Naomi Taylor

Naomi Taylor is research economist and analyst at RTI. She is an expert in environmental and agricultural economics, with a focus on the economics of food security in low- and middle-income countries and rural communities of the US. Ms. Taylor has extensive experience in collecting, analyzing, and visualizing primary and secondary data to answer key research questions. Ms. Taylor creatively applies a combination of economic theory, data, and storytelling to inform client decision-making, including around organizational strategy evolutions and programmatic improvements.

Ms. Taylor's current work spans the agrifood system with various clients. She supports a strategic clarification process to develop theories of change and action for a global philanthropic donor who seeks to accelerate country-led agricultural transformation in Africa and Asia. For the same client, Ms. Taylor supports efforts to integrate climate adaptation into the donor’s investments and strategies. She also works with North Carolina’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ North Carolina Agriculture Manufacturing and Processing Initiative to identify opportunities for grants to build upon NC’s processing and manufacturing infrastructure in support of farmer livelihoods. Ms. Taylor’s other recent work includes evaluating a portfolio of various crop improvement investments for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and characterizing the opportunity landscape for the expansion of an agtech innovation corridor in NC as part of a National Science Foundation planning grant.

Prior to joining RTI in 2018, Ms. Taylor served the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service's Cochran Fellowship Program. She supported the international agricultural capacity-building program with trade analyses and program evaluation. Her prior work has been regionally focused on Sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia.