Achike, Anthonia Ifeyinwa

Anthonia Ifeyinwa Achike is a Professor of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness and a Senior Research Fellow at the Environment for Development (EfD) Nigeria Centre, a global/Adjunct faculty member of the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (Trapca), and a visiting Professor at Michigan States University, USA.  Professor Achike holds a PhD degree in Agricultural Economics, majoring in Agricultural Finance and Project Analysis with working skills in Environmental Economics and Climate Change. She was a Laurette of the CODESRIA Gender Institute, Dakar - Senegal; and the Social Science Academy of Nigeria Gender Institute. She has worked as a consultant and trainer in many Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, served as independent reviewer of Climate Change Policies of some states and other sub national governments in Nigeria, and has conducted many baseline evaluations, benchmarking and impact studies for various national and international organizations including World Bank, DFID, USAID, IFAD among many others. Professor Achike served as an economist in the IFAD Country Programme Evaluation (CPE, 2015) and is presently the Agricultural Economist in USAID’s mid-term Evaluation of WINROCK Agricultural Extension Activity in Nigeria and a consultant to IFAD-Nigeria Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) [2024-2029], among many others.

Professor Achike is currently the Director of the Gender and Development Policy Centre (GEN-CENT), and immediate past Director of the African Climate Change Adaptation Initiative, University of Nigeria Nsukka.

Research interest

Anthonia’s main research areas are Agricultural Finance and Project Analysis, Environment and Development Economics. In her research, she has evaluated the impact of some selected Rural Finance Institutions in Nigeria, the use of quick returning agricultural enterprises to engage youth and stem the tide of conflicts, the gender dynamics of agricultural Technological changes, Agroforestry Potential for Combating Forest and Environmental Degradations in parts of Nigeria, Economic Partnership Agreements, a Common External Tariff and Prospects for Staple Food items in Nigeria, A Scenario Planning for Climate Adaptation in Agricultural Systems and evaluation of renewable natural resources for national income accounting. She is currently involved in researches on “the Gender Analysis of Vulnerability to Flood Risk in Farming and Fishing Communities of Kogi State, Nigeria and Coping with Water Scarcity, preferences and willingness to pay for water supply by Households in Enugu State, Nigeria”.

Mentoring (PhD students and masters)

Currently Anthonia Achike is the main supervisor for eleven PhD and four M.Sc students. Serving as a mentor to more than twenty early career female academics in UNN with formalized programme of activities and regular meetings to enable them navigate the rigors of academics amidst some generic socio-cultural challenges

Grants and consultancy

• Mid-Term Performance Evaluation of Agriculture Extension and Advisory Services Activity implemented by WINROCK. (Funded by USAID in 2022)
• Capacity Needs Assessment of Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Program (RAMP) of MDAs and Universities in Nigeria. (Funded by World Bank and World Resources Institute in 2022)
• Mapping of Different Women Groups and Needs Assessment on State and Community Level Priorities for Women and Girls involvement in Climate Justice as Evidence to inform Climate Justice Advocacy and engagement of Decision Makers in Nigeria. (Funded by the Coalition of NGOs in Nigeria in 2021)
• 1st Supervision Mission for the Rural poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF) for for coping with COVID in Nigeria (Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural development (IFAD) in 2021)
• Rapid Assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria’s agriculture-based livelihoods, food security and nutrition levels. (Funded by IFAD in 2020)

Policy engagement

• Chairperson of EfD Nigeria Policy Committee
• Member of the Nigeria Association of Agricultural Economist Local Organizing Committee for Planning the International conference of Africa Agricultural Economist Conference
• Member of the drafting team for Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov) Assessment Framework Application in Nigeria

International / national recognition (editorial or advisory boards, awards, etc.)

• Member, Springer Nature Editorial Board (https://link.springer.com/collections/cieifajgef)
• Award of outstanding Performance in Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) in Public and Private Institutions in Nigeria, by the Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria