Prior to his doctoral studies, Eric Crawford worked on rural and agricultural development programs in Kenya for five years, initially as a Peace Corps volunteer. He joined the department at Michigan State in 1979 as an assistant professor focusing on international agricultural development. He has taught graduate courses in farm management and benefit-cost analysis. He has been a core faculty member of the department's USAID-funded rural development and food security projects in Africa since 1980. He worked in Senegal in 1983-86 under a department project with the Institute of Agricultural Research, focusing on farming systems research, fertilizer distribution, and food security policy. His recent research has covered the evaluation of agricultural research impacts, determinants of farm productivity and investment, and benefit-cost analysis of alternative strategies for promoting improved input use. From September 1992 through September 2006 he served as Associate Chairperson and graduate program cordinator.

Professional Interests

• Application of budgeting and investment analysis techniques in developing countries
• Benefit-cost analysis, especially of agricultural input support programs
• Analysis of farming systems and farm household productivity in Africa
• Evaluation of agricultural research impacts in Africa
• Economic analysis of on-farm trials

Selected Publications

Crawford, Eric W., T. S. Jayne, and Valerie A. Kelly. 2006. Alternative Approaches for Promoting Fertilizer Use in Africa. Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper 22. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Crawford, E., V. Kelly, T. S. Jayne, and J. Howard (Eds.). 2003. "Input Use and Market Development in Sub-Saharan Africa." Special Issue, Food Policy, 28(4):277-419.

Oehmke, James F., and Eric W. Crawford. 2002. "The Sensitivity of Returns to Research Calculations to Supply Elasticity." American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 84(2):366-69.

Colin, Jean-Philippe, and Eric W. Crawford (Eds.). 2001. Research on Agricultural Systems: Accomplishments, Perspectives and Issues. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Funded Research Projects

• Tegemeo Agricultural Monitoring and Policy Analysis Project (TAMPA II). With T. S. Jayne.
• Work as a core faculty team member on agricultural input profitability and marketing, and natural resource management and sustainable development, under the USAID-funded Food Security III Cooperative Agreement.