Norman T. Uphoff

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Norman T. Uphoff
Norman T. Uphoff

Norman Thomas Uphoff (born July 22, 1940 in Madison , Wisconsin ) is an American social scientist who deals with agroecology .

Uphoff was Professor of Politics and Agriculture at Cornell University until his retirement . From 1990 to 2005 he was director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD, International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development). During this time he dealt with agro-ecological innovations, in particular with the system of rice intensification (SRI) developed in Madagascar , to the establishment of which he made a significant contribution in many other countries in Asia.

Life

Norman Thomas Uphoff was born in 1940 as the first of four sons to Mary Jo (née Weiler, died 2005) and Walter Henry Uphoff (died 1998). Both parents were among the main driving forces behind the Socialist Party of America ( SPA ) in the state of Wisconsin and were already involved in the farmers' association and the peace movement. The two first names Uphoffs are a reference to the former leader of the SPA, Norman Thomas .

education

Uphoff completed the first part of his training at the University of Minnesota , where he graduated with a Bachelor (BA) in 1963 , before he obtained a Master of Public Administration (MPA) at Princeton University in 1966 . This was followed in 1970 by a further degree from the University of California at Berkeley with the academic degree of Ph.D. (English Doctor of Philosophy ).

Private

In the 1960s he met the pediatrician Marguerite Helen McKay. Their daughter Elisabeth was born in 1967 before the small family moved to Accra in Ghana for a year in 1968 , where Uphoff continued his political science studies and his wife served the first year of their pediatric assistantship. In 1970, the couple could look forward to the birth of a son named Jonathan. Norman Uphoff is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and lives not far from the campus of his university, near the shores of Cayuga Lake in the Lansing district of the medium-sized city of Ithaca in the state of New York , USA.

Career

In 1970, Norman Uphoff entered the faculty at Cornell University and began the void job. There he headed the Committee for Rural Development until 1990 and worked on various aspects of participatory decision-making and decision-making processes . He developed a particular interest in the organization of farmers' associations, in irrigation management and in other approaches that seemed suitable for supporting smallholders in developing countries. In the 1980s he was a member of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) research advisory board and the South Asia committee of the US Social Science Research Council (SSRC). For over four decades he has been an advisor to the World Bank , the United Nations , the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ford Foundation , the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and others. After his appointment as the first director of CIIFAD in 1990, his work has focused more on strategies for rural development of sustainable agriculture as opposed to conventional agriculture . After his resignation as director of CIIFAD 2005 changed Uphoff in the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA), where he spent four years as Director of Graduate Studies ( Master's programs worked) and four years as executive director. He continues to teach, advise and research as a faculty member. Professor Uphoff teaches the GOVT 6927 course, which deals with planning and management of agricultural and rural development.

SRI

In 1993, Norman Uphoff got to know the system of rice intensification (SRI) through the non-governmental organization "Tefy Saina" in Madagascar . Farmers who achieved an average yield of just two tons in their rice fields using conventional methods, were able to increase their harvests by an average of four times using the SRI method. This was achieved on soils that were rated as "very poor" without using new types of rice, while at the same time consuming less water and completely dispensing with artificial fertilizers.

Uphoff is an expert in development and irrigation management and works on political participation and strategies for broad-based rural development. Beyond the social sciences, he has expanded knowledge and practice in soil science and microbiology. He used this expertise as part of Cornell University's initiative to alleviate the global food crisis to promote the new rice cultivation method. After the good harvests had been achieved for three consecutive years and were also observed in other parts of Madagascar, Uphoff began to get agricultural specialists in other countries to use the alternative SRI methods for themselves. In 1999–2000, the SRI results were validated by scientists in China and Indonesia. Since then, the testing and dissemination of SRI has spread to nearly 50 countries.

Nevertheless, there has been considerable professional resistance to SRI. Some scientists from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; German Internationales Reisforschungsinstitut) as well as some of Uphoff's colleagues at Cornell University expressed skeptical and even dismissive criticism, doubted the results or tried to put them into perspective. However, most of the reports on the effectiveness of the method have been confirmed in scientific literature to be correct. The SRI method is now promoted by the IRRI, governments in China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Since 1997, Dr. Uphoff has lectured on SRI in 41 countries to encourage others to learn and further explore agroecological SRI methodologies. The principles have now been extended or transferred to other crops, including wheat , fingergrass , sugar cane , dwarf millet , all three varieties of the mung bean , pigeon pigeon and pigeon bean, and several vegetables. Uphoff's approach has been to seek the engagement and participation of farmers in developing countries while communicating with the scientific community and with policy makers, civil society and the private sector.

2015 Norman Uphoff received for his work with SRI to the multinational agribusiness Corporation Olam International ausgelobten and worth 50,000 dollars, "Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security" (translated award for innovation in food safety ).

Publications (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Ann Evory, Frances C. Locher: Contemporary Authors (=  New Revision Series . Volume 29-32 ). Gale Research Inc., Detroit 1978, ISBN 978-0-8103-0035-4 , pp. 784 , p. 717 .
  2. ^ Madison Wisconsin State Journal Newspaper
  3. ^ Obituary for Mary Jo Uphoff
  4. ^ Karen M. Paget: Patriotic Betrayal . Yale University Press, London 2015, ISBN 978-0-300-20508-4 , pp. 552 , p. 293 ( google.de [accessed October 7, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Curriculum Vitae
  6. ^ Medical Bulletin 1968
  7. ^ Marguerite Uphoff, MD
  8. ↑ biography
  9. ↑ Data on course GOVT 6927
  10. ↑ Olam Prize 2015
personal data
SURNAME Uphoff, Norman T.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Uphoff, Norman Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American social scientist
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Madison , Wisconsin