Selected Research and Capacity Building Projects

2022 -Present (new)- Rural households, Agriculture, and Climate change – why and how farmers (do not) adapt in Ethiopia (RACE), Bahir Dar University, Ethiopian Policy Study Institute, and University of Copenhagen’s project, Project team member. 

2017-present  Postharvest and Food Processing in Northwest Ethiopia- Sub theme of Supply chain of Vegetables Northwest Ethiopia, BDU-IUC project, local promoter and supervised four MSc students

2016-19         Commercializing Hermetic Technologies for Grain Storage Transiting to green growth – To Improve Market Access & Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa, Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS3) project, a Principal Investigator and supervisor of one MSc student

2022 to 2025 Poverty Reduction Sustainably in an Environment of Resilient and Vibrant Economy (PReSERVE) Project, a research manager

Research and Management Profile

He is an associate professor of Agricultural Economics. Advanced Econometrics for MSc and Ph.D. programs, as well as Environmental and Resource Economics in the MSc program, are just a few of the courses he has taught.  He is also the Environmental Policy & Planning Module Coordinator for the MSc program in Aquatic Ecosystems and Environmental Management, which is offered in collaboration with Ethiopian universities of Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa, University of Egerton of Kenya, as well as Austrian university BOKU. His master's thesis was on population and the environment, and his doctoral dissertation was on Optimal Allocation of Fishery: A Bioeconomic Analysis of Fishery Resources. He has supervised students in the areas of agricultural technology adoption and impact, economics of climate change, its adoption and impact, production efficiency, agricultural commodity value chain analysis, and optimal farm product allocation. He also serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

Professional Experience

August 2022 to present 

Research Manager of the PReSERVE -BDU Project, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Oversee all research activities of BDU simultaneously, tracking and guiding to complete on time and within budget in discussion with the RTI Research Manger.
• Manage planning, execution, and follow-up for PReSERVE research activities implemented by BDU. 
•  Manage day-to-day research operations, provide coordination and monitoring of research activities and provide regular updates to and RTI Research Manager. 
• Review and tracking of expenses, budget management and forecasting with support from the BDU RCEVP. 
• Ensure that the BDU team is complying with assigned tasks, including timely reporting on expenses and use of correct task codes.
•  Participate in defining of learning agendas for BDU engagements in the coming years with a in discussion with BDU RCEVP. 
• Prepare reports for BDU and PReSERVE teams up on request and on timely bases. 

February 2022-July2022

Associate Professor – College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia

Key responsibilities include:   

• Conduct Research in the field of impact assessment, optimal resource allocation, and agricultural marketing 
• Design and implement agricultural project activities through community participation 
• Teach Courses Such as Econometrics, Environmental and Resource Economics for MSc and Ph.D. level students
• Developing Ph.D. and Master level courses 
• Supervising and examining students’ MSc theses and PhD dissertations
• Evaluating research projects within the university

March 2017 – January 2022 

Assistant Professor   – College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia 

Key responsibilities include:   

• Conduct Research in the field of impact assessment, optimal resource allocation, and agricultural marketing 
• Design and implement agricultural project activities through community participation 
• Teach Courses Such as Econometrics, Environmental and Resource Economics for MSc level students
• Developing Ph.D. and Master’ level courses 
• Supervising and examining students’ theses 
• Evaluating research projects within the university

October 11, 2005 – February 2017 

Lecture  and Head of Department of Rural development  – College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Department of Rural Development, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia 

Key responsibilities include:   

• Conduct Research in the field of impact assessment, optimal resource allocation, and agricultural marketing 
• Design and implement agricultural project activities through community participation 
• Teach Courses Such as statistics, Econometrics, Environmental and Resource Economics for BSc level students
• Developing BSc level courses 

June, 2001 – September 2005 

SocioeconomicResearcher and Program Manager of the Socioeconomic Research Program,  Sekota Dry Land Agricultural Research Centre, Sekota, Ethiopia 

Key responsibilities include:

• Produce research and develop proposals to alleviate the socioeconomic problems of smallholder farmers
• Plan and monitor the socioeconomic research program of the center 
• Produce quality research report

August 1999 - June 2001 

Extension Communication Expert – Amara Bureau of Agriculture, Jabitehnan Woreda Agricultural Office, Ethiopia 

Key responsibilities include: 

• Monitoring and evaluation of extension workers (development agents) and their supervisors in 39 kebeles of the woreda. 
• Plan, monitor and implement a subject matter specialists team work on monitoring and evaluation of agricultural extension work of the woreda. 

Consultancies 

Nov,2021-Dec. 2021-Barrier Analysis Hand washing, MDD-C, and Gender Behaviours, which is commissioned by FHH and implemented by Zewdu berhanie EBI consulting in collaboration with ORDA Ethiopia staffs, as a consulting firm manager and lead consultant.

Nov, 2020-Mar, 2021 End-line Survey of Ethio-SHEP project, which is commissioned by MEK consulting group and Implemented by Zewdu Berhanie EBI Consulting Firm, as a consulting firm manager and lead consultant. 

Dec, 2011-May, 2012- The Terminal Evaluations of Choke Project, which is implemented by Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA) with financial support of the European Commission Civil Society Fund in Ethiopia (ECCSFE), as a lead consultant of the TGK Agri consult, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. 

Publications

Zewdu B., 2013. Fertility Decisions of Households in Response to Environmental Good Scarcity: The Case of Sekota District, Waghimra Administrative Zone of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. International Journal of Research in Commerce and Management, 4 (1): 51-61. 

Zewdu B. Ayele,  R. Ramakhrishna (2015): Estimation of Age Composition using Maximum Likelihood from Length Frequency Distribution of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in Lake Tana, Ethiopia 7(4):23-30, Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, ISSN 2222-1700 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2855 (Online)

Gashaw Tenna Alemu, Zewdu Berhanie Ayele,and Assefa Abelieneh Berhanu (2017): Effects of Land Fragmentation on Productivity in Northwestern Ethiopia, Journal of Hindawi Advances in Agriculture, Volume 2017, Article ID 4509605, 9 pages, , https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4509605

Hawlet Mohammed Kassaw, Zewdu Birhane & Getachew Alemayehu | Fatih Yildiz (Reviewing editor) (2019) Determinants of market outlet choice decision of tomato producers in Fogera woreda, South Gonder zone, Ethiopia, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 5:1, 1709394 DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2019.1709394

Habtamu Mossie, Zewdu Berhanie & Getachew Alemayehu | (2020) Factor affecting outlet choice of onion producers Northwest Ethiopia in multivariate probit approach, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 6:1, 1722351 DOI. 10.1080/23311932.2020.1722351.

Habtamu Mossie, Zewdu Berhanie & Getachew Alemayehu | (2020) Econometric analysis of onion marketed supply in Northwest Ethiopia, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 6:1733329, DOI. 10.1080/23311932.2020.1733329.

Gashaw Tenna Alemu, Zerihun Nigussie, Nigussie Haregeweyn, Zewdu Berhanie,Beneberu Assefa Wondimagegnehu , Zemen Ayalew , Dessalegn Molla, Eric Ndemo Okoyo Dieudonne Baributsa (2020)  Cost-benefit analysis of on-farm grain storage hermetic bags among small-scale maize growers in northwestern Ethiopia, doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2020.105478

Adem Endiris, Zewudu Brehanie & Zemen Ayalew | (2021) The impact of off-farm activities on rural households’ food security status in Western Ethiopia: The case of Dibatie District, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 7:1, 1879425, DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2021.1879425

Hawlet Mohammed Kassa, Zewdu Berhanie, and Getachew Alemayehu (2021): Determinants of farm-level market supply of tomatoes in Fogera district, South Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Ethiopian Journal of Science and Technology:

Dagninet Asrat, Adugnaw Anteneh, Mohammed Adem & Zewdu Berhanie (2022) Impact of Awash irrigation on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Eastern Ethiopia, Cogent Economics & Finance, 10:1, 2024722, DOI: 10.1080/23322039.2021.2024722

Aklok Getnet, Kassahun Tassie, & Zewdu Brehanie Ayele (2022): Estimating Smallholder Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Irrigation Water Use in North Western Ethiopia: AContingent ValuationMethod Study in Gumara Irrigation Project,Journal of Hindawi, Advances in Agriculture, Volume 2022, Article ID 6415437, 14 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/6415437

Gebreegziabher Fentahun, Tadesse Amsalu & Zewdu Birhanie (2022) Farmers’ perceptions about the influence of land fragmentation and land quality on sustainable land management in the upper lake Tana Basin: Evidence from Dera District,  Cogent Economics & Finance, https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2022.2160132

Genanew Agitew Brhanu, Zewdu Berhanie Ayele, and Samson Gebremedhin Gebreselassie (2023), Policy and Strategic Responses to Food and Nutrition Security in Ethiopia, Food and Nutrition Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1177/03795721231202559.

Assefa A. Berhanu, Zewdu B. Ayele, Dessalegn C. Dagnew, Tadele Melese, Abeje B. Fenta, Koyachew E. Kassie (2024). Smallholder farmers’ vulnerability to climate change and variability: Evidence from three agro-ecologies in the Upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia, Journal of Heliyon , doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28277 

Assefa A. Berhanu, Zewdu B. Ayele, Dessalegn C. Dagnew (2024) Impact of climate-smart agricultural practices on smallholder farmers’ resilience in Ethiopia, Elsiever, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research 16 (2024) 101147, doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101147 

Assefa A. Berhanu, Zewdu B. Ayele, Dessalegn C. Dagnew, Abeje B. Fenta, Koyachew E. Kassie (2024). Smallholder farmers’ coping strategies to climate change and variability: Evidence from Ethiopia, Elsiever, Journal of Climate Services 35 (2024) 100509, doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2024.100509

References 

Girma T. Kassie (Ph.D.), Senior Agricultural Market Economist in ICARDA and former Amhara Region Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI) socioeconomic research director when the applicant was working in Sekota Dry-land Agricultural Research Center. Email: g.tesfahun@CGIAR.ORG

Habtemariam Kassa (Ph.D.), Forests and livelihood Program Scientist in Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Ethiopian Office and former full-time Professor in the department of agricultural economics in Alemaya University and the applicant's MSc thesis research advisor when the applicant was studying his MSc and working in Sekota Dry-land Agricultural Research Center,  Email: H.KASSA@CGIAR.ORG

Menale Kassie Berresaw (Ph.D.), International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology(icipe), Head, Social Science and impact assessments, Kenya.  Email: mkassie@icipe.org

                                Date: 28 April 2025