Profile of the new PhD candidate in Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Andrew Mwihia Karanja Phd

Dr Andrew Mwihia Karanja Phd. has been nominated by President William Ruto as Cabinet Secretary in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. A brief profile of the candidate is provided below.

Dr. Karanja has over 35 years of experience in the public sector, both locally and internationally, in the fields of agriculture, rural development and finance.

He started his career as an extension officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. He also worked as a planning officer in the same ministry.

He subsequently joined the Coffee Research Foundation (CRF) as a Senior Agricultural Economist and Head of the Economics Department. During his eleven-year tenure at CRF, Dr. Karanja served in a variety of capacities including the Ghana Cocoa Board, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and the Intra-African Coffee Organization. During his tenure at CRF, he served as a member of several committees, working groups and commissions that spearheaded the reform of the coffee industry in the 1990s.

In 2002 he was a researcher at the Tegemeo Policy Research Institute, where he conducted policy research on the liberalisation of the dairy industry, among other topics.

Dr. Karanja joined the World Bank in 2003 as a Senior Agricultural Economist in charge of the World Bank’s agricultural portfolio in Kenya and the region. His responsibilities include preparing and supervising World Bank lending operations in the agricultural and environmental sectors (worth over US$300 million) as a task force leader, conducting and supervising policy analysis on various rural and agricultural issues, and coordinating activities with other development partners and the Government of Kenya.

He currently works as an independent consultant in various fields of rural development and agriculture, project evaluation and impact assessment. His most recent consultancies include programs funded by the Government of Kenya, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, USAID, the European Union (EU), private sector companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among others.

He has published over 26 articles and book chapters in international and local publications. He has received several awards and fellowships. In the course of his duties, Dr. Karanja has travelled extensively in Africa, Europe and America. He has attended many international meetings and conferences. Some of the countries in which Dr. Karanja has served include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Ghana.