Christine Sauer is a research agricultural economist in the Crops Branch in the Market and Trade Economics Division.

Christine joined USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) in September 2021, after completion of her doctoral studies at Michigan State University. Her research interests include supply chain analysis, agricultural transportation, agrifood system transformation, food security, and development economics. In her dissertation, she studied the spatial patterns of processed food consumption, the dynamics of the maize flour value chain, and whether the poor pay more for food, all in Tanzania. Prior to starting graduate school, Christine worked at a regional grocery store chain as a marketing analyst, studying the store’s personalized rewards and digital coupon systems.

Ph.D. in agricultural, food, and resource economics from Michigan State University, 2021

B.S. in economics, B.S. in Spanish, from Grand Valley State University, 2013

Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA); International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA)

Sauer, C. M., Reardon, T., & Mason, N. M. (2023). The poor do not pay more: Evidence from Tanzanian consumer food expenditures controlling for the food environment. Agricultural Economics, 54(5), 638–661. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12799.

Sauer, C.M., Reardon, T., Tschirley, D., Liverpool-Tasie, S., Awokuse, T., Alphonce, T., Ndyetabula, D., & Waized, B. (2021). Consumption of processed food and food away from home in big cities, small towns, and rural areas of Tanzania. Agricultural Economics, 52, 749–770. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12652.

Dolislager, M., Reardon, T., Arslan, A., Fox, L., Liverpool-Tasie, S., Sauer, C., & Tschirley, D.L. (2020). Youth and adult agrifood system employment in developing regions: Rural (peri-urban to hinterland) vs. urban,” Journal of Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2020.1808198.

Sauer, C.M., Mason, N.M., Maredia, M.K., & Mofya-Mukuka, R. (2018). Does adopting legume-based cropping practices improve the food security of small-scale farm households? Evidence from Zambia. Food Security, 10(6), 1463–1478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0859-3.