Dr Kibrom T. Sibhatu joined icipe on 1 April 2024. His research interests include agrobiodiversity, diets and nutrition, sustainable food systems, and the socioeconomic impact of land-use change and agricultural technologies in tropical regions. His scholarly contributions have been published in leading field- and general-interest journals such as PNAS, Journal of Cleaner Production, Food Policy, Food Security, and the Annual Review of Resource Economics, among others.

He holds a PhD in Agricultural and Food Economics from the University of Goettingen, Germany. His doctoral research, which investigated the relationship between on-farm production diversity and dietary diversity in smallholder farm households, has significantly influenced international literature. It received award from the Founding Council of the University of Goettingen for exemplary contribution to the field.

Previously, Dr Kibrom was a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Goettingen in Germany, where he studied the Socioeconomic Impacts of Land-use Change in Rural Households in Tropical Regions. This research was part of an interdisciplinary effort within the Collaborative Research Centre (EFForTS – CRC 990). He also supervised several Masters theses and led fieldwork initiatives in the Global South. Additionally, he worked as a Graduate Assistant (lecturer) at Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Eritrea, where he taught various undergraduate agricultural economics and economics courses. He also held a stint as a consultant for the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Dr Kibrom is a member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, European Association of Agricultural Economists, and the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.