Research Portfolio

I am part of an interdisciplinary research team at Virginia Tech working on the bee-friendly beef project. The objective of this project is to create biodiverse grazing systems by integrating wildflowers and/or native grasses into tall fescue-dominated grazing systems, especially in the Southeastern United States. Some of the advantages of wildflower and/or native grass-enhanced grazing systems is that they promote the restoration of pollinator populations, which have been declining in recent years.

However, establishing and maintaining wildflowers and/or native grass pasture systems is costly and more management intensive than conventional grazing systems. Thus, incentives must be created for beef cattle producers to adopt these systems. My role is to conduct economic analyses to aid the identification of incentives that can be used to encourage beef producers to contribute to the restoration of pollinator populations by adopting and maintaining wildflower and native grass-enhanced pastures on their ranches.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Chishimba E.M., & Wilson P.N. (2021). Household Resilience to Exogenous Shocks: Evidence from Malawi. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AFJARE) 16(2): 95-111.

Tembo, G., P. Hamukwala, B. Chimai & Chishimba E. M.  (2014). Socio-Economic Characteristics of Sorghum and Millet Farmers in Luanshya District of Zambia: Does improved Seed Matter? International Journal of Current Research 6 (02): 5172-5177.

Working Papers

Moore C. A., Chishimba E.M. & Wilson P.N. (2019). Does Culture Matter? A Test of the Harrison Hypothesis. University of Arizona Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Working Paper 2019-1.

Current Projects

Are US consumers willing to pay a premium for bee-friendly beef? (with Catherine Larochelle)

Does a Nutrition Sensitive Agricultural Program Improve Women Nutrition Status: Evidence from the Feed the Future Initiative in the Eastern Province of Zambia 

Presentations

Chishimba-Musonda, E.M., & Larochelle, C. (2023, March 29). Are US consumers willing to pay a premium for bee-friendly beef? [Conference presentation]. 39th Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) Annual Research Symposium and Exposition, Blacksburg, VA, United States.

Chishimba-Musonda, E.M., & Larochelle, C. (2022, July 31-August 2). Are US consumers willing to pay a premium for bee-friendly beef? [Conference presentation].  Agricultural & Applied Economics Association 2022 Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, United States.

Chishimba-Musonda, E.M., & Tembo, G. (2022, April 21-22). Factors Affecting Bean Profitability among Bean Traders in Zambia [Conference presentation].  Virginia Association of Economists 2022 Annual Meeting, Farmville, VA, United States.

Chishimba-Musonda, E.M. (2022, February 17-19). Does a Nutrition Sensitive Agricultural Program Improve Women Nutrition Status: Evidence from the Feed the Future Initiative in the Eastern Province of Zambia [Conference presentation].  Sadie T.M. Alexander Conference for Economics and Related Fields, Washington DC, United States.