Setenay Kizilkaya

Setenay Kizilkaya is a Doctoral Researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) in the Department of External Environment for Agriculture and Policy Analysis, joining in March 2024. Her research examines climate risk perceptions among small-scale farmers and migration decisions under climatic threats in Central Asia, with critical attention to gender inequality and human security dynamics.

Her educational background includes:

• Bachelor of International Relations, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
• Master of Social Sciences (German-Turkish Program), Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Her research integrates Environmental Mobilities, Risk Perceptions under Climatic Threats, Agricultural Sustainability, and Gender Inequality. She employs gender-sensitive participatory methodologies to analyze how climatic threats impact smallholder farmers' livelihood security and mobility pathways in vulnerable regions of the Global South, emphasizing intersectional vulnerabilities.

Recent publications analyze gendered climate risk perceptions and mobility intentions in agricultural communities across Mindanao (Philippines) and Kyrgyzstan. These works reveal how contextual vulnerabilities—shaped by gender, socioeconomics, and local ecology—mediate adaptation decisions, underscoring the need for nuanced policy interventions in climate-stressed agrarian systems.

She is embedded within IAMO's Department of External Environment for Agriculture and Policy Analysis. During her Master's research, she collaborated with CGIAR and ZALF (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research) on fieldwork in the Philippines, establishing foundations for her current Central Asia-focused PhD work.