Dadirai is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research of the University of Malawi (CSR). She is also a 2018 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Research Fellow under the “Enhancing Capacity to Apply Research Evidence (CARE) project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics (by Coursework and Thesis) at the University of Cape Town.
She has a Master of Arts degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree from the University of Malawi. She has gained extensive experience in quantitative and qualitative research from the CSR where she has been engaged in various research projects in agriculture, economics, health and education. She has been involved in proposal development, developing study protocols, sample selection, recruitment, training, field supervision, coordination of field work and logistics, monitoring field work progress, data quality checks, field report writing, uploading data to the server, data analysis and report writing.
Publications:
Elikem Togo, Tawonga W. Mwase-Vuma, Chrissie Thakwalakwa, Elizabeth Millar, Milissa Markiewicz, Esme Kadzamira, Janine J. Kayange, Dadirai Mkombe, and Jessica Fehringer (2025). The thought that i could continue with school got lost: a qualitative exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on the education and sexual and reproductive health of Malawi youth. Reproductive Health, Volume 22,33. https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12978-025-01972-9
Daniela C Rodríguez, Lakshmi Narasimhan Balaji, Elita Chamdimba, Juba Kafumba, Adam D Koon, Jacob Mazalale, Dadirai Mkombe, Joshua Munywoki, Tawonga Mwase-Vuma, Justine Namakula, Bejoy Nambiar, Abigail H Neel, Xavier Nsabagasani, Ligia Paina, Braeden Rogers, Maxton Tsoka, Evelyn Waweru, Alister Munthali, Freddie Ssengooba, Benjamin Tsofa (2023): Political economy analysis of subnational health management in Kenya, Malawi and Uganda. Health Policy and Planning, Volume 38, Issue 5, June 2023, Pages 631–647. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad021
Dadirai Mkombe, Adane Hirpa Tufa , Arega D. Alene , Julius Manda , Shiferaw Feleke , Tahirou Abdoulaye & Victor Manyong (2021): The effects of foreign direct investment on youth unemployment in the Southern African Development Community. Development Southern Africa, Volume 38, Issue 6, Pages 863–878. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2020.1796598
Dadirai MKombe. Youth Unemployment in the southern African Development Community: What Role Does Foreign Direct Investment Play? Policy Brief (2020), care.iita.org.
Conferences:
Dadirai Mkombe-Mpando. The Impact of Debt on Economic Growth: A scoping Review. International Macroeconomics Symposium. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. 28th September 2023.
Dadirai Mkombe-Mpando. The Impacts of Renewable Energy on Economic Growth: A scoping Review. Second International Conference on New Pathways for a Just and Inclusive Energy Transition: Connecting Multiple stakeholders and levels, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. 20th -21st June 2023.
Dadirai Mkombe-Mpando. The Economic Impacts of Covid-19 in Malawi: A Scoping Review. International Conference on Covid-19 under the theme: " Unpacking the Science, Economics and Politics of COVID-19” organised by the Great Zimbabwe University. 29th -30th July 2021. Online.