Pallavi Rajkhowa

I am an agricultural economist with over 14 years of experience advancing sustainable food systems and rural development. I am currently working as a researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), part of CGIAR. My research has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals, including Food Policy, Food Security, Social Science & Medicine, and the Journal of Agricultural Economics, among others. Alongside academic research, I bring expertise in policy advocacy and program management.

Before joining IWMI, I worked as an Associate Research Fellow at the Tata-Cornell Institute (Cornell University) and at the Center for Development Research (University of Bonn). I hold a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Bonn, an MA in Economics from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, and a BA (Honors) in Economics from the University of Delhi. In 2022, my doctoral research was recognized with the Excellence in Applied Development Research Award from the Development Economics Committee of the Verein für Socialpolitik and the KfW Development Bank.

Earlier in my career, I worked as a junior researcher with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In these roles, I contributed to research on digital technologies and ICT for agriculture, farm mechanisation for rural development, the impacts of climate shocks on child nutrition, and the role of farmer producer organizations in linking smallholder farmers to markets.

At IWMI, I am engaged with the CGIAR Sustainable Farming and Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Food Systems programs, as well as an ICAR project. My research spans India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria, with a focus on building evidence on the effectiveness of water user associations in the management of water resources, and on understanding how farmers’ climate perceptions influence the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices.

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