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The World Bank reports that global food prices have risen 83% over the past three years. While the causes of the crisis are debatable its consequences are not: political and social instability, the drastic decline in the quality of life for millions and an immeasurable loss of human life. What does increasing food prices and widespread hunger mean for economic stability and national security? What role will America’s new administration take in the fight for this kind of freedom?
Dr. Edwin Price has more than 40 years of experience working on US and international development issues. His hands-on career began in college, when as a Peace Corps volunteer he helped indigenous tribes in Borneo improve their agricultural practices. Dr. Price has gone on to serve as economist for the Federal Reserve System, a cropping systems researcher at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, and a professor of agricultural economics at Oregon State University and Texas A&M University. He has also drafted and helped pass the federal Famine Prevention and Freedom from Hunger Improvement Act of 2000 that aims to improve partnerships between US land grant universities, USDA, USAID, and international agricultural research centers.
Dr. Price is currently Associate Vice Chancellor and the Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M. He directs staff on grants and contracts in 40 countries with programs focused on cooperative research, development outreach, and experiential education. He also currently serves as senior advisor to the US Department of Defense in their efforts to revitalize Iraqi agriculture.
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