Nominations for AAAE Fellows 2026
Summary of Nominees
The following eight candidates are proposed for recognition as Fellows of the African Association of Agricultural Economists in 2026.
| # | Nominee | Country | Current Position | Core Expertise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prof. Opeyemi Eyitayo Ayinde | Nigeria | Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Ilorin; Vice-President, AAAE | Innovation economics, risk and climate adaptation, price analysis, gender |
| 2 | Dr. Suresh Chandra Babu | India / USA | Senior Research Fellow and Head of Capacity Strengthening, IFPRI; Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria | Food and nutrition policy, policy processes, capacity strengthening, agricultural extension |
| 3 | Prof. Rose Adhiambo Nyikal | Kenya | Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi; former Principal, CAVS | Production economics, rural finance, agricultural credit, smallholder resource use |
| 4 | Prof. Matin Qaim | Germany | Schlegel Professor and Director, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn; President, IAAE | Sustainable food systems, food and nutrition security, smallholder agriculture, agricultural technology |
| 5 | Prof. Johan Swinnen | Belgium | Director General, IFPRI; Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR | Political economy of food policy, institutional reform, trade, global value chains |
| 6 | Dr. Dirk Troskie | South Africa | Director: Business Planning and Strategy, Western Cape Department of Agriculture | Agricultural policy, provincial political economy, macroeconomic modelling, strategic foresight |
| 7 | Prof. Jonathan Makau Nzuma | Kenya | Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi; Chief Editor, AfJARE | Agricultural trade policy, commodity markets, impact evaluation, food and nutrition security |
| 8 | Dr. Guy-Blaise Nkamleu | Cameroon | Lead Economist, African Development Bank Group; formerly Senior Economist, IITA | Agricultural productivity, technology adoption, impact assessment, development policy |
Prof. Opeyemi Eyitayo Ayinde
Nigeria
- Current position
- Professor of Agricultural Economics, Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin; Research and Innovation Associate, SARChI Chair on Innovation Studies, Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa)
- AAAE role
- Vice-President AAAE 2019-2023 and 2026-2026
- Education
- PhD Agricultural Economics, University of Ilorin; postdoctoral training in Innovation Economics, Tshwane University of Technology
Profile
Prof. Ayinde is an applied agricultural economist and behavioural analyst whose work centres on the economics of innovation in agricultural productivity. Her research examines how farmers respond to risk, particularly climate risk, what drives the diffusion of new technologies, agricultural management strategies, food price behaviour and gender dimensions of farming in West Africa.
She rose through the University of Ilorin as postgraduate coordinator of her department (2014–2017) and Head of Department from 2017, and was confirmed as full Professor in 2019. Internationally, she held a Fulbright Senior Research Scholarship at The Ohio State University (2018) and a senior research fellowship under South Africa's Research Chair Initiative at Tshwane University of Technology (2015–2018), later becoming a Research and Innovation Associate there. She has consulted for AfricaRice, IITA and the World Bank-funded West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme, serves on the board of the African Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLICS), and has edited journals including AGROSEARCH and AJSTID.
She has supervised over 100 undergraduate projects, 30 master's and 8 doctoral students across Nigeria, South Africa and Rwanda.
Basis for Nomination
Sustained service to AAAE at Executive level, a strong record of mentoring the next generation of African agricultural economists, and visible leadership as a woman in the discipline.
Dr. Suresh Chandra Babu
India / USA
- Current position
- Senior Research Fellow and Head, Learning and Capacity Strengthening, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC; Extraordinary Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Pretoria
- Education
- BSc, Annamalai University; MSc, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University; MS and PhD Economics, Iowa State University
- Distinctions
- Elected Pravasi Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (India), 2018; Editor-in-Chief, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review
Profile
Dr. Babu has spent more than three decades at IFPRI, which he joined in 1992, building the human and institutional capacity that underpins food policy systems in developing countries. His research covers policy processes, food and nutrition security, climate action, agricultural innovation systems and extension.
His African roots run deep. Between 1989 and 1994 he lived in Malawi, serving as Senior Food Policy Adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture (where he helped design a national food and nutrition information system), evaluation economist for UNICEF-Malawi, coordinator of the UNICEF/IFPRI food security programme and Senior Lecturer at the University of Malawi, where he helped launch postgraduate programmes. At IFPRI he has led capacity-strengthening work for higher education and research in Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, and coordinated AGROCURI, a 40-partner consortium of CGIAR centres, universities and international organisations.
He has authored or edited more than 14 books and 60+ peer-reviewed articles, including the Handbook on Public Policy and Food Security (co-edited with Prof. Sheryl Hendriks), and has held honorary or visiting professorships in South Africa, China and India.
Basis for Nomination
A career-long investment in African policy research capacity, directly aligned with AAAE's mission of strengthening the discipline on the continent.
Prof. Rose Adhiambo Nyikal
Kenya
- Current position
- Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi
- Leadership
- Senior Lecturer, University of Nairobi, and Secretary-Treasurer - AAAE
- Education
- BSc Agriculture (1980), MSc Agricultural Economics (1990) and PhD Agricultural Economics (2000), all University of Nairobi
Profile
Prof. Nyikal is a production economist whose work focuses on rural finance and how smallholder farmers use their resources. Her publications span agricultural credit and microfinance, loan repayment among smallholders, the impact of mobile money transfers on farming households, intra-household decision-making over farm income, and consumer acceptance of biofortified foods.
A University of Nairobi academic through all three of her degrees and her entire career, she teaches Operations Research, Production Economics and Farm Management, and has supervised a large number of PhD and MSc students who now populate agricultural institutions across East Africa. She led CAVS as Principal from 2019 to 2021, the college that hosts the AAAE Secretariat.
Beyond the university, she has consulted for the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Kenya's State Department of Agriculture and the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS).
Basis for Nomination
Decades of teaching and supervision in the host country, institutional leadership at the college that houses AAAE, and a fitting host-nation honour for the 8th ACAE in Nairobi.
Prof. Matin Qaim
Germany
- Current position
- Schlegel Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn
- Professional roles
- President, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE); Member, German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina); Fellow, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA)
- Education
- PhD Agricultural Economics, University of Bonn (2000); habilitation, University of Bonn (2003)
Profile
Prof. Qaim is one of the most influential food systems and development economists of his generation. His research addresses sustainable food systems, agricultural development and the reduction of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, with extensive fieldwork across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
After postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley (2001–2003), he held chairs at the University of Hohenheim (2004–2007) and the University of Göttingen (2007–2021) before joining ZEF as Director in 2021. He has more than 250 academic publications, many in Science, Nature and Lancet group journals and PNAS, and was named a Highly Cited Researcher in 2021. He has advised the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, FAO, CIMMYT, the European Commission, The Royal Society and the German Federal Government and Parliament.
Through his Göttingen and Bonn research groups he has supervised a large cohort of African doctoral researchers, many of whom are now active AAAE members.
Basis for Nomination
Global scholarly leadership, a strong record of training African economists, and the partnership between AAAE and IAAE, which he currently leads.
Prof. Johan Swinnen
Belgium
- Current position
- Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), since January 2020; Managing Director, Systems Transformation Science Group, CGIAR, since July 2021
- Education
- PhD Agricultural Economics, Cornell University; honorary doctorates from the University of Göttingen and the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
- Previous roles
- Professor of Economics and Director, LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven (2004–2019); Lead Economist, World Bank (2003–2004); Economic Adviser, European Commission (1998–2001)
Profile
Prof. Swinnen is known internationally for his work on the political economy of agricultural and food policy, institutional reform, trade and global value chains in developing and transition economies.
Before leading IFPRI, he spent 15 years at KU Leuven directing the LICOS Centre, while also serving as Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford University's Center on Food Security and the Environment and a frequent adviser to the World Bank, EBRD, OECD and FAO. He is a Commissioner of the Food Systems Economics Commission and has co-chaired T20 task forces on food security and climate.
Most recently he co-edited IFPRI's Global Food Policy Report 2025 with Christopher Barrett, a 24-chapter review of five decades of food policy that received the AAEA's 2026 Quality of Communication Award.
Basis for Nomination
Institutional leadership of IFPRI, co-convener of the 8th ACAE / IFPRI-Africa Conference, and a body of work that has shaped food policy thinking on the continent.
Dr. Dirk Troskie
South Africa
- Current position
- Director: Business Planning and Strategy, Western Cape Department of Agriculture (Elsenburg)
- AAAE role
- Has served on the AAAE Executive Committee 2013-2016 & 2016-2019
- Earlier career
- Farmer; Lecturer, Kromme Rhee Agricultural College
Profile
Dr. Troskie brings the rare combination of a farmer's instincts, an academic's rigour and a senior public servant's experience. After starting out in farming and then lecturing at Kromme Rhee Agricultural College, he joined the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and rose through the ranks to lead its business planning and strategy function.
His scholarly contributions include building a social accounting matrix for Western Cape agriculture (Agrekon, 1997) and, with Prof. Nick Vink, a study of the political economy of agricultural policy across South Africa's nine provinces (Agrekon, 1999). He has since led the department's long-range futures planning work on the adjustments needed to secure the sector's future.
By 2017 his record stood at 47 scientific presentations, 34 peer-reviewed papers (including three book chapters), 89 substantial reports and more than 900 popular articles on topics from macroeconomic policy to farm-level issues. He has served on numerous scientific committees and on the Executive Committee of AAAE.
Basis for Nomination
Long and practical service to AAAE, and a distinguished record of turning agricultural economics into public policy and strategy.
Prof. Jonathan Makau Nzuma
Kenya
- Current position
- Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi
- AAAE role
- Chief Editor, African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AfJARE)
- Education
- BSc Agriculture, First Class Honours (1997) and MSc Agricultural Economics (2001), University of Nairobi; PhD Agricultural Economics and Business, University of Guelph, Canada (2007)
Profile
Prof. Nzuma is an agricultural economist whose work centres on agricultural policy, international trade and commodity markets. His research spans the effects of trade liberalisation on Kenya's maize sector (the subject of his doctoral thesis), food price transmission and volatility, technology adoption among smallholder farmers, impact evaluation, food and nutrition security, social networks and women's empowerment in agriculture.
A University of Nairobi graduate and a faculty member there since 2002, he now chairs the Department of Agricultural Economics at CAVS, the college that hosts the AAAE Secretariat. He teaches agricultural policy, international trade, microeconomics and production economics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and has supervised more than 5 doctoral and 25 master's students.
Beyond the university, he has worked with the World Bank, FAO, the World Food Programme and IFPRI, and has contributed policy research through the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA). As Chief Editor of AfJARE, the Association's peer-reviewed journal, he steers the principal outlet for African agricultural economics scholarship.
Basis for Nomination
Editorial leadership of the Association's flagship journal, departmental leadership at the institution that hosts AAAE, and a sustained record of policy-relevant research and postgraduate training in the host country.
Dr. Guy-Blaise Nkamleu
Cameroon
- Current position
- Lead Economist, African Development Bank Group
- Earlier career
- Senior Economist (Impact Assessment), Yam Economist and Central Africa Regional Coordinator, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA); Principal Post-Evaluation Officer, Chief Country Economist and Senior Advisor to the Vice-President, African Development Bank
- Education
- [To be confirmed]
Profile
Dr. Nkamleu is a Cameroonian agricultural and development economist whose research has examined the sources of agricultural growth in Africa, including productivity, technical efficiency and technology absorption, alongside farmers' technology and pest-management choices, credit access in cocoa production, and child labour and schooling in cocoa-growing households.
He built his research career at IITA, where his work spanned Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and the wider West and Central African cocoa belt. His study of productivity growth, technical progress and efficiency change in African agriculture (African Development Review, 2004) remains among his most cited works.
At the African Development Bank he has served in the Operations Evaluation Department and as Chief Country Economist and Senior Advisor to the Vice-President, bringing an agricultural economist's evidence base to country strategy, evaluation and development finance. He is a long-standing contributor to AAAE, presenting research at its 2007 conference in Accra and publishing in the early volumes of AfJARE.
Basis for Nomination
Long engagement with the Association's scholarly community, pioneering evidence on African agricultural productivity, and a career bridging agricultural research and development finance on the continent.