Gutama Girja Urago
Agricultural economist · Research analyst
Contact
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- girjagutama@gmail.com
- github.com/GutUrago
- linkedin.com/in/gutama-girja
- 0000-0001-5588-2301
Programming
Survey and data systems
Spatial
Methods
Languages
- Afaan OromoNative
- AmharicNative
- EnglishFluent
- TurkishAdvanced (C1)
- DutchBasic
Research interests
Smallholder productivity and input adoption; crop commercialization; food insecurity and vulnerability to shocks; applied microeconometrics with household panel data.
Experience
Research Analyst, Laterite
Aug 2024 – presentAddis Ababa, Ethiopia
Design surveys, build data systems and analyse data for research and evaluation studies in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa.
- Run the technical side of field studies: questionnaire design, sampling, SurveyCTO programming, data-quality monitoring during fieldwork, cleaning and analysis.
- Design monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks, including theories of change, indicators and verification sampling.
- Work on household, business, health-facility and phone surveys, including panels of several thousand respondents, in agriculture, clean energy, health, nutrition, education and refugee livelihoods.
- Write R and Stata code for automated data pipelines and data-quality dashboards.
- Act as a technical contact for clients, co-write field reports and contribute to literature reviews.
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Haramaya University
Aug 2018 – Sep 2019Department of Agricultural Economics, Ethiopia
Taught undergraduate courses in Development Economics, Statistics for Economists and Farm Management.
Education
International MSc in Rural Development
2022 – 2024Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's: Ghent University (Belgium), Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (Slovakia), University of Pisa (Italy)
Summa cum laude (851/1000). Joint highest first-year score in a cohort of 51.
Thesis: The impact of cereal commercialization on the technical efficiency of farmers in Ethiopia. Supervisors: F. Riccioli and S. Saia.
MSc in Agricultural Economics
2019 – 2022Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Türkiye
CGPA 3.88/4.00 (97.6/100). Included a one-year Turkish preparatory programme (C1).
Thesis: Credit utilization and satisfaction of farmers from microfinance institutions: The case of Oromia Credit and Savings Share Company in Wadera District, Ethiopia. Supervisor: M. Bozoğlu.
BSc in Agricultural Economics
2015 – 2018Haramaya University, Ethiopia
CGPA 3.99/4.00, great distinction. Gold medal for outstanding academic achievement.
Publications and manuscripts
Under review
- 2026Urago, G. G. (2026). The fragility of the urban advantage: Vulnerability to food insecurity under systemic shocks. Scientific Reports. Under review.
Peer-reviewed articles
- 2024Bozoğlu, M., Dengiz, O., Başer, U., Turan, İ. D., & Urago, G. G. (2024). Estimation of the potential hazelnut plantation areas in Türkiye using a geographic information system. Applied Fruit Science, 66(4), 1319–1330.
- 2024Yıldırım, Ç., Bozoğlu, M., & Urago, G. G. (2024). Türkiye's competitive power in the world hazelnut market. Applied Fruit Science, 66(3), 921–928.
- 2022Urago, G. G., & Bozoğlu, M. (2022). Literature review on farmers' agricultural credit access in Ethiopia. Anadolu Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi, 37(2), 301–316.
Theses
- 2024Urago, G. G. (2024). The impact of cereal commercialization on the technical efficiency of farmers in Ethiopia. MSc thesis, Ghent University, Belgium.
- 2022Urago, G. G. (2022). Credit utilization and satisfaction of farmers from microfinance institutions: The case of Oromia Credit and Savings Share Company in Wadera District, Ethiopia. MSc thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Türkiye.
Research software
- 2026ctoclient · R package (CRAN) and Stata module (SSC). A data pipeline for SurveyCTO in R and Stata.
- 2025ethiodate · R package (CRAN) and Stata module (SSC). Ethiopian dates in R and Stata.
- 2025nadaverse · R package (CRAN). Search the world's microdata catalogs from R.
Source code for all packages: github.com/GutUrago. More on the software page.
Teaching, mentoring and academic service
- Taught Development Economics, Statistics for Economists and Farm Management undergraduate courses at Haramaya University (2018 – 2019).
- Supervised an intern at Laterite (June – September 2026) through an introduction to how Laterite produces high-quality data for research with social impact.
- Peer reviewer for Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development and Journal of Recycling Economy & Sustainability Policy.
Honours and scholarships
- 2022Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Scholarship, European Union (2022 – 2024)
- 2019Türkiye Bursları Scholarship, Government of Türkiye (2019 – 2022)
- 2018Gold Medal for outstanding academic achievement (CGPA 3.99/4.00), Haramaya University
- 2017Merit Awards for best academic achievement in Agricultural Economics, Haramaya University (2016 and 2017)
Selected training
- 2026Introduction to Agent-Based Models, United Nations University-MERIT
- 2026Fundamentals of Data Visualization, World Bank Group. Credential ID 69cbc77f53cc7e3bd30b69c2
- 2025Reproducible Research Fundamentals, World Bank Group. Credential ID 675efc9f6317e96fa60ef8ff
- 2025SDG Indicator 2.1.2: Using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), FAO. Verify certificate
References
Available on request.