ROLE

Joachim De Weerdt

Associate Professor, International Food Policy Research Institute at International Food Policy Research Institute

De Weerdt, Joachim

Joachim De Weerdt is a development economist based in Lilongwe, where he heads IFPRI’s Malawi Strategy Support Program engaging in research and outreach activities to support development policies, whilst building in-country capacity. He has published extensively on issues related to poverty, nutrition, smallholder farming, the rural-urban transformation, early childhood development, social networks and survey measurement. Immediately after completing his PhD in Economics at KU Leuven in Belgium in 2002 Joachim moved to Tanzania to co-found Economic Development Initiatives (EDI), a research firm based in Tanzania, where he served as Research Director till 2014. During that time EDI grew from a small, two-person start-up to a sustainable, internationally reputed research house, thriving up to today. From 2014 till 2021 he was based in Belgium, his home country, working as Associate Professor at the Institute of Development Policy at the University of Antwerp and at LICOS (KU Leuven). He joined IFPRI in September 2021.