Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Food Security Group

The Food Security Group at Michigan State University is a team of faculty and graduate students from AFRE and other departments who believe that good food and nutrition policy, informed by solid empirical evidence that is generated jointly with local partners, can transform economies and lives in low income countries. FSG brings this vision to bear in conducting collaborative research, working actively with local partners to engage in policy analysis and advising, and building local capacity for the same on issues of food security and nutrition. 

FSG’s approach is informed by an understanding of the structural transformation of economies – relatively predictable changes in economic structure that happen as incomes rise. Globalization in many ways accelerates the changes typically seen during the structural transformation, and is also taken into account. Within this broad understanding, FSG generates new empirical data and information to understand the particulars of how these changes are playing out in each of the countries it works in. This broad strategic understanding wedded to detailed local knowledge serves as a foundation for program and policy design that helps a country bring its particular strengths to bear to promote robust, equitable, and sustainable economic growth. 

While most of FSG’s work takes place in Africa, it has a global presence with work also in Asia and Latin America. Local partners include local universities and research centers, ministries of agriculture, and international and regional organizations working on similar issues in each country. Funders include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation, and others. Currently, FSG’s lead project is the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research, Capacity, and Influence (PRCI). Feed the Future is the U.S. Government’s Global Hunger & Food Security Initiative, and is funded through USAID. PRCI works in 14 African countries and 10 Asian countries.