Research Institute for Sustainability Helmholtz Centre Potsdam

Dr. Ira Matuschke

Dr. Ira Matuschke

Scientific Head of the Coordination Office

E-Mail

ira [dot] matuschke [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de

Ira Matuschke is an agricultural economist and joined the RIFS in 2014. She is the scientific coordinator of the Sustainability Platform Brandenburg, which is a network of the diverse sustainability organizations in Brandenburg.

Before joining RIFS, Ira worked in a number of international organizations in the area of agricultural policy: Among them are the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, Rome), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, Paris) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI, Washington, DC and Addis Ababa).

Ira Matuschke holds a PhD (magna cum laude) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Hohenheim and an MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex. She also studied Economics and Economic History at the University of Maastricht and the Australian National University. Ira's work has been widely published, and she acts as a reviewer for numerous international scientific journals.

  • Sustainable development
  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Economics of Poverty
  • Food security and rural development
  • Econometrics
  • Adoption of modern technologies
  • Food waste and losses
  • Social network analysis
  • Energy

Publications at the RIFS

Publications prior to joining the RIFS

Peer-reviewed journals (Selection)

  • Matuschke, I. and M. Qaim, "The impact of social networks on hybrid seed adoption in India", Agricultural Economics, 40(5): 493-505, 2009.

  • Matuschke, I. and M. Qaim, "Seed market privatisation and farmers' access to crop technologies: The case of hybrid pearl millet adoption in India", Journal of Agricultural Economics, 59(3): 498-515, 2008.

  • Smale, M., P. Zambrano, J.Falck-Zepeda, G. Gruère and I. Matuschke, "Economic impact of transgenic crops in developing countries: A note on methods", International Journal of Biotechnology, 10(6): 519-555, 2008.

  • Matuschke, I., Mishra, R.R. and M. Qaim, "Adoption and impact of hybrid wheat in India", World Development, Vol. 35(8): 1422-1436, 2006. Other publications (Selection)

  • Matuschke, I. and S. Kohler, "Urbanization and food security", in Alliance Development Works, UNU-EHS (Eds.), World Risk Report 2014: The city as a risk area, Alliance Development Works, 30-34, 2014.

  • Raney, T., A. Adenle and I. Matuschke, "Economic success but political failure? The paradox of GM crops in developing countries", in S.J. Smyth, P.W.B. Phillips, D. Castle (Eds.), Handbook On Agriculture, Biotechnology and Development, Edward Elgar Publishing, 716-727, 204.

  • Raney, T. and I. Matuschke, "Current and potential farm-level impacts of genetically modified crops in developing countries", in C.A. Carter, G. Moschini, I. Sheldon (ed.) Genetically Modified Food and Global Welfare, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 55-82, 2011.

  • Schmidhuber, J. and I. Matuschke, "Shift and swing factors and the special role of weather and climate", in B. Kapinar and C. Häberli, Food crisis and the WTO, Cambridge University Press, 136-164, 2010.

  • Mangstl, A. and I. Matuschke, "Herausforderungen für die globale Ernährungsicherung", Agrarische Rundschau, 1: 10-12, 2010.

  • Carr, M. and I. Matuschke, "Innovative activity profile, Tanzania: Conservation agriculture for sustainable development", in: World Bank, FAO, IFAD, Gender in Agricultural Livelihoods Sourcebook, World Bank, 302-304, 2008.

  • Matuschke, I., „Evaluating the impact of social networks in rural innovation systems. An overview", IFPRI Discussion Paper, No. 816, Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2008.