Associate Professor Alexandra Peralta Sanchez
Associate Professor/Reader
School of Economics
College of Business and Law
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD, but is currently at capacity - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Alexandra is an Associate Professor in Agricultural and Food Economics with The Centre for Global Food and Resources (CGFAR) at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on evaluating the adoption of agricultural innovations on income and household welfare-related outcomes. She uses econometric methods, lab-in-field experiments, farmer decision-making models, and qualitative methods. Alexandra’s work includes collaboration with agricultural scientists, anthropologists, and geographers. Her current research projects study the economic and social impacts of mobile finance on men and women in farming households in Cambodia and Laos, and the impacts of the national seed system on food production and food security in Timor-Leste. She conducted work on the evaluation of the adoption of improved seed varieties and postharvest practices in Angola, Haiti, Nicaragua, Uganda, and Vanuatu, and dairy farming practices in Indonesia. Alexandra researched farmers’ decisions on whether to grow trees or crops in the highlands of western Kenya. She has presented her work in Australia, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United States. Alexandra has extensive experience with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). She has worked as a Research Associate at the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University and consulted for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Alexandra has experience with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Alexandra is a Fulbright alumna.
I am an applied economist working on international development, specifically evaluating the impacts of development interventions and programs, analysing the effects of agricultural innovations at different levels of the agricultural value chain, and with an interest on women in agriculture. I also have a growing interest in the resilience of agricultural value chains to shocks, the roles that different actors across the chain play, and food security.
My current research projects include:
Building the evidence base on the impacts of mobile financial services for women and men in farming households in Laos and Cambodia
Impact Assessment Seeds of Life Project in Timor Leste
Enhancing Food and Nutrition Security through an Improved Understanding of Farming Households and Value Chains in Timor-Leste
Evaluating service provision approaches and value-chain interventions to support milk cooperatives to grow the smallholder dairy sector of Indonesia
Find more about these research projects here: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/global-food/research/international-development
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD under my supervision please follow the process indicated in the Adelaide University website https://adelaideuni.edu.au/research/research-degrees/find-a-supervisor/
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Associate Professor | University of Adelaide |
| 2024 - ongoing | Postgraduate Coordinator/HDR Convenor | School of Economics and Public Policy, University of Adelaide |
| 2021 - 2024 | Senior Lecturer in Agricultural and Food Economics | Centre for Global Food and Resources, University of Adelaide |
| 2021 - 2022 | Postgraduate Coordinator | Centre for Global Food and Resources, University of Adelaide |
| 2015 - 2021 | Lecturer in Agricultural and Food Economics | Centre for Global Food and Resources, University of Adelaide |
| 2014 - 2015 | Lecturer | Centre for Global Food and Resources, University of Adelaide |
| 2014 - 2014 | Consultant | Inter-American Development Bank |
| 2014 - 2014 | Research Associate | Department of Community Sustainibility, Michigan State University |
| 2007 - 2014 | Research Assistant | Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University |
| 2005 - 2007 | Assistant Coordinator | Challange Program for Water and Food, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Teaching Award | University of Adelaide Commendation for the Enhancement of and Innovation in Student Learning (with Craig Johns and Adam Loch) | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2024 | Research Award | Faculty of Art, Business, Law and Economics Commendation for Grant Excellence | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2024 | Teaching Award | School of Economics and Public Policy Team Teaching Excellence Award (with Craig Johns and Adam Loch) | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2024 | Research Award | School of Economics and Public Policy Excellence in Research Engagement & Impact Award | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2019 | Teaching Award | Executive Dean Award 21st Century Learning and Teaching | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2019 | Award | 2018 Heading North Travel Award | Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society | Australia | - |
| 2016 | Research Award | Executive Dean's Commendation for Excellence in Research | University of Adelaide | Australia | - |
| 2009 | Scholarship | Charles Stewart Mott Doctoral Fellowships | Michigan State University | United States | USD34,000 |
| 2007 | Scholarship | Fulbright grant for graduate studies | The Fulbright Commission | United States | - |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| English | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Spanish; Castilian | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Michigan State University | United States | PhD in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics |
| 2012 | Michigan State University | United States | MSc Agricultural Economics |
| 2012 | Michigan State University | United States | Graduate Specialisation in Ecological Food and Farming Systems |
| 2002 | Universidad del Valle | Colombia | Economist (equivalent to a first class honours degree) |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Akzar, R., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Umberger, W. (2025). Adoption of dairy feed technology bundles improves smallholder dairy farmers' milk production. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 15(2), 269-287. Scopus3 WoS4 |
| 2024 | Akzar, R., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Umberger, W. (2024). Understanding dis-adoption of technologies by smallholder dairy farmers in Indonesia. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 27(3), 478-508. Scopus1 |
| 2024 | Peralta Sanchez, M. A., Johns, C., & Loch, A. (2024). Expanding beyond case studies in postgraduate agribusiness teaching to enhance experiential benefits and student/teacher outcomes. Applied Economics Teaching Resources, 6(4), 36-68. |
| 2024 | Loch, A., Scholz, G., Adamson, D., Sexton, S., & Peralta Sanchez, A. (2024). Validating costly protected area restoration after (increasing) disasters. Journal of Environmental Management, 370, 122305-1-122305-11. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2023 | Azkar, R., Umberger, W., & Peralta, A. (2023). Understanding heterogeneity in technology adoption among Indonesian smallholder dairy farmers. Agribusiness: an international journal, 39(2), 347-370. Scopus16 WoS14 |
| 2022 | Peralta, A. (2022). The role of men and women in agriculture and agricultural decisions in Vanuatu. Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, 9(1), 59-80. Scopus15 WoS13 |
| 2022 | Peralta, A., Shupp, R., & Arslan, C. (2022). The Grower-Trader Relationship: Experiments with Coffee Value Chain Actors in Uganda. Oxford Development Studies, 50(3), 193-208. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2022 | Genova, C., Umberger, W., Newman, S., & Peralta, A. (2022). Understanding food choice factors of rural households from northwest Vietnam. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, 13(5), 1-22. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2022 | Genova, C., Umberger, W., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., Newman, S., & Zeng, D. (2022). The Indirect Impact of Smallholder Vegetable Production on Children's Nutrition Outcomes in Rural Vietnam. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6, 1-21. Scopus2 WoS2 |
| 2021 | Qanti, S., Peralta, A., & Zeng, D. (2021). Social norms and perceptions drive women’s participation in agricultural decisions in West Java, Indonesia. Agriculture and Human Values, 39(2), 645-662. Scopus17 WoS16 |
| 2021 | Maligalig, R. L., Demont, M., Umberger, W. J., & Peralta, A. (2021). Understanding Filipino rice farmer preference heterogeneity for varietal trait improvements: A latent class analysis. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 72(1), 134-157. Scopus20 WoS19 Europe PMC4 |
| 2019 | Maligalig, R., Demond, M., Umberger, W., & Peralta, A. (2019). Off-farm employment increases women's empowerment: Evidence from rice farms in the Philippines. Journal of Rural Studies, 71, 62-72. Scopus38 WoS31 Europe PMC8 |
| 2018 | Peralta, A., Swinton, S., & Jin, S. (2018). The secret to getting ahead is getting started: Early impacts of a rural development project. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(8), 20 pages. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2017 | Peralta, A., & Shupp, R. (2017). Trust, Trust Attitudes and Group Membership. Journal of International Development, 29(6), 681-699. Scopus4 WoS3 |
| 2016 | Peralta, A., & Swinton, Scott M. (2016). Food vs. wood: dynamic choices for Kenyan smallholders. Sustainable Agriculture Research, 5(1), 97-108. |
| 2009 | Johnson, N., Garcia, J., Rubiano, J., Quintero, M., Estrada, R., Mwangi, E., . . . Granados, S. (2009). Water and poverty in two Colombian watersheds. Water Alternatives, 2(1), 34-52. Scopus18 |
| 2006 | Peralta, A., James Garcia., & Nancy Johnson. (2006). Dinámica y definición de pobreza en los Andes colombianos: enfoques participativos versus enfoques objetivos. Desarrollo y Sociedad, 58, 209-243. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Chhay, P., Peralta Sanchez, A., & Akzar, R. (2025). Determinants of Digital Financial Service Adoption Among Rural Cambodian Farmers. In 69th Annual Conference of The Australasian Agricultural & Resource Economics Society. Brisbane. |
| 2025 | Maligalig, R., Peralta Sanchez, A., Loch, A., & Tavares, M. (2025). The National Seed System of Timor-Leste: Evaluating the Legacy of the Seeds of Life (SoL) Program. In n/a. Brisbane. |
| 2025 | Hanifah, V., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., Akzar, R., & Ampofo, A. (2025). Gender roles and women’s empowerment in dairy farming: A case from Indonesia. In 69th Annual Conference of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. |
| 2025 | Tiruneh, T., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., Carlevaro Peresson, E., & Loch, A. (2025). Rainfall extremes, variability, and climate-smart agriculture responses. In 69th Annual Conference of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. Brisbane. |
| 2024 | Peralta Sanchez, M. A. (2024). Mobile Money and Rural Financial Markets in Developing Countries: Opportunities, Challenges, and Unexplored Pathways. In 68th Annual Conference Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. |
| 2024 | Akzar, R., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Tang, W. (2024). Impacts of digital financial services in agriculture: A systematic literature review. In 68th Annual Conference Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. |
| 2024 | Maligalig, R., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Loch, A. (2024). Timor-Leste’s National Seed System: Overview of its Structure, Challenges, and Opportunities. In 68th Annual Conference Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. |
| 2023 | Qanti, S., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Zeng, D. (2023). Unfolding the spousal differences in response to intrahousehold decision-making participation questions: Evidence from West Java, Indonesia. In Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society 67th Annual Conference. Christchucrch, New Zealand. |
| 2023 | Qanti, S., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Zeng, D. (2023). Women Decision Making and Dairy Technology Adoption: Positive correlation between women's participation in dairy farming activities and decisions with the adoption of improved cattle nutrition practices in West Java, Indonesia. In Australasian Agriculture and Resource Economics Society 67th Annual Conference. |
| 2020 | Akzar, R., Umberger, W., & Peralta, A. (2020). The synergistic effects of multiple dairy feed technologies on Indonesian smallholder dairy farmers. In Australasian Agricultural and Resources Economics Society 64th Annual Conference. Perth. |
| 2020 | Peralta, A. (2020). Men learn from men, but women do not learn from women: Information networks effects among cocoa growers in Vanuatu.. In Australasian Agricultural and Resources Economics Society 64th Annual Conference.. Perth, WA. |
| 2020 | Peralta, A. (2020). Are cash crops men's and food crops women's? Evidence from Vanuatu. In Australasian Agricultural and Resources Economics Society 64th Annual Conference.. |
| 2019 | Akzar, R., Umberger, W., & Peralta, A. (2019). Adoption of multiple dairy farming technologies by Indonesian smallholder dairy farmers: A latent class analysis approach. In The 63rd AARES Annual Conference. Melbourne, Australia. |
| 2019 | Peralta, A., & Shupp, R. (2019). Do Coffee Growers Trust their Trader? Experimental Evidence from Uganda. In 63rd Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Conference. Melbourne, VIC, Australia. |
| 2019 | Peralta, A. (2019). The role of male and female social networks on knowledge of recommended cocoa practices in Vanuatu. In Seeds of Change Conference. Canberra, ACT, Australia. |
| 2016 | Peralta, A., & Swinton, S. (2016). Peralta, A. and Swinton, S. (2016). Neighbour Effects on Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Nicaragua.. In 60th Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. Canberra. |
| 2016 | Genova, C., Umberger, W., Newman, S., & Peralta, A. (2016). Food choices of the Môngs in the northwest uplands of Vietnam. In Presentation at the XXIII Agri-food Research Network (AFRN) conference (pp. 22 pages). Adelaide. SA.. |
| 2015 | Peralta, A., Jin, S., Arraiz, I., & Calero, C. (2015). Short-term Impact Evaluation of a Value Chain Development Project in Haiti. In Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics (AARES) Conference. Roturua, New Zealand. |
| 2015 | Arraiz, I., Calero, C., Jin, S., & Peralta, A. (2015). Planting the seeds: The impact of training on mando producers in Haiti. In International Association of Agricultural Economists Conference. |
| 2014 | Peralta, A., & Shupp, Robert. (2014). Trust, trust attitudes and group participation in rural development activities. In Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. |
| 2013 | Peralta, A., & Swinton, Scott M. (2013). Impact Assessment with Opt-in Treatments: Evidence from a rural development project in Nicaragua. In Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meetings. Washington, D.C. United States of America. |
| 2012 | Peralta, A., Swinton, Scott M., & Maredia, Mywish. (2012). Accounting for selection bias in impact analysis of a rural development program: An application using propensity score matching.. In International Association of Agricultural Economists. Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Akzar, R., Peralta Sanchez, M. A., & Loch, A. (2024). Assessing Financial Inclusion of Digital Financial Services among Cambodian Farmers. Poster session presented at the meeting of 68th Annual Conference Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. |
| 2018 | Peralta, A., Umberger, W., & Christian, G. (2018). Spousal agreement and women participation in decision making in rural Vietnam. Poster session presented at the meeting of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, 2018, Washington, D.C.. |
| 2018 | Peralta, A., Umberger, W., & Azkar, R. (2018). Spousal agreement, women participation in decisions, and technology adoption in Indonesia.. Poster session presented at the meeting of 2018 AARES Conference. |
| 2018 | Maligalig, R. L., Umberger, W., Demont, M., & Peralta, A. (2018). Farmer preferences for rice varietal trait improvements in Nueva Ecija, Philippines: A latent class cluster approach. Poster session presented at the meeting of International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) Triennial Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. |
| 2018 | Maligalig, R. L., Demont, M., Umberger, W., & Peralta, A. (2018). Using Experiments to Understand Gender Influence on Intrahousehold Decision Making for Investment in Rice Varietal Trait Improvements. Poster session presented at the meeting of 2018 International Rice Congress. Singapore. |
| 2018 | Genova, C., Umberger., Newman., Peralta., & Zeng. (2018). The impact of smallholder vegetable production on child nutrition in rural Vietnam. Poster session presented at the meeting of 2018 Annual Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) Conference. Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, SA. |
| 2018 | Akzar, R., Peralta, A., Umberger, W., & Hetherington, J. (2018). Simultaneous Decisions of Indonesian Smallholder Dairy Farmers Adoption of Multiple on Farm-level Innovations. Poster session presented at the meeting of The 62th AARES Annual Conference. Adelaide Australia. |
| 2017 | Genova, C., Umberger, W., Newman, S., & Peralta, A. (2017). Linking smallholder vegetable production to children’s diets: evidence from rural Vietnam. Poster session presented at the meeting of Presentation at the 2017 AARES Annual Conference. Brisbane, Qld.. |
| 2017 | Maligalig, R. L., Demont, M., Umberger, W. J., & Peralta, A. (2017). Intrahousehold decision making on rice varietal trait improvements: Using experiments to estimate gender influence. Poster session presented at the meeting of 2017 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois. |
| 2017 | Genova, C., Umberger., Newman., & Peralta. (2017). To Market, to market: Does smallholder vegetable production lead to increased children's dietary diversity and improved diet quality? Empirical evidence from Northwest Vietnam. Poster session presented at the meeting of 62nd Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting. Chicago, Illinois. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Arraiz, Irani., Calero, Carla., Jin, Songqing., & Peralta, A. (2015). Planting the Seeds: The Impact of Training on Mango Producers in Haiti. Inter-American Development Bank. |
| Grants as CI Lead/Project Leaderi |
$ to UoA |
Years |
Donor |
Category |
|
|
1 |
Enhancing Food and Nutrition Security through an Improved Understanding of Farming Households and Value Chains in Timor-Leste. |
$500,000 |
2025-2027 |
ACIAR |
Cat1 |
|
2 |
Evaluating service provision approaches and value-chain interventions to support milk cooperatives to grow the smallholder dairy sector of Indonesia (IndoDairy 2) (total 3.8M). |
$762,964 |
2024-2029 |
ACIAR |
Cat1 |
|
3 |
Impact Assessment of ACIAR supported Seeds of Life Program (SoL). |
$524,829 |
2022-2025 |
ACIAR |
Cat1 |
|
4 |
Building the evidence base on the impacts of mobile financial services for women and men in farming households in Laos and Cambodia (DiFF) (total 3.7M). |
$852,053 |
2022-2026 |
ACIAR |
Cat1 |
|
5 |
Impact Assessment Seeds of Change Project in Timor Leste. |
$119,743 |
2021-2022 |
ACIAR |
Cat2 |
|
6 |
Myanmar Young Water Professionals YWP Evaluation. |
$29,596 |
2019 |
DFAT |
Cat3 |
|
|
TOTAL |
$2,789,185 |
|
|
|
| Other Grants Held as co-CIii |
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
Aligning genetic resources, production and post-harvest systems to market opportunities for Pacific Island and Australian cocoa. |
$192,686 |
2017-2021 |
ACIAR |
Cat1 |
|
8 |
Improving milk supply, competitiveness and livelihoods in smallholder dairy chains in Indonesia. |
$2,052,306 |
2016-2021 |
ACIAR |
Cat1 |
| Internal grants |
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
Investigator Applying a Gender Lens to the South Australia Budget (with the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender).Project leaderi. |
$9,800 |
2023 |
ABLE |
Internal |
|
10 |
Feminist Mentoring Collective for the Contemporary University (with the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender). Co-CIii. |
$9,258 |
2022 |
ABLE |
Internal |
All figures in current Australian Dollars.
ABLE: Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
ACIAR: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
AWP: Australian Water Partnership
DFAT: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Average of 6.6/7 for an effective university teacher (student evaluations 2021-2024)
Course Coordinator
AGRIBUS7054 Global Food and Agricultural Policy Analysis 2015-present
AGRIBUS7053 Globalisation and Agriculture in Emerging Economies 2016-present
AGRIBUS7055 Global Food and Agricultural markets 2014-2015
Online Courses
GFABx Understanding Agribusiness, Value Chains, and Consumers in Global Food Systems 2018-present - Faculty of the Professions University of Adelaide. 21st Century Learning and Teaching Award Excellence in Learning and Teaching in 2019.
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Digital Financial Services in Rural Household in Southeast Asia Countries. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Renuka Mittal |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The State of Front-Of-Pack Environmental Sustainability Promotion on Australian Supermarket Food Products and Consumer Perceptions in Relation to Cost and Health | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Miss Grace Louise Tulysewski |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Price incentive under inclusive business model: Improving milk quality of dairy farming in Indonesia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Daffa Rizqi Prayudya |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Digital technology adoption of SMEs in agri-food value chains | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Vu Xuan Hoanh Mai |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Evaluating Extension Approaches for Smallhoder Dairy Value Chains in West Java, Indonesia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Vyta Hanifah |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies, Commercialization, and Nutrition in Rural Africa | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Tadiwos Zewdie Tiruneh |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Women’s Participation in Intrahousehold Decision-making: A Case in Rural Smallholder Farm Households in West Java Indonesia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mrs Sara Ratna Qanti |
| 2017 - 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Adoption of Multiple Dairy Farming Technologies – Issues and Opportunities for Smallholder Dairy Farmers in West Java, Indonesia | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Rida Akzar |
| 2015 - 2018 | Co-Supervisor | Eliciting Farmer Preferences for Rice Varietal Trait Improvements Using an Experimental Methodology Based on Investment Games | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Rio Lawas Maligalig |
| 2015 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | The Effect of Smallholder Vegetable Production on Children's Dietary Quality and Nutritional Outcomes: Evidence from Vietnam | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Christian ll Genova |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - ongoing | Member | Agricultural Economics Society | United Kingdom |
| 2015 - ongoing | Member | Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society | Australia |
| 2011 - ongoing | Member | International Association of Agricultural Economists | - |
| 2009 - ongoing | Member | Agricultural Applied Economics Association | United States |
| Date | Office Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Committee Member | Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society SA Branch | Australia |
| 2022 - ongoing | Management Commitee Member | Faye Gale Centre for Research in Gender, University of Adelaide | Australia |
| 2020 - 2023 | Vice-President South Australia Branch | Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society | Australia |
| 2015 - 2020 | Committee South Australia Branch | Australasian Agriculture and Resource Economics Society | Australia |
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