The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has named Shahidur Rashid as their new regional director for South Asia.
He will operate from New Delhi, according to a press release.
“Shahid has a strong research record, he has successfully managed large projects in Ethiopia and Bangladesh as well as several multi-country research projects in both Africa and Asia,” said Dr Shenggen Fan, director general of IFPRI.
Currently a senior research fellow at IFPRI’s Development Strategies and Governance Division, Dr Rashid received his PhD in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and an MS in economics from Chittagong University.
Since joining IFPRI as a postdoctoral fellow in 1999, he has conceptualized and implemented multi-country research programs in both Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
From October 2005 to August 2010, he was based in IFPRI’s East and South Africa Regional office in Addis Ababa, where he conducted research and coordinated IFPRI’s programs on agricultural markets and trade related issues.
Dr Rashid is a well-recognized food and agriculture policy researcher.
In addition to top academic journals, his research has been published through highly respected academic publishing houses like Johns Hopkins University Press, Oxford University Press and such.
At IFPRI, Dr. Rashid’s research has been funded by many agencies including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency (Cida), Department for International Development (DfID), etc.
While living in Ethiopia, he coordinated a set of sector studies that led to the establishment of Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agencies (ATA), which is now well recognized as a model in the continent.
Dr Rashid will assume his new position on April 16, succeeding Dr PK Joshi of India.
