Daniel Maxwell

Daniel Maxwell

Professor, Feinstein International Center, Friedman
Henry J. Leir Professorship in Food Security, Professorships, Friedman
Senior Fellow

Contact Information

Research/Areas of Interest

Famine, food security crises, and food assistance responses
Livelihoods, livelihoods systems under stress, and resilience
Food security measurement and technical indicators
The humanitarian system and its evolution
The rapidly changing nature of humanitarian crises and risk
Locally led humanitarian action
Social networks and social relations among at-risk populations

Education
  • B.Sc., Wilmington College, United States, 1977
  • M.Sc., Cornell University, United States, 1986
  • Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison, United States, 1995
Biography
Daniel Maxwell is the Henry J. Leir Professor in Food Security and Research Director at the Feinstein International Center, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. He leads the research program on food security and livelihoods in complex emergencies. In 2016-2017, he served as the Acting Director of the Feinstein Center. His recent research focuses on the re-emergence of famines in the 21st century and the politics of analyzing and declaring famine; food security and resilience programming and measurement, and livelihood systems under stress; as well as the localization of humanitarian action.

Prior to joining the faculty at Tufts, Dan worked in East and West Africa for two decades in humanitarian agencies and research institutes in Uganda, Ghana and Kenya. His most recent position prior to joining the faculty at Tufts was Deputy Director for Eastern and Central Africa for CARE International.

He is the author, with Kirsten Gelsdorf, of Understanding the Humanitarian World (Routledge, 2019). He is to author, with Nisar Majid, of Famine in Somalia: Competing Imperatives, Collective Failures (Oxford University Press, 2016). He is the co-author, with Chris Barrett of Cornell University, of Food Aid After Fifty Years: Recasting Its Role (Routledge, 2005).

He teaches courses on humanitarian action, humanitarian policy, and famine, food insecurity and livelihoods systems under stress in situations of crisis and chronic vulnerability.
Selected Publications

Maxwell, D. G., Parker, J. W., & Stobaugh, H. C. (2013). What drives program choice in food security crises? Examining the "response analysis" question. World Development, 49, 68-79. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.01.022

Maxwell, D., Vaitla, B., & Coates, J. (2014). How do indicators of household food insecurity measure up? An empirical comparison from Ethiopia. Food Policy, 47, 107-116. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.04.003

Vaitla, B., Coates, J., Glaeser, L., Hillbruner, C., Biswal, P., & Maxwell, D. (2017). The measurement of household food security: Correlation and latent variable analysis of alternative indicators in a large multi-country dataset. Food Policy, 68, 193-205. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.02.006

Maxwell, D., Majid, N., Adan, G., Abdirahman, K., & Kim, J. J. (2016). Facing famine: Somali experiences in the famine of 2011. Food Policy, 65, 63-73. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2016.11.001

Donini, A., & Maxwell, D. (2013). From face-to-face to face-to-screen: Remote management, effectiveness and accountability of humanitarian action in insecure environments. International Review of the Red Cross, 95(890), 383-413. doi:10.1017/S1816383114000265

Maxwell, D., & Majid, N. (2016). Famine in Somalia Competing Imperatives, Collective Failures, 2011-12. New York: Oxford University Press.

Maxwell, D., & Gelsdorf, K. H. (2019). Understanding the humanitarian world. doi:10.4324/9780429279188

Barrett, C. B., & Maxwell, D. G. (2005). Food aid after fifty years: Recasting its role (Vol. 9780203799536). doi:10.4324/9780203799536

Maxwell, D., & Fitzpatrick, M. (2012). The 2011 Somalia famine: Context, causes, and complications. Global Food Security, 1(1), 5-12. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2012.07.002

Salama, P., Moloney, G., Bilukha, O. O., Talley, L., Maxwell, D., Hailey, P., . . . Golden, M. H. (2012). Famine in Somalia: Evidence for a declaration. Global Food Security, 1(1), 13-19. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2012.08.002