Okumu, Boscow
Boscow Okumu holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cape Town with specialization in Environmental and Natural resource Economics. He is an Associate Research Scientist at the African Population and Health Research Center in the Data Synergy and Evaluation Unit and is charged with the responsibility of supporting the design and implementation of impact evaluation studies at the center. He previously worked with the National Treasury and Economic Planning as a senior economist in the Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate.
Experience
He has over 15 years’ hands on expertise and working experience in monitoring and evaluation of government policies and programmes at both national and devolved levels with strong expertise in: integrated development planning; monitoring and evaluation; strategic planning; indicator development, development and design of impact evaluations, midterm and end term evaluations. Okumu is a seasoned evaluator and is passionate about working with local teams to build capacity and support for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems and using data to generate evidence for decision making.
Research Interests
Okumu’s areas of research are more focused toward food systems and landscapes that sustain the planet, drive prosperity and improve livelihoods. Specifically, his research areas are mainly in environmental and natural resources economics focusing on the nexus between welfare, gender and environmental conservation, community based natural resource conservation, valuation of ecosystem services using revealed and stated preference methods, institutions, collective action, climate change, food systems, food and nutrition security and water, energy, health and agricultural economics fields. He also has experience in impact evaluations using various econometric approaches, bio-economic modeling, contingent behavior models, choice experiments, and experimental auctions among others.
Okumu is a member of the Africa Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, a member of the International Development and Evaluation Association, and a member of the Economists Society of Kenya.
Awards and Grants
- 2019 Peter Berck’s Best EfD Discussion Paper Award (US $750)
- June 2017 – October 2017: Marie Curie scholarship for Economic Modeling for Climate-Energy Policy (ECOCEP) at the Charles University, Prague Czech Republic
- 2016: Research Grant: Economic Policy and Research Unit (EPRU)- University of Cape Town
- UCT PhD Package Scholarship (University of Cape Town (2015-2017)
- 2015: PhD Research Grant: Environment for Development (EfD), SIDA University of Gothenburg
- 2012-2015: African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) PhD Scholarship