Abiodun Elijah Obayelu is a seasoned scholar with over 10 years of experience in teaching, research, community service and consultancy. He possesses Bachelor degree in Agriculture (Agricultural Economics and Farm Management) and Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria; M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Dr Obayelu currently lectures at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. His research foci are: Agricultural Development, Food and Consumers Economics. Studies that deals with, and relates communities and households’ socio-economic characteristics with development outcomes such as resilience of livelihood, economic welfare, impact assessment, and food security across cultures and countries have been the foci of Dr Obayelu’s research endeavors over the years. These research foci are reinforced by the plethora of emerging evidences that point out agricultural transformation as the panacea for eliminating hunger and poverty in Africa. Dr Obayelu has experience in African Agricultural Research and Development contributing extensively to emerging issues in agriculture and agricultural innovation as part of his research and consultancies for international and national organizations. He has a lot of experience in baseline survey and impact evaluation. He also has a wide experience in data collection using both quantitative and qualitative techniques, participatory rural appraisal (PRA) using information gathering tools such as questionnaire, interview schedule, focus group discussion, pair ranking and use of key informants. Dr Obayelu’s research foci provide a robust rationale for collaboration and multidisciplinary approaches in enquiry and have led to his participation as a team member (Agricultural and Food Economist) in a number of funded research and consultancy works. He has played one or more roles in the conceptualization and design of research, facilitation of field work and data collection, data analyses and report writing, facilitation of stakeholders meeting, liaison with government officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, agencies and Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) for possible mainstreaming of research projects and findings into agricultural development policy of Nigeria. Some of the research collaborations include: Michigan State University-Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (MSU-APRA) research on pathways to agricultural commercialization in Africa; socio-demographic changes and potential impact on nutrition in Africa (project on Sustainable Nutrition for Africa in the Years to Come (SUNRAY) Funded by the Commission of the European Communities Seventh Framework Programme); incentivising adoption of climate smart practices in cereals production in Nigeria: Socio-cultural and economic diagnosis, funded by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) and the Support Programme for Food and Nutrition Security in West Africa (PASANAO); livelihood impacts of improved on-farm water control in sub-Saharan Africa: an empirical investigation of three modes of smallholder agricultural water management in Nigeria, funded by the International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka; impact evaluation of Nigerian Diary Development Program in Oyo and Kano States by Afridev Path International and Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited, sponsored by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; impact assessment of GEP3-Cash Transfer Program by CAPRA, Canada, sponsored by UNICEF, Nigeria; diffusion strategy of Green Technology and Green Industry in Africa: a study of renewable energy technology market, and energy efficiency adoption in Cassava and Maize Processing Industries in Kenya and Nigeria by the United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT); diffusion and agricultural transformation: the case of NERICA in Nigeria”- a project funded by African Growth Initiative, Brookings Institution in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Nigeria; competitive grants and commissioned research schemes funded by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria through the Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR) and Directorate of Grant Management. Dr Obayelu A. E. was a Ph.D. Doctoral Research Thesis Writing awardee of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in 2009 and had benefitted from several travel grants from different organizations such as: African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Consortium, UNICEF, United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), Nigeria, Institute of Labour Economics (IZA), Research and Innovation Network for Europe and Africa (RINEA), to mention just a few. Dr. Obayelu is a member of African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Impact Evaluation Network (AIEN), African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE), Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists (NAAE), Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAMAN), Emerald Literati Network, African Economics Research Consortium Network, and the Nigerian Association of Evaluators (NAE). He is the editor of these books (i) Household Food Consumption Patterns and Food Security, published by Lap Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany in 2010 (ii) Food Systems Sustainability and Environmental Policies in Modern Economies, published by IGI International, USA in 2018. His research productivity is self-evident with over 90 peer-reviewed scientific publications in reputable local and international peered-reviewed journals, books and conference proceedings.
Oluwakemi Adeola Obayelu is a Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She is an applied economist with research foci on gender, food and nutrition security and development issues. She is a member of many professional organisations and has published extensively in reputable peer-reviewed international journals.