f...

Reasonably promoting the off-farm employment of rural surplus labor in China’s collective forest areas is an important way to increase forest resources and increase farmers’ income. China’s new round of collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) aims to optimize forest area labor allocation by strengthening forestland property rights. Therefore, in dif...

Initiated in 2003, China's recent round of collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) aims to improve tenure security and motivate households to engage in forestry production. For the forested land allocated to households after the reforms, forest management and protection have become key in forestry production. However, few studies have analyzed the e...

Telemedicine is an innovative approach that helps alleviate the health disparity in developing countries and improve health service accessibility, affordability, and quality. Few studies have focused on the social and organizational issues involved in telemedicine, despite in-depth studies of and significant improvements in these technologies. This...

The Nile Delta of Egypt is increasingly facing sustainability threats, due to a combination of nature- and human-induced changes in land cover and land use. In this paper, an analysis of big time-series data from remotely sensed satellite images and the Random Forests classifier was undertaken to assess the spatial and temporal dynamics of urbaniza...

In China's agricultural economy, the relative importance of grains and other starchy staple crops is declining, while that of high-value agricultural products (HVAPs) is increasing. This transformation of the agricultural sector has profound effects on the technology choice for HVAPs, and then the income of farmers and poverty reduction. Using appl...

In developing countries, urbanisation and associated demographic changes pose unprecedented challenges in terms of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. A systematic review methodology was conducted, combined with data synthesis, to examine the interactions between urban sprawl, land and resource use changes, agricultural production and food se...

This paper examined the export performance of Egypt's small and medium-sized agri-food firms in relation to the proliferation and intensification of EU food safety and quality standards. The empirical work that was based on a survey and the estimation of ordered probit models revealed that certification is an indispensable market access instrument...

In developing countries, urbanisation and associated demographic changes pose unprecedented challenges in terms of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. A systematic review methodology was conducted, combined with data synthesis, to examine the interactions between urban sprawl, land and resource use changes, agricultural production and food se...

This paper examined the export performance of Egypt’s small and medium-sized agri-food firms in relation to the proliferation and intensification of EU food safety and quality standards. The empirical work that was based on a survey and the estimation of ordered probit models revealed that certification is an indispensable market access instrument...

This study systematically reviews the peer-reviewed literature on livestock production and food security in urbanizing environments of developing countries to synthesize the existing evidence and identify priorities for future research. Specifically, a systematic literature review was undertaken using PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Scopus databases...

This paper investigates the impact of exchange rate volatility on Egyptian exports of fresh fruit and vegetables (FFVs) to their major importing markets in the EU. Using quarterly data covering the period 1994-2016, we examine the determinants of Egypt’s exports of FFVs to the EU, and then derive the long-term effects of exchange rate volatility on...

This study systematically reviews the existing peer-reviewed literature on livestock production and food security in urbanizing environments of developing countries to synthesize the existing evidence and identify priorities for future research. Specifically, a systematic literature review was undertaken using the PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Sco...

1. Motivation and Outline Although “migration” has always been a phenomenon that accompanied human evolution throughout history, human mobility and issues related to migration and development have recently been at the center of attention of research and development policies. In developing countries, migration has been amplified in recent years, amo...

With projected populations of about 633 million in the Arab region in 2050, water resources per capita are expected to drop to a level of about 470 cubic meters in region, compared with a world average of about 4,700 m3 for the same year (Sadik, 2013). Especially, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries face the most severe water shortages in...

Drawing on a survey of 148 Fairtrade-certified smallholder coffee farmers in the Kagera region of Tanzania, a quantitative investigation was performed on the farmers’ motivations for Fairtrade certification. A factor analysis approach was used to analyze the importance of economic, social, and environmental motivations in farmers’ decision-making o...

Purpose: A growing number of studies indicate that the export growth of China’s textiles poses serious threats to many developing countries. This paper aims to empirically measure the extent to which the export growth of Chinese textiles has come at the expense of Egyptian textiles exports in third importing markets. Design/Methodology/Approach: To...

This paper analyzes the determinants of Egyptian orange exports to Russia by applying an autoregressive distributed lag approach to quarterly data covering the period 1996-2014. Our major findings indicate that i) A one percent increase in the Russian GDP would lead to an increase of about 3.7% in Egypt’s orange exports to Russia in the long run, i...

This paper analyzes the determinants of Egyptian orange exports to Russia by applying an autoregressive distributed lag approach to co-integration to quarterly data covering the period 1996-2014. Our major findings indicate that i) A one percent increase in the Russian GDP would lead to an increase of about 3.7% in Egypt's orange exports to Russia...

In this paper, the export success of Egypt’s small and medium-sized agricultural exporters was approximated through foreign to domestic sales, rejection frequency and market shift. Several factors were revealed to influence their export success. Monitory compliance costs were found not to have a significant effect on the export success proxies, ind...

Recent years have witnessed closer diplomatic relations between Egypt and Russia, which have led to significant growth in the countries’ bilateral agricultural trade. As a world-leading producer and exporter of oranges, these developments represent an opportunity for Egypt to promote its orange exports to Russia. Another emerging opportunity for Eg...

The “Arab Spring” has always been portrayed in Egypt as politically motivated revolts against decades of dictatorial regimes. From a scientific perspective however, way less attention has so far been paid to the role that other socioeconomic factors have played in the emergence of these mass revolt movement. Historically, many famous revolutions co...

The European Union (EU) is the major import market for Egyptian fresh potatoes. Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) jointly imported about 44% of Egyptian potato exports to the EU during the period 1994-2012. This study sought to identify the determinants of import demand for Egyptian potatoes in these two countries. A general differentiated demand...

The European Union (EU) is the major import market for Egyptian fresh potatoes. Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) jointly imported about 44 percent of Egyptian potato exports to the EU during the period 1994-2012. This study sought to identify the determinants of import demand for Egyptian potatoes in these two countries. A general differentiated...

Purpose – The expected growth of China's cotton imports along with Egypt's quest for penetrating new cotton importing markets have together attracted the authors to investigate the competitiveness and the demand for Egyptian cotton in the Chinese market in order to capture the emerging opportunities that Egypt could gain from such a growing market....

This study analyzed specialist small-and medium-sized agricultural export firms in Egypt in order to identify perceived opportunities and barriers regarding present and future export activities. The results indicate that these firms have to deal with stiff foreign competition in terms of price and quality criteria, while lacking relevant knowledge...

This study analyzed specialist small-and medium-sized agricultural export firms in Egypt in order to identify perceived opportunities and barriers regarding present and future export activities. The results indicate that these firms have to deal with stiff foreign competition in terms of price and quality criteria, while lacking relevant knowledge...

Purpose Bilateral trade between Egypt and China has expanded substantially in recent years. Few studies however have focused on the understanding of this trade relationship. The purpose of this paper is to fill a void in the literature by examining and understanding the two countries' trade pattern. Design/methodology/approach In order to achieve...

In China's agricultural economy, the relative importance of grains and other starchy staple crops is declining, while that of high-value agricultural products (HVAPs) is increasing. This transformation of the agricultural sector has profound effects on the technology choice for HVAPs, and then the income of farmers and poverty reduction. Using appl...

In this paper, a gravity model approach was employed to analyze the main factors influencing Egypt's agri-cultural exports to its major trading partners for the period 1994 to 2008. Our findings are that a one percent increase in Egypt's GDP results in roughly a 5.42 percent increase in Egypt's agricultural export flows. In contrast, the increase i...

The world economy is currently going through a serious financial upheaval that sparked off in the United States and has spread to Europe and the rest of the world, including Egypt. The severity of the crisis and ongoing uncertainties demonstrate the need for urgent action to restore worldwide financial stability, lead the international economic rec...

in the second half of 2008, the world economy went through a serious financial upheaval that sparked off in the United States and spread to Europe and the rest of the world. The negative consequences of this financial crisis had bitten the Egyptian economy in many fields. Egypt’s growth rate witnessed setbacks and may have posted its slowest annual...

The performance of Egyptian cotton exports (ECE) has been examined in the international markets during the period 1990-2006. The study has revealed a high degree of geographic concentration of ECE in India, Italy, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. Together, these markets had imported about 50 per cent of ECE during 1990-2006. The competitive advant...