It was this interest in farmers and rural livelihoods that took me to FAO and IFAD, where I explored the lives of smallholder farmers and the processes of rural and structural transformation, and analyzed poverty and food security. Working at UNICEF later broadened my perspective to multidimensional poverty, particularly among children.

These experiences eventually drew me back to academia. In my PhD in Development Economics, I studied how farmers in three African countries were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. That work led me from Italy to Germany, where I joined the University of Göttingen as a postdoctoral researcher in Sustainable Food Systems. Here, I have embraced a food systems perspective: while farmers remain at the center of my research, I recognize that they are embedded in broader systems, interacting with different actors, at different scales and across multiple dimensions at once.

Throughout my career, I have specialized in analyzing the effects of policies and shocks on farmers, using quasi-experimental approaches and resilience metrics. My research is driven by curiosity about real-world events and by the wish to answer questions that matter in practice. I believe research should inform policy and help guide policymakers in their decisions.

Both in and outside academia, I have always enjoyed working in teams and collaborating with colleagues and students. I find collaborative work far more enriching and much more fun. Academia has also let me discover my love for teaching: there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing students inspired by what they have learned.

I hope my work can contribute to a better world. I believe it is important to bring kindness and respect to everything we do.