Perspectives in Global Development

The Harry ’51 & Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series

The Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series showcases innovative approaches to development with experts from around the globe.

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When & where

Join us on Wednesdays from 12:20-1:10 p.m. Eastern Time during the semester in 175 Warren Hall, unless otherwise noted.

All seminars are available to livestream via Zoom. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend in-person or online.

Did you miss a seminar? Catch-up on our YouTube.

Co-sponsors

Department of Global Development
Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

Courses

Cornell undergraduate and graduate students may register for the seminar series as a course: GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.

Spring 2026 Seminars

Join us Wednesdays at 12:20pm in 175 Warren Hall or via Zoom.

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January 28, 2026
Aaron Benanav

February 4, 2026
Dr. Maksym Chepeliev and Dr. Dominique van der Mensbrugghe

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February 11, 2026
Mildred E. Warner and Natassia A. Bravo

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February 18, 2026
Will Masters
Lecture and related faculty and student activities presented by generous support from the Meera Shekar Family Fund.

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February 25, 2026
Bram Govaerts
Co-sponsored by A.D. White Professors-at-Large Program.
This talk will be held in 401 Warren Hall.

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March 4, 2026
Georgina Catacora‑Vargas

March 11, 2026
Rebecca Schneider

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March 18, 2026
Matias G. Nardi

March 25, 2026
Katie Fiorella

April 8, 2026
Leland Glenna

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April 15, 2026
Siddharth Krishnaswamy

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April 22, 2026
Distinguished Speaker in Global Development, Prof. Dr. Eng. Arthur G.O. Mutambara
This talk will be held in 401 Warren Hall.

Seminar series gift honors Tsujimoto brothers

The Harry ’51 and Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series honors Harry and Joshua Tsujimoto, whose parents, Roy and Miki, emigrated from Japan to California in the 1910s. In search of the American dream, the family dedicated their lives to farming. Their resilience carried them through the Great Depression until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Amid rising anti-Asian racism across the United States, the Tsujimoto family was forcibly relocated to an internment camp in Arizona. The brothers, then in their teens and early 20s, spent two and a half years in the camp. Upon their release in 1945, immigration laws in California prohibited the family from returning to their farm. Once again, the family started over. They moved to a small farming community in Elma, New York, thanks to relocation sponsorship from a local minister. Settled in the western New York agricultural region near Buffalo, the family re-committed their lives to farming. Harry and Joshua matriculated to Cornell, where they studied at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).

Learn more about the Tsujimoto brothers

The Tsujimoto family at their farm in El Centro, California

Seminar archive

Did you miss a seminar? Watch the recordings of global experts who shared their perspective on international development.

Fall 2025

The Motivations Behind Participation: Why Ordinary South Sudanese Join Civil Wars with Jok Madut Jok
Nexus Approaches to Tackling Biodiversity, Water, Food, Health and Climate Challenges with Pamela McElwee
Contesting Good Farming: Social Capital, Technology, and Identity among Honduran Smallholders with Arie Sanders
Addressing the Right to Food to Transform the Food System in the Global North with Francesca Felici
Harnessing High Frequency Data To Inform Development and Humanitarian Interventions with Chris Barrett
Corporations at Climate Crossroads with Lily Hsueh
Rethinking Rural Studies with David Brown
Connecting, Convening, and Catalyzing to Support a Local Sustainability Movement with Gay Nicholson
Climate Smart Agriculture? The Challenges of Reaching Smallholder Farmers with Climate Solutions with Oliver Page
The Paradox of Islamic Finance with Ryan Calder
The Theory and Practice of Environmental Property Rights with Michael Cox
If you build it, will they come? Incentivizing the Adoption of Digital Financial Services in Niger with Jenny Aker

Spring 2025

Democracy: Key to Equitable Development with Thomas Garrett
Solar Irrigation Farming and the Jevons Paradox in Pakistan with Andrew Reid Bell
Ebola and a Decade of Disparities—Forging A Future for Global Health Equity with Craig Spencer
Lessons in Partnership: Supporting Indigenous Leadership and Collaborative Approaches in REDD+ and Conservation Programs with Santiago García Lloré
Connecting, Convening, and Catalyzing to Support a Local Sustainability Movement with Gay Nicholson
Development Through Inclusive and Transformative Agriculture & Food Systems – Our Shared Futures with Purvi Mehta
Crops of Survival: Black Foodways as Continuity and Resistance with Gail Myers
Social Contract Theory and Rwanda’s Model of Post-genocide Nation-Building with Ernest Rwamucyo
From Episodic Moments to the Global Movement: 21st Century Reparatory Justice with Sir Hilary Beckles
Feeding Today, Nurturing for Tomorrow: Good Nutrition as Best-buy Development Investment for Human Capital and Sustainable Development with Kyoko Shibata Okamura
Food Systems and Landscapes that Sustain the Planet, Drive Prosperity, and Nourish People with Juan Lucas Restrepo
Challenges to Achieving Sustainable and Just Food Systems: Lessons Learned from the Second EAT-Lancet Report with Mario Herrero
MEXUS Unwalled: The UCSD Community Stations with Fonna Forman

Fall 2024

Mainstreaming SRI in Southeast Asia: From Trichoderma Innovations to the SEA SRI Regional Network with Febri Doni, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology at Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia
Effects of Market Proximity on the Profitability of Farmer Collectives - Evidence from India with Mathew Abraham, Research Associate, Tata-Cornell Institute, Cornell University
A Revolutionary Model for Agriculture: Cultivating Animal Proteins from Plants with Kathleen Hefferon, Lecturer, Department of Microbiology, Cornell University
Community Engagement and University Extension in Latin American Universities: New Paths between Legacy and Invention with Agustín Cano Menoni, Professor and Researcher, Universidad de la República de Uruguay and Polson Visiting Professor, Department of Global Development, Cornell University
Exploring Perceptions of the Andean Condor in the Ecuadorian Highlands with Diego Cisneros-Heredia, Professor, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ)
Exploring Indigenous Knowledge and Practices for Possible Agricultural Innovations in Ethiopia with a panel of experts from Ethiopia: Zemede Asfaw, Addis Ababa University; Asmare Dejen, Wollo University; and Endale Amare, Ethiopian Public Health Institute
Tackling Complexity: The Challenges and Benefits of a Gender-Transformative Approach to Improving Diets in Northern Ghana with Jan Low, M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’94, Principal Scientist, International Potato Center; Adjunct Professor, Department of Global Development, Cornell University; 2016 World Food Prize Laureate and Naveen Kottayil, MPS ‘24
Landscape Collaboration for Regenerative Food Systems with Louise Buck, Senior Advisor, EcoAgriculture Partners; Senior Extension Associate Emerita, Natural Resources and the Environment, Cornell University
Urban-based Domestic Land Investors Are Transforming Rural Land Use and Ownership in East Africa with Niwaeli Kimambo, Assistant Professor of Geography and the C.V. Starr Fellow in International Studies, Middlebury College
Why the World Must Value the Carbon Opportunity Cost of Land with Timothy Searchinger, Research Scholar, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment
Food Power Politics: Exploring the Dimensions of the Civil Rights Movement with Bobby Smith, Ph.D. '18, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Digital Agriculture in Africa: Innovations, Scalability Challenges & Policy-Intervention with John Babadara, Co-founder and Managing Partner of AceAgric Agritech; Team Lead for Tomatrix Nigeria

Spring 2024

Connect and Collaborate: Climate Action and the Energy Transition in Ithaca, NY with Peter Bardaglio, Coordinator of the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative and Executive Director of the Ithaca 2030 District
Critical Reflections on the Career of a Development Practitioner with Peter Matlon, Adjunct Professor, Cornell University with 25+ years experience in African development programs
A Square Peg in a Round Hole: Transcending Disciplines to Develop and Finance Green Stormwater Infrastructure with joni m palmer, Project Director at the Southwest Environmental Finance Center | Center for Water and the Environment, and a Research & Teaching Faculty at the University of New Mexico
Reflections on Opportunities with, and Resistance to, the System of Rice Intensification with Norman Uphoff, Professor Emeritus, Department of Government, Cornell University
Empty Fields, Empty Promises: Disrupting Dispossession to Achieve Agricultural, Rural and Environmental (ARE) Justice with Loka Ashwood, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky
Intersection of Health Equity and Drug Development: How One Company Wrote Its Own Success Story Deborah Arrindell ‘79, Vice President, Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management, Global Blood Therapeutics
Empowering Household Energy Transition Amid Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of Cleaner Pellet-Fed Gasifier Cookstoves in Urban Malawi with Leo Charles Zulu, Associate Professor, Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University
Transforming Agrifood Systems towards Climate-resilient Development: A Comparative Perspective of China and India with Ting Meng, Associate Professor at the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, China Agricultural University
Environmental Cognition and Smallholder Farming with Kurt Waldman, Assistant Professor, Department of Global Development, Cornell University
Insects as Animal Feed: Black Solider Fly and Circular Food Systems with Charles Midega, Poverty and Health Integrated Solutions (Kenya) and Jesus Orozco, Zamarano University (Honduras)
The Migration-Development Regime: How Class Shapes Indian Emigration with Rina Agarwala, Professor, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University

Fall 2023

Development Through Inclusive Agriculture & Food Systems - Our Shared Futures with Purvi Mehta, Deputy Director for Agriculture Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
From Climate Coloniality to Climate Revolutions with Farhana Sultana, Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment, Syracuse University
Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Future of Food with Mike Hoffman, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University
Food Security in India: Issues and Concerns with Madhura Swaminathan, Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru
Innovation for People and Planet: Reimagining Capitalism with Manoj Kumar, Founder of Social Alpha
The State Orchestrated Regional Cooperation and Regional Inequalities in China with Yuanshuo Xu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Development and Management, Zhejiang University
Balancing Human Development and Environmental Conservation: Global Perspectives with a panel of Cornell Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows
Food Security, Water Quality, and Climate Change: Global Challenges Requiring Local Knowledge with David Wolfe, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University
**Distinguished Speaker in Global Development** Land Justice: Engaging Indigenous Knowledge For Land Care with Robin Wall Kimmerer, mother, scientist, decorated professor, enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Fostering Inclusivity: Community-Based Research on Gender and Development in East and Southern Africa with Brenda Oulu, Co-director of the Girls Agency Lab
The Paradigm Shift Needed to Achieve Economic Justice and Rights for Women with Jemimah Njuki, Chief of the Economic Empowerment section at UN Women
Critical Reflections on the Career of a Development Practitioner with Peter Matlon, Adjunct Professor, Cornell University with 25+ years experience in African development programs

Spring 2023

Megatrends Shaping African Food Systems with Ed Mabaya, Cornell Global Development
Building Agricultural Research Ecosystems: FONTAGRO Case Study with Eugenia Saini, Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO)
Balancing Environmental Protection and Economic Development: Perspectives from the Global South with a panel of Humphrey Fellows in Cornell Global Development
Balancing Conservation and Development in Rural New York – the Role of the Finger Lakes Land Trust with Andy Zepp, Finger Lakes Land Trust
Improving US Farm Viability by Tackling the Organic Waste Problem with Jacob Fox, Regenerative Systems Consultant
What’s Public About Public Services? with David McDonald, Queen’s University, Canada
Circular Bionutrient Economy for AgriFood System Transition with Chuan Liao, Cornell Global Development
Africa’s Inclusive Transformation for People & the Planet with Wanjira Mathai, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Transforming Food Systems: Aquatic Foods for Nourishing People and Planet, Global Development Distinguished Speaker with Shakuntala Thilsted, recipient of the 2021 World Food Prize (Talk Title and link forthcoming)
Socio-Eco Benefits of Collective Rice Certification in the D.R. with Frederick Payton and Michael Cox, AgroFrontera

Fall 2022

Integrative Modelling for Sustainable Land-Use Futures with Alexander Popp, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
From Kibera to the World with Jacky Oyugi, Human Needs Project
Hope Over Fate: Fazle Hasan Abed and the Science of Ending Global Poverty with Scott MacMillan, BRAC US
Fighting Malnutrition and Poor Residue Management with the Use of a Wonderful Insect: Hermetia illucens (L.) with Jesus Orozco, Zamorano University
Transformation of Food Systems: Aquatic Foods for Nourishing People and Planet with Shakuntala Thilsted, 2021 World Food Prize recipient
Public Policy to Support Landscape and Seascape Partnerships: Meeting Sustainable Development Goals through Collaborative Territorial Action with Sara Scherr, EcoAgriculture Partners
A Role for HBCUs in Global Food Security with Olga Bolden-Tiller, Tuskegee University
Global Climate Emergency. Road from Glasgow to Sharm el-Sheikh with Barbara Botos, Hungary
U.S. Rural Population Health in the Context of Drug Overdoses, COVID-19, and Longer-Term Mortality Trends with Shannon Monnat, Syracuse University
Universities and Peace: The Role of Higher Education and Peace Pedagogies in Peacebuilding, Resistance and Citizenship with Larisa Kasumagic-Kafedzic, Visiting Fellow at Cornell University
Measuring the Sustainability of Food Production Systems: Exploring the Solution Space with Kyle Davis, University of Delaware
Achieving Food and Nutritional Security in the Era of Climate Change, a Humphrey Fellows panel discussion

Spring 2022

Building back better: Rebuilding educational opportunity after the COVID-19 pandemic with Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice, Harvard University
How farming can employ Africa's young workforce and help build peace: Lessons from Babban Gona with Kola Masha, Babban Gona
Multi-Generational photovoices of changing traditional farming systems in Bali: Perspectives from the UNESCO cultural landscape with Wiwik Dharmiasi, PhD Student, Dala Institute and University of Hawaii
Understanding farmer protests in India with Sudha Narayanan, Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Tackling global inequalities in innovation and entrepreneurship with Tim Hart, Entrepreneurship & Accelerator programme leader, Oxentia
Climate resilience for the poorest three billion with V. Ram Ramanathan, Distinguished Research Professor of climate sustainability, University of California at San Diego, and Cornell Climate Solutions Scholar, Cornell University
What is the leading agricultural research for development organization doing to help farmers adapt to climate change? with Bram Govaerts, Director General, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Circular food systems: towards human and planetary health with Hannah Van Zanten, Associate Professor at Farming Systems Ecology group, Wageningen University, and Visiting Professor, Cornell University
Distinguished Speaker Series: Transforming Global Food Systems After COVID-19 with Johan Swinnen, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Global Director, Systems Transformation Science Group at CGIAR
Food for all: International organizations and the transformation of agriculture with Uma Lele, Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi
Turning the tide: a decade of opportunities with Jared Bosire, Programme Manager, UNEP Nairobi Convention
Reaching women in the workplace: improving the sexual and reproductive health and family planning outcomes of young women working in the ready-made garment sector in South and Southeast Asia with Ashish Bajracharya, Deputy Director for Country Strategy, International Programs Division at the Population Council, and Regional Representative for South and East Asia

Fall 2021

Regenerating rainforests by listening to communities with Devika Agge, Health in Harmony
Leadership, governance and strategies for advancing the policies and actions for equitable development with Melanie Stansbury, U.S. Congress
Transforming food systems for global sustainable development with Mario Herrero, Cornell Global Development
Reimagining solutions to gender inequality with Jemimah Njuki, IFPRI Africa
Perspectives on the role of the private sector in global development with Sara Boettiger, Bayer (recording unavailable)
Can biofortified sweetpotato meaningfully contribute to food system transformation? with Jan Low, International Potato Center
The development diplomat: Working across borders, boardrooms, and bureaucracies to end poverty with Fatema Sumar, Millennium Corporation
Pathways to an anti-racist and regenerative environmentalism in an age of intersecting crises with Prakash Kaswah, University of Connecticut (recording unavailable)
Successes and challenges in sustainable coastal fisheries management in the Philippines with John Edgar, USAID
Can we have it all? Considering the trade-offs in achieving both human & planetary health with Jessica Fanzo, Johns Hopkins University

Spring 2021

Community approach to strengthening smallholder farmers' position, power and contribution within agricultural value chains with Ariana Constant, Clinton Development Initiative
Gender equity & social inclusion among community forest groups in the mid-hills of Nepal: Who benefits? with Leala Rosen, Wildlife Conservation Society
Acceleration of the African agricultural transformation: key role of private sector actors with Atsuko Toda, African Development Bank
COVID-19 in traditional farming communities in Pakistan: Challenges and adaptations with Sameena Nazir, PODA-Pakistan
Creating climate resilient incomes for the ultra-poor farmers in India with Sathya Raghu, Kheyti
Findings: How are farmers using digital services in low- and middle-income countries? with Jaron Porciello, Cornell University
Food entrepreneurs in Africa: scaling resilient agriculture businesses with Ndidi Nwuneli, Sahel Consulting
How the unimaginable can be achieved in African agribusiness with Debisi Araba, member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel
An age of rising inequality? No, but yes with Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University
Alternatives to extractivism in Ecuador's Choco cloud forest with Carlos Larrea, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar

Fall 2020

From Sustainable Forest Management to Forest Landscape Restoration: Analysis of Two Participatory Approaches with Carol Colfer, Adjunct Professor, Cornell Southeast Asia Program
Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA): Why is it needed in developing countries? with John Recha, Participatory Action Research Specialist, CGIAR Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
Using Integrated Landscape Management to Scale Agroforestry: Examples from Ecuador with Louise Buck, Senior Extension Associate, Department of Natural Resources and Program Lead, Collaborative Management, EcoAgriculture Partners
Incorporating Stakeholder Input in the Development of Croatia’s National Agricultural and Rural Development Strategy, 2020-2030 with David Lee, Professor, Dyson School and Global Development; Philip Van der Celen & Svetlana Edmeades, World Bank; Nikša Tkalec, Assistant to Minister of Agriculture of Croatia at Special Committee on Agriculture, European Union
Integrated Innovation System Programs: A No Regret Investment for a +Covid World? with Bram Govaerts, Interim Deputy Director General, Director of the Integrated Development Program, Representative for the Americas and Mexico Country Representative, CIMMYT. AD White Professor at Large – Cornell University
Transforming Parastatal Systems and Enhancing Agricultural and Water Productivity: Multi-Sectoral Experiences from Tamil Nadu, India with Vibhu Nayer, IAS Officer and Project Director, Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water Resources Management Project. Government of Tamil Nadu, India
Large-scale Renewable Energy in New York: Issues of Governance, Community Participation, and Benefit Sharing with David Kay, Senior Extension Associate, Department of Global Development, Cornell University
Getting Improved Seed to Smallholder Farmers: Findings from The African Seed Access Index with Ed Mabaya, Senior Research Associate, Department of Global Development, Cornell
COVID-19, development and environment: New social contracts for the economic recovery process with Maxwell Gomera, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Program in Rwanda
Financing the growth of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises as a necessary precondition for sustainable agri-food system transformation: Perspectives from the African Development Bank with Andrew Mude, Division Manager, African Development Bank