Fridah Nyakundi

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Environment and Resources at Stanford University’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER). My research sits at the intersection of environmental and natural resource economics and land system science, applying remote sensing and economic methods to understand how natural resource use shapes livelihoods and ecosystems in low- and middle-income countries.

Currently, my doctoral work focuses on the risks and decision-making strategies in aquaculture systems, with a case study on Nile Tilapia cage farming in Lake Victoria. While aquaculture is the subject of my current research, my broader interests span natural resource management (NRM) economics, agriculture and environmental economics, land system science, and food systems resilience.

Before graduate school, I spent five years at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), supporting the design and execution of large-scale impact assessments and leading the setup of data systems for the Africa research team. I have been a fellow at Environment for Development (EfD) Kenya since 2017, contributing to applied water and resource economics research.