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Abstract
Performance of the agricultural sector in developing countries is fundamental to ensuring
robust and equitable economic growth and broad-based food security. Yet donor support to
agricultural development in developing countries has declined continuously for 30 years. This
same period saw dramatic deterioration in developing countries’ institutional capacity to
provide services to their agricultural sectors. These trends may now be changing, due in part
to the global food price crisis of 2007 and 2008 and concerns that it unleashed about the
world’s ability to feed its poorest inhabitants. This paper reports on the results of a two week
trip to Guatemala and Nicaragua made by Michigan State University’s Food Security Group.
The purpose of the trip was to assess two aspects that form the foundation for applied
agricultural and food security policy analysis and outreach: (a) the organizations involved in
research and outreach on these topics, and (b) existing data sets and processes for continued
generation of data sets useful in such analysis and outreach. The team also explored the
extent to which policy makers and designers of public programs solicit empirical data and
analysis for the design and implementation of local food security programs and policies.