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Patrick Webb

Dean for Academic Affairs & Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University

Education

BA, University of Sussex
MA and PhD, University of Birmingham

Professional Activities

Former Chief of Nutrition for the UN World Food Programme (to August 2005); member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition; member of the Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger reporting to Jeffrey Sachs and Kofi Annan (from 2003 to September 2005). Spent six years living in Africa (Ethiopia, Niger, The Gambia), and many more years working in remote parts of Asia and Latin America on program implementation and evaluation. A wide range of experiences includes: being a first responder on the ground in Aceh post-tsunami; working in North Korea overseeing the 2004 national health/nutrition survey; working at ministerial level in Kenya, Haiti and Ethiopia on reformulating national food and nutrition policies; negotiated UN positions at the World Food Summit in 1996; oversaw the preparation and 23-country endorsement of the Delhi Declaration on maternal and child nutrition (2003); evaluated protracted relief and rehabilitation operations in West Africa (2008); serving on expert panels for UNICEF and WHO; and advised the Gates Foundation on agricultural policy and global nutrition strategy. Formerly a Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Has consulted for the World Bank, WHO, FAO, CARE, OFDA, UNDP, UNICEF, OXFAM, Holds Honorar Professor at the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany). Currently (2009-2011) principal investigator for USAID’s global food aid quality review.

Courses

Fall 2009

• NUTR 203 - Fundamentals of Nutrition Policy and Programming: How Science and Practice Interact (with Dean Eileen Kennedy)

Research Interests

Agriculture and food policy; economic geography; famine and hunger; Southeast Asia; Africa; transition economies; economic history; HIV/AIDS, food security and nutrition; North Korea; Haiti, Ethiopia, United Nations; humanitarian policy and practice.

Faculty Research Profile

Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy Faculty Profile

Selected Publications

Books

• Webb, P. and A. Thorne-Lyman. Forthcoming 2006. Entitlement Failure from a Food Quality Perspective: The Life and Death Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Humanitarian Crises. In Basudeb, E. (ed.) Food Security. Helsinki, Finland: United Nations University/WIDER.
• Webb, P. 2006. Water and Food Security in Developing Countries: Major Challenges for the 21^st Century. In V. Grover (ed.).Water: Global Commons and Global Problems. Enfield, NH: Science Publishers, pp.17-40.
• Webb, P. 2005. Can Food Aid Contribute to Improved Nutrition? Frontline Issues in Nutrition Assistance: Hunger Report 2006. Bread for the World, pp:130-1.
• Hunger Task Force. 2005. Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done.  Final Report of the Millennium Project Hunger Task Force to the U.N. Secretary General. New York: The Millennium Project. [Webb was principal author of chapters 7 and 8 on Nutrition and Safety Nets]
• Webb, P. 2005. 'Famine'. Chapter in Griffiths, M (ed.) Encyclopaedia of International Relations and Global Politics. London: Routledge.
• Webb, P. 2005. Cultivated Capital: Agriculture, Food Systems and Sustainable Development'. Chapter in K. S. Bawa and R. Seidler (eds.) The Encyclopaedia of Life Support Systems. Oxford: UNESCO.
• Webb, P. and K. Weinberger (eds.) 2001. Women Farmers: Enhancing Rights, Recognition and Productivity. Frankfurt, Germany: Lang Verlag.
• Webb, P. (editor.and contributing author) for Enabling Development: Food Assistance in South Asia. 2001. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• von Braun, J., T. Teklu and P. Webb. 1999. Famine in Africa: Causes, Responses and Prevention. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.
• Webb, P. and J. von Braun. 1994. Famine and Food Security in Ethiopia: Lessons for Africa. London: John Wiley.
• von Braun, J., D. Puetz and P. Webb. 1989. Irrigation Technology and Commercialization of Rice in The Gambia: Effects on Income and Nutrition. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Articles

• Gross, R. and P. Webb. 2006. Wasting Time: Severe Child Undernutrition Must Be Resolved in Non-Emergency Settings. The Lancet. 367 (4): 1209-11
• Webb, P., J. Coates, E. Frongillo, B. Rogers, A. Swindale and P. Bilinsky. 2006. Measuring Household Food Insecurity: Why It’s So Important and Yet So Difficult to Do. Journal of Nutrition. 136: S1404-08.
• Coates, J., E. Frongillo, B. Rogers, P. Webb_,_ P. Wilde and R. Houser. 2006. Commonalities in the Experience of Household Food Insecurity Across Cultures: What are Measures Missing? Journal of Nutrition. 136: S1438-48.
• Coates, J., Wilde, P. Webb, B. Rogers and R. Houser. 2006. Comparison of a Qualitative and a Quantitative Approach to Developing a Household Food Insecurity Scale for Bangladesh. Journal of Nutrition. 136: S1420-30.
• Gross, R. and P. Webb. 2006. Wasting Time: Severe Child Undernutrition Must Be Resolved in Non-Emergency Settings. The Lancet. 367 (4): 1209-11
• Webb, P. 2005. Too Much and Too Little: Water Problems in Aceh, Indonesia, post-Tsunami. Waterlines. 23 (4): 26-7.
• I. Darnton-Hill, P. Webb, P. Harvey, J. Hunt et al. 2005. Micronutrient deficiencies and gender: social and economic costs. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 81 (5). S1198-1205.
• Moench-Pfanner, R., S. de Pee, M. Bloem, D. Foote, S. Kosen and P. Webb. 2005. Food for Work in Indonesia impacted too little on anemia. Journal of Nutrition. 135: 1423-29.
• Webb, P. and S. Block. 2004. Nutrition Information versus Formal Schooling as Inputs to Child Nutrition. Economic Development and Cultural Change. 52 (4): 801-820.
• Webb, P. 2003. Food as Medicine: Can Famine Relief Meet Health and Hunger Goals Simultaneously? The Lancet. 362 (12): S40-S41.
• Webb, P. 2003. The Uncertain Path of Transition: Food, Nutrition and Poverty Dynamics in South East Asia. Quarterly Jou. Int. Agriculture. 42 (3): 273-93.
• Webb, P. 2003. The Under-Resourcing of Rights: Empty Stomachs and other Abuses of Humanity. New England Journal of International and Comparative Law. 9 (1): 135-157.
• Webb, P. 2002. Emergency Relief during Europe’s Famine of 1817 Anticipated Crisis Response Mechanisms of Today. Jou. Nutrition. 132 (7): 2092S-2095S.

Op-eds

• Webb, P. 2006. Loss of an egg can be tipping point for the malnourished. The Financial Times, March 13, 2006.
• Webb, P. 2005. Niger—an “invisible” crisis. Mainichi(Japanese daily). Sept 16, 2005
• Webb, P. 2005. The Invisible Crisis in Niger. Toronto Globe and Mail. August 26, 2005