Annual Meeting 2003
The 39th Annual Meeting of
The Association for International Agriculture 
and Rural Development

"On Renewing Commitment to International Agriculture and Rural Development"
Speakers and Panelists

Thomas Hobgood
U.S. Agency for International Development

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Mr. Hobgood is the Director of the Office of Agriculture in USAID's Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Bureau (EGAT). He directs USAID's strategic planning and rapidly expanding field support activities in agriculture policy, marketing and agribusiness development, and technology development and outreach. Prior to assuming his current duties in EGAT, Mr. Hobgood was the USAID Mission Director in Nigeria --- USAID's largest bilateral program in Africa. He also served as the USAID Deputy Mission Director in Ghana. Mr. Hobgood has more that 25 years of experience in the formulation and administration of development assistance programs in economic policy reforms, international trade and marketing, public and private sector partnerships, micro-enterprise development, agriculture research, environment and natural resource management, and disaster and humanitarian assistance programs. Before joining USAID in 1979, Mr. Hobgood was a research assistant at the International Food Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. He has also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines from 1973-75, and Mr. Hobgood holds a master degree in Agricultural Economics from University of Maryland.