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Biography

Stephen is currently working as a part-time Lecturer and Research Fellow at University College Cork. Stephen is a Consultant on agri-food marketing and policy issues, recent projects including the development of Food Security Certification Guidelines for the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), involving the UN, private sector and NGOs, advising and training the Kazakhstan Ministry of Agriculture on establishing a national agricultural market information system under a World Bank funded project and leading a study on the impacts of EU Free Trade Agreements, WTO and CAP Reform on the African, Caribbean and and Pacific (ACP) sugar sector funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Stephen has an advisory role within the Social Issues Expert Group for RSB, including recent advisory work on improving screening tools for the sustainability certification of biofuel companies, and advisory work with the ACP Secretariat and Least Developed Country Group on the accompanying measures for compensating developing country sugar producers and exporters. Stephen studied Agricultural Economics at the University of Reading, and after a short spell working within the grain industry and Milk Marketing Board, he became Senior Economist and then Director of Marketing and Economics at the UK Home-Grown Cereal Authority for 10 years, where he was accountable to the UK arable industry (farmers, traders and processors) and UK government, for providing independent, accurate, relevant and timely market intelligence and policy analysis, leading a team of 12 economists and statisticians. For the past 15 years Stephen has been working as a freelance consultant on agri-food market, policy and development issues, conducting projects around the world for the EU, World Bank, IADB, ACP Secretariat, Commonwealth Secretariat, national governments, trade associations, certification bodies, agri-food companies and NGOs. Stephen has a PhD in International Development and Agricultural Econmics, an MSc in Rural Development as well as a Higher Diploma in Co-operative Organisation, Food Marketing and Rural Development and BSc in Agriculture and Economics. His research interests are the economics of agri-food markets and food policy, economics of climate change and sustainability, biofuels and bioenergy, food security, agri-food marketing information systems, sustainable and ethical agri-food standards and certification systems, agri-nutrition linkages and agri-food trade and farm support policies.
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Research Grants

	Project	Funding Body	Start Date	End Date	Award
	The development of a Biofuel socio-economic policy framework in relation to food security in the SADC International Food Policy Research Institute	Miscellaneous Non Exchequer	01-OCT-08	30-APR-11	€140,039.00
	The development of a Biofuel socio-economic policy framework in relation to food security in the SADC International Food Policy Research Institute	Miscellaneous Non Exchequer	01-OCT-08	30-APR-11	€140,039.00
	Better Nutrition? Developing the Evidence Base in Ethiopia and Tanzania.	Higher Education authority	01-OCT-12	30-JUN-18	€356,837.00

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Publications

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Books

	Year	Publication
	(2012)	Agri-Food Marketing and Supply Chains. Stephen Thornhill and Debebe Habtewold (2012) Agri-Food Marketing and Supply Chains. Cork: University College Cork. [Details]
	(1998)	Cereal and Oilseed Statistical Review. Stephen Thornhill (editor), UK Home-Grown Cereal Authority (HGCA) (1998) Cereal and Oilseed Statistical Review. London: HGCA. [Details]
	(1995)	EU Legislation for the UK arable sector. Stephen Thornhill (editor), UK Home-Grown Cereal Authority (HGCA) (1995) EU Legislation for the UK arable sector. London: HGCA. [Details]
	(2009)	Natural Resource Economics and Marketing. Nick Chisholm, Debebe Habtwold and Stephen Thornhill (2009) Natural Resource Economics and Marketing. Cork: University College Cork. [Details]

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Edited Books

	Year	Publication
	(1998)	Cereal and Oilseed Statistical Review Stephen Thornhill (Ed.). (1998) Cereal and Oilseed Statistical Review Cereal and Oilseed Statistical Review. London: HGCA. [Details]

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2016)	'The impact of biofuel feedstock production on food security in rural Mozambique and Tanzania' Stephen Thornhill (Lead Author), Eszter Vargyas, Tony Fitzgerald and Nick Chisholm (2016) 'The impact of biofuel feedstock production on food security in rural Mozambique and Tanzania'. Food Security, 8 (5):953-971 [DOI] [Details]

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Published Reports

	Year	Publication
	(2012)	RSB Food Security Guidelines. Stephen Thornhill (2012) RSB Food Security Guidelines. Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, Switzerland.   [Details]
	(2006)	Establishing a Rice Credit Facility for Caribbean Rice Producers and Processors. Stephen Thornhill and Ascanio Graziosi (2006) Establishing a Rice Credit Facility for Caribbean Rice Producers and Processors. EU Commission, Brussels. [Details]
	(2010)	The impact of EU FTAs, WTO and CAP reform on ACP sugar exporting countries. Stephen Thornhill (Lead Author), David Roberts (EU Commission), Lorand Bartels (University of Cambridge) and Stefan Nolte and Massimiliano Cali (ODI) (2010) The impact of EU FTAs, WTO and CAP reform on ACP sugar exporting countries. Commonwealth Secretariat, London. [Details]
	(2009)	Safeguarding the benefits of the ACP-EU Sugar Protocol. Stephen Thornhill (2009) Safeguarding the benefits of the ACP-EU Sugar Protocol. ACP Secretariat, Brussels. [Details]

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Editorship

	Year	Publication
	(1998)	Over 200 articles written for the Cereal Authority Weekly Digest and Marketing Note series from 1985 to 1998, as well as Weekly Bulletin market commentaries and website market and policy updates. Stephen Thornhill (1998) Over 200 articles written for the Cereal Authority Weekly Digest and Marketing Note series from 1985 to 1998, as well as Weekly Bulletin market commentaries and website market and policy updates. London: Editorship [Details]

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Technical Publication

	Year	Publication
	(2011)	Establishing a national agri-food marketing information system for Kazakhstan. Stephen Thornhill (2011) Establishing a national agri-food marketing information system for Kazakhstan. Astana: Technical Publication [Details]
	(2012)	Screening Tool for Biofuel Operations. Stephen Thornhill, Elisa Calceterra (2012) Screening Tool for Biofuel Operations. Switzerland: Technical Publication [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Professional Associations

	Association	Function	From / To
	International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists	member	/
	Development Studies Association	member	/
	International Agricultural Economics Association	Member	/
	International Agribusiness Management Association	member	/

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Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	Market Information Advisory Committee for UK Arable Sector	Chairperson	1990 / 1999
	Advisor to House of Commons Select Committee on Agriculture	Advisor to	1990 / 1998
	European Agricultural Leaders Group	UK representative	1991 / 1993
	Advisor to House of Lord Select Committee on Agriculture	Advisor to Committee	1990 / 1998
	European Liaison Group on Agriculture	Representative for UK Arable Industry	1988 / 1999
	Home-Grown Cereal Authority, Milk marketing Board and Meat and Livestock Commission Liaison Committee	Chairperson	1985 / 1995

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Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	Freelance Consultant	Agri-food marketing intelligence, policy and development consultant	01-JAN-00 /
	UK Cereal Authority (HGCA)	Director of Marketing and Economics	01-JAN-90 / 01-JAN-99
	UK Cereal Authority (HGCA)	Senior Economist	01-SEP-85 / 31-DEC-89
	University College Cork	AgriDiet Project Manager - Ethiopia and Tanzania	01-NOV-12 /
	University College Cork	Part-time Lecturer and Research Fellow	01-JAN-08 /

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	1984	University of Reading	BSC (HONS)	Agriculture and Economics
	2016	University College Cork	PhD	International Development and Agricultural Economics
	2002	University College Cork	HDip	Co-operative Organisation, Food Marketing and Rural Development
	2003	University college Cork	MSc	Rural development

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Consultancy

	Client	Description
	See employment above

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Outreach Activities

	Description
	Member of Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment and have presented evidence from an academic perspective at public hearings. Member of Cobh Community Allotments, including grant applications and liaising with other groups such as Cork Food Policy Council in lobbying for improved policies toward local food.
	Member of Comhlamh and Ethical Development Action Cork

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Other Activities

	Description
	Advisor to ACP Group and Commonwealth Secretariat on sugar and biofuels, plus Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials - Social Issues Expert group.

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Teaching Activities

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Teaching Interests

Agri-Food Economics, Agri-Food Domestic Support and Trade Policy, Agri-Food Market Information Systems, Biofuels and other Bioenergy, Food and Nutrition Security, Data for Development, Sustainable Food Systems, Sustainable Certification Systems, Climate Change, Circular Economy, Waste Management

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Modules Taught

	Term (ID))	Title	Link	Subject
	2019	Socio-Economic Research in Development	FE3015	Socio-Economic Research in Development
	2019	Food Economics	FE2203	Food Economics
	2019	Data in Development Studies	FE1008	Data in Development Studies

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Research Information

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External Collaborators

	Name	Organisation / Institute	Country
	Jim Kinsella	UCD	IRELAND
	Thadeus Mkamwa	St Augustines University	TANZANIA
	Joyce Kinabo	Sokoine University	TANZANIA
	Jessica Meeker	Institute of Development Studies	UNITED KINGDOM
	Jemal Yousuf Hassen	Haramaya University	ETHIOPIA
	Girmay Tesfay	Mekelle University	ETHIOPIA
	Tassew Woldehanna	Ethiopian Development Research Institute	ETHIOPIA