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MU Professor Receives Latvian Award for Collaborative Research in Rural Development

Meyers's Latvian collaborator, Dr. Daina Saktina, discussing their award-winning study. (Photo courtesy of D. Saktina)

 William Meyers, Professor of Agricultural
  Economics at MU, and his research
  collaborator, Daina Saktina, head of the
  Rural Development Department at the Latvian
  State Institute of Agrarian Economics, were
  recently recognized by the Government of
  Latvia for their contributions to rural
  development. The “Seeder” awards, as
  they are known in Latvia , are presented
  by the Ministries of Agriculture and
  Environment to those whose work “sows
  seeds for the future,” according to Dr.
  Saktina. Saktina and Meyers were awarded
  Third Place in the “Science of Rural
  Development” category.

  The collaboration between Meyers and Saktina   began as a one-time rural study of farm and
  rural support programs in Latvia from 2000-
  2005, which compared the implementation of
  rural development policy measures before and after Latvia joined the European Union. This initial study, based in part on surveys administered by local colleagues, focused on how different sectors of the economy were impacted by different programs, to identify areas of improvement for subsequent programming periods. Their research culminated in a book published jointly in Riga, Latvia, by the Latvian State Institute of Agrarian Economics, the Ministry of Agriculture of Latvia, and the World Bank Group. The book, entitled EU and National Rural Support Programs in Latvia: Targeting the Disadvantaged (2005) was released in both English and Latvian, with the Latvian edition produced for use by the country's local extension offices.

Meyers prefers to minimize his contribution to the Latvian research as “an advisory role,” but under his supervision it has expanded into a multi-year collaborative project from which similar publications are expected to be produced. The most recently completed phase of this project classified different regions of Latvia according to their level of economic advancement, in order to determine which regions needed to be targeted for assistance by Latvia's new Rural Development Program for 2007-2013. The next phase focuses on eastern Latvia, which was identified as lagging behind other regions in this respect. Primary funding has been provided by the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture, with financial support and technical assistance from the World Bank.

Professor Meyers is presently co-director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), a joint program of the University of Missouri and Iowa State University. In addition to Latvia, he has worked in agricultural and rural policy all over the world, including Lithuania, Ukraine, Hungary, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, for such organizations as the World Bank, USAID, USDA, and the International Rice Research Institute. Click here to learn more about the work of Dr. Meyers and FAPRI .