On Wednesday, February 13, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a panel discussion on U.S.-led global food security featuring Chemonics Senior Vice President Philip DeCosse. The event, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and hosted at CSIS headquarters in Washington, D.C., marked the launch of CSIS’s newest report: Risk and…
While Ghana has experienced much needed growth and development in the agriculture sector, the Ghanaian government has identified many opportunities to address remaining challenges to unlock its full economic potential. To address these challenges, the U.S. government launched the five-year, $15 million Feed the Future Agriculture Policy Support Project in 201, which increased the capacity of…
Laura Glaeser currently serves as the chief of party for the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) team. She is a food security, early warning, and livelihoods analysis expert with nearly 20 years of experience designing, managing, evaluating, and providing technical assistance and decision support for food-security focused programs in Africa, Latin America, and…
Agriculture is vital to the continued diversification of Nigeria’s economy and to rural prosperity and food security for all Nigerians. The country’s agricultural market system is exceedingly complex. Building the sector requires a systems approach that encompasses entire targeted value chains. All links are important. Without a link to a profitable source of market demand,…
In conflict- and famine-affected states, interventions can undermine innate community resiliencies that could offer some protective effect for families and individuals. It is well-understood that violent conflict is a major cause, or the primary cause, of each of the globe’s four most pressing food security crises — in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen —…
Maria Olanda Bata is a former Chief of Party.
Brian King is currently the chief of party for USAID’s Agriculture and Rural Empowerment Activity (ARE) in Lebanon. He is an senior international development professional with more than 18 years of experience leading economic growth programming focused on agriculture and rural development, competitiveness and market development, sustainable tourism, microfinance, information technology, and entrepreneurship promotion. Previously,…
The agriculture sector plays a critical role in western Afghanistan, employing 80 percent of the population and contributing to one-third of the country’s gross domestic product. The USAID Regional Agricultural Development Program-West (RADP-W) worked with local partners to promote sustainable agriculture, improve agricultural productivity, and increase food and economic security in the region. RADP-W strengthened…
Patrick Rader is a principal advisor to the Europe and Eurasia region. Previously, he led the USAID Agriculture and Rural Development Program for Ukraine, the Feed the Future Commodity Production and Marketing Activity in Uganda, and served as the director of Chemonics’ agriculture and food security practice. He is a senior technical manager with over…
Colombia’s 52-year conflict has debilitated some its rural areas, where the topography is difficult, the road infrastructure minimal, and the state presence weak. Negligible state presence in these areas has allowed illegally armed groups to form and narco-trafficking activities to proliferate, afflicting populations with high levels of poverty and violence. In the absence of effective,…
Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and with more than two dozen regional and national offices around the world, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) rigorously analyzes data and information that indicate an area is or will soon be facing food insecurity or famine. The network also provides early warnings to donors and governments, equipping…