About
John Hoddinott is the H.E. Babcock Professor of Food and Nutrition Economics and Policy and Associate Professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University. Before coming to Cornell in 2015, he was a Deputy Division Director at the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of poverty, hunger and undernutrition in developing countries. He has been heavily involved in primary data collection through living in a mud hut in western Kenya and a small town near Timbuktu Mali in addition to his work in Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Niger and Zimbabwe.
John has ongoing research work in three countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Guatemala. The Bangladesh and Ethiopian studies focus on agriculture, social protection, food security and nutrition. These are a mix of prospective cohort and randomized control trials. The Guatemala study is a follow up to a randomized community nutrition intervention that was fielded in the early 1970s.
John has a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Oxford and a M.A. in Economics from York University, Canada.
Research Activities
John is interested in the causes of poverty, food insecurity and undernutrition, and the design and evaluation of interventions that would reduce these. He has also undertaken work on poverty dynamics, intrahousehold resource allocation, schooling, labour markets aid allocation and on improving survey methods.
John's current research interests focus on the links between economics (especially social protection, agriculture and gender), food security and early life nutrition. He has ongoing collaborative projects in Bangladesh, India, and Guatemala.
Recent Research
I am interested in the causes of poverty, food insecurity and undernutrition, and the design and evaluation of interventions that would reduce these. I have also undertaken work on poverty dynamics, intrahousehold resource allocation, schooling, labour markets, aid allocation and on improving survey methods.
My current research interests focus on the links between economics (especially social protection, agriculture, and gender), food security, and human capital formation with a focus on early life nutrition. I have led or participated in the evaluations of some of the largest social protection programs in low- and middle-income countries, including the Vulnerable Group Development scheme in Bangladesh, Brazil’s Bolsa Familia cash transfer program, Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme, PROGRESA in Mexico and South Africa’s Child Support Grant. Throughout my career, I have been heavily involved in primary data collection through living in a mud hut in western Kenya and a small town near Timbucktu Mali as well as developing longitudinal and cross-sectional household and community surveys in Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Niger, and Zimbabwe. I have given more than 200 formal presentations of this work, as well as informal presentations to audiences including cabinet ministers, Canadian parliamentarians, members of the United States House of Representatives, senior officials in various governments, donor and UN agencies, and village leaders in various African countries. My work has been cited in media outlets including the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Economist, Newsweek, the New York Times, Slate, the Times of India, Vox, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
