Abdul B.Kamara

Abdul B. Kamara is a published researcher and Manager of the Research Division of the African Development Bank (ADB). As Research Manager, Kamara works in a team that identifies strategic priorities for Bank-led research on African economic and social development, and takes responsibility for supervising senior research professionals and publishing the Bank’s key flagship publications. Before becoming research manager in 2007, Kamara served as a Senior Agricultural Economist in the Bank’s Operations Department, where he managed the Bank’s entire agricultural investment portfolio in The Gambia during 2004-2006.

Before joining the Bank, he served as a Research Scientist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and a joint Research Associate of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and worked extensively on Southern, Eastern and West Africa. He has also taught applied production economics at the University of Göttingen in Germany, and holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Rural Development from the same University.

In 2002, Kamara’s research work at ILRI/IFPRI won Germany’s prestigious Josef G. Knoll Science Award, making him the 4th African Laureate of this distinctive honor, and in 2006 he received the ADB’s Sector Operations Vice Presidency Merit Award for best professionals. His research interests include agricultural transformation and productivity growth in Africa; food security, market access and economic growth; and recently the impact of the food and financial crisis on African economies.  Kamara has authored books, book chapters and several articles in reputed journals, including the Oxford Journal on African Economies (UK), Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture (Germany), Development Southern Africa (S. Africa), Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (USA) and Development Policy Review (UK).