RTG 2654: Sustainable Food Systems

Nicolas M. Klas

I am a PhD candidate in the DFG-funded Research Training Group "Sustainable Food Systems" and work on the "Effects of Globalisation on Food Consumption and Nutrition (Subproject B3)" under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Krisztina Kis-Katos. In my research, I am mainly interested in the design of household-level development projects, in particular social protection programmes and their role to foster household resilience with shock-responsiveness. To this end, I leverage both experimental and quasi-experimental methods and work with micro-level and spatial data, as well as machine learning tools.

Research Interests


  • Development Economics
  • Agricultural Economics
  • Cash Transfer Programmes
  • Food Security
  • Weather Extremes


Education

  • 2024- Ph.D. in Development Economics, University of Göttingen, Germany
  • 2020-2023 M.Sc. in Economics, University of Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2021-2023 Erasmus Stay, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2016-2020 B.Sc. in European Economic Studies, University of Bamberg, Germany
  • 2018-2019 Erasmus Stay, University of Groningen, The Netherlands


Professional Experience

  • Student Assistant, Evaluations Department, KfW Development Bank
  • Research Internship, Social Security Sector in Southern Sub-Saharan Africa, KfW Development Bank
  • Research Internship, Africa/Middle East Department, Misereor e.V.
  • Student Research Assistant, Chair for International Economics, University of Bamberg


Current Projects

BMZ-DEval funded Rigorous Impact Evaluation "Ecological and Socio-Economic Effect of the Forest Restoration Program PLAE in Madagascar"(Project Website)
My project specifically investigates smallholder preferences for development projects drawing on the example of the PLAE reforestation programme in northwestern Madagascar. Using a discrete choice experiment, we take a step back and ask respondents what key attributes they value in the design of reforestation projects. We also delve specifically into the effect past experiences with reforestation initiatives on the formation of households preferences by interviewing both former participants and non-participants of the PLAE project, as well as whether households are willing to trade-off less preferred attributes.

Impact evaluation of the Aswesuma cash transfer programme
This project is a cooperation with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as part of the BRIGHT initiative in Sri Lanka (Project Website). We use quasi-experimental methods to provide the first assessment of Sri Lanka's new cash transfer programme Aswesuma.


Publications

  • Nicolas Klas (2020), Loosening the Strings Attached: Cash Transfer Programmes in Development Cooperation, Misereor [PDF]

  • Vivien Hülsen, Nicolas Klas, Derek Headey, Dilusha Munasinghe, Immacolata Ranucci, Moe Sabai, Joanna van Asselt and Krishani Weerasinghe (2025), Accessing Aswesuma: Key Findings on Sri Lanka’s New Social Protection Program from the BRIGHT 2024-25 National Survey: IFPRI , BRIGHT Sri Lanka Project Note No. 6 [PDF]