Menale Kassie

Menale Kassie is an accomplished agricultural and development economist spearheading the Social Sciences and Impact Assessment unit at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe). Menale Kassie's research portfolio stands out for its exceptional empirical and methodological depth, particularly in the adoption process and impacts of agricultural technology bundles and understanding the causes of gender gaps in food security. His research has significantly informed existing conceptual frameworks for understanding these technologies’ adoption processes and impacts. These endeavors recognize the multifaceted and coexisting risks smallholder farmers face and their deliberate strategies to adopt multiple technological innovations to achieve a range of development objectives. Historically, research in this domain fixated on individual technological innovations to assess adoption and impact. However, Kassie’s research, drawing from extensive field evidence, points out the shortcomings of this narrow focus. He argues that this traditional approach that does not consider the simultaneous use of multiple technologies and practices by smallholder farmers and the interdependent and synergistic potential of these technologies can lead to skewed estimations. Such estimations may understate or overstate the factors influencing adoption decisions and their resulting impacts. Kassie’s seminal work bridges these gaps and extensively demonstrates how smallholder farmers’ complex decision-making can be captured appropriately through advanced econometric and modeling approaches. He has compellingly shown that the simultaneous adoption of innovation bundles yields the most favorable outcomes — from boosting productivity and income to enhancing food security, poverty reduction, resilience against production risks, and overall human and environmental health. His scholarly influence is undeniable, as he has a publication record of 108 articles and book chapters with more than 16,700 citations on Google Scholar and an H-index of 62 [Googlescholar]. Kassie’s consistent ranking among the top 2% of scientists globally from 2021 to 2023, as recognized by a Stanford University survey, reflects his eminence in the field. His scientific achievements have earned him fellowship elections to the Ethiopian and African Academies of Sciences, the position of editor-in-chief for insect economics at Frontiers in Insect Science Journal, and honors such as the TWAS Siwei Cheng Award in Economic Sciences. Given these and other accomplishments outlined below, I confidently nominate him for the prestigious World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)–Social Sciences Award.