URBANA, Ill. – Experts often recommend that developing countries focus on high-value export crops such as fruits and vegetables. However, the effect of such practices on conflict-affected countries is not clear, and there is a risk that higher export revenue may lead to increased insurgent violence, according to a University of Illinois study.

The research focused on banana production in the Philippines and showed a correlation between higher banana prices and insurgent activity in certain areas, says U of I agricultural economist Benjamin Crost, who is a co-author of the study.

Access to healthy food is a basic human need. Yet, one out of eight people in American is at risk for hunger, and the number is even greater for children.

Food insecurity, defined as limited access to adequate food, exists everywhere in the United States. Overall, 40 million people, or 12.5% of the U.S. population, are food insecure. But there is large regional variation in this rate, says Craig Gundersen, ACES distinguished professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois.  

URBANA, Ill. – Gary Schnitkey, a nationally recognized farm management expert, was honored as the Soybean Industry Chair in Agricultural Strategy in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics during an investiture ceremony at the University of Illinois on April 24. 

Schnitkey, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at U of I, specializes in crop insurance, farm management and farmland economies, and he is a leading expert in the economics of Midwestern crop farms.

URBANA, Ill. – Millions of Americans struggle with food insecurity.

URBANA, Ill. – Adding soy flour to school lunches in Ghana provides a cost-efficient way of increasing the protein level, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Illinois researcher.

Soy is known to be a low-cost protein source, says Peter Goldsmith, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the U of I. “But the thesis that soy is a good ingredient in a national school lunch program had yet to be proven, though everyone assumed it.”

URBANA, Ill. – Just as a new farm bill sailed its way through the U.S. Senate and House last week, a newly released book by a University of Illinois law and policy expert explores the 100-year history of the farm bill, tracing the political evolution of American farm and food legislation.

URBANA, Ill. – Ethanol production has increased sharply in the United States in the past 10 years, leading to concerns about the expansion of demand for corn resulting in conversion of non-cropland to crop production and the environmental effects of this. However, a new study co-authored by a University of Illinois researcher shows that the overall effects of ethanol production on land-use have been minimal.

URBANA, Ill. – Speakers from University of Illinois Extension and the farmdoc team from the U of I Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics will explore topics such as the 2019 outlook for crop and livestock prices, the farm profitability outlook and management challenges, the next farm bill, long-term trends in grain prices, and prospects for farmland values at the 2018 Illinois Farm Economics Summit in December.

Launched in 2001, the International Business Immersion Program (IBIP) has annually taken a group of Illinois undergraduate students with high leadership potential to various countries and continents around the world including Europe, Asia, Brazil, and New Zealand. IBIP is the premier and longest standing program in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics’ suite of experiential learning program offerings.

As a PhD student in Agricultural and Consumer Economics advised by Dr. Kathy Baylis, Patrese Anderson is working with a multidisciplinary research team to understand climate change’s effects on smallholder farmers dependent on rain fed agricultural systems.

During the summer of 2017, she used funds provided by the ACES International Graduate Grants program to travel to Zambia to oversee the data collection of 1200 household surveys to be used by this research team to help Zambia ensure livelihoods and attain food security.