Paul Winters

Biography & Research

Paul Winters is associate dean for academic affairs and the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Sustainable Development in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.

Winters's research and teaching focus on rural poverty and food insecurity and the evaluation of policies and programs designed to address these issues. He has published numerous journal articles and working papers in the areas of rural poverty and food insecurity, rural development, small-scale agriculture, inclusive and sustainable food systems, agricultural data, impact evaluation, migration and social protection programs. He holds a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in economics from the University of California at San Diego and a B.A. in non-Western studies from the University of San Diego.

Winters is executive director of AIM for Scale (Agriculture Innovation Mechanism for Scale), a global initiative that helps farmers from low- and middle-income countries adapt to climate change, improve food security and strengthen livelihoods through scaling promising agricultural innovations. This work stems from Winters' role as the executive director of the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security, and Agriculture at the University of Chicago, a commission that promotes innovation development and scaling at the intersection of climate change, food security, and agriculture. Commission members include former heads of state and cabinet ministers, leaders in international organizations, and the private sector. As executive director, he oversees activities across the Innovation Commission Secretariat and leads engagements with partners.

Winters also is a member of the Food System Economics Commission, an independent academic commission that aims to equip political and economic decision makers with the tools and support metrics needed to transition towards healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems.

Prior to joining the Keough School, Winters was the associate vice-president of the Strategy and Knowledge Department and director of the Research and Impact Assessment Division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome. From 2004 to 2015, he was a professor in the Department of Economics at American University in Washington, D.C., where he taught courses on impact evaluation, development economics, and environmental economics. Before American University, he worked at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, the University of New England in Australia, and the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC.

Recent Work

• How Close is Close? Assessing Uganda’s Progressive Refugee Policy in the Era of COVID-19 (Routledge)
• Access to global wheat reserves determines country-level vulnerability to conflict-induced Ukrainian wheat supply disruption (Nature Food)
• Decomposing the impacts of an agricultural value chain development project by ethnicity and gender in Nepal (World Development)
• Almost half the world’s population lives in households linked to agrifood systems (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
• Global food systems transitions have enabled affordable diets but had less favourable outcomes for nutrition, environmental health, inclusion and equity (Nature Food)
• Do not transform food systems on the backs of the rural poor (Food Security)

Courses

• Foundations of Sustainable Development (master of global affairs course for sustainable development major)
• Directed Readings (for master of global affairs students)

News & Media

• AIM for Scale, led by Paul Winters, awarded $2.6 million to scale agricultural innovations in Africa and beyond
• Can AI drive climate adaptation for India’s farmers? (Devex)
• AIM for Scale Mobilizes Global Effort to Reach 100 Million Farmers With Digital Advisory Services by 2030"
• Keough School's Paul Winters to lead AIM for Scale, helping farmers adapt to climate change
• AI is transforming weather forecasting − and that could be a game changer for farmers around the world (Japan Today & other outlets)
• Convention on desertification: scaling agricultural innovation and sustainable practices for smallholder farmers
• Carbon-neutral beef? Argentina’s new certification could promote more climate-friendly livestock production (Fast Company)
• Video: Sustainable food systems: Can we feed the planet while addressing climate change?
• Keough School expert to play key role in COP28 climate talks on food systems