Ruth Magreta

Dr. Ruth Magreta is a Lecturer and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Post-Doctoral Fellow at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and is based in Lilongwe, Malawi. Dr. Magreta is also working as an international consultant for the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Ruth was born in a family of eight, four girls and four boys and was brought up in Zomba, Southern Malawi. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees at the University of Malawi, Bunda College. Prior to commencing her Ph.D. at LUANAR with support from the NORHED - Climate-Smart Natural Resource Management and Policy (NORHED-CLISNARP) and (RUFORUM - Carnegie, Dr. Ruth Magreta worked for CIAT as a research assistant where she was supporting social-economic work of the McKnight Foundation, Southern African Bean Research Network (SARBN – PABRA) and the Tropical soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the CIAT (TSBF – CIAT) funded projects. After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Magreta was awarded a Post-Doctoral Fellowship whose main research focus is on the double effects of climate change and fall armyworms on maize production in Malawi and Mozambique. At LUANAR Dr. Magreta is mentoring young upcoming researchers both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dr. Magreta’s main research interests focus on farmers’ decision-making process amidst climate change, adaptation strategies to climatic shocks, forecasting the economic performance of food crops amidst climate change, gender analysis, and mapping project activities using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Dr. Magreta has a strong interest in using a combination of multidisciplinary analytical tools that are relevant to guiding relevant policy directions towards sustainable agricultural development. She has established and coordinated collaborative research with the University, national research institutes, extension systems, and development agencies.

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