She is an agricultural and development economist with over a decade of experience in socioeconomic research, impact assessment, gender and social inclusion, and agricultural innovation across Sub-Saharan Africa. She joined icipe in 2014 as a Postdoctoral Fellow and subsequently served as an Associate Scientist before she was appointed Scientist. Prior to joining icipe, she was a Junior Researcher and PhD Fellow at the Centre for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany, where she obtained her PhD in Development Economics. Dr. Muriithi’s research examines the adoption, scaling, and impacts of agricultural innovations, with particular emphasis on understanding how gender, socioeconomic conditions, and household and community-level heterogeneity shape technology uptake and development outcomes. Her work integrates quantitative and qualitative research methods to generate evidence on the social, economic, and environmental impacts of agricultural technologies and interventions. Her areas of expertise include impact evaluation, gender and social inclusion, technology adoption, agricultural policy, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. She has worked across icipe’s Animal, Plant, Human, and Environmental Health research themes, contributing to research on integrated pest management, livestock health, sustainable food systems, beekeeping, and pollination services. A significant component of her work focuses on advancing gender-responsive and socially inclusive agricultural research. She applies gender-disaggregated analysis and established frameworks for measuring women’s empowerment in agriculture to identify gender gaps in technology adoption, assess differential impacts, and strengthen the inclusiveness of agricultural interventions. Her contributions to gender-responsive agricultural research and leadership have been recognized through competitive programmes and fellowships, including the Science by Women: Programme for Women, Science, Technology, and Innovation in Africa (SPAIN), the Structural Transformation of African Agricultural and Rural Spaces (STAARS) programme (Nairobi), and the Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellowship (2022–2023, Nairobi).

In addition to her research, Dr. Muriithi actively contributes to resource mobilisation, research programme development, policy engagement, and the translation of scientific evidence into development practice. She mentors early-career scientists and postgraduate students and has contributed to national and international research and development initiatives funded by major international donors and development partners. She has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, in addition to book chapters and policy briefs, and has presented her research at national and international scientific and policy forums. She currently serves as an Editorial Board Member of the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AFJARE) and has a Google Scholar H-index of 27.

Research Scientist, Gender & Impact Assessment, icipe (Integrated Data and Analytics Platform)

●        ~40 publications, 38 peer-reviewed, Google Scholar H-index 27

●        20+ successful grant proposals (EU, USAID, GIZ, AfDB, IDRC and others)

●        Supervised 15 MSc and 4 PhD students; trained dozens of enumerators and interns across East/Southern Africa

●        National recognition: GRASP Fellowship, Science by Women (Spain), STAARS/PEP Fellowship

●        Currently Chair, Scientific Sub-Committee — 8th ACAE (this very conference)

●        Deep specialist in gender-responsive research and women’s empowerment measurement (WEAI/WELI) — a strong technical complement to the presidency