In October 2025, Rachidi ABOUDOU joined the Department of Ecological-Economic Policy Modelling at the University of Hohenheim as a Ph.D student. Rachidi is an Agricultural Economist and worked at AfricaRice (a CGIAR center) as a regional research assistant on quantitative impact assessments. His research focused on socio-economics study and quantitative impact assessment of Agricultural technologies and policies in Africa. Passionate about development study and poverty reduction, his research interests are on value chain analysis, household economics using innovative and theory led econometric impact analysis. He is highly skilled at data collection through household surveys, data analysis, and research leading to the implementation of evidence-based policies.

• Impact assessment of agricultural technologies
• Agricultural policy analysis
• Economic modelling
• Value-chain Analysis

Ph.D. Topic: Rice self-sufficiency, risk preferences, gender, and experimentation with climate-smart rice varieties in West Africa. 
Objective: The main objective of the PhD project research is to analyze the socioeconomic drivers of rice self-sufficiency in West Africa, understand how risk preferences and gender dynamics shape farmers’ willingness to adopt climate-smart rice technologies, and assess the impact of the large-scale adoption of drought tolerant ARICA rice varieties in Côte d'Ivoire and Mali.

• M. Sc. Agricultural Economics, University of Parakou, Benin

• B. Sc. Agricultural Science, University of Parakou, Benin
  

• Baccalaureate C (Mathematics  and  Physics)  & D (Biology and Mathematics)

• IPPAE Ph.D. scholarship from DAAD in Germany.
• Best Poster Award: Research on "Consumer Preferences for Rice in Liberia" was honored with the Best Poster Award at the CGIAR Market Intelligence WP1 and WP2 workshops in Harare, Zimbabwe.
• Financial support for participation at Tropentag 2024, in Vienna (BOKU), Austria. Presentation titled “Double shocks: Russia-Ukraine conflict and COVID-19 impacts on the rice value chain, trade and fertilizer use in Africa”
• Financial support for participation at 2025 AES conference in Bordeaux, France. Presentation titled “Global Shocks and Agricultural Productivity: Analyzing Fertilizer and Cereal Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa”
• 2020 Genebanks Impacts Fellow: He was one of the six 2020 Genebank Impact Fellows, a Crop Trust initiative to assess the impact of CGIAR genebanks.

• Regional Research Assistant on Quantitative Impact Assessment at AfricaRice (a CGIAR center).
• Coordinator of the AIC (Interprofessional Cotton Association) in Benin.
• Extension agent advisor in Direction of Agricultural Development (DDA) in the Ministry of Agriculture in Benin Republic.
• Teaching: Mathematics, statistics, Market research and analysis
  
  

Microsoft-Office: Very good
STATA: Very good
ArcMap: Very good
COMFAR III: Good
Software for questionnaire automation such as CSPro, Kobo, ONA: Excellent
GAMS and R: Basics

• Aboudou, R., Tabe-Ojong Jr, M. P., Gebrekidan, B., & Yabi, J. A. (2025). Global Shocks and Agricultural Productivity: Analyzing Fertilizer and Cereal Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa. AES conference, 99th Annual Conference, April 14-16, 2025, The University of Bordeaux, France. doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.356796.
• Kanon, A. L., Aboudou, R., Depieu, M. E., Arouna, A., & Ndindeng, S. A. (2025, May). Rice Value Chain Upgrading in Côte d’Ivoire: The Role of the Improved GEM System for Rice Parboiling. In Proceedings (Vol. 118, No. 1, p. 9). doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025118009.
• Tyack N., Arouna A., Aboudou R., Ndjiondjop, M.N. (2024). An experimental approach to farmer valuation of African rice genetic resources. Agricultural Economics, 55(6), 1000-1025. doi.org/10.1111/agec.12859.
• Arouna, A., Adekambi, S. A., Aboudou, R., Yergo, W. G., & Mujawamariya, G. (2024). Impact assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic on the income and food security of rice smallholder producers in five African countries. SN Business & Economics, 4(11), 144. doi.org/10.1007/s43546-024-00742-2.
• Arouna, A., Tyack, N., & Aboudou, R. (2023). Farmer Risk Preferences and Willingness to Pay for African Rice Landrace Seed: An Experimental Choice Analysis. In Managing Risk in Agriculture: A Development Perspective (pp. 144-154). GB: CABI. doi.org/10.1079/9781800622289.0010.
• Arouna, A., Aboudou, R., & Ndindeng, S. A. (2023). The adoption and impacts of improved parboiling technology for rice value chain upgrading on the livelihood of women rice parboilers in Benin. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, 1066418. doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1066418.
• Arouna, A., & Aboudou, R. (2020). Dataset of the survey on e-registration and geo-referenced of rice value chain actors for the diffusion of technologies: Case of Benin and Côte d'Ivoire. Data in Brief, 30, 105642. doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.105642.