Christopher B. Barrett

Biography

Chris Barrett is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management and an international professor of agriculture at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, as well as a professor in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and a senior faculty fellow of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, all at Cornell University. He edits the Palgrave Macmillan book series Agricultural Economics and Food Policy. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, and the African Association of Agricultural Economists, and honorary life member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists.

Education

PhD University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1994
MS University of Oxford, 1985
BA Princeton University, 1984

Research

• Rohr, Jason; Sack, Alexandra; Bakhoum, Sidy; Barrett, Christopher; Lopez-Carr, David; et al. "A planetary health innovation for disease, food and water challenges in Africa"Nature. 619.7971 (2023): 782-787
• Barrett, Christopher. "‘Benevolent’ patent extensions could raise billions for R&D in poorer countries"Nature. 621.7980 (2023): 687-690
• Lee, Seungmin; Barrett, Christopher; Hoddinott, John. "Food security dynamics in the United States, 2001–2017"American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 106.5 (2024): 1595-1618
• Barrett, Christopher; Cason, Jeffery; Lentz, Erin. Overseas Research: A Practical Guide: Third Edition. Routledge. 3 (2020): 200
• The Economics of Poverty Traps, Ed. Christopher Barrett, Ed. Michael Carter, Ed. Jean-Paul Chavas. University of Chicago Press. (2019): 464pp
• Jensen, Nathaniel; Barrett, Christopher; Mude, Andrew. "Cash Transfers and Index Insurance: A Comparative Impact Analysis From Northern Kenya"Journal of Development Economics. 129.1 (2017): 14-28
• Barrett, Christopher; Constas, Mark. "Toward a theory of resilience for international development applications"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111.40 (2014): 14625-14630
• Barrett, Christopher. "Measuring Food Insecurity"Science. 327.5967 (2010): 825-828
• Purevjav, Avralt-Od; Avirmed, Tumenkhusel; Wilcox, Steven; Barrett, Christopher. "Climate Rather than Overgrazing Explains Most Rangeland Primary Productivity Change in Mongolia"Science. 389.6766 (2025): 1229-1233
• Yang, Yi; Tilman, David; Jin, Zhenong; Smith, Pete; Barrett, Christopher; et al. "Climate change exacerbates the environmental impacts of agriculture"Science. 385.6713 (2024): eadn3747

Awards

• Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (2022) National Academy of Sciences
• Agricultural and Applied Economics Association’s Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award for ten or more years’ experience (2017)
• Award for Scientific Excellence (2016) USAID Board for International Food and Agricultural Development
• USAID Science and Technology Pioneers Prize, Grand Prize winner (2013) US Agency for International Development
• SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities (2009) State University of New York