Mesay Yami Gurmu, an Ethiopian, is working as an Associate Scientist, Agricultural Market Economist at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. He obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

He worked for more than ten years at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, based at Kulumsa Agricultural Research and the National Fisheries and Aquatic Life Research (NFALRC) Centers.

Before joining IITA, he served as an economist for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Hawassa, Sidama region, Ethiopia. He has extensive experience coordinating agricultural marketing, farm competitiveness, technology dissemination, and value chain projects. For instance, he served as the focal person for the theme ‘Value Chain Analysis and Pre-extension, and Demonstration of Improved Wheat Technologies’ for the Eastern Africa Agricultural Productivity Project (EAAPP), which was implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.