Lidya Tesfaye

Lidya Tesfaye is a finance and development economist working within the Climate Action Team. She has 10 years of profound work experience in climate-smart agriculture, climate finance, agri-business development, digital adaptation solutions for smallholder farmers, and public-private sector engagement.

She has taken part in projects implemented across several countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Nepal. Her research is focusing mainly on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) interventions with the aim of generating concrete evidence to develop bankable investment plans to unlock sustainable investment in the agriculture sector. At Alliance, she has taken part in different research projects that involved undertaking climate change risk assessments, identifying opportunities for climate adaptation investments by developing a climate-smart agriculture investment plan, capacity building, and knowledge generation and dissemination in areas relevant to climate adaptation solutions and sustainable agriculture investment.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Lidya worked as Research Associate for Precision for Development (PxD), and Research Analyst and Project manager for Echnoseve Consulting. In these roles, she provided technical support in leading projects and programs mainly focusing on harnessing digital agricultural services and climate-adaptation technologies, inclusive agriculture business development, data research and management, and knowledge sharing.

Lidya is a published author of several scientific peer-reviewed papers. Her current area of interest in research for development is ensuring climate-smart agriculture, sustainable agri-business, private-sector engagement, digital agricultural servicer, and foresight and metrics for the agriculture sector.