Assem is a member of the Food and Agricultural Economics Group at the Department of Economics. Previously, he worked a senior visiting researcher at the Middle East Centre of Lund University; a postdoctoral fellow at Watson Institute for International Studies of Brown University in the U.S., an assistant researcher in the College of Economics & Management of Northwest A&F University; and a lecturer in Economics at Suez Canal University in Egypt. Assem had been a visiting scholar at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences UMB, the Chinese Center for Agricultural Policy CCAP in Beijing, and Corvinus University in Budapest.
In 2022, Assem was appointed as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). In 2018, Assem was selected a lead author by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for Chapter 7 of the 6th Assessment Resport (AR6). Since 2015, he has been a member of the consultative board of the Arab Federation for Wildlife Protection at the Arab Council for Economic Unity of the League of Arab States. In 2013, Assem was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award by the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development. He was also selected in 2013 as a member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA).
Assem is leading the following two courses:
- Agricultural Policy and International Trade (NA0160)
- Value Chains and Networks in the Bio-Economy (FÖ0454)
He is also lecturing in different courses, mainly on food and agricultural economics and internatinal trade.
Assem is an applied economist with broad empirical interests and focus on food systems and their interlinkages with food security and sustainable development in developing countries. In recent years, his research has focused on international food and agricultural trade including issues related to food safety and quality standards; food supply and demand and commodity markets; food value chains; and the dynamics of urbanization and its links to urban food security in arid and semi-arid zones in developing countries. In addition, understanding the performance of China's rural and agricultural sectors has always been a strong dimension in his research agenda.
Assem has a large research network in developing countries, particularly in the MENA region, SSA countries, and China. He collaborates with researchers at several departments at SLU as well as at other Swedish and international universities and research institutes. Examples of his recent and ongoing collborative research projects include:
Assem supervises students' theses at the MSc and BSc levels, and he serves as an assistant supervisor of an ongoing PhD student's project.
Abu Hatab A. & Lagerkvist C.J. (2024). Perceived business risks and observed impacts of the Russian-Ukraine war among small- and medium-sized agri-food value chain enterprises in Egypt. Food Policy, 127(2024), 102712
Ha T.M. Hansson H., Abu Hatab A., et al. Factors associated with smallholders’ uptake of intercropping in Southeast Asia: a cross-country analysis of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (2024). Accepted for publication in Climate Risk Management (21 August 2024)
Abu Hatab A., Krautscheid L., El-Sayed M. & Amuakwa-Mensah F. (2024). COVID-19 risk perception and food security in the MENA region: evidence from a multi-wave household survey. Food Security.
Owusu-Sekyere, E., Abu Hatab, A., Lagerkvist, CJ. et al. (2024) Farmers’ willingness to adopt precision agricultural technologies to reduce mycotoxin contamination in grain: evidence from grain farmers in Spain and Lithuania. Precision Agriculyure .
Nagasha, J.I., Ocaido, M., Rajala, E., Abu Hatab, A. and Chiwona-Karltun, L. (2024). Gender-based approaches for improving milk safety, value addition and marketing among smallholder livestock farmers. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Volume 8. doi:10.3389/fsufs.2024.1392020.
Ran Y., Van Rysselberge P., Macura B., Persson U.M., Abu Hatab A., Jonell M., Lindahl T. & Röös E. (2024). Effects of public policy interventions for environmentally sustainable food consumption: a systematic map of available evidence. Environmental Evidence 13, 10 (2024).
Abu Hatab A., Owusu-Sekyere E & Lagerkvist C.J. (2023). In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: Perceived risks, management strategies and emerging opportunities for small and medium agri‐food enterprises in a developing country. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.
Abu Hatab A., Krautscheid L., & Amuakwa-Mensah F. (2023). COVID-19 risk perception and compliance with preventive measures: Evidence from a multi-wave household survey in the MENA region. PLoS ONE 18(7): e0283412.
Fang, W., Yang, Z., Liu, Z. & Abu Hatab A. (2023). Green recovery of cropland carrying capacity in developed regions: empirical evidence from Guangdong, China. Economic Change and Restructuring.
Robling, H., Hansson H., Abu Hatab A., & Säll S. (2023). Measuring sustainability in primary production – a critical assessment of indicators and data. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators.
Owusu-Sekyere E., Abu Hatab A., & Lagerkvist C.J. (2023) Farmers’ willingness to adopt precision agricultural technologies for reducing Mycotoxin contamination in grains: Evidence from grain farmers in Spain and Lithuania. Accepted for presentation at the XVII EAAE Congress in Rennes, August 29th – September 1st 2023.
Hansson H., Röös E., Säll, S., Abu Hatab A., Ahlgren S., Berggren Å., Hallström E., Lundqvist P., Magnusson U., Persson M., Rydhmer L., Tidåker P., Winkvist A., Zhu L. (2023) A framework for measuring sustainability in the Swedish food system – indicator selection and justification. Mistra Food Futures Report #14.
Röös E. , Wood A. , Säll S., Abu Hatab A., Ahlgren S., Hallström E., Tidåker P., & Hansson H. (2023) Diagnostic, regenerative or fossil-free - exploring stakeholder perceptions of Swedish food system sustainability. Ecological Economics, 203 (2023): 107623 .
Huang W., Liu Q., & Abu Hatab A. (2023). Is the Technical Efficiency Green? The Environmental Efficiency of Agricultural Production in the MENA Region. Environmental Management, 327(February 2023), 116820
Abu Hatab A., Amuakwa-Mensah F & Lagerkvist C.J. (2022) Who moves and who gains from internal migration in Egypt. Habitat International, 124 (June 2022), 102573.
Abu Hatab A. (2022) Africa’s Food Security under the Shadow of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Strategic Review for Southern Africa, 44(1), 37-46.
Ha T.M. Hansson H., Abu Hatab A., Darr D., & Shakur S. (2022). A risk-benefit approach to the purchase and consumption of conventional vegetables in wet markets. Appetite, 176(1), 106124 (June 2022).
Abu Hatab A., and Krautscheid L. (2022). Transforming Higher Agricultural Education for Sustainable Food Systems in Egypt: Insights from an Erasmus+ Project. CIHEAM Watch Letter no 41. Zaragoza: International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM)
Liu Z. & Abu Hatab A. (2022). Assessing stakeholder engagement in public spending, green finance and sustainable economic recovery in highest emitting economies. Economic Change and Restructuring.
Abu Hatab A., Boqvist S. & Lagerkvist C.J. (2022). Editorial: Livestock systems in urbanizing environments: impacts & implications for food security in developing countries. Frontiers in Veterinary Science
Abu Hatab A. (2022). Africa's food security under the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Forthcoming in The Strategic Review for Southern Africa.
Macura B., Ran Y., Persson M., Abu Hatab A., Jonell M., Lindahl T. & Röös E. (2022). What evidence exists on the effects of public policy interventions for achieving environmentally sustainable food consumption patterns? A systematic map protocol. Environmental Evidence, (2022) 11:17
Abu Hatab A. & Surry Y. (2022). An econometric investigation of EU's Import Demand for Fresh Potato: A Source Differentiated Analysis focusing on Egypt. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies.
Ravula P., Nedumaran S. , Padmanabhan J. , Kasala K., Lagerkvist C.J., and Abu Hatab A. (2022) COVID-19 impact on household food security in urban and peri-urban areas of Hyderabad, India. Frontiers in Public Health, 10:814112
Nabuurs, G-J., R. Mrabet, A. Abu Hatab, et al. (2022). Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU). In IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, R. Slade, A. Al Khourdajie, et al. (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In press.
Abu Hatab A., Tirkaso W.T., Balla E.T. & Lagerkvist C.J. (2021). An extended integrative model of behavioural prediction for examining households’
food waste behaviour in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2021, 106073.
Abu Hatab A., Lagerkvist C.J. , & Esmat A. (2021). Risk perception and determinants in agrifood small & medium-sized enterprises amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Egypt. Agribusiness: International Journal, 37:187–212.
Abu Hatab A., Ravula P., Nedumaran S. & Lagerkvist C.J. (2021). Perceptions of the impacts of urban sprawl among urban and peri-urban dwellers of Hyderabad, India: A latent class clustering analysis. Environment, Development and Sustainability.
Khan, I., Lei H., Shah AA., Khan I., Baz K., Koondhar M.A. and Abu Hatab A. (2021). Environmental quality and the asymmetrical nonlinear consequences of energy consumption, trade openness and economic development: prospects for environmental management and carbon neutrality. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. Online on 06 October 2021.
Chen X., Liu Z., Saydaliyev H.B., Abu Hatab A. & Wei Fang (2021). Assessing Green Governance Efficiency in China: Does Technological and Environmental Concerns Matter in Energy Efficiency? Frontiers in Energy Research (Accepted on 28 October 2021).
Abu Hatab A. & Hess S. (2021). “Feed the mouth, the eye ashamed”: Have Food Prices Triggered Social Unrest in Egypt? Contribution to the 31st conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economics (IAAE), 17 August, 2021.
Liu Z., Xu J.H., Wei Y.M., Abu Hatab A., Lan J. (2021). Nexus between green financing, renewable energy generation and energy efficiency: Empirical Insights through DEA technique. Accepted for publication in Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Abu Hatab A., Krautscheid L., Boqvist S. (2021). COVID-19, Livestock Systems & Food Security in Developing Countries: A systematic review of an emerging literature. Pathogens, 10(5), 586.
Chiwona-Karltun L., Amuakwa-Mensah F., Wamala-Larsson C., Amuakwa-Mensah S., Abu Hatab A., Made N., Taremwa N.K., Melyoki L., Rutashobya L., Madonsela T., Bizoza A.R. (2021). COVID-19: from health crises to food security anxiety and policy implications. AMBIO: A Journal of Human Environment, 2021:1-18.
Abu Hatab A., Liu Z., Nasser A. and Esmat A. (2021). Determinants of SARS-CoV-2 impacts on small-scale commercial broiler production systems in Egypt: Implications for mitigation strategies. Animals, 11(5), 1354.
Zhen Liu, Qiuming Li and Abu Hatab A.(2020). Does Participation in the Sloping Land Conversion Program Reduce the Sensitivity of Chinese Farmers to Climate Change? Land Use Policy, 99(2020): 105021.
Yihui Chen, Minjie Li, Abu Hatab A. (2020). A spatiotemporal analysis of comparative advantage in tea production: A case study on Fujian province in China., Agricultural Economics, 66 (November 2020), 550–561.
Carl Johan Lagerkvist, Abu Hatab A., Swamikannu Nedumaran, Padmaja Ravula (2021). A latent class analysis of food hygiene and handling practices among urban and peri-urban residents in Hyderabad, India. Food Control, 121 (March 2021), 107677
Jinna Yu, zhen liu, Tingting Zhang, Abu Hatab A. and Jing Lan (2020). Measuring productivity of healthcare services under environmental constraints: Evidence from China. BMC Health Services Research, 20(673), 1472-6963.
Zhen Liu, Yang Yang, Hua Li, Abu Hatab A., Junsheng Ha (2020). Effect of Forestland Tenure Security on Rural Household Forest Management and Protection in Rural China. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22(June 2020) e00952.
Abu Hatab A. and Sherif Maher (2020). Food Price Volatility and Political Unrest: Rethinking Food Policies in Post-‘Arab Spring’ Egypt. In Contemporary Challenges in Africa's Development, Kanayo Ogujiuba and Ufiem Maurice Ogbonnaya (Eds), Reach Publishers.
Liye Wang, Xinli Ke and Abu Hatab A. (2020). Trade-offs between Economic Benefits and Ecosystem Services Value under Three Cropland Protection Scenarios. Land, 9(4):117.
Yang Yang, Zhen Liu, Abu Hatab A. and Jing Lan (2020). Effect of forestland property rights and village off-farm environment on off-farm employment in southern China. Sustainability, 12(7), 2605.
Jinna Yu , Zhen Liu , Tingting Zhang , Abu Hatab A. and Jing Lan (2020). Tripartite Data Analysis for Optimizing Telemedicine Operations: Evidence from Guizhou Province in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17(1), 375.
Tingting Zhang, Shunbo Yao, Jinna Yu, Abu Hatab A., and Zhen Liu (2020). Effects of China’s collective forestland tenure reform policies on forest product firm values. Land, 9(4), 127.
Abu Hatab A., Maria Cavinato, August Lindemer and Carl Johan Lagerkvist (2019). Urban Sprawl, Food Security & Agricultural Systems in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Cities (Elsevier), 94(2019), 129-142.
Nasem Badreldin, Abu Hatab A. and Carl Johan Lagerkvist (2019). Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Urbanization and Cropland in the Nile Delta of Egypt Using Machine Learning and Satellite Big Data: Implications for Sustainable Development. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019(191):767-790.
Abu Hatab A., Sebastian Hess and Yves Surry (2019). EU's trade standards and the export performance of small and medium-sized agri-food firms in Egypt. International Food & Agribusiness Management Review, 22(5): 689-705.
Abu Hatab A., Maria Eduarda Rigo Cavinato and Carl Johan Lagerkvist (2019). Urbanization, livestock systems and food security in developing countries: A systematic review of the literature. Food Security, Springer, 11(2): 279-299.
Abu Hatab A. and Aimable Nsanimana (2019). Exchange rate uncertainty and Egyptian exports of horticultural commodities into the EU. Acta Horticulture. 1258, 11-18
Wei Huang and Abu Hatab A. (2019). Environmentally adjusted production efficiency and agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in North Africa. The 30th Anniversary of the European Workshop on Efficiency and Productivity Analysis, 10 - 13 June 2019, London, UK.
Filippa Pyk and Abu Hatab A. (2018). Fairtrade and Sustainability: Motivations for Fairtrade Certification among Smallholder Coffee Growers in Tanzania. Sustainability, 10(5), 1551.
Abu Hatab A. (2018). Water scarcity and water trade: An analysis of the determinants of virtual water flows to GCC countries. Qatar Foundation Annual Research Conference Proceedings. Volume 2014 Issue 1, Nov 2014, Volume 2014, SSPP012.
Abu Hatab A. (2018). Agrifood Processing Industry in Egypt: Constraints & Opportunities for Small & Medium Sized Enterprises. The International Conference of the Institute of National Planning on Industrialization and Sustainable Development, Cairo, 5-6 May.
Abu Hatab A. (2017). "Made in China": The Displacement Effect of Chinese Export Growth on Egyptian Textile Exports. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 7(2): 99-114.
Abu Hatab A. (2016). Demand relationships in orange exports to Russia: a differential demand system approach focusing on Egypt. Agricultural and Food Economics, 2016(4):22.
Abu Hatab A. and Surry Y. (2016). Determinants of import demand for Egyptian potatoes in Germany and the United Kingdom. Acta Horticulture. 1132, 39-48
Abu Hatab A. and Aimable Nsanimana (2016). A Dynamic Analysis of Egyptian Orange Exports to Russia: A Co-integration Analysis. Agricultural Economics Review, 17(2): 38-54.
Abu Hatab A. (2016). Food Price Volatility & Political Unrest: The case of the Egyptian “Arab Spring”. CIHEAM Watch Letter n° 36 on "Crises and resilience in the Mediterranean agricultural and rural worlds”. CIHEAM.
B. Petra, A., et al. (2015). Employability of Erasmus Mundus Graduates in Agriculture on the Chinese Professional Market. Scientific report commissioned by ASK Asia project, an Erasmus Mundus Action 3 project funded by the European Commission (EACEA)
Abu Hatab A. and Eirik Romstad (2014). Competitiveness analysis of Egyptian cotton exports with special focus on the Chinese market. China Agricultural Economic Review, 6(2):248 – 263.
Sebastian Hess, Abu Hatab A., et. al. (2014).Agriculture, Agribusiness and Tertiary Agricultural Education in Africa: A systematic review of the literature. Scientific Report Commissioned by TEAM-Africa under the Prospective Study on Tertiary Agricultural Education in Africa.
Abu Hatab A. (2014). Gendering the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector in Egypt. CIHEAM Watch Letter n° 31 on "The Mediterranean Sea Fisheries and Beyond", 39-42.
Abu Hatab A. and Sebastian Hess (2013). Opportunities and Constraints for Small Agricultural Exporters in Egypt. International Food & Agribusiness Management Review, 16(4):77-100.
Abu Hatab A., Huo Xuexi and Nada Shouman (2012). Exploring Egypt-China Bilateral Trade: Dynamics and Perspectives. Journal of Economic Studies, 39(3):314-326.
Wang J., Xuexi H., Abu Hatab A., and Kabir S. (2012). Non-neutral technology, farmer income and poverty reduction: Evidence from high value agricultural household in China. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, 10(3&4): 582-589.
Abu Hatab A., Erik Romstad and Huo Xuexi (2011). Determinants of Egyptian Agricultural Exports: A Gravity Model Approach. Modern Economy, 1(1):134-143.
Abu Hatab A.(2009). Egypt within the Framework of the Global Financial Crisis: Impact, Response and Way Forward. International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies, 2(1):7:25.