Assem Abu Hatab holds a PhD in economics, and he studied agricultural economics, food and agricultural sciences, and development economics at Suez Canal University (Egypt), Northwest A&F University (China), and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway).

He is an applied economist with broad empirical interests and focus on the economics and sustainable management of natural resources and food systems and their interlinkages with sustainable development in African and low-income countries.

His ongoing research projects deal with: i) the political economy of food and agriculture in North Africa; ii) the resilience of food systems to environmental stressors and economic shocks; iii) the determinants and welfare impact of internal migration in North Africa; iv) using behavioral approaches to understand farmers and consumers’ decisions and choices, and v) international food and agricultural trade and trade policy analysis.

Previously, Assem worked an associate professor and lecturer at the Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); a coordinator of global development at SLU Global, SLU; a senior researcher at the Centre for Middle East Studies of Lund University; a postdoctoral fellow at Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, the United States; a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Economics, SLU; a lecturer and researchers at the College of Economics & Management, Northwest A&F University (China); and an assistant researcher and lecturer at Suez Canal University (Egypt).

Assem coordinated, consulted and participated in several national and international projects and research received funding, including from the CGIAR, EU2020, World Bank, the Swedish Research Council Formas, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Norwegian Research Council, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and the Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund.

In 2018, Assem was selected a lead author for the 6th IPCC Assessment Report. In 2016, he was awarded the Civil Society Scholar Award from the Open Society Foundations. In 2015, he was elected a member of the consultative board of the Arab Federation for Wildlife Protection (the Arab Council for Economic Unity, the League of Arab States). In 2013, Assem was elected as a member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In 2013, he was also awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development.