Prof David Uchezuba

Biography:
David I. Uchezuba, PhD, is currently working as an Associate Professor at the Namibian University of Science and Technology. He received his Doctoral degree (PhD) in Agricultural Economics from the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He completed his master’s degree in Agricultural Economics at the same university in 2006, with a distinction. He worked at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development in Kimberley, Northern Cape Province, South Africa, from 2007 to 2014, where he served as a Senior Agricultural Economist. His area of specialisation is Agricultural marketing and international trade. He is an Econometrician with advanced knowledge in Partial and General Equilibrium modelling. He teaches Basic and Applied Econometrics, Principles and Applied Production Economics, and Economics of Trade at the graduate and postgraduate levels. He has authored several publications in various journals. His publications reflect his expertise and research interests in the field of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. He is a member of the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA). He has participated and is currently a member of several ongoing Scholarly research projects in Namibia. He was awarded Researcher of the Year 2017 in the Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences at the Namibian University of Science and Technology.
Research Focus:
• Agricultural policy analysis
• Micro and macroeconomic modelling and forecasting
• Time-series econometrics modelling and forecasting
• Agricultural marketing and international trade
• Project analysis, management, and development
• Socio-economic development
• Climate change: Vulnerability, Mitigation and Adaptation

Teaching:
Undergraduate courses:
• Principles of Production Economics
• Basic Econometrics
• Economics of Trade
Postgraduate courses:
• Applied Econometrics
• Applied Production Economics
Publications:
LIST OF RESEARCH PROJECTS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED
• Project title: A study to investigate the feasibility of improving the current marketing system to enable smallholder producers to derive greater benefits from their livestock. The project was granted by the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) in 2015.
• Project title: Feasibility study for the production of torrefied wood in Namibia. Project funded by the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) through the Ministry of Industrialisation, Small and Medium Enterprise Development and Trade in 2016.
• Project title: FAO-ACT - Strengthening the capacity of farmers to manage climate-related risks in Northern Namibia, Ref.C-350323, 2017. Project granted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations under the European Development Fund.
• Project title: A competitiveness analysis of the Namibian meat industry. Project granted by the Namibia Meat Board, SC/RP/MBN-03-2018.
• Project title: Support to Evidence-Based and Coordinated Agri-Trade Policy Development (ECAP)” in Namibia” through establishment of the Agri-Trade Policy Institute (ATPI). Project granted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Gmbh, ECAP/FATPI (2019).
• Project title: An in-depth Value Chain Analysis on the status of selected commodities in light of the COVID-19 crisis. Project granted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations under the European Development Fund, 2022.
• Project title: Sustainable food security and woodland utilisation for drought-prone communal areas under climate change in the SADC countries (SUSTAIN). Sub-project – SUSTAIN-ECO: Integrated agricultural economic assessment to estimate the national impacts of Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) and Conservation Agriculture (CA). Project granted by the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) in 2022.
• Project title: Comprehensive African Climate Change Initiative (CACCI): A joint climate initiative with the African Union Commission to promote resilience, food security and inclusive growth. Pilot in Zambia’s Adaptation and Mitigation Pathways (2024). A project commissioned by the African Network of Agricultural Research Institutes (ANAPRI).
• Project title: Comprehensive African Climate Change Initiative (CACCI): A joint climate initiative with the African Union Commission to promote resilience, food security and inclusive growth. Pilot in Ghana’s Adaptation and Mitigation Pathways (2024). A project commissioned by the African Network of Agricultural Research Institutes (ANAPRI).
• Project title: Short Title: Sustainable Food Security and Woodland Utilisation for Drought-Prone Communal Areas under Climate Change in SADC Countries (2023-2026). Sub-project: Integrated agricultural economic assessment to estimate the national impacts of BNF and CA implementation.

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
• UCHEZUBA, D.I. (2021). Analysing the effect of drought regime changes on the Namibian livestock output supply growth: a switching regression approach. Journal paper submitted for publication to the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.
• UCHEZUBA, D.I. AND MBAI, S. (2020). Evaluating the potential for improved and sustainable adoption of conservation agriculture in Northern Namibia. American Journal of Agricultural Research, 5:106.
• UCHEZUBA, D.I., MBAI, S., ZIMMERMANN, I. AND BRUWER, J. (2019). Investigating Wood pellet torrefaction investment and its economic feasibility in the Kurmhuk, Khomas Region of Namibia. SN Applied Sciences (2019) 1: 402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-0390-y.
• UCHEZUBA, D1, AMAAMBO, P. AND MBAI, S. (2019). Tenure security, investment, and the productivity of agricultural farms in the communal area of Kavango West region of Namibia: Any evidence of causality? African Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 14(26), pp, 1114-1128.
• UCHEZUBA, I.D., ALEMU, Z.G & JOOSTE, A. (2006). Measuring market integration for apples on the South African fresh produce markets: a threshold vector error correction approach. Published in IDEAS
https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/ufstmd/28065.html
• UCHEZUBA, I.D., MOSHABELE, E., & DIGOPO, D. (2009). Logistical estimation of the possibility of mainstream market participation amongst small-scale livestock farmers. A case study of Northern Cape Province. Contributed paper at the 46th annual conference of the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA) held in Namibia. Published in Agrekon Journal Vol. 48(2): 171-183.

• UCHEZUBA, I.D., JOOSTE, A. & WILLEMSE, B.J. (2010). Measuring asymmetric price and volatility spillover in the South African Broiler market. Contributed paper at the 3rd African Association of Agricultural Economics (AAAE) and the 48th Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA) 2010 annual conference held in Cape Town. Published in Agecon search http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/96434. 2010 AAAE Third Conference/AEASA 48th Conference, September 19-23, 2010, Cape Town, South Africa, No. 96434. https://ideas.repec.org/s/ags/aaae10.html

• UCHEZUBA, I.D,. & MBAI,. M. (2016). Modelling price expectation and volatility effects on producer behaviour: A case of Namibian Beef market. Contributed paper for the 2015 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association conference, St Pauls, Minnesota USA. Published in International Journal of Applied Agricultural Research, Vol. 11(1):83-102.

• UCHEZUBA, I.D. & MBAI, M. (2016). Analysing price risk and volatility in the Namibian sheep market: a Threshold Generalised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (TGARCH) approach. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, Vol. 7(15).

• UCHEZUBA, I.D., MBAI, M.S & LAUBSCHER, K (2016). An alternative to a cooperative marketing system in the southern communal area of Namibia: are farmers willing to pay? European Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 8 (24)

• UCHEZUBA, I.D., MBAI, M.S & LAUBSCHER, K (2016). Challenges facing agricultural cooperative system: analysing participation using a discrete choice model for the southern communal area of Namibia. Africa Journal for Agricultural Research, Vol. 11(31): 2860-2870.

• UCHEZUBA, D.I, ANDREAS, F.R. & MBAI, S.M (2016). Farmer’s attitude towards disease outbreak – reactionary or precautionary: A case of livestock farmers in the Grootfontein region of Namibia. Contributed paper at the 50th Commemorative Conference of the South Africa Society for Agricultural Extension (SASAE). Published in the Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, Vol. 7(16)

• UCHEZUBA, I.D., MBAI, M.S & LAUBSCHER, K (2016). Impact of alternative livestock marketing choice, constraint and opportunities: A case of smallholder farmers in the Sothern Communal Area of Namibia. Journal of Natural Science Research, Vol. 6(14).

• OGUNDEJI, A.A., UCHEZUBA, D. & JOOSTE, A. (2007). Econometric estimation of Armington elasticities for selected agricultural products in South Africa. Paper presented at the 2007 annual conference of the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA). Published in South African Journal of Economics and Management Science, vol. 13(2):123-132.

• ELNA, J., PUNT, C., UCHEZUBA, D. & MOLAO, B. (2009). A profile of the Northern Cape Province: Demographics, poverty, income, inequality and unemployment from 2000 to 2007. Published in Economic Papers,
http://econpapers.repec.org/papers/agsprovbp/58052.htm, also see agecon search at
http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/58052

• MONTLE, B.P. & UCHEZUBA, D., (2016). Production frontier of small-scale millet farmers: A comparison of conservation and traditional agricultural practices in Northern Namibia. Journal of Natural Sciences Research, Vol. 6(16).

• AMAAMBO, P.M & UCHEZUBA, D.I. (2018). Relationship between communal leasehold rights and investment in the small-scale farms: A case of Kavango West, Mpungu, Namibia. Journal of Natural Science Research, Vol. 8. (16): ISBN 2224-3186.
• JEONG, J., JANTKE, J., RASCHE, L., ESCHENBACH, A., UCHEZUBA, D., REINHOLD-HUREK, B., & SCHNEIDER, U.A. (2025). Managing scarce water and land resources: The potentials of cowpea production in Namibia. Environmental Development Vol 54,101139.
• SHIIMI, T AND UCHEZUBA, D. (2025). Socio-Economic Factors Influencing the Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Northern Namibia. Sustainability. Vol 17 (5), 2298.

• SHIIMI, T AND UCHEZUBA, D. (2025). Willingness to Pay to Adopt Conservation Agriculture in Northern Namibia Agriculture. Vol. 15, 568.

• RASCHE L, KATJANA J, JANTKE K , UCHEZUBA D AND UWE A.S. (2025). Exploring the Plausibility of Inoculated Cowpeas as a Climate Adaptation Strategy for Namibian Smallholder Farmers.