Bhavani is an applied economist working on research areas at the intersection of agriculture, food, nutrition and health, in developing as well as developed countries. His current research interests include the analysis of economic drivers of over and under nutrition, food and nutrition policy evaluation and the role of agriculture and food systems in enabling better nutrition and health. His ongoing and recent externally funded research projects include LANSA (Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia) and POSHE (Palm Oil: Sustainability, Health and Economics), Sustainable and Health Food Systems (SHEFS) and MINI (Market Interventions for Nutritional Improvement). In the past, his research involvements have included analysis of animal disease in the Mekong region, floodplain resource management in Bangladesh and the evaluation of transgenic cotton performance in South Africa and India. He is currently an academic editor for PLOS One, and served as Managing Editor of Food Policy during 2011-2015.
Research interests
Current and recent externally funded projects:
Market Intervention for Nutritional Improvement (MINI):
MINI is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and DfID. Partners include SOAS (lead), ILRI (co-lead), Digital Green (India), Bangladesh Agricultural University, LSHTM and Lincoln University. It is set in India, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, and aims to study the potential for a market aggregation service to improve the availability of nutritious fresh produce (vegetables and poultry) in local markets.
Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS):
SHEFS is a programme aiming to provide policy makers with novel, interdisciplinary evidence to define future food systems policies that deliver nutritious and healthy foods in an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable manner. This LSHTM-led project is funded by the Wellcome Trust and includes eight partners in addition to SOAS. http://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/ shefs/
Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA)
LANSA is a DfID-funded research consortium led by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (India) and including IFPRI, IDS, LCIRAH/SOAS, BRAC International (Bangladesh), and the Collective for Social Science Research (Pakistan), which is researching agriculture for improved nutrition in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. http://www.lansasouthasia.org/
Palm Oil: Sustainability, Health and Economics (POSHE)
POSHE is funded by the Wellcome Trust under its ‘Our Planet, Our Health’ initiative, and includes the following partners: SOAS, LSTHM, Chiang Mai University (Thailand), KMUTT (Thailand), Copenhagen University (Denmark) and Stanford University (USA). POSHE is looking at the trade-offs between the economic, health and environmental dimensions of the growth of palm oil as a food ingredient in Thailand
International trade, dietary change, and cardiovascular disease health outcomes: Import tariff reform using an integrated macroeconomic, environmental and health modelling framework for Thailand
Jensen, Henning Tarp, Keogh-Brown, Marcus R., Shankar, Bhavani, Aekplakorn, Wichai, Basu, Sanjay, Cuevas, Soledad, Dangour, Alan D., Gheewala, Shabbir H., Green, Rosemary, Joy, Edward JM, Rojroongwasinkul, Nipa, Thaiprasert, Nalitra and Smith, Richard D., 2019, SSM - Population Health (9), 100435
Evidence on the magnitude of the economic, health and population effects of palm cooking oil consumption: an integrated modelling approach with Thailand as a case study
Keogh-Brown, Marcus R., Jensen, Henning Tarp, Basu, Sanjay, Aekplakorn, Wichai, Cuevas, Soledad, Dangour, Alan D., Gheewala, Shabbir H., Green, Rosemary, Joy, Edward JM, Rojroongwasinkul, Nipa, Thaiprasert, Nalitra, Shankar, Bhavani and Smith, Richard D., 2019, Population Health Metrics (17), 1
Palm oil and dietary change: Application of an integrated macroeconomic, environmental, demographic, and health modelling framework for Thailand
Jensen, Henning Tarp, Keogh-Brown, Marcus R., Shankar, Bhavani, Aekplakorn, Wichai, Basu, Sanjay, Cuevas, Soledad, Dangour, Alan D., Gheewala, Shabbir H., Green, Rosemary, Joy, Edward JM, Rojroongwasinkul, Nipa, Thaiprasert, Nalitra and Smith, Richard D., 2019, Food Policy (83), pp 92-103
Dietary and nutritional change in India: implications for strategies, policies, and interventions
Shankar, Bhavani, Agrawal, Sutapa, Beaudreault, Amy R., Avula, Laxmaiah, Martorell, Reynaldo, Osendarp, Saskia, Prabhakaran, Dorairaj and Mclean, Mireille Seneclauze, 2017, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1395), 1, pp 49-59
What happens to patterns of food consumption when food prices change? Evidence from a systematic review and meta analysis of food price elasticities globally.
Cornelsen, Laura, Green, Rosemary, Turner, Rachel, Dangour, Alan D., Shankar, Bhavani, Mazzocchi, Mario and Smith, Richard D., 2015, Health Economics (24), 12, pp 1548-1559
The effect of rising food prices on food consumption: systematic review with meta-regression
Green, Rosemary, Cornelsen, Laura, Dangour, Alan D., Turner, Rachel, Shankar, Bhavani, Mazzocchi, Mario and Smith, Richard D., 2013, British Medical Journal (346)
Can nutrition be promoted through agriculture-led food price policies? A systematic review
Dangour, Alan D., Hawkesworth, Sophie, Shankar, Bhavani, Watson, Louise, Srinivasan, C. S., Morgan, E. H., Haddad, L and Waage, Jeff, 2013, BMJ Open (3), e002937
Linking agriculture and health in low- and middle-income countries: an interdisciplinary research agenda
Dangour, Alan D., Green, Rosemary, Häsler, Barbara, Rushton, Jonathan, Shankar, Bhavani and Waage, Jeff, 2012, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (71), 2, pp 222-228
Nitrate abatement practices, farm profits, and lake water quality: A central Illinois case study
Shankar, Bhavani, DeVuyst, E. A., White, David C., Braden, J. B. and Hornbaker, R. H., 2000, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (55), 3, pp 296-303
Was South African Agriculture Overcapitalized in the Apartheid Era?
Hadley, David, Shankar, Bhavani and Thirtle, Colin, 1999, Agrekon : Agricultural Economics Research, Policy and Practice in Southern Africa (38), 4, pp 777-787
Gouse, M., Shankar, Bhavani and Thirtle, Colin (2008). In: Moseley, W.G., (eds.) and Gray, Leslie, (eds.), Hanging by a Thread: Cotton, Globalization and Poverty in Africa. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press
An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Plant Variety Protection on Innovation and Transferability
Srinivasan, C. S., Shankar, Bhavani and Thirtle, Colin (2004). In: Katrak, Homi, (eds.) and Strange, Roger, (eds.), The WTO and Developing Countries. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
