About Us
Prof. Vidya Vemireddy is a faculty member at the Centre for Management in Agriculture (CMA) at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). Her academic outlook has diverse domains covering agriculture largely – agricultural finance, food systems, climate frameworks, and gender empowerment in agriculture at rural levels et all.
She currently chairs the Gender Centre at IIMA and has led multiple research grants on gender and agriculture. Her research focuses on farmer behaviour and technology adoption across ten Indian states (in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, NITI Ayog, Confederation of India Industries CII, and Gates Foundation), the impact of women’s empowerment on household and intra-household nutrition in India and Sub-Saharan Africa, and climate-resilient agricultural practices (in partnership with CGIAR institutions). While doing her doctorate at the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI), Cornell University, she examined food consumption patterns at the intra-district level in India, providing key policy recommendations. She has also contributed to research on adapting the Women’s Empowerment Index to the Indian context, enhancing financial inclusion for women in agriculture, and integrating self-help groups in food fortification initiatives.
As a solution-oriented researcher, she focuses on developing policies to create a sustainable outlook in the broader domain of agriculture and food systems. Aligning with these domains, she has authored case studies on blockchain applications in agriculture, receivable financing, digital technology adoption, the sustainability of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), price discovery mechanisms, and risk management in agri-food systems. Her research has been published in leading international journals, policy reports, and editorial columns.
Beyond academia, Prof. Vemireddy serves as an Advisory Council Member for the CII Centre for Women Leadership and is an Executive Committee Member of the Agricultural Economics Research Association (India).
Before joining IIMA in 2019, Prof. Vemireddy earned a PhD in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University, USA, while a Master’s in Economics from Boston University and a Bachelor’s (Hons.) in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University.
Prof. Vidya Vemireddy
(Faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad)
Professional Experience
IIM Ahmedabad
(2014 – 2019)
Assistant Professor
Centre for Management in Agriculture
IIM Ahmedabad
(2013 – 2014)
Chairperson
Gender Centre, IIM Ahmedabad
Education
Cornell University
(2014 – 2019)
Phd
Applied Economics and Management
Boston University
(2013 – 2014)
M.A.
(2014 – 2019)
Lady Shri Ram College for
(2014 – 2019)
Cornell University
(2014 – 2019)
Selected Publications
Soumya Gupta, Payal Seth, Vidya Vemireddy, Prabhu Pingali (2024) Women’s empowerment and intra-household diet diversity across the urban continuum: Evidence from India’s DHS
shehzala, Jaiswal, A. K., Vemireddy, V., & Angeli, F. (2024). Social media “stars” vs “the ordinary” me: influencer marketing and the role of self-discrepancies, perceived homophily, authenticity, self-acceptance and mindfulness. European Journal of Marketing, 58(2), 590-631.
Singh, S., & Vemireddy, V. (2023). Transitioning diets: a mixed methods study on factors affecting inclusion of millets in the urban population. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2023.
Vemireddy, Vidya, and Anjali Choudhary. “A systematic review of labor-saving technologies: Implications for women in agriculture.” Global Food Security, 29 (2021): 100541.
Teaching
Courses for MBA students:-
1.Agricultural Finance:
This course is a compulsory course offered to the final year MBA graduates in IIMA’s flagship Food and Agribusiness Management Program. This course seeks to develop an understanding of the agricultural finance environment, the major institutions involved, and the strategic financing issues. Besides introducing the agricultural finance environment, students get exposed to various new innovations in financial instruments and agribusiness valuation. Topics of risk management are also included within this course specifically designed for the agricultural context in India.
2.Food Systems Approach to Indian Agribusinesses:
This course is an elective offered to final year MBA graduates at IIMA. Given the issues related to malnutrition that plague India, connecting agriculture and nutrition is critical. This course introduces students to this framework and presents various existing and potential agribusiness opportunities. This course intends to develop systems thinking among students of agribusiness.
3.Food and Agribusiness (FAB)
Courses for PhD students
4. Applied Microeconomics for Food and Agribusiness:
The course focuses on advanced microeconomic theory and applications within the domain of food and agriculture. It aims to develop the understanding of the core concepts in consumer and producer theory and applications. Topics such as estimating demand and production function, welfare analysis, interdisciplinary applications etc. are discussed through a mix of lectures, empirical exercises and presentations. Students are exposed to current topics in the literature and equipped with tools to analyse (experimental, quasi-experimental, panel data methods etc.) complex empirical problems across different contexts. This course is an advanced level course and designed for students from second year onward with a background in microeconomics and econometrics.
5.Agricultural Management I & II
The objective of this course is to introduce advanced concepts of consumer behavior, demand, supply, economic systems, water and input management, agricultural marketing, risk analysis, development and institutional economics.
Panels, Presentations and others
- Selected papers and posters] International Agricultural Economics Association Conference, 2024, New Delhi.
- [Selected paper presentation] Meeting of Young Minds in Frontiers of Economics, a conference by the Institute of New Economic Thinking- Young Scholars Initiative at IIT Bombay , 2024
- [Selected paper presentation] Doctoral Colloquium at Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), 2023
- [Selected paper presentation] Annual International Research Conference at IIM Lucknow, 2023
- [Selected paper presentation] Annual Economics conference on growth and development at Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, 2023
Membership and Reviewer Services
- Agricultural Economics Research Association- India (AERA) [Executive Committee 2024, member]
- Indian Association for Agricultural Economics (International Association of Agricultural Economics (Member)
- American Economic Association (Member)
- American Agricultural Economic Association [present]
- Reviewer: Oxford Development Studies,
- Economic Modelling, Nature Food, Economic Development & Cultural Change
- Food Security
- Food Policy
- Global Food Security
- World Development
- Applied Economics and Policy Perspectives
Doctoral Supervision
Chair of the committee
Muddasir Ahmad Akhoon [Three Essays on Agricultural Productivity and Technical Efficiency] Disha Bose [Non-farm employment & gender] Suruchi Singh [consumer behavior & marketing] Jannet John [Farmer Producer Companies] [co-chair]
Member of the committee
Shehzala [consumer behavior & marketing] Bhanu Pratap Singh [consumer behavior & marketing]
Working Papers & Projects
Vemireddy,V., Bajoria,P., Puskur,R., Seasonal dietary diversity and gender control in sub-Saharan Africa: a comparison across production systems.
Conference ‘From Research to Impact: Towards just and resilient agri-food systems’ New Delhi, India, 9-12 October 2023. International Food Policy Research Institute
Alvi, Muzna; Vemireddy, Vidya; Ringler, Claudia; Tank, Nikita. 2023. Developing a women’s empowerment in energy index: Conceptual framework and empirical evidence. Poster. Presented at the CGIAR GENDER
Gupta, S., Vemireddy, V., Seth, P., & Pingali, P. L. (2024). Bridging the intrahousehold dietary gap–the role of economic growth and women’s nutritional empowerment: Evidence from India.
Accolades
Contact & Social Links
Email:
vidyav@iima.ac.in
Phone :
+91-79-7152 4953
Website :
Secretary :
Vanitha Mudaliar
Phone :
91-79-7152 7912
X :
@vvidyasachi
Linkedin :
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