PRCI announces the third cohort of STAAARS plus teams

STAAARS+ cohort 3 teams from Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, and Philippines have been chosen to participate in PRCI training program

Correction: the PiLAF, Nigeria team research topic was incorrectly stated to be "Coping strategies and responses to climate change and conflict among farmers in Nigeria: a gender dimensional perspective." Their research topic is "Resilience to COVID-19 and Insecurity Shocks: Evidence from Nigeria."

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy, Research, Capacity, and Influence (PRCI) is pleased to announce the third cohort in the Structural Transformation of African and Asian Agriculture and Rural Spaces (STAAARS+) fellows program. These early career researchers from Africa and Asia will participate in an intensive 18-month training and mentorship program. Each team, as part of the training, will develop and conduct a research project related to the PRCI vision of rural transformation and agricultural intensification to develop healthy, resilient food systems.

Four teams have been selected to participate— three from Africa, and one from Southeast Asia. Each team will be assigned a mentor as well as a peer mentor from a pool of researchers from Cornell University, Michigan State University (MSU), and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The STAAARS+ program was developed based on Cornell University’s STAARS fellowship program, which trains researchers in developing countries.  PRCI expands on this original plan by requiring teams of researchers to have institutional affiliations in order for teams to continue in their work after they complete the STAAARS+ program.  By strengthening institutional capacity, regional agri-food systems can benefit from empirically based policy recommendations produced by credible and trusted local research institutions.

The third cohort teams:

Ghanian STAAARS+ team:

  • Monica Lambon-Quayefio
  • Emmanuel Adu-Danso
  • Kwame Adjei-Mantey
  • Institutional affiliation: University of Ghana (UG)
  • Research topic: Structural Transformation in Rural Ghana: Which Constraints Bind?
  • Mentor: Kibrom Abay
  • Peer Mentor: Justice Mensah

Ugandan STAAARS+ team:

  • Dablin Mpuuga
  • Sawuya Nakijoba
  • Ambrose Ogwang
  • Institutional affiliation: Economic Policy Research Centre (ERPC)
  • Research topic: Linking Agricultural Productivity, Market Performance, and Technology Use among Farmers in Uganda
  • Mentor: Duncan Boughton
  • Peer Mentor: Rui Benfica

Nigerian STAAARS+ team:

  • Nathaniel Olutegbe
  • Benjamin Oyelami
  • Iredele Ogunbayo
  • Institutional affiliation: University of Ibadan Innovation Lab for Policy Leadership in Agriculture and Food Security (PiLAF)
  • Research topic: Resilience to COVID-19 and Insecurity Shocks: Evidence from Nigeria
  • Mentor: Justin Kappiaruparampil
  • Peer Mentor: Martina Ocelli

Filipino STAAARS+ team:

  • Gabriel Angelo Domingo
  • Carlos Loreto Tolentino II
  • Hadassah May Cordero
  • Institutional affiliation: Philippine Competition Committee (PCC)
  • Research topic: Market Power in Philippine Agricultural Markets
  • Mentor: Arnab Basu
  • Peer Mentor: Molly Ingram

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