ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

 Violet  Lasdun

Violet Lasdun

PhD candidate in Environmental Economics

Department of Geography and Environment

Connect with me

Languages
English, French, Spanish, Swahili
Key Expertise
Impact evaluation, Data analysis, Stata, Python, R, Survey design, ODK

About me

Violet is pursuing a PhD in Environmental Economics, working on a project to support public sector seed development with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), a CGIAR research center. She is investigating the interactions between farmer management decisions, climate, and crop variety performance, using a novel phenotyping technology developed by Mineral at Google X. When not in London, Violet is based in Arusha, Tanzania, where she works with crop breeders developing climate-smart varieties targeted to smallholder production environments. Her research is funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Before ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, Violet completed an MSc in Agricultural Economics at McGill University, where her research looked at  information sharing in a digital farmer-to-farmer network. She also has a BA from McGill University in Philosophy and Economics, and spent a semester studying philosophy at Kyoto University in Japan. Her interests include carbon-negative agriculture, soil stewardship, and technology adoption and sustainable intensification in smallholder farming systems. 

Research interests

- Carbon-negative agriculture
- Public sector seed systems
- Agriculture extension
- Technology adoption
- Integrated soil fertility management

Publications
Lasdun, Violet, et al. "COVID-19, climate shocks, and food security linkages: evidence and perceptions from smallholder farming communities in Tanzania." Environment and Development Economics (2022): 1-19. . 

Lasdun V., Harou A., Magomba C., Guerena D. (2022) Peer Learning in a Digital Farmer-to-Farmer Network: Effects on Technology Adoption and Self-Efficacy Beliefs. Working Paper – Presented at OARES; PacDev 2022 Conference; The Cornell Conference on 100 Years of Economic Development; the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA); the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society; and accepted to Oxford CSAE 2023 Conference for Economic Development in Africa. .

Awards
Mitacs Research Training Award; McBurney Latin America Award

Positions held
Senior MEL Associate – One Acre Fund Tanzania

Supervisors
Dr Charlie Palmer
Prof Ben Groom