Tropenzentrum welcomes Prof. Dr. Regina Birner [10.11.10]
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner is heading the new division “Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development” at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics. The objective of the division is to contribute to agricultural development through research, teaching and policy dialogue on the social, institutional and political dimensions of agriculture in developing countries.
“Paying attention to these dimensions is essential to meet the future challenges that agriculture is confronted with, such as feeding a growing human population in a sustainable way, managing climate change, contributing to energy security and combating pandemic diseases”, says Regina Birner. ”Meeting these challenges requires empowered local communities, functioning markets that are accessible to smallholders, and effective state institutions that provide essential public services for agriculture.” The new research program of the division will address these topics from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining research approaches developed in agricultural and institutional economics, rural sociology and political science. Before accepting the chair at Hohenheim, Regina Birner was a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), where she led IFPRI's research program on "Governance for Agricultural and Rural Development." Her research focused on the political economy of agricultural policy-making and on the role of public sector reforms and decentralization for improving rural service provision and agricultural sector governance. She has research expertise in South- and South-East Asia, West Africa, East Africa and Central America. Prior to joining IFPRI in 2004, she was an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Rural Development at the University of Göttingen, where her research dealt with governance structures and policies in agriculture in developing countries, with a focus on decentralization and collaborative governance in natural resource management. She holds a PhD in Socioeconomics of Agricultural Development and a postdoctoral degree (Habilitation) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Göttingen, Germany.
