2024 Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture by Christopher Barrett

Christopher B. Barrett delivers lecture "Agrifood systems innovations to boost human and environmental resilience to shocks" as one of the 2024 Rachel Carson Distinguished Anniversary Lecture Series on Feb 15.

Abstract: The increasing frequency and severity of natural and manmade shocks imperil ecosystems and rural peoples throughout the Global South. Technological, policy, management, and institutional innovations will be essential to address these challenges and promote healthy, equitable, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems compatible with the Sustainable Development Goals.

This talk will map out these challenges, with particular reference to three specific cases: (i) drought management for pastoralists and rangelands in the Horn of Africa and Mongolia; (ii) agroecological solutions to reduce infectious disease burdens and boost agricultural productivity in Senegal; and (iii) harnessing sentinel site and big data to improve early warning of severe acute malnutrition episodes in Kenya. These examples each illustrate how innovations based on sound science can boost vulnerable populations’ resilience to shocks, as well as that of the natural ecosystems that support the livelihoods of the rural poor.

Christopher B. Barrett is an agricultural and development economist at Cornell University. He is the Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management, and an International Professor of Agriculture at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, as well as a Professor in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, a Senior Faculty Fellow of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, and a Faculty Fellow at the Cornell Institute for Food Systems. He is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Food Policy, edits the Palgrave Macmillan book series Agricultural Economics and Food Policy, and is an Editorial Board member for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, and the African Association of Agricultural Economists.