Education

In 2022, I completed my doctoral studies in Agricultural Economics at the University of Bonn. I obtained a MSc in Agricultural and Food Economics from the University of Bonn (2017) and a BA in Political Science and Economics from the University of Münster (2014).

Policy design for efficient and equitable land-based climate solutions

The design of forest conservation policies matters for their environmental and welfare impacts, cost-effectiveness, and distributional consequences. We use global, spatially-granular data to assess different policies that seek emissions reductions from avoided deforestation. Under a subsidy regime, information asymmetries impose substantial costs. Some land users are unlikely to participate, whereas others are paid for partly non-additional emission savings. Carbon taxes and deforestation bans do not require similar targeting efforts. Monetary transfers could mitigate related equity concerns.

Local unexpected food price volatility affects children’s nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa

Food access can be affected by high and volatile food prices with potentially severe consequences for children’s nutrition. Local food price volatility is driven by international prices and local climate shocks. We decompose local maize price movements across 508 markets in 24 sub- Saharan African (SSA) countries to understand the sources of variation using econometric approaches. Next, we compile DHS data over 19 years to measure how food price volatility affects children’s nutrition in SSA.

Featured publications

Paying the price for environmentally sustainable and healthy EU diets

Latka, C., Kuiper, M., Frank, S., Heckelei, T., Havlík, P., Witzke, H.P., Leip, A., Cui, H.D., Kuijsten, A., Geleijnse, J.M. and van Dijk, M., 2021. Paying the price for environmentally sustainable and healthy EU diets. Global Food Security, 28, p.100437.

Link to paper

CAP measures towards environmental sustainability – Trade opportunities for Africa

Latka, C., Heckelei, T., Kuhn, A., Witzke, H.P. and Kornher, L., 2021. CAP measures towards environmental sustainability—Trade opportunities for Africa?. Q Open, 1(1), p.qoab003.

Link to paper

Competing for food waste – Policies’ market feedbacks imply sustainability tradeoffs

Latka, C., Parodi, A., van Hal, O., Heckelei, T., Leip, A., Witzke, H.P. and van Zanten, H.H., 2022. Competing for food waste–Policies’ market feedbacks imply sustainability tradeoffs. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 186, p.106545.

Link to paper

Publications

Journal articles

  • Oldfield, E.E., Lavallee, J.M., Blesh, J., Bradford, M.A., Cameron-Harp, M., Cotrufo, M.F., Eagle, A.J., Eash, L., Even, R.J., Kuebbing, S.E., Kort, E.A., Lark, T.J., Latka, C., Lin, Y., Machmuller, M.B., O’Neill, B., Raffeld, A.M., RoyChowdhury, T., Rudek, J., Sanderman, J., Sprunger, C.D., Toombs, T.P., Uludere Aragon, N., Vidal, M., Woolf, D., Zelikova, T.J., Gordon, D.R., 2024. Greenhouse gas mitigation on croplands: clarifying the debate on knowns, unknowns and risks to move forward with effective management interventions. Carbon Management 15, 2365896. DOI
  • Guillaume, A., Appels, L., Latka, C., Kočí, V. and Geeraerd, A., 2024. Mitigating environmental impacts of food consumption in the EU: Is the power truly on our plates?. Sustainable Production and Consumption 47, 570–584. DOI
  • Springmann, M., Van Dingenen, R., Vandyck, T., Latka, C., Witzke, P. and Leip, A., 2023. The global and regional air quality impacts of dietary change. Nature Communications, 14(1), p.6227. DOI
  • Faye, B., Webber, H., Gaiser, T., Müller, C., Zhang, Y., Stella, T., Latka, C., Reckling, M., Heckelei, T., Helming, K. and Ewert, F., 2023. Climate change impacts on European arable crop yields: Sensitivity to assumptions about rotations and residue management. European Journal of Agronomy, 142, p.126670. DOI
  • Latka, C., Parodi, A., van Hal, O., Heckelei, T., Leip, A., Witzke, H.P. and van Zanten, H.H., 2022. Competing for food waste–Policies’ market feedbacks imply sustainability tradeoffs. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 186, p.106545. DOI
  • Latka, C., Heckelei, T., Kuhn, A., Witzke, H.P. and Kornher, L., 2021. CAP measures towards environmental sustainability—Trade opportunities for Africa?. Q Open, 1(1), p.qoab003. DOI
  • Latka, C., Kuiper, M., Frank, S., Heckelei, T., Havlík, P., Witzke, H.P., Leip, A., Cui, H.D., Kuijsten, A., Geleijnse, J.M. and van Dijk, M., 2021. Paying the price for environmentally sustainable and healthy EU diets. Global Food Security, 28, p.100437. DOI
  • Mouratiadou, I., Latka, C., van der Hilst, F., Müller, C., Berges, R., Bodirsky, B.L., Ewert, F., Faye, B., Heckelei, T., Hoffmann, M. and Lehtonen, H., 2021. Quantifying sustainable intensification of agriculture: The contribution of metrics and modelling. Ecological Indicators, 129, p.107870. DOI
  • Wilts, R., Latka, C. and Britz, W., 2021. Who is most vulnerable to climate change induced yield changes? A dynamic long run household analysis in lower income countries. Climate Risk Management, 33, p.100330. DOI
  • Sanz-Cobena, A., Alessandrini, R., Bodirsky, B.L., Springmann, M., Aguilera, E., Amon, B., Bartolini, F., Geupel, M., Grizzetti, B., Kugelberg, S., Latka, C., Liang, X., Milford, A. B., Musinguzi, P., Ng, E. L., Suter, H. and Leip, A., 2020. Research meetings must be more sustainable. Nature Food, 1(4), pp.187-189. DOI

Other contributions

  • Leip, A., Wollgast, J., Kugelberg, S., Costa Leite, J., Maas, R.J., Mason, K.E. and Sutton, M.A., 2023. Appetite for change: food system options for nitrogen, environment & health. 2nd European Nitrogen Assessment special report on nitrogen & food. link

Dissertation

  • Latka, C., 2022. Agri-food policies and Sustainable Development Goals – Quantitative food system analyses. link