Dena Leibman is Head of Outreach at IFPRI
Every year, the annual AAEA meeting pulls agricultural economic researchers out of their offices, graduate-student cubicles, classrooms, and remote field stations around world to put their work on display for discussion and deeper analysis. This year’s meeting was held in myriad small meeting rooms off the labyrinthine corridors of a large Washington, DC, hotel. An attendee could stop in one room and listen to a University of Georgia graduate student discuss how discerning Bangladeshi palates have an impact on the market potential for high-yield hybrid rice. At the same time, in another standing-room-only session, three economists painted a gloomy picture of Africa’s potential to feed its growing population; boosting crop yields is not enough, they say: countries and development agencies must provide rural services, family planning, and good governance for Africa to equitably cultivate its remaining arable land.
The AAEA meeting is a large swirl of ideas and hypotheses; serious, painstaking research; networking to bring the next critical research collaboration to fruition; and great minds committed to a world free of hunger and malnutrition.
Access selected presentation slides from IFPRI staff or view the conference papers andposters IFPRI economists contributed to this year’s discussion.
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