FEATURED PUBLICATIONS BY THEME



Food Systems & Policy


JOURNAL ARTICLE · AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Sanga et al. (2025). Emergence of cross-level poverty traps in agricultural innovation systems: Environmental impacts and sustainable interventions. ARTICLE ↗

JOURNAL ARTICLE · GROUNDWATER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sanga & Koli (2023). Mental models of sustainable groundwater management among farmers in semi-arid regions of Maharashtra, India. ARTICLE ↗


Systems Science & Modelling


JOURNAL ARTICLE · SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS MODELLING.

Sanga, U., Schlüter, M., & Berrío-Martínez, J. (2023). Modelling agricultural innovations as a social-ecological phenomenon. ARTICLE ↗

JOURNAL ARTICLE · ECOLOGICAL MODELLING 

Radosavljevic, S., Sanga, U., & Schlüter, M. (2024). Navigating the simplicity and complexity of social-ecological systems through a dialogue between dynamical systems and agent-based models. ARTICLE ↗


ALL PUBLICATIONS


Peer-reviewed papers

Book Chapters

Climate Adaptation


JOURNAL ARTICLE · WORLD DEVELOPMENT

Sanga et al. (2021). Dynamic pathways of barriers and opportunities for food security and climate adaptation in Southern Mali.ARTICLE ↗

JOURNAL ARTICLE · JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

Sanga et al. (2021). How do farmers adapt to agricultural risks in northern India? An agent-based exploration of alternate theories of decision-making. Journal of Environmental Management. ARTICLE ↗


Participatory approaches

JOURNAL ARTICLE · GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society

Martin, R., & Sanga, U. (2023). Participatory modeling: Participatory research methods for sustainability toolkit #6. ARTICLE ↗

JOURNAL ARTICLE · AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Sanga & Schlüter (2025) Stories, simulations, and narratives: Collaboratively exploring food security and agricultural innovation in sub-Saharan Africa. ARTICLE ↗

  1. ‍ ‍Sanga, U. (2026). "A Systems Perspective on Structures, Dynamics and Archetypes in Somalia Famine 2011-2012. Journal of Public Health Policy

  2. Moore, T., Krobath, D., Chang, Chusan Y., Sanga, U., Roland, H., Grant, B., Cuevas, A., Pachucki, M.; Webb,P., Kumanyika, S., Nicholson, V. (2025) Systems science methods reveal and address links between discrimination and health disparities in US food systems. Nature Food https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01229-5

  3. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., Radosavljevic, S., & Schlüter, M. (2025). Emergence of cross-level poverty traps in agricultural innovations systems: Environmental impacts and sustainable interventions. Agricultural Systems233, 104596

  4. ‍ ‍Kavhu, B., Mashimbye, Z. E., Luvuno, L., & Sanga, U. (2025). Integrating socio-economic zones into water resource analysis under land use change and climate variability in the Okavango basin. Watershed Ecology and the Environment. 7, 338-352.

  5. ‍ ‍Schlüter, M., Wijermans, N., González-Mon, B., Lindkvist, E., Orach, K., Prawitz, H., Martin, R., Martínez-Peña, R., Pellowe, K.E. & & Sanga, U. (2025). Navigating the space between empirics and theory–Empirically stylized modelling for theorising social-ecological phenomena. Environmental Modelling & Software, 189, 106444.

  6. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., & Schlüter, M. (2025). Stories, simulations and narratives: Collaboratively exploring food security and agricultural innovation in sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural Systems, 224, 104241.

  7. ‍ ‍Radosavljevic, S., Sanga, U., & Schlüter, M. (2024). Navigating simplicity and complexity of social-ecological systems through a dialogue between dynamical systems and agent-based models. Ecological Modelling, 495, 110788.

  8. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., Schlüter, M., & Berrío-Martínez, J. (2023). Modeling agricultural innovations as a social-ecological phenomenon. Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling, 5, 18562-18562.

  9. ‍ Martin, R., & Sanga, U. (2023). Participatory modelling: Participatory research methods for sustainability‐toolkit# 6. GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 32(2), 230-232.

  10. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., & Koli, U. (2023). Mental models of sustainable groundwater management among farmers in semi-arid regions of Maharashtra, India. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 100904.

  11. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., Sidibé, A., & Olabisi, L. S. (2021). Dynamic pathways of barriers and opportunities for food security and climate adaptation in Southern Mali. World Development, 148, 105663.

  12. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., Park, H., Wagner, C. H., Shah, S. H., & Ligmann-Zielinska, A. (2021). How do farmers adapt to agricultural risks in northern India? An agent-based exploration of alternate theories of decision-making. Journal of Environmental Management, 298, 113353.

  13. ‍Shah, S. H., Wagner, C. H., Sanga, U., Park, H., Demange, L. H. M. D. L., Gueiros, C., & Niles, M. T. (2019). Does household capital mediate the uptake of agricultural land, crop, and livestock adaptations? Evidence from the Indo-Gangetic Plains (India). Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 3, 1.

  14. ‍ ‍Rivers III, L., Sanga, U., Sidibe, A., Wood, A., Paudel, R., Marquart-Pyatt, S.T., Ligmann-Zielinska, A., Olabisi, L.S., Du, E.J. and Liverpool-Tasie, S., 2018. Mental models of food security in rural Mali. Environment Systems and Decisions, 38(1), pp. 33-51.

  15. ‍ ‍Sanga, U., Provenza, F. D., & Villalba, J. J. (2011). Transmission of self-medicative behaviour from mother to offspring in sheep. Animal Behaviour, 82(2), 219-227.

  1. Sanga, U., Pinto, S., Messer, E., Vance, E., Collective, A.K. (2026) (in press). Indigenous (Adivasi) foodways: Bridging Indigenous Research, Systems Science and Anthropology for Sustainable Food Futures Diverse Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainability: Perspectives, Challenges, and Opportunities. Cambridge University Press.

  2. Sanga, U., Martin, R. (2026) (in press). Participatory modeling for transformative processes towards sustainability. In B. Bornemann & M. Simoens (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Sustainability Transformations: Social Science Perspectives. Edward Elgar Publishing.

  3. Ligmann-Zielinska A., Du, J., Rivers III L., Liverpool-Tasie S., Denny R. C. H., Wood A. L., Sanga U., Marquart-Pyatt S., Breeze V., Paudel R., and Schmitt Olabisi L. (2020). “Principles of Participatory Ensemble Modeling to Study Complex Socioecological Systems" in Innovations in Collaborative Modeling (Porter WF, Zhao J, Schmitt Olabisi L, McNall M, Eds.) Transformations in Higher Education: The Scholarship of Engagement Series, Michigan State University Press

Policy papers

  1. Schmitt-Olabisi, L., Liverpool-Tasie, S., Onyeneke, R., Choko, O., Osuntade, B., Sanou, A., Sanga, U. and Chiemela, S.C., 2020. Climate Change Adaptation in the Nigerian Agricultural Sector (No. 1878-2020-510)

  2. Sanga, U., Olabisi, L.S., & Liverpool-Tasie,S.,(2018). System Dynamics Modelling of Maize Production under Future Climate Scenarios in Kaduna, Nigeria. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Paper 97. East Lansing: Michigan State University.