Prof. Rachel Sabates-Wheeler is a Development Economist with extensive experience in rural development, institutional analysis, migration and social protection, including 2.5 years leading research on Land Policy in Albania and 2.5 years in Rwanda working as Chief of Research and Social Policy for UNICEF.

A Research Fellow at the IDS since 2001, a Director of the Centre for Social Protection since 2006 and co-leader of the Rural Futures Cluster, Rachel’s primary geographic research focus is Eastern and Southern Africa – having worked in over 8 African countries.  Much of the analysis informing her work utilises mixed methods research and data analysis. She has led and been involved in a number of studies that explore understandings of risk and vulnerability both conceptually and empirically and has published numerous articles and books on these topics.

Through IDS, Rachel has worked for numerous international agencies, including DFID, EC, SIDA, UNICEF, WFP, FAO, ILO, the Land Tenure Center and the World Bank. She is currently an Executive Director of a large DFID-funded research grant on Action on Children’s Harmful Work in African Agriculture (ACHA).