Gbadebo Odularu holds a PhD degree in Regional Economic Development from the University of Sunderland, United Kingdom. He is currently a regional policies and markets analyst at the continental Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) based in Accra, Ghana. He works closely with national, regional and international partners to promote information sharing on agricultural research for development policy instruments for dissemination across the African continent.
He has been visiting scholars at: the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK); Centre for Regional Economic Studies (CRES), Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), Seoul, South Korea; United Nations Institute for Economic Development Planning (UNIDEP), Dakar, Senegal; and the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE), University of Oxford, UK. He was also the 2008 visiting doctoral scholar at the Economic Research and Statistical Division (ERSD), World Trade Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. Odularu is a member of the Natural Resources, Agricultural Development and Food Security International Research Network (NAR-IRN), the Chatham House, Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS), African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Network and the Nigerian Economic Society (NES). He is a pioneer regional coordinator / manager of the Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development in Africa (YPARD-Africa). In this capacity, he facilitates exchange of information and knowledge among young African professionals across disciplines, nations and sub-regions. He also leads a team of young professionals in agriculture to articulate the strategic roles of youth in promoting agro-entrepreneurship, adapting and mitigating climate change, choosing agriculture as a career, and promoting agricultural development within the framework of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). In addition to being a former lecturer at the Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Nigeria, he was also a field supervisor for the USAID/IIDA/WARD/NISER collaborative study on the constraints, opportunities, and strategic choices available to the Nigerian rice economy in a competitive world. Dr. Odularu has done extensive research in development and agricultural economics and has refereed publications in major economic journals and books.
