Chandana Maitra

Dr. Chandana Maitra is an Academic Fellow in the School of Economics within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on food security measurement, poverty analysis, and health economics with particular emphasis on India and Australia. She maintains active collaborations with international organizations including UNICEF and FAO.

Her educational background includes a BA (Econ Hons) from Jadavpur University (Kolkata, India), MA and MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India), and PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland. Dr. Maitra has established herself as a leading researcher in food insecurity measurement, particularly through her work on experiential scales in urban Indian contexts and Australian food security analysis.

Dr. Maitra's research program centers on the complex interlinkages between food security, poverty, and health outcomes. Her work employs advanced microeconometric techniques to analyze household survey data, with particular focus on vulnerable populations including urban slum dwellers in Kolkata and marginalized communities in Australia. She has made significant contributions to developing culturally appropriate food insecurity measurement tools for the Indian context, which have informed UNICEF and FAO initiatives. Her recent work examines multidimensional hardship in Australia, climate adaptation impacts on food security, and the nutritional consequences of food insecurity for maternal and child health.

Her publication record demonstrates consistent output in high-impact journals including World Development, Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Review of Income and Wealth, with recent work appearing in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. Dr. Maitra has secured competitive research grants including the 'Triple Burden of Malnutrition in India' project funded by the India Development Fund and a 'COVID Kick Start' grant from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

As a member of the Sydney Institute of Agriculture, Dr. Maitra contributes to interdisciplinary research on food systems and agricultural economics. Her work bridges academic research and policy applications, with recent contributions to Austaxpolicy highlighting the need for broad-based social protection policies to reduce food insecurity in Australia.