David Tschirley is a fixed-term professor of International Development in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University, and Co-Director of the department’s Food Security Group. He is also a member of the Core Technical Team of MSU’s Global Center for Food Systems Innovation. He has over 20 years of experience in applied food security research, mentoring of developing country researchers, and active policy outreach. His work emphasizes three main areas:

1. agrifood system transformation in Africa focusing on diet change and its implications over a range
   of policy and programmatic issues, including employment;
2. the intersection of food aid, staple food markets, and emergency response, including extensive work on monetization, local and regional food aid procurement, and the role of food trade and government policy in emergency response, and
3. institutional approaches to linking smallholder farmers to cash crop markets such as cotton and fresh produce.

He is the author of over 20 journal articles, several book chapters, one edited book volume, and dozens of working papers. Dr. Tschirley has consulted for and otherwise served the World Food Program, USAID, World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N., International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The MasterCard Foundation. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Dr. Tschirley has had long-term assignments in Ecuador (1987–1990) and Mozambique (1995–98) and works most actively now in East and Southern Africa.