JESSICA AGNEW

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Jessica Agnew, MSc, MPH, is a doctoral candidate in the School of Public and International Affairs. Since 2014, Jessica has been researching market-based approaches to addressing nutrition in low and middle income countries. Her research focuses on the intersection of markets, agriculture, policy and planning, food systems, and business to find ways to promote the consumption of nutritious foods. In 2017, Jessica developed the BUY2THRIVE initiative, an approach to connecting consumers and markets for nutrition, and implemented its first project in Mozambique in July 2019.

Jessica earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Food, Agriculture, and Resource Economics from the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada.

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In 2017, the BUY2THRIVE initiative was created to support low-income households in finding ways to purchase more nutritious foods. Nutrition education is important for improving nutritional status, but households must also be empowered with knowledge on how to sustain purchases of nutritious foods in the face of barriers. The first B2T program was implemented in Nampula, Mozambique in July 2019.

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07.19.18

BUY2THRIVE featured on Mary Mammoliti's Kitchen Confession Podcast.

Sustainable Agriculture with Economist and PhD Candidate Jess Agnew

"Jess Agnew, is a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech. Her experience in the food and hospitality industry combined with her passion for people, food and business has taken her along a welcomed and unexpected path to becoming an economist. Her huge heart shines as we talk about her BUY2THRIVE initiative in Mozambique, Grameen Danone Foods, and Shokti Ladies."

10.05.17

buy2thrive research featured in VT News

Student targets hunger and malnutrition in Mozambique

"Jessica Agnew, a Ph.D. student in the School of Public and International Affairs (shown here on a recent research trip to Bangladesh) was selected by the Clinton Global Initiative as one of 50 students for a crowdfunding effort. She’ll also present her work to combat malnutrition in Mozambique at the organization’s annual global conference next week."

11.08.16

invited contributor to Global alliance of improved nutrition Workshop

Student invited to share expertise at Global Alliance meeting

Agnew will deliver a presentation at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) technical advisory meeting in Washington, D.C. on November 10th. The presentation will cover methodology on consumer segmentation and poverty indices.

In addition to presenting at the advisory meeting, Agnew was asked to collaborate with other food systems, sociology, markets, and policy experts to develop a framework for GAIN’s upcoming case study series.

Research focuses have included food security economics, market-based approaches for nutrition, agricultural and food value chain analyses, and agriculture for nutrition.

Research

Past experiences in teaching include agriculture and resource economics and introductory statistics. Service focus has been on conference planning, academic committees and food security on campus.

Teaching & Service

Publications and conference presentations from past and on-going research are featured here.