Lawrence Haddad Authors

Lawrence Haddad

Lawrence Haddad is a World Food Prize winner and has been GAIN’s executive director since 2016. Haddad chaired Action Track 1 Ending Hunger and Malnutrition at the 2021 U.N. Food Systems Summit. In 2022, he was awarded a CMG for “services to international agriculture and nutrition” by King Charles III of the United Kingdom. Before GAIN, Haddad co-founded the Global Nutrition Report, was director of the Institute of Development Studies, and was director of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Division of Food Consumption and Nutrition. An economist, Haddad completed his Ph.D. in Food Research at Stanford University in 1988.

Latest Articles

Food Systems
Food Systems
Opinion: On food system change, time to keep calm and accelerate
17 Jun 2025
From inter-agency collaboration to public-private partnerships, from effective development finance institution involvement to stronger feedback loops — here’s how to accelerate food system transformation.
Food Systems
Food Systems
Opinion: Investing in nutrition is investing in a more resilient world
10 Jul 2024
Nutrition is the foundation of our future. In the lead-up to the Nutrition for Growth summit next March, it's time for governments, philanthropies, civil society, and investors to take the issue much more seriously.
Food systems
Food systems
Opinion: Food culture holds key to a nutritious, sustainable future
5 Feb 2024
A shift in food habits, values, and behaviors can move consumption toward healthy and sustainable choices.
Food and nutrition
Food and nutrition
Opinion: A food data revolution in the COVID-19 era
1 Jun 2020
Food data are not deemed essential — until they are, when hunger surges, food prices skyrocket, and we see panic turn into violence. By then, it is too late. This op-ed looks at how access to data could help transform food systems.
Sponsored by GAIN
Sponsored by GAIN
Opinion: Unlocking the potential of African food businesses to tackle malnutrition
17 Sep 2018
The African continent is home to the youngest population in the world, leading to a growing African consumer market that looks for healthier food options. This represents a great opportunity in emerging markets to create a sustainable value chain working with local agrifood SMEs. GAIN and DSM explain the need to improve the flow of finance to expand SME efforts.
Sponsored by GAIN
Sponsored by GAIN
Opinion: Bringing nutrition in from the cold
4 Jan 2018
Poor diet is a driver of malnutrition in all its forms: From undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies to obesity. Working with partners, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition wants to make healthier food choices more affordable, more accessible, and more desirable. On the occasion of GAIN’s 15th anniversary, Lawrence Haddad reflects on what the organization has learned so far and considers what’s next in tackling malnutrition.
Sponsored by GAIN
Sponsored by GAIN
Toward a stronger focus on building nutritious food systems
13 Oct 2016
As World Food Day 2016 approaches, Lawrence Haddad, GAIN's new executive director, shares his thoughts on why we need to focus on building nutritious food systems, as well as the importance of innovative partnership models to tackle malnutrition in a sustainable and effective way.
#FutureFortified
#FutureFortified
5 ways Canada can impact global nutrition
24 Nov 2015
With only a few months remaining to include more nutrition targets in the Sustainable Development Goals, here is how Canada can play a role in showing the world that malnutrition is inextricably linked with a broader range of global challenges.
Lawrence Haddad on development research
Lawrence Haddad on development research
Research and communications are symbiotic
6 May 2015
For IFPRI senior research fellow Lawrence Haddad, research is a means to an end, a way to make a difference in the lives of the poorest people. In this guest commentary, he explains how good researchers can also be good advocates.
#FEEDINGDEV
#FEEDINGDEV
Nutrition for the next generation
1 Aug 2014
Will talks on the economic impact of undernutrition be on the agenda at next week's U.S.-Africa Summit in Washington, D.C.? In this exclusive opinion for Feeding Development, Lawrence Haddad argues for an urgent data revolution in nutrition to put the issue front and center.
See all articles by Lawrence Haddad