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in international relations—and often
multidisciplinary in scope. We learn
together by examining the many different
functional and regional perspectives
on these big topics, which become
manageable as we break them down
across programs and then put the pieces
together again through integrative
learning. Although our typical student
enjoys only two years of studies at the
school, the SAIS community grows in
its cumulative understanding. Starting
with “Energy,” our “Year of” themes
have included “China” (when we celebrated
the 20th anniversary of our
Nanjing campus), “Elections,” “Water,”
“Religion” and “Demography.”
This is my 10th and last year as dean
of SAIS and, as you can imagine, I was
eager for a topic that would have major
implications for global affairs in coming
decades. The “Year of Agriculture” fills
that bill. In fact, agriculture is so important
in international relations that I felt
obliged to defer the topic until SAIS had
its own thought leader in residence.
It is my pleasure to introduce Robert
“Bob” L. Thompson, who joined SAIS
last summer as a visiting scholar. With
a doctorate in agricultural economics,
he has forged a distinguished career
marked by academic distinction as well
as practical engagement, as president
and chief executive officer of Winrock
International Institute for Agricultural
Development and director of rural
development at the World Bank.
At SAIS, Thompson will help us
develop an agriculture-focused curriculum,
blazing the trail to restore
agriculture to its rightful place in international
studies. The school is blessed
with alumni advisers who are leaders
in the modern fields of agricultural
commerce and investment and who
have field experience among the rural
poor in developing countries. And with
David Jhirad, director of the Energy,
Resources and Environment Program,
4 SAISPHERE
Thompson will have a welcoming
home for deepening our understanding
of the agricultural slope in what we
might term “the iron triangle of climate
change”—linking energy, water and
agriculture. My heartfelt thanks to our
team of volunteer donors who originated
the idea of raising funds so SAIS
could offer Thompson a base for the
coming two years, during the transition
in deans.
I will defer to Bob Thompson’s
opening essay to set the overview for
this volume, with just a closing comment.
Many in our community may
be tempted to skip over the increasing
amount of daily news about agriculture,
in its many dimensions. I hope the current
issue of SAISPHERE will provide
a bridge to this hugely important area
of international relations. As I write in
August, widespread and horrific famine
is extending outward from Somalia,
and record flooding in the United States
is under careful watch for its effects
on both the size and cost of upcoming
harvest crops. From China to the
Middle East and well beyond, each day’s
news carries reports on price controls,
subsidies or inflated food prices, with
the political risks those policies entail.
Agriculture is key to understanding the
foreign policy of nations.
From China to the Middle East and well beyond, each day’s news
carries reports on price controls, subsidies or inflated food
prices, with the political risks those policies entail. Agriculture
is key to understanding the foreign policy of nations.
Thompson offers a comprehensive
overview of the challenges we face in
agriculture in the coming decades.
He explains how agriculture interacts
with water, climate change and demographics
to pose an enormous threat
to food security and, thus, security
more broadly defined. Both poverty
and wealth add to demands for food,
and the response depends critically
on investments in adaptive research to
increase productivity in the multitude
of agroecosystems. Tackling rural poverty
will be the gateway to enhancing
food supplies to meet the extraordinary
population growth of our era.
Walter Andersen describes the historical
and political background of low
productivity in Indian agriculture—the
result of efforts to protect and subsidize
farmers. India needs market-based
reform and development-oriented
investments in the sector to enhance
performance and improve outcomes for
the poor.
In China, there are challenges ahead
as the nation acts on its comparative
advantage in growing certain agricultural
products and moves away from
traditional approaches to food security
and land ownership. Pieter Bottelier
traces China’s astounding economic
development through the dramatic
changes in agricultural productivity
and rural migration.
Marc Cohen tracks agriculture’s
place on the international development
agenda since World War II. He explains
the factors that led to the decline in
interest and funding for that sector
from 1987 to 2003. But agriculture
remains central to alleviating poverty,
managing the environment and producing
sufficient food for a burgeoning
global population. In that context,
renewed interest in a refreshed agenda
is most welcome.
Many observers believe high agricultural
prices hurt developing countries.
David Fowkes disputes that notion,
describing instead the exciting growth
opportunities of agricultural production
in the 21st century. In a fascinating
review of Argentina’s riches to rags and
back to riches history, he shows how
agriculture has reclaimed its place from
manufacturing as an engine of growth
in our time.
The countries of Latin America
illustrate the impact of the commodity
boom, which has created a great divide
between winners, such as Argentina
and Brazil, and losers, including smaller
countries or populations engaged
in subsistence farming. Francisco
González examines how the exploding
demand for food in fast-growing countries
in Asia and the diversion of food
supplies to biofuels have caused a surge
in global food prices.
Terry Hopmann reviews the great
body of evidence linking food insecurity
and protracted social conflicts. We