IFPRI Policy Seminar: Food Security through Food Value Chains

The value chain approach to food security looks at not only increasing food production but helping bring that food through the value chain—from field to fork—to hungry households.

Please join IFPRI next week for a policy seminar with researchers and representatives from the embassies of Germany and Tanzania to discuss food security projects in Africa south of the Sahara that use the food value chain approach.

Presentations will highlight results of research projects funded by German federal ministries, share success stories of food value chains, and outline key policies required to achieve food and nutrition security through this approach.

Speakers will include Stefan Sieber from the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany; Khamaldin Mutabazi from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania; and IFPRI Senior Research Fellow Ephraim Nkonya.

Astrid Jakobs de Pádua, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and Lily Munanka, Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania, will give welcoming remarks and IFPRI Chief of Staff Rajul Pandya-Lorch will moderate.

The event will take place Monday, June 8, at IFPRI’s Washington, DC office at 2033 K Street NW, 4th floor, from 12:15 to 1:45 pm EST (a light lunch will be served at 11:45 am).

Please register to attend, or join us virtually through our live webcast. You can join the discussion by sending your question via twitter (#askIFPRI) or via email to s.hill-lee@cgiar.org.

Join the seminar, in person or virtually, on June 8.

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research: Special Issue

Special Issue on Water Disaster Management Policy

The January 2015 issue of the Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research on the topic, "Designing Water Disaster Management Policies: Theory and Empirics", edited by Chennat Gopalakrishnan, has just been published.  This issue features an introductory essay and six original papers, authored by prominent scholars in the water disaster management field.

Ossified governance structures, polycentric decision-making entities, entropy-ridden institutions, cascading conflict scenarios, deep-seated and wide-ranging internal feuds and precariously perched, top-heavy decision agencies significantly add to the complexity of policy domains in the water disasterscape. Such an intractable combination of essentially incompatible forces and features renders the design and implementation of effective and efficient disaster risk management policies an extraordinarily challenging proposition.  Against this bleak backdrop, well-intentioned policies stumble into a collision course, making the emergence of workable policies exceedingly difficult.  The purpose of this special issue is to help identify, examine, analyze and assess the complex world of disaster management, and design robust, effective, implementation-friendly, widely-accessible and affordable policies.

To view selected articles for FREE just go to Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research online.

FREE online course on Agriculture, Economics and Nature

The University of Western Australia is offering a free online course on the economics of agriculture, natural resources and the environment.

This course is about agricultural production and the interaction between agriculture and the environment. The material presented can help us understand the changes that have occurred in agriculture, and support improved decision making about things like agricultural production methods, agricultural input levels, resource conservation, and the balance between agricultural production and its environmental impacts.

The course will be presented by Professor David Pannell, who is one of Australia’s leading economists working in the area of agriculture, natural resources and environment. His research include work on the economics of farming systems, land conservation, farmers’ behavior, agri-environmental policy, risk in agriculture, weed management, and environmental management. At the University of Western Australia, David is Head of the School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and Director of the Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy.

The course will be presented over six weeks, starting February 2, 2015, with a different focus each week. A set of lecture videos, mostly between 5 and 10 minutes in length are provided each week, together with readings, activities, student forums, quizzes and a final exam. No prerequisites or prior knowledge is needed. Certificates will be provided to those who successfully complete the course.

The course is made possible through the generous support of Yara Pilbara.

To register, go to http://courses.class2go.uwa.edu.au/ageconnature/. The site includes a brief video that provides an overview of the course. Register now and we will provide reminders when the course is starting. If you have any questions about the course please email mooc-are@uwa.edu.au.

Live Webcast: Increasing U.S. Agriculture’s Competitive Edge: How Do Public Data and Big Data Fit?

Inaugural Jon Brandt Policy Forum 

Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE)

When:  Tuesday, April 29, 2014 from 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM ET
Where:  Room 562 Dirksen Senate Office Building (SD-562)
Register here!
View live webcast here: http://connectlive.com/events/cfare/

American agriculture is facing an information crossroads. Agricultural markets, producer and industry decisions, and public policy that facilitates markets, rely heavily upon public sector data and information. However, the nation's statistical agencies currently face unprecedented pressure to reevaluate their data products. In some cases, agencies have suspended, aggregated, and even eliminated data and statistical series critical for understanding or alleviating market volatility and uncertainties. Simultaneously, technology has enabled growth in big data gathering capabilities. Modern farmers and service providers are harvesting big data and combining it with site specific, farm level information to provide data-driven, prescriptive farming solutions. This dynamic information environment, while exciting, raises a number of challenges. The inaugural forum aims to elucidate a comprehensive understanding of the roles and value of private and public sources of data in facilitating U.S. domestic and international production and markets.

Speakers and Event

JB Penn, Chief Economist at Deere & Company will provide the keynote address to set the stage, discussing the situation, policy environment, and road ahead. A panel of experts will be moderated by Sara Wyant, President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. The panel will include:

• Mary Bohman — Administrator, USDA Economic Research Service
• Bob Young – Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation
• Hubert Hamer, Jr. - Chair, Agricultural Statistics Board, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
• Ted Crosbie – Distinguished Science Fellow, Monsanto
• Barry Goodwin – Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University, Ag. and Resource Economics

Panelists will identify critical knowledge gaps that reflect the agricultural marketplace’s contemporary analytical and policy-making needs. These experts will then engage the audience on the value of public information and big data, while addressing public-private issues that will shape the future competitiveness of U.S. agriculture and related industries.

This inaugural forum will build upon the recent C-FARE report, “From Farm Income to Food Consumption: Valuing USDA Data Products”, developed with support from the USDA Office of the Chief Economist. The forum will also complement the related discourse in articles published in Choices magazine.

Hosted by the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE)
Cosponsored by: