Capitol Hill Forum 2004
The Critical Role of International Agricultural Development
in the Fight Against Undernutrition and HIV/AIDS
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
January 27, 2004

Speakers

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Michael Loevinsohn
International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)

Michael Loevinsohn is an ecologist with long-standing interest in the application of ecological theory and understanding to development issues. He is currently Senior Research Officer at the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) in The Hague where his principal responsibility is as Coordinator of RENEWAL (Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, Rural Livelihoods and Food Security) in eastern and southern Africa, aimed at enhancing the capacity of agricultural R&D organizations to contribute effectively to the prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS. His broad experience in the management of natural resources in a variety of settings in Africa and in the Philippines has been accompanied by a long-standing concern about the linkages between agriculture, the rural environment and human health. He documented the role of climate change in the upsurge of malaria in the late 1980's in the East African highlands (the first empirical evidence of this relationship) and the effects of expanding rice cultivation on malaria. In the Philippines his research linked poorly regulated use of pesticides with increases in the death rate of rice farmers following the Green Revolution. This resulted in promotion of the Pesticide Hazard Audit at the international level and in the Philippines at the National level to reform links between research and regulation. A Canadian national, Michael earned his Bachelor's degree in biology from McGill University and his PhD in ecology from Imperial College, London.