2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Dr. John Bowman of USAID will review some of the lessons learned (good and bad!) after a life-long career in international agricultural development with the public and private sectors. Bowman will touch upon some of his most interesting project experiences, an international career outlook for youth, and how USAID is currently restructuring itself in a new "journey towards self-reliance".

John Bowman is a Senior Agriculture Advisor and Program Area Leader at the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Food Security (BFS) based in Washington DC. He is Leader for the Nutritious and Safe Foods Program Area at BFS, and has been working in the “Feed the Future” Initiative since 2011. Dr. Bowman manages global projects for USAID’s Office of Agricultural Research and Policy in the areas of horticulture, integrated pest management, food safety, and post-harvest loss. He has recently joined the BFS Youth Learning Agenda Task Force and is highly interested in bringing more youth engagement to USAID’s research portfolio. Prior to this current assignment, Dr. Bowman worked in USAID’s Office of Nutrition where he was focused on building linkages between agriculture and nutrition and promoted the concept of crop breeding for micronutrient biofortification. Dr. Bowman has over 30 years of experience in international development having worked in over 40 countries for international agricultural research centers (CIMMYT, CIAT), multinational food companies (PepsiCo, URC-Philippines, Technico-China), and international consulting firms (DAI, Chemonics, Nippon-Koei). His major contributions in global horticulture have been through the management of multinational potato supply chains, fruit and vegetable production in Brazil/Colombia/Vietnam, and supervision of horticultural research grants to the World Vegetable Center and UC-Davis (Horticulture Innovation Lab). He holds two Master’s degrees (Latin American Studies, Plant Pathology) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.