Julie Howard is an independent consultant focusing on food and agricultural system development in sub-Saharan Africa and related US policies and programs. She is a non-resident Senior Adviser in the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Howard is a Director of the World Vegetable Center and served as the first chief scientist in the Bureau for Food Security and senior adviser to the USAID administrator on agricultural research, extension, and education. Previously she was CEO of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty, and a faculty member at Michigan State University. She holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from MSU and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic.