About me

I'm an agricultural economist, Assistant Professor, and Chair of the Food Systems Economics and Policy at ETH Zurich in the Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS). I studied in Germany (Universities of Kassel and Hohenheim), Mexico (University of Yucatán), and the USA (Purdue). I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen (Germany) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell and Minnesota (USA) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen (IFRO). For further information, please see my CV.

My research 

My vision is a resilient global food system that feeds everyone, protects people and natural resources, and adapts to geopolitical, climatic, and technological change. 

I study the actors—from farmers and workers to traders and restaurants—and the flows that shape food systems, showing how to promote resilience, circularity, human rights, and participation.

My work informs policy, NGOs, and the private sector by generating evidence on how technology, public and private standards, and collective action can drive this transition, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

Research approach, methods, and data. I combine agricultural economics with interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, using quantitative and qualitative methods and primary and secondary data. Methods include surveys, experiments, focus groups, expert interviews, and photovoice. My large-scale surveys cover e.g., 1500 restaurants in Blantyre and Kampala, 700 agrifoodtech startups across 30+ African countries, and over 2000 migrant and hired farmworkers in Switzerland, Nigeria, and Myanmar.

Global focus. My research topics are inherently global and relevant to both higher-income and lower-income countries. My group works across Africa, Europe, and Asia, with a current focus on Uganda, Malawi, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Switzerland, where we often engage non-academic partners.

My work directly supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), and responsible consumption and production (SDG 12). 

Publications

Fabry, A., Freihardt, J., Koubi, V., & Meemken, E.-M. (forthcoming). Climate events, migration, and subjective wellbeing — Evidence from rural Bangladesh. Sustainable Development.

Aremu, O., Illien, P., Olajide, A. O., & Meemken, E.-M. (2026). Contract labour, job quality and turnover intention—Evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.70028

Boonaert, E., Meemken, E.-M., & Maertens, M. (2026). Certified and stable? Price and yield volatility under voluntary sustainability standards in Peru. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.70079

Chandra, A., Grabs, J., Meemken, E.-M., Hidayat, N. K., Dharmawan, A.H., Mardiyaningsih, D. I., & Garrett, R. D. (2026). Zero-deforestation commitment implementation in the Indonesian palm oil sector does not reach smallholders. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-026-01861-4

Chandra, A., Grabs, J., Meemken, E.-M., & Garrett, R. D. (2026). Relational aspects and care-based support in Zero-Deforestation Commitments. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000235

Fabry, A., Aremu, O., & Meemken, E.-M. (2026). Labour shortages and food loss: Evidence from tomato farmers in Nigeria. Environmental Research: Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601X/ae9295

Illien, P., Asiedu, E., Fabry, A., Acheampong, C.O.K., Ntiri-Ateseh, L., & Meemken, E.-M. (2026). An extended and relational photovoice design: Methodological reflections. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069261421311

Laitha, A., Fabry, A., Minten, B., & Meemken, E.-M. (2026). Conflict, mental health, and labor productivity: evidence from hired farm workers in Myanmar. BMC Global and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-026-00307-5

Laitha, A., Stemmler, H., Minten, B., & Meemken, E.-M. (2026). Measuring agricultural wages amidst conflict: Evidence from Myanmar. Journal of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.70082

Meemken, E.-M., Aremu, O., Fabry, A., Heepen, C., Illien, P., Laitha, A., & Kammer, M. (2025). Policy for decent work in agriculture. Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.70009

Aremu, O., Fabry, A., & Meemken, E.-M. (2024). Farm size and the quality and quantity of jobs—Insights from Nigeria. Food Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102731

Meemken, E.-M., Charlton, D., Maertens, M., Oya, C., Reardon, T., Christiaensen, L., & Stemmler, H. (2024). Better data for decent work in the global food system. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01002-0

Meemken, E.-M., Becker-Reshef, I., Klerkx, L., Kloppenburg, S., Wegner, J.D., & Finger, R. (2024). Digital innovations for monitoring sustainability in food systems. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01018-6

Finger, R., Fabry, A., Kammer, M., Candel, J., Dalhaus, T., & Meemken, E.-M. (2024). Farmer Protests in Europe 2023-2024. Euro Choices. https://doi.org/10.1111/1746-692X.12452

Stemmler, H. & Meemken, E.-M. (2023). Greenhouse farming and employment: Evidence from Ecuador. Food Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102443

Sellare, J., Jäckering, L., Kahsay, G., & Meemken, E.-M. (2023). Five myths about producer organizations and rural development. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaa2.70

Machio, P. M. & Meemken, E.-M. (2023). Women’s participation in contract farming. Journal of Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2023.2188109

Meemken, E.-M., Bellemare, M. F., Reardon, T., & Vargas, C. (2022). Research and policy for the food-delivery revolution. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo2182

Sellare, J., Börner, J., Brugger, F., Garrett, R., Günther, I., Meemken, E.-M., Pelli, E.-M., Steinhübel, L., & Wuepper, D. (2022). Six research priorities to support corporate due-diligence policies. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01718-8

Meemken, E.-M., Barrett, C. B., Michelson, H. C., Qaim, M.; Reardon, T., & Sellare, J. (2021). The role of sustainability standards in global agrifood supply chains. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00360-3

Meemken, E.-M. (2021). Large farms, large benefits? Sustainability certification among family farms and agro-industrial producers in Peru. World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105520

Yi, J., Meemken, E.-M., Mazariegos, V., Liu, J., Kim, E., Gómez, M., Canning, P., & Barrett, C. B. (2021). Post-farmgate food value chains make up most of consumer food expenditures globally. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00279-9

Jäckering, L., Meemken, E.-M., Sellare, J., & Qaim, M. (2021). Promoting written employment contracts: Evidence from a randomized awareness campaign. European Review of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbaa035

Sellare, J., Meemken, E.-M., & Qaim, M. (2020). Fairtrade, agrochemical input use, and effects on human health and the environment. Ecological Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106718

Meemken, E.-M. (2020). Do smallholder farmers benefit from sustainability standards? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Food Security. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100373

Meemken, E.-M. & Bellemare, M. F. (2020). Smallholder farmers and contract farming in developing countries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1909501116

Sellare, J., Meemken, E.-M., Kouame, C. N., & Qaim, M. (2019). Do sustainability standards benefit smallholder farmers also when accounting for cooperative effects? Evidence from Cote d’Ivoire. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajae.12015

Meemken, E.-M., Sellare, J., Kouame, C. N., & Qaim, M. (2019). Effects of Fairtrade on the livelihoods of poor rural workers. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0311-5

Meemken, E.-M. & Qaim, M. (2018). Can private food standards promote gender equality in the small farm sector? Journal of Rural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.12.030

Meemken, E.-M. & Qaim, M. (2018). Organic agriculture, food security, and the environment. Annual Review of Resource Economics. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-100517-023252

Meemken, E.-M., Spielman, D. J., & Qaim, M. (2017). Trading off nutrition and education? A panel data analysis of the dissimilar welfare effects of Organic and Fairtrade standards. Food Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.07.010

Meemken, E.-M., Veettil, P. C., & Qaim, M. (2017). Toward improving the design of sustainability standards – A gendered analysis of farmers’ preferences. World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.05.021

Working papers

Jouvin, M., Hug, M., Oberlack, C., & Meemken, E.-M. Who owns the data? Governance and agency in emerging sustainability data value chain

Dahl, H., Otieno, W., Peterson, N., Klerkx, K., & Meemken, E.-M. “It is easier to invest in people that look like you, act like you, talk like you”: Investment patterns in Africa’s agrifoodtech startup ecosystem

Kammer, M. Nath, V., Pfister, S., & Meemken, E.-M. High-income countries lack labor to achieve greater domestic food self-sufficiency without migration

Kammer, M., Wimmer, S., & Meemken, E.-M. How do minimum wages affect farm profitability?

Kammer, M., Dalheimer, B., & Meemken, E.-M. Minimum wages and agricultural trade

Stetter, C., Fürholz, A., Meemken, E.-M., & Finger, R. Large-language-model-assisted analysis reveals struggles behind massive farmer protests in Europe

Heepen, C., Illien, P., & Meemken, E.-M. Labour matching as a social process: A grounded theory study of how farmers and workers mobilise labour in Swiss viticulture

Heepen, C. & Meemken, E.-M. Hard-to-reach workers, hard-to-fill data gaps: Lessons from web-based respondent-driven sampling in Swiss horticulture

Fabry, A., Illien, P., Oya, C., & Meemken, E.-M. Measuring working conditions in agriculture

Aremu, O., Maertens, M., & Meemken, E.-M. When agricultural labor markets function—and when they fail: Lessons from Nigeria

Stemmler, H., Ruml, A., & Meemken, E.-M. Contract farming and labor demand

Illien, P., Aremu, O., Jann, B., & Meemken, E.-M. Agricultural labor and drug use–Insights from list experiments in Nigeria.  https://ideas.repec.org/p/bss/wpaper/62.html

Laitha, A., Fabry, A., Minten, B., & Meemken, E.-M. Conflict and wage disparities: Evidence from farm workers in Myanmar

Illien, P., Asiedu, E., Fabry, A., Acheampong, C. O. K., Ntiri-Ateseh, L., & Meemken, E.-M. ‘You will still work when you are dying’: Exploring Accra’s informal food service labour regime and prospects for collective action through photovoice

Other publications

Gómez, M., Meemken, E.-M., and Verteramo Chiu, L. Agricultural value chains and social and environmental impacts: trends, challenges, and policy options. Background paper for The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2020. FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb0715en

Non-scientific publications and media 

Policy brief. Illien, P., Asiedu, E., Fabry, A. Freemann, D., & Meemken, E.-M. (2026). Promoting decent work among informal food workers. https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000791405   

Invited comment. Meemken (2025). Improving precarious working conditions in agriculture in lower-income countries. Welthungerhilfe (link).

Blog post. Stemmler, H. & Meemken, E.-M. (2023). Gewächshäuser and Beschäftigung: Empirische Evidenz aus Ecuador. Agrarpolitik-blog.com (link).

Blog post. Meemken, E.-M. (2021). Welcher Anteil unserer Nahrungsmittelausgaben landet noch bei landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben? Agrarpolitik-blog.com (link).

Media reach. NPR, PBS Nova, SRF

Comments for development magazine Rural 21 Vol. 52 & 53

IFPRI blog post. Meemken, E.-M. (2017). Can sustainability standards promote socioeconomic development in the small farm sector? IFPRI (link).