Elinor Benami

Assistant Professor, Agricultural & Applied Economics - Virginia Tech | Agricultural Insurance and Finance Lead for RAAPID/NASA Harvest

Dr. Elinor Benami is an applied economist at Virginia Tech who leads work on agricultural insurance and finance within NASA Harvest, NASA’s Global Food Security and Agriculture Consortium and RAAPID (Rapid Agricultural Assessments for Policy Impact and Decision-making). Her research examines how satellite Earth observations and novel administrative data can improve the design and delivery of agricultural insurance and other agricultural risk management tools. She also studies the costs, benefits, and financial implications of transitions to more sustainable agricultural practices, including what those transitions mean for agricultural producers and public policy in the U.S. as well as international settings.

Through NASA Harvest and RAAPID, she works with government agencies, financial institutions, NGOs, and research organizations to develop and apply better agricultural information for risk assessment, anticipatory action, and finance, particularly where conventional ground data are limited or slow to become available. Her work aims to enable earlier responses to agricultural shocks and improve the targeting and timing of financial support in ways that protect producer welfare and strengthen the resilience of farmers and food systems.