Working with cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire

Research Expertise and Interest

marketing, biotechnology, water, risk management, biofuels, natural resources, agricultural and environmental policy, the economics of innovation

Research Description

David Zilberman holds the Robinson Chair in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at UC Berkeley. He received the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture and was elected a U.S. National Academy of Science member in 2019. 

David served as the 2018-19 President of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA). He's a fellow of multiple professional associations and has published in professional and popular outlets. He has over 400 referenced journal articles ranging from Science to ARE-Update and has edited 30 books. In addition, he has served as a Consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USDA, the World Bank, FAO, MARS, BP, and others. David got a BA from Tel Aviv University and a Berkeley Ph.D. David co-founded the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program and is the academic director of the Berkeley MDP program.

David's research analyzes water, innovation, supply chain, agriculture, energy, and the environment. He has studied the adoption of irrigation technology and water markets in California, the economics of pesticide regulation, the political economy of agricultural biotechnology, the design and potential of the bioeconomy, the economics of biofuels and alternative crops, and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the News

Eight Berkeley faculty elected to National Academy of Sciences

In recognition of their outstanding achievements in original research, eight UC Berkeley faculty have been elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the most distinguished scientific organizations in the country. The newly elected researchers include a neuroscientist, two physicists, two cellular biologists, a computer scientist, a chemist and an economist, and bring the total number of living UC Berkeley faculty who are members of the academy to 135.

David Zilberman awarded Wolf Prize in Agriculture

David Zilberman, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Berkeley, has been awarded the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture in recognition of his work developing economic models for fundamental problems in agriculture, economics, and policy.

How to feed a starving world? A new center at Berkeley seeks solutions

How to feed a fast-growing world where 900 million people are undernourished? Claire Kremen, a conservation biologist, sees traditional, sustainable practices as the solution. She and a group of Berkeley colleagues are establishing a new Berkeley Center for Diversified Farming Systems to find ways to scale up agroecological practices around the globe. A special report from the College of Natural Resources.

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