Rik Habraken

 
Rik Habraken is a senior advisor with a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia (UK). He specialises in rigorous impact evaluation and applied econometrics, with a strong focus on sustainable agricultural development and socio-economic well-being in sub-Saharan African countries.

He currently leads studies on the effects of cash transfers to cocoa and coffee farming households in West Africa, with the aim to improve incomes, enhance resilience, and tackle child labour prevalence in the region. Additionally, he focuses on evaluating the effects of a large-scale horticulture program on the livelihoods of horticulture farmers in Northern Nigeria.

He has led complex and large-scale impact evaluations, such as the AGRA-PIATA program across seven sub-Saharan African countries, and has successfully coordinated international teams of researchers, field coordinators, and enumerators. In these projects, he was responsible for the methodological design of impact evaluations, including designing the sampling frameworks, sampling procedures, survey development, and data analysis.

Apart from his contributions to sustainable agricultural development, Rik has also conducted research on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and published papers, articles and studies on youth aspirations in low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. His work in this area has shed light on critical issues concerning youth empowerment and reproductive healthcare.

Rik’s work aims to foster evidence-based policymaking, and his expertise lies in quantitative analyses, including various (quasi-) experimental approaches, such as randomised control trials, propensity score matching, difference-in-difference estimation, and instrumental variable estimation.

He has extensive regional experience in countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Rik is a member of the advisory board of the Living Income Community of Practice (LICOP).