Report

Duncan M. Chembezi

Small Farms Research Center, Alabama A&M University

About Duncan M. Chembezi

Duncan M. Chembezi holds a joint appointment as a tenured Full Professor in the College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences (CALNS) and in the College of Business and Public Affairs (COBPA) at Alabama A&M University (AAMU). He holds a PhD degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics (Policy/Price Analysis and Econometrics) from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, specializing in Policy/Price Analysis, Marketing and Applied Econometrics. Dr. Chembezi also serves as Director of AAMU’s Small Farms Research Center, sole and significant outreach arm within CALNS. Duncan is a mission-driven educator and applied economist with expertise in a wide range of areas. Over the past 24 years, he has developed and taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses in agribusiness, agricultural and resource economics and economics. He continues to serve as advisor to several students within COBPA and CALNS. A significant portion of Duncan’s time and effort is devoted to conducting research and providing outreach assistance, training and extension education to farmers and ranchers. His research focus is on examining the impact of alternative food and agricultural policies, market and economic forces on the survival of agricultural producers, who own, manage and operate farm businesses, often with limited resources. Dr. Chembezi’s outreach and extension work has received national recognition. Similarly, the Small Farms Research Center that he directs has received several state, regional and national recognitions in terms of effective outreach training, technical assistance, and overall service delivery and programing for agricultural producers and rural businesses. In 2010, Dr. Chembezi was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to serve a two-year term on the USDA Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (BFRDP). His third and last term on the Committee expired in 2017. Duncan has previously served on the advisory board of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (Southern SAWG), Southern Agricultural Economics Association, and of the Southern Region Risk Management Education Center. He is a current and active advisory committee member of the Council on Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics (C-FARE), a non-profit national organization dedicated to strengthening the national presence of the agricultural economics profession. In 2018, Duncan rejoined Southern SAWG as a board member for a 5-year term. Southern SAWG is a non-profit organization committed to promoting sustainable agricultural practices among agricultural producers and communities in the South. Dr. Chembezi is a member of several professional organizations and associations, including the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA), Western Agricultural Economics Association (WAEA), Western Economics Association International (WEAI), Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA), Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS), Missouri Valley Economic Association (MVEA), American Economic Association (AEA), Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA), American Statistics Association (ASA), etc.