ITHACA, N.Y. -- Researchers at Cornell University, in collaboration with Clark Atlanta University (CAU), have received funding to support a five-year, $8 million effort to conduct research and training aimed at promoting economic growth and relieving poverty in Africa. The activity is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID).
Heading the multidisciplinary team of researchers is David E. Sahn, professor of economics in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. He also is director of the Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program, a social science research institute that is among the world's leading centers for African economic policy research.
Other key Cornell faculty engaged in the research include N'dri Assié-Lumumba, associate professor of Africana studies and education, a leading sociologist; Ravi Kanbur, the T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs and professor of economics, who is at the forefront of efforts to mix quantitative and qualitative research methods; Chris Barrett, associate professor of applied economics and management, who is pursuing mixed methods in African fieldwork; and Stephen Younger, an economist and senior research associate in nutritional sciences, who has written widely on issues of economic reform and poverty in Africa.
"Despite significant policy reforms in many sub-Saharan African countries, the achievements on growth and poverty reduction have been disappointing even in politically stable countries -- with rare exceptions," says Sahn.
The research group, which includes economists and social scientists from related fields, will explore issues related to access to health education and nutrition, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic, poverty traps and poverty dynamics risk and vulnerability, including food insecurity and empowerment of the poor.
"Specific research projects, methods and technical assistance activities will be defined in collaboration with African policy-makers, st
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Contact: Susan S. Lang
SSL4@cornell.edu
607-255-3613
Cornell University News Service
31-Oct-2001