Renato Andrin Villano

Renato Andrin (Rene) Villano is a Professor of Economics at the UNE Business School within the University of New England's Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law. He chairs the Research and Research Training Committee and has over 20 years of experience in international development, leading socio-economic teams in Asia-Pacific and African projects. His expertise spans agricultural economics, applied econometrics, development economics, and socio-economic impact analysis.

Dr. Villano holds a BAgEc (Hons) and a PhD in Economics, and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has received multiple awards, including the UNE Teaching Excellence Award (2016) and an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation (2011). He teaches business analytics, econometrics, and research methods, and has supervised over 20 PhD and numerous Master’s students.

His research focuses on efficiency analysis, farming systems, poverty reduction, and agribusiness value chains. Ongoing projects include improving smallholder livelihoods in Indonesia and South Africa through integrated farming systems. He serves as an Honorary Professor at Shandong Institute of Business and Technology and on editorial boards of journals like the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Key achievements include over 150 publications in top-tier journals, leadership in multi-disciplinary projects, and contributions to policy through impact assessments and capacity-building initiatives. His work bridges academic research with practical development solutions globally.