Newcastle University

Dr. Eric Ruto teaches undergraduate and postgraduate level courses in quantitative research methods, applied statistics, multivariate data analysis, among other courses. He holds a PhD degree in agricultural and resource economics from Newcastle University, UK (which included further training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) and a Bachelors of Science degree in agricultural economics from Egerton University, Kenya. His academic research interests focuses broadly on agricultural and resource economics, with particular interests in development and application of economic valuation methods (stated and revealed preference methods), agricultural productivity/efficiency analysis, and agricultural policy analysis. Prior to his appointment as Lecturer, he was Research Associate at Newcastle University, working on European Union (EU) funded research projects on agri-environment policy design and evaluation. Previously, he worked in Kenya as Research Economist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and as project management officer at the Ministry of Agriculture. Eric has been involved in a variety of research projects funded by the World Bank, EU, UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the British Council, among other organisations. He has published papers in international peer-reviewed academic journals and presented at various international conferences.

 Qualifications

• PhD, Agricultural Economics (Newcastle University, UK)
• Bsc, Agricultural Economics (Egerton University, Kenya) 
• Certificate in Advanced Studies in Academic Practice (Newcastle University, UK)

Roles and Responsibilities

• Chair, Board of Examiners of Food Marketing and Nutrition related degree programmes
• Member of the Board of studies and Board of examiners of some undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes
• Post graduate selector for School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
• Leading three modules and contributing to the teaching of several other modules.

Previous Positions

• Research Associate: Newcastle University, UK
• Research Officer: Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya
• Project Management Officer: Ministry of Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya
• Loans Officer: Agricultural Finance Corporation, Kenya.

Memberships

• Agricultural Economics Society
• European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

Languages

• English
• Swahili (Kenya's national lanquage)

Research Interests

Subjects Interests

• Agricultural Economics
• Environment and Resource Economics
• Development Economics
• Applied Econometrics

 Methological Interests

• Contingent valuation and Choice modelling
• Hedonic price models
• Stochastic frontier production models
• Multivariate data analysis methods
• Statistical and econometric data analysis support using specialised software such as LIMDEP, SPSS, AMOS, and MINITAB

Ongoing projects

• British Council funded DELPHE project on Urban Agriculture in developing countries: A case study of Ibadan, Nigeria. In collaboration with Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Obafemi Owolowo University, Nigeria.    

PhD Student Supervision

David Otieno:

• Research Topic: Economic analysis of beef cattle farmers' technical efficiency and willingness to comply with Disease Free Zones in Kenya (completed 2011; currently Lecturer, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi)

Bakti Hasan Basri:

• Research Topic: Economic values of the attributes of Malaysian recreational Parks: a choice experiments approach (completed 2010; currently Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, University Utara Malaysia)

 YoungMin Choi:

• Research Topic: Structural equation modelling and food consumer behaviour (ongoing) 

Undergraduate Teaching

• ACE3078: Multivariate Analysis for Marketing (Module Leader)
• MKT2004: Research Methods for Business and Marketing
• ACE2013: Statistics for Marketing and Managenent (Module Leader)
• ACE2046: Quantitative Techniques (Contributor)
• ACE1050: Sustainable Development (Contributor)
• ACE1035: Environmental Science Issues (Contributor)
• ACE3099: Undergraduate Dissertation in Agri-Business Management (Student supervision)
• ACE3094: Undergraduate Dissertation in Marketing/Management (Student aupervision)

Postgraduate Teaching

• ACE8086: Multivariate Data Analysis for Marketing (Module Leader)
• ACE8069: Masters Dissertation in Advanced Food Marketing (Student supervision)

• Garrod GD, Ruto E, Willis KG, Powe NA. Heterogeneity of preferences for the benefits of Environmental Stewardship: A latent-class approach. Ecological Economics 2012, 76, 104-111.
• Phillipson J, Lowe P, Proctor A, Ruto E. Stakeholder Engagement and Knowledge Exchange in Environmental Research. Journal of Environmental Management 2012, 95(1), 56-65.
• Mesa-Juradoa A, Martin-Ortega J, Ruto E, Berbel J. The economic value of guaranteed water supply for irrigation under scarcity conditions. Agricultural Water Management 2012, 113, 10-18.
• Otieno D, Ruto E, Hubbard L. Cattle farmers’ preferences for Disease Free Zones in Kenya: an application of the choice experiment method. Journal of Agricultural Economics 2011, 62(1), 207-224.
• Stolz H, Stolze M, Hamm U, Janssen M, Ruto E. Consumer attitudes towards organic versus conventional food with specific quality attributes. NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 2011, 58(3-4), 67-72.
• Ness M, Brennan M, Oughton E, Ritson C, Ruto E. Modelling consumer behavioural intentions towards food with implications for marketing quality low-input and organic food. Food Quality and Preference 2010, 21(1), 100-111.
• Ruto E, Scarpa R. Using Choice experiments to investigate preferences for cattle traits in Kenya. In: Birol, E; Bennett, J, ed. Choice Experiments in Developing Countries: Implementation, Challenges and Policy Implications. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2010, pp.244-260.
• Espinosa-Goded M, Barreiro-Hurlé J, Ruto E. What Do Farmers Want From Agri-Environmental Scheme Design? A Choice Experiment Approach. Journal of Agricultural Economics 2010, 61(2), 259-273.
• Garrod GD, Ruto ESK, Snowden P. Assessing the value of forest landscapes: a 'choice experiment' approach. Arboricultural Journal 2009, 32(3), 189-211.
• Ruto E, Garrod G. Investigating Farmers Preferences for the design of Agri-environment Schemes: A choice experiment approach. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 2009, 52(5), 631-647.
• Ruto E, Garrod G, Scarpa R. Valuing animal genetic resources: A choice modeling application to indigenous cattle in Kenya. Agricultural Economics 2008, 38(1), 89-98.
• Radeny M, Scarpa R, Ruto E, Kristjanson P, Wakhungu J. Determinants of Cattle Prices in Southern Kenya: Implications for Breed Conservation and Pastoral Marketing Strategies. In: McPeak, J.G., Little, P.D, ed. Pastoral Livestock Marketing in Eastern Africa: Research and Policy Changes. Rugby, UK: ITDG Publishing, 2006, pp.82-107.
• Ruto E, Garrod G. Valuing animal genetic resources: a case study of cattle in Kenya using choice experiments. In: Proceedings of the Third World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists. 2006, Kyoto, Japan.
• Ruto ESK. Economic valuation of farm animal genetic resources: Methods and Applications to indigenous cattle in Kenya. Ph.D. thesis, University of Newcastle, 2004.
• Scarpa R, Ruto ESK, Kristjanson P, Radeny M, Drucker AG, Rege JEO. Valuing indigenous cattle breeds in Kenya: An empirical comparison of stated and revealed preference value estimates. Ecological Economics 2003, 45(3), 409-426.