Professional Interests

• Analysis of factors influencing food security in West Africa
• Economics of information/transaction costs
• Economics of malnutrition in Africa
• Economic coordination of organization of food systems (U.S. & overseas)
• Economics of livestock and meat marketing in West Africa
• Food policy research (subsector studies, international trade) in low-income countries, especially in Africa
• Economic behavior of farmer cooperatives. Roles of farmer cooperatives in improving economic coordination

Selected Publications

International Agricultural Development, Third Edition (co-edited with Carl K. Eicher). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1998.

Democracy and Development in Africa, (co-edited with James Bingen and David Rawson). East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2000.

"Agricultural Development and Child Nutrition: What do We Know?" (with Christopher L. Penders and James F. Tefft), Food Security II Policy Synthesis, no 52. East Lansing, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, 2000.

Funded Research Projects

• Co-Director of Food Security III Cooperative Agreement, which carries out applied research on improving food system performance in Mali, Mozambique, Zambia, The Sahel region and other areas of Africa.
• Campus Coordinator for Research Projects on:
  • Improving Market Information and Food Policy Analysis in Mali
  • Strengthening Links between Agricultural Growth and Child Nutritional Status in Mali
  • WTO issues in West Africa
  • Regional Food Security issues in the Sahel
  • Institutional Strengthening Program with the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Mali
• Member of Advisory Committee of Partnership to Cut Hunger in Africa.