USDA-USAID International Food Security and Assistance Conference (Des Moines, Iowa)
On Monday, October 10, 2016, ATAI researchers and staff participated in the USDA-USAID International Food Security and Assistance Conference in Des Moines, Iowa. The event was held on the sidelines of the 2016 World Food Prize and featured presentations from key U.S. government officials, including Alexis Taylor (Deputy Under-Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, USDA) and Dr. Beth Dunford (Assistant to the Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future).
During the conference, ATAI senior policy associate Kyle Murphy introduced participants to use and practice of randomized evaluations, presenting practical examples of how field experiments can be used to inform the program decisions of practitioners. ATAI Board Officer Craig McIntosh presented findings across the ATAI research portfolio rduring a session entitled “Experimental Evidence in Agriculture: Lessons from over 40 Randomized Evaluations” (see slides below).
J-PAL Associate Director for Policy John Floretta presented evidence on school feeding and educational program and later moderated a panel, entitled “From Evidence to Impact: Scaling What Works in Development”, featuring remarks from Katrin Verclas (Director of Global Communications and Advocacy, Evidence Action) and Mary Hennigan (Senior Technical Advisor in Nutrition, Catholic Relief Services), in addition to Craig McIntosh.