Projects - dr. KS (Kaleb) Jada PhD

Title: Innovations, nudging interventions and food and nutrition security: Evidence from Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies in Ethiopia

Introduction

Malnutrition is a persistent problem for most developing countries, and Ethiopia is no exception. Efforts to address malnutrition should be based on an understanding of the food system in the global south where smallholder farmers play a significant role.

Though there are different cost-effective solutions to tackle malnutrition in the global south, promoting and scaling up these interventions is a challenge. Thus, the question is what strategies are effective to promote interventions so that the impact of these interventions reaches more people. The research aims to address this question.

Objective

The research focuses on pro-poor innovations (fortification, biofortification and improved cook stoves) and aims to identify effective promotion strategies for the first two innovations and explore the extent to which the innovation can be leveraged to tackle malnutrition.

Approach and research design

The research draws on the food system framework and the research questions explored the different aspects of the system namely food value chains, the food environment and consumer behaviour. The research also incorporates insights from the field of psychology and behavioural economics. The research implemented both experimental and quasi-experimental designs.