Thom Jayne appointed special advisor to the president of the African Development Bank

THOM JAYNE APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

by Evgeniya Anisimova | January 30, 2019

Thom Jayne with Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank. Photo: MSU

Thomas Jayne, University Foundation Professor of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University and co-leader of PIM’s research flagship Economywide Factors Affecting Agricultural Growth and Rural Transformation has been appointed a special advisor to the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB). In this part-time position Prof. Jayne will assist the Bank’s efforts to build the African Development Institute and to promote collaborative partnerships with African governments, national African research institutes, and international universities.

According to the MSU’s statement, Dr. Jayne has been working with Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and members of the Bank to build the capacities of the African Development Institute since November 2018. The Bank’s goal for the Institute is for it to become a world-class policy organization that provides thought leadership, knowledge management, and capacity development support to African governments, pan-African organizations, and non-state actors.

“I was attracted to this initiative because of its potential to provide a strong African voice in the shaping of policy issues affecting Africa, to essentially shift the center of gravity of where policy analysis on Africa takes place,” said Jayne. “I was also attracted to the idea of linking existing African policy research institutes around the continent to this pan-African institute in ways that would mutually support each other. There are also major opportunities for long-term collaboration between the AfDB and international universities like MSU with a longstanding commitment to research, policy analysis, and capacity building in Africa.”

“Over his career, Thom has developed a global reputation for being at the forefront of emerging issues impacting African development, conducting policy analysis to guide governments in addressing these challenges, and supporting African organizations to lead this analysis themselves,” said Steve Hanson, dean of MSU’s International Studies and Programs. “He brings a set of skills and experiences that uniquely align with the AfDB’s economic and social development approach to improving lives on the continent.”

From all of PIM, congratulations to Thom on this important role, and we are keen to develop future collaborations with the African Development Institute!

Read the full statement about Dr. Jayne’s appointment on the MSU AFRE page.

Links

Webinar: The rise of medium-scale farms in Africa: Causes and Consequences of Changing Farm Size Distributions (Presenter: Thom Jayne)
Webinar: Do medium and large-scale farms generate income spillovers for rural households? The case of Tanzania (Q&A Panelist and Study Co-author: Thom Jayne)

Also see these recent blogs co-authored by Dr. Jayne:

Medium-scale farms are on the rise in Africa. Why this is good news

Why the influence of agricultural policy research is probably greater than we think