I am a Professor at Tufts University, in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy with a secondary appointment in the Department of Economics. Detailed contact info is at the top of my CV. I look forward to hearing from you!
Click to lists below of recent publications and presentations, or click out to google for what I have written and where I work. You can also visit my Friedman School page and teaching blog.
News and media
- June 2017 Agrilinks post about agriculture’s impacts on poverty, nutrition and resilience
- May 2017 Boston Globe story about the vanilla price spike and cyclone Enawo
- Apr 2017 Econofact post about SNAP and the 2018 Farm Bill
- Apr 2017 video, slides, & paper on impacts of ag research for USAID webinar
- Dec 2016 NYTimes report on infant foods in Maternal & Child Nutrition [preprint]
- Nov 2016 comments on NEPR radio about the food policy ballot question in MA
- Oct 2016 analysis on WBUR.org about the food policy ballot question in MA
- June 2016 results of FSIN TWG: User’s guide to indicators of food & nutrition security
- Apr 2016 video on dietary transition and urbanization
- Feb 2016 video of Friedman seminar on nutritional quality of infant foods
- Jan 2016 article + explainer about restaurant portion size in the US (+other news coverage)
- May 2015 video made by MIT students on urban and peri-urban farming near Boston
- Mar 2015 launch of the FSIN working group on measuring food & nutrition security
- Feb 2015 webinar for SPRING on integrated agriculture-nutrition interventions
- Nov 2014 video for AgriLInks on urbanization and smallholders
- Aug 2014 blog quote from IFPRI for AAEA publication of enduring quality award
- July 2014 blog post for AgResults on incentives for agricultural innovation
- May 2014 radio quote on Marketplace about staple crops and superfoods
- Sept 2013 report from UN SDSN on sustainable agriculture and food systems
- Aug 2013 Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize from AAEA ($1500 award went here)
- Apr 2013 news quote in Chronicle of Higher Ed on nutrition assistance programs
- Mar 2013 hyperinflation vacation in The Atlantic, with my Zimbabwe wall of shame
- May 2012 blog quote on the Freakonomics blog on food miles v. carbon pricing
- Apr 2011 interview on Radio Australia about the world food crisis
- Jan 2011 article in Tufts Journal (and Tufts Nutrition magazine) about child nutrition
- Oct 2010 Nutrition CRSP launch, nicely described in the Tufts Daily
- May 2010 blog post at Freakonomics about my farewell talk at Purdue
- Apr. 2010 blog post for Project Syndicate with optimism about Africa
- Jun. 2009 econo-doggerel at Freakonomics (reprinted in When to Rob a Bank)
Articles and working papers
- Aug 2017 article on how bonuses for ICDS workers improve child nutrition in JHealthEcon
- May 2017 methodological note on measuring the cost of nutritious diets
- Apr 2017 working paper on agriculture and nutrition transition in Africa
- Feb 2017 book chapter on private-sector land development in Africa
- Jan 2017 working paper on child age and month of birth in DHS surveys
- Jan 2017 article on nutrition smoothing in PLOS ONE [open access]
- Dec 2016 article on nutrient testing of infant foods in Mat & Child Nutrition [preprint]
- Sept 2016 working paper on dietary change for Global Panel Foresight Project
- Sept 2016 chapter on economic causes of malnutrition for Good Nutrition book
- Aug 2016 article on climate and child height in Economics & Human Biology [open access]
- July 2016 article on agriculture and nutrition transition in Agricultural Economics [preprint]
- July 2016 chapter on land use for festschrift in honor of Hans Binswanger-Mkhize
- June 2016 technical assessment and user’s guide to indicators of food security and nutrition
- Jan 2016 article in JAND about restaurant portion size in the US (+news coverage)
- June 2015 article in Food Security on urbanization and rural malnutrition [open access]
- Mar 2015 FASEB abstracts on rural isolation and health outcomes, self-weighing and weight loss, and nutritional composition of infant foods
- Feb 2015 article in Food Security on agricultural policy for improved nutrition [preprint]
- Aug 2014 3rd ed. of textbook on Economics of Agricultural Development is out (at your local bookshop, online or request an exam copy)
- Apr 2014 article in Journal of Economic Growth on agriculture and urbanization [preprint]
- Apr 2014 article in Journal of Development Economics on disease and development in Burkina Faso [preprint]
- Apr 2014 article in African J. of Ag. and Resource Economics on Malawi’s input subsidy program [PDF]
- Feb 2014 article for Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences on ag., nutrition & health in global development [preprint]
- Oct 2013 SSRN working paper on theory vs. experimental results in prize contests
- Sept 2013 GAIN report on improving nutritional value chain for peanut products in Ghana
- Sept 2013 GFS article on urbanization & farm size in Asia and Africa [preprint]
- July 2013 NBER working paper on disease control, demography and development in Burkina Faso
- Jan 2013 Japanese edition of our Econ of Ag Development textbook
- Jan 2013 book chapter on child nutrition in economic development
- Oct 2012 article in Journal of Development Studies on child nutrition and poverty reduction
- May 2012 chapter on Transformational Incentives in USAID’s Frontiers in Development book and conference; with related CGD paper by Kim Elliott
- May 2011 Chicago Council Progress Report on U.S. Leadership in Global Ag Development (see press release and some commentary)
- Feb 2011 IGC working paper and policy brief on quality certification of infant foods in Ghana
- July 2010 chapter on development and policy for Lusk, Roosen and Shogren’s Oxford Handbook on the Economics of Food Consumption and Policy
- June 2010 article in Journal of Public Economics on proportional vs. winner-take-all contests [preprint]
- June 2010 article in Economics and Human Biology on underweight children in developing countries [preprint]
- Mar. 2009 World Bank book on Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Africa
- July 2017 AAEA slides on child diets, ag research, nutrition smoothing and survey errors in child age
- July 2017 ANH Academy slides on economics for agrihealth researchers (caution: 87MB!)
- Apr 2017 slides, paper & video on impacts of ag research for USAID webinar
- Apr 2017 paper on incentives for child caregivers at Tufts economics faculty seminar
- Nov 2016 slides on structural change for FAO workshop on nutrition and trade
- Nov 2016 slides on cost of dietary diversity for FAO workshop on nutrition and trade
- Nov 2016 slides for Clark University seminar on infant foods
- Nov 2016 slides for NEUDC on caregiver incentives in India (+ discussant slides)
- Aug 2016 slides for AAEA panel on agricultural transformation in Africa
- June 2016 slides and FSIN Users Guide to indicators of malnutrition for the ANH Academy
- Apr 2016 slides + video for Tufts research day on diets, urbanization and the race against Malthus
- Feb 2016 slides for Harvard Weatherhead seminar on sustainable food & farming
- Feb 2016 video and slides (in pdf) of Friedman seminar on premixed complementary foods
- Nov 2015 presentation for Rome-Based Agencies joint technical workshop on SDG2
- Oct 2015 presentation for BIFAD side event at World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue
- Oct 2015 presentation at Rutgers University joint agriculture-nutrition seminar
- Aug 2015 ICAE plenary presentation on nutrition transition and agricultural transformation
- Aug 2015 ICAE presentations on ag-nutrition linkages and aligning agriculture and nutrition
- Aug 2015 ICAE presentation on nutritional quality of packaged complementary foods
- Aug 2015 ICAE poster on smoothing of seasonal malnutrition in DRC
- Aug 2015 ICAE presentation on investment in farmland with Derek Byerlee and Dan Robinson
- Mar 2015 paper for World Bank conference on investment in farmland with Derek Byerlee and Dan Robinson
- Feb 2015 recorded webinar for SPRING on integration of agricultural and nutritional interventions
- Dec 2014 talk at IEG-IFPRI conference in New Delhi on rural children’s nutrition in India vs. Africa & the rest
- Dec 2014 talk at Delhi School of Economics on market access and farm nutrition [+paper]
- Nov 2014 slides for Fletcher Food Policy Group on agricultural transformation in Africa
- Oct 2014 talk at Gates Grand Challenges meeting on aligning agriculture and nutrition
- Sept 2o14 talk at IFPRI on market access as a source of resilience and nutrition security
- July 2014 talk at USAID on urbanization and smallholder farmers in Africa
- July 2014 talk at AAEA on global nutrition trends
- June 2014 talk on quality certification logos for GAIN multi-nutrient supplements initiative at NYAS
- May 2014 posters on complementary foods and peanut-based products for Micronutrient Forum in Addis Ababa
- May 2014 new slides and handout for NCFAR Capitol Hill seminars on agricultural development [+favorite slides #1 and #2]
- Mar 2014 updated slides on agriculture-nutrition linkages for HSPH course in global health
- Mar 2014 updated slides on global malnutrition at MIT Knight science journalism food boot camp
- Nov 2013 presentation slides for Tufts Medical School seminar on infant food quality
- Aug 2013 AAEA presentations on global malnutrition and agriculture-nutrition linkages
- June 2013 poster describing new project on marketed complementary foods (+high-res version)
- June 2013 slides (or PDF) on nutritional quality of marketed complementary food for A4NH workshop
- Mar 2013 changing face of malnutrition talk at MIT Knight science journalism food boot camp
- Oct 2012 slides for APHA on infant feeding in developing countries
- Sep. 2012 slides for Maggie McMillan’s Econ 136 on disease, demography and development
- Aug. 2012 presentations at the AAEA meetings on infant feeding, African development and foreign assistance
- Apr 2012 workshop on Food Wars in Africa? at the Harvard International Development Conference
- Mar 2012 discussion of Africa’s turnaround at MIT Knight Fellows’ Food Boot Camp [+ book chapter]
- Mar 2012 talk on Proportional Prizes at NC-1034 meeting, Washington DC [+ new paper]
- Feb 2012 talk on Africa’s Last Famine? at the Radcliffe Gym (event site) [Video]
- Jan 2012 talk on food security at the Northwestern University human rights conference
- Jan 2012 symposium on malnutrition at the NCSE conference in Washington, DC.
- Oct 2011 talk on Africa’s turnaround (+book chapter) at the African Economic Conference in Addis
- Oct 2011 talk on food prices and nutrition at McGill conference on food security (program here)
- Sep 2011 Seminar on infant foods at Harvard School of Public Health (streaming video, slides with photos (huge file, 48MB !)
- Aug 2011 NBER African Successes conference paper, slides and presentation on Africa’s turnaround
- July 2011 Nutrition CRSP implementation workshop in Kampala (photos)
- June 2011 Nutrition CRSP launch workshop in Kampala (see photos)
- May 2011 Tufts research day on sustainability (see new slides and book chapter)
- Apr 2011 Stanford symposium on poverty in Africa — discussant for Chris Barrett seminar (my bit starts around 70 minutes into the streaming video)
- Mar 2011 paper + slides on Africa’s turnaround, for the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance and Harvard African Development Conference
- Feb 2011 webcast + slides on world food crises, for Friedman School online seminar
- Feb 2011 streaming video of presentations at the IFPRI 2020 conference in New Delhi on the Nutrition CRSP (5 min.) and on the economics of infant feeding (10 min.)
- Dec 2010 talk on Africa’s turnaround, in French as Le moment africain (ppt slides and mp3 audio, from SFER)
- Dec 2010 talk on asymmetric information in agriculture at NSF-ICG-AERC workshop in Mombasa
- Nov 2010 talk on remedies for asymmetric information in food and agriculture at Tufts economics department
- Nov 2010 talks on undernutrition for the Friedman Symposium and the Board of Overseers
- Nov. 2009 talk at the AfDB African Economic Conference on incentives for innovation
- Oct. 2009 talk at the ADA Food and Nutrition Conference on world food markets