Last Updated: January 6, 2026By Categories:

Prof. S. Wagura Ndiritu

Center Director

Professor Simon Wagura Ndiritu is an Associate Professor of Development Economics at the Strathmore University Business School. He is also the Director of the Strathmore Agri-food Innovation (SAFI) Centre. Professor Simon holds a PhD. in Economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, a Master of Arts Degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Education Degree in Economics and Mathematics – both from the University of Nairobi.

He is the Academic Director of the Master of Management in Agribusiness Programme, a member of the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD), and a senior research fellow and advisor to the Kenya Climate Innovation Center Sustainability initiative. He also spearheaded the establishment of the Strathmore Agri-Food Innovation (AFI) Hub where he serves as the Hub lead.  He is also serving in the Governing Board of Peace Unit Program in Kenya.

Prof. Ndiritu has a broad research interest in Applied Micro- Econometrics, Environmental resources Economics, Climate Change, Economics of Water Resources, Agriculture and Development Economics.

He has worked extensively on topics such as: Climate change adaptation and mitigation, food security, gender issues, Agricultural technology adoption, Applied Micro- Econometrics, Economics of Water Resources, Livestock Economics, Corporate Environmental performance, and post-harvest losses. He has also worked on collaborative research with CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) scientists. He recently concluded a collaborative research on PRISE (Pathways to resilience in semi-Arid Economies) Project 3 – Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, Opportunities for Businesses and Sectors.

Prof. Ndiritu has great interest in agribusiness and post-harvest management. He is currently involved on a project on Leveraging remote sensing and ICT to facilitate yield maximization, structured trading and inclusive value chain participation for smallholder staple grain farmers in Kenya. The project is funded by Innovate UK and is being undertaken by a consortium of institutions.

He has engaged in coaching business entrepreneurs in the livestock value chain, especially feedlot entrepreneurs in Taita Taveta, Garissa and Laikipia Counties, and poultry SMEs in Kiambu and Nairobi Counties.

Qualifications

PhD. in Economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

MA (Economics) degree with the best master thesis and a Bachelor of Education (Economics and Mathematics) degree (First class honours), all from the University of Nairobi.

Prof. Ndiritu has won several scholarships and awards. These include: , The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Academic Board prize for the best Master’s thesis in the 2006/2007 Academic year and the best gender paper for CCAFS 2011 (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security). His research work has been published in reputable journals.

He is currently involved in One health policy dialogue with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAO”) where they assist in understanding the private sector and what incentives they need to adopt good practices along the poultry value chain. They are now finalizing the study on implications of adoption of good practices on business models, profitability, and bankability along the poultry value chain for the urban and peri-urban in Kiambu and Nairobi Counties.

To Contact Prof. Simon, send an email to: sndiritu@strathmore.edu

  1. Applied Micro- Econometrics
  2. Environmental Resources
  3. Economics of Water Resources
  4. Agriculture and Development Economics
  1. S. Wagura Ndiritu and Geoffrey Muricho (2021) Impact of climate change adaptation on food security: evidence from semi-arid lands, Kenya. Climatic Change 167, 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03180-3
  2. Wagura Ndiritu (2021) Drought responses and adaptation strategies to climate change in semi-arid area, Laikipia, Kenya. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 26, 10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-021-09949-2
  3. Edward M. Mungai, Wagura Ndiritu and Tazeeb Rajwani (2020) Raising the bar? Top Management Team, Gender Diversity and Environmental sustainability. Africa Journal of Management, 6:4, 269-294, https://doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2020.1830688
  4. Wagura Ndiritu and Monica Katungi Engola (2020). The effectiveness of Feed-in-Tariff Policy in Promoting Power Generation from Renewable Energy in Kenya. Renewable Energy, An International Journal, Volume 161, December 2020, Pages 593-605 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.07.082
  5. Wagura Ndiritu (2020) Beef value chain analysis and climate change adaptation and investment options in the semi-arid lands of northern Kenya. Journal of Arid Environment, Volume 181, October 2020, 104216 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2020.104216
  6. Edward M. Mungai, Wagura Ndiritu and Tazeeb Rajwani (2020) Do voluntary environmental management systems improve Environmental performance? Evidence from waste management by Kenyan firms. Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 265, 20 August 2020, 121636, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121636
  7. William Nganga Irungu, Julien Chevallier, Simon Wagura Ndiritu (2020) Regime Changes and Fiscal Sustainability in Kenya. Economic Modelling Journal, Volume 86, Pages 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.01.009
  8. Wagura Ndiritu and Ruhinduka, Remidius Denis (2019): Climate variability and post-harvest food loss abatement technologies: evidence from rural Tanzania. Studies in Agricultural Economics, 121 (1). pp. 30-40. https://doi.org/10.7896/j.1822
  9. Patrick Nderitu and Wagura Ndiritu (2018) Effects of Mergers on Processed Milk Market in Kenya. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies Vol. 8 Issue: 3, pp.480-500, https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-04-2016-0021
  10. Duncan Kibunyi, Wagura Ndiritu, Hector Carcel and Luis A. Gil-Alana (2017) Real estate prices in Kenya: is there a bubble? Journal of the Housing and the Built Environment; Volume 32, Issue 4, pp 787–804. doi:10.1007/s10901-017-9541-x
  11. Robert Mudida Wagura Ndiritu and Thomas W. Ross (2015) Kenya’s New Competition Policy Regime World Competition 38, no. 3: 437–462.
  12. Wagura Ndiritu, Menale Kassie and Bekele Shiferaw (2014) Are there systematic gender differences in the adoption of joint sustainable intensification practices? Evidence from Kenya. Food policy journal, Volume 49, Part 1, December 2014, Pages 117–127. Doi: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.06.010
  13. Kassie Menale, Simon Wagura Ndiritu and Jesper Stage (2014) Gender inequalities and Food security in Kenya: Application of Switching regression. World Development, Vol.56, April 2014, pp 153–171 Doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.10.025
  14. Joseph Onjala, Simon Wagura Ndiritu and Jesper Stage (2014) Risk Perception, Choice of Drinking Water, and Water Treatment Evidence from Kenyan Towns. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 4, 2, pages 268-280 doi:10.2166/washdev.2014.131
  15. Ndiritu, Simon Wagura and Wilfred Nyangena (2011) Environmental goods collection and children’s schooling: Evidence from Kenya. Regional Environmental Change, 11(3), 531-542 http://www.springerlink.com/content/470430708568p4qj/
  1. William Irungu Ng’ang’a, Julien Chevallier, and Simon Wagura Ndiritu (2019). Investigating fiscal and monetary policies coordination and public debt in Kenya: evidence from regime-switching and self-exciting threshold autoregressive models. Economics Discussion Papers, No 2019-40, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/discussionpapers/2019-40
  2. William Nganga, Julien Chevallier, Simon Wagura Ndiritu 2018. Regime changes and fiscal sustainability in Kenya with comparative nonlinear Granger causalities across East-African countries. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01941226
Peer Reviewed Book chapter in Major reference works and handbooks:

The papers are online and can be cited.

  1. Wagura Ndiritu (2019) Drought preparedness and livestock management strategies by pastoralists in semi-arid lands: Laikipia North, Kenya. Current Directions in Water Scarcity Research, Volume 2, 2019, Pages 247-263. Chapter 17 In Everisto Mapedza, Daniel Tsegai, Michael Bruntrup and Robert McLeman (Eds.) Drought challenges: Livelihood implications in developing countries, Volume Two, published by Elsevier Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814820-4.00017-1
  2. Mungai E.M., Ndiritu S.W., Da Silva I. (2020) Unlocking Climate Finance Potential for Climate Adaptation: Case of Climate Smart Agricultural Financing in Sub Saharan Africa. In: Leal Filho W., Ogugu N., Adelake L., Ayal D., Da Silva I. (eds) African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42091-8_172-1
Case Studies Written
  1. Wagura Ndiritu 2016 Smallholder dilemma on the emerging Kenyan food safety concerns Published by the Case Centre, UK, case registration no: 215-103-1/8 https://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/products/view?id=131657

Policy briefs

    • Transforming the beef value chain in northern Kenya: opportunities for the private sector
    • Gender issues in food security and agricultural technology adoption in rural Kenya
    • PRISE POLICY BRIEF: Climate-resilient economic development in Kenya’s ASALs: A pathway to achieving The Big Four Agenda. Authors Claire Bedelian, Elizabeth Carabine, Mohammed Said, Robina Abuya, Joanes Atela, Fred Atieno, Florence Crick, Kate Gannon, Stephen Moiko, Joseph Muhwanga, Simon Wagura Ndiritu, and Catherine Simonet.

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