International Agricultural Development

Overview

Graduate study in international agricultural development is a traditional strength of the department, supported by MSU's long-standing international orientation. For over thirty years, the department has had major field research projects in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, focusing on agricultural and rural development, marketing and food system performance, technology development and agricultural productivity, and food security. The interactions among technology, institutions, and policy have received special attention.

Faculty

The faculty members in this area have special expertise in marketing and subsector analysis, food security policy, farm household economics, sustainable agriculture, agricultural technology development and transfer, and institutional aspects of development. A number of faculty in the other areas of excellence, and in the Department of Economics, also collaborate with them.

Course Program

Courses in the field focus on analysis of ways to stimulate and manage economic growth in food and agricultural systems and rural areas with emphasis on realizing rapid economic transformations in low income countries. Study ranges from micro farm and market development to rural farm and nonfarm growth linkages, and to macro issues related to agricultural transformation and its role in economic development and to the links between development and the natural environment. It may also include study of international economic issues related to agricultural production, marketing, trade and national food security. Students, especially those with overseas professional experience, are encouraged to build their expertise in key subjects such as marketing, production, and policy. Supporting study in other social sciences, technical agriculture and quantitative methods is recommended. Two graduate specializations relevant to students in this field are available: the graduate specialization in ethics and development, housed in the Department of Philosophy, and the graduate specialization in international development, administered by the Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID) and jointly sponsored by the Women in International Development (WID) program.

Research

The department is unique in terms of opportunities for graduate students to pursue field work in developing countries. Such field work is often done in conjunction with long-term projects such as those funded by USAID, including the Bean/Cowpea CRSP, Food Security III and PFID–F&V, other projects funded by the World Bank and by U.S. foundations, and projects in collaboration with international agricultural research centers. The research experience usually involves participation in project design, field data collection and collaborative activities, and outreach to developing country policy-makers and donors. Graduate students play a key role in implementing these international projects, thereby gaining invaluable research and research management experience. (See department research page.)

Course List

The main courses for the field are the first three listed below. A Ph.D. major field in International Agricultural Development must include the two courses indicated with an asterisk, along with one of three 900-level courses in the Advanced Agricultural Economics minor field: AEC 925–Advanced Natural Resource Economics, AEC 930–Dynamic Analysis in Agriculture and Natural Resources, and AEC 932–Information Economics and Institutions in Agriculture and Natural Resources. A Ph.D. minor field in International Agricultural Development may consist of any two of the first three courses below. Optional but relevant AEC courses are shown in square brackets.

* AEC 861 Agriculture in Economic Development
* AEC 865 Agricultural Benefit-Cost Analysis
AEC 874 Field Data Collection and Analysis
[AEC 810 Institutional and Behavioral Economics]
[AEC 932 Information Economics and Institutions in Agriculture and Natural Resources]
[AEC 977 Professional Practice in Agricultural Economics]

Courses of Interest in Other Departments

ANP 424 Culture and Economic Behavior
ANS 480 Animal Systems in International Development
CSS 831 Soil and Plant Resources for Sustained World Food Production
EC 840 International Trade: Theory and Commercial Policy
EC 841 Exchange Rates and Capital Flows
EC 850 Growth, Development and Human Resources
EC 851 Domestic and Foreign Development Policies
FOR 450 Forestry in International Developing Countries
GEO 425 Geographic Information Systems
GEO 850 Seminar in Regional Geography
HRT 461 World Fruits and Vegetables
RD 825 Planning for Sustainable Development
RD 826 International Development and Sustainability
RD 862 Farming Systems and Rural Development
RD 876 International Rural Community Development
SOC 986 Survey Research Principles

Faculty List

• Richard H. Bernsten, Professor; Ph.D., Illinois, 1977; agricultural development, farming systems, technology assessment.
• Duncan H. Boughton, Associate Professor, International Development; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1994; agricultural development, technology assessment, agricultural marketing and policy.
• Eric W. Crawford, Professor and Associate Chairperson; Ph.D., Cornell, 1980; agricultural development, farming systems, technology assessment.
• Cynthia Donovan, Assistant Professor, International Development; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1996; agricultural marketing, policy, and development.
• Hamish Gow, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Cornell Unversity, 2000; global supplier relationships; food safety; value creation.
• Thomas S. Jayne, Professor, International Development; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1989; agricultural development, food policy, marketing.
• Songqing Jin, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 2004; land tenure, agricultural technology and agricultural research, rural non-farm, and rural labor migration.
• Valerie A. Kelly, Associate Professor, International Development; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1988; agricultural productivity analysis, input supply systems, household economics.
• Scott Loveridge, Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1988; economic development policy, land use, community systems, regional economics.
• Thomas A. Reardon, Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley, 1984; environment and development, farm-nonfarm linkages, globalization and agribusiness.
• John M. Staatz, Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1984; agricultural development, food systems economics, marketing.
• David L. Tschirley, Professor, International Development; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1988; agricultural development, food systems economics, marketing.
• Michael T. Weber, Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1976; agricultural development, marketing, food systems economics.

(Web pages for faculty, organized by field)