Dr. Minde retires after long and successful international development career
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EmailRetirement of Dr. Isaac Minde from Michigan State University's Department of Agricultural Food and Resource Economics
EAST LANSING, Mich. — After a long and distinguished career spanning over 30 years, Dr. Isaac Minde has announced his retirement from the Department of Agricultural Food and Resource Economics (AFRE). Dr. Minde was an esteemed member of the department's faculty and a valuable member of the university community as well as the global international development community. He joined the department on a fixed-term contract in 2011. A Ph.D. graduate of MSU in Agricultural Economics in 1985, he taught and did research at the University of Dar es Salaam and later at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania.
Dr. Minde was an accomplished researcher and scholar who contributed immensely to the study of agricultural economics. He was a member of the Food Security Group, which is dedicated to researching ways to improve food security in low-income countries. His research was focused on smallholder agricultural development, in particular he examined research and extension linkages and the associated factors affecting adoption of crop and natural resource technologies. He also studied agricultural policy analysis and policy formulation.
As the Deputy Project Director of a 5-year agricultural training and research project in Tanzania, Dr. Minde was heavily involved in training a new generation of agricultural managers, teachers and researchers. Minde’s research has focused on regional policy harmonization challenges and linking farmers to markets—especially input and output markets with the overall motive of enhancing agricultural productivity growth, which is so critical in getting the majority of farmers out of poverty. Most recently, he worked with researchers from Tegemeo and IFPRI on the political economy diagnostics of agricultural value chains in Kenya. Minde is also a distinguished fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists.
Dr. Minde's retirement is a loss for the university and the broader academic community, but his contributions to agricultural economics will continue to have a lasting impact. His work in the Food Security Group will continue to inspire researchers in the field, and his legacy will live on through the students whose lives he touched.
Michigan State University thanks Dr. Isaac Minde for his years of dedicated service and wishes him all the best in his retirement.
