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

Michigan State University (MSU) Food Security Group (FSG) works toward bringing about policies that effectively reduce poverty and hunger by addressing socio-economic issues such as nutrition, gender, youth employment, and climate change. FSG has built expertise over decades of field work and applied research in collaborations with multiple stakeholders in Africa, Latin America and Asia. It has published hundreds of scientific publications in major journals and receives international recognition. FSG has attracted over $112 millions in grants since 1983.

MSU FSG started in the 1980s, with roots in two decades of earlier projects that addressed agricultural and rural development. Considering the agrifood chain as a complex system, the Group carries out integrated programs of applied research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in developing countries.

The Group grew to about 30 faculty members in 2017 with 19 graduate research assistants. Together they constitute a team of multi-disciplinary experts in agriculture, agronomics, socio-economics, and policy process. They conduct research, outreach, and training, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. Their empirical work focuses on real-world problems and themes identified in partnership with African colleagues and the funding agencies.

FSG has received over $112 millions in grants since 1983, roughly two-thirds from USAID through three successive 10-year cooperative agreements, as well as with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 2016, with partners International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and University of Pretoria, MSU FSG has been leading the Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy (FSP), funded by a grant from Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s Global Hunger & Food Security Initiative.

See IDWP 101: Lessons Learned from 25 Years of Food Security Research, Capacity-Building, and Outreach by the MSU Food Security Group