Dr. Lulama Ndibongo Traub

Dr. Lulama Ndibongo Traub’s dual citizenship – U.S. and South Africa – signifies an underlying passion for both of the countries she considers home. Her involvement at Michigan State University (MSU) led to her pursuing her master’s degree in Agricultural Economics during which time she developed an econometric model to test the effect of maize market reform on milling margins within South Africa. From there the process led to a case study on maize marketing in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa as well as a country-level assessment of trade and domestic policies as they pertain to staple food commodities in South Africa. Lulama’s current research interests include; outreach and capacity building programs in collaboration with Southern African universities and government agencies, mainly focusing on staple food marketing and trade policies and their effects on sustainable and equitable development. To this end, she serves [2012–2015] as the Chair of the Technical Committee for the Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ReNAPRI). ReNAPRI is an African-led, African-driven regionally coordinated group of national agricultural policy research institutes duly established and operating in Eastern and Southern Africa member states. The vision of ReNAPRI is to support national agricultural policy research institutes in Africa to be centers of excellence that guide and inform national and regional agricultural and food security policy issues. The mission of ReNAPRI is to support dynamic collaboration among national agricultural policy research institutes to produce sustainable and high-quality research, outreach and capacity development that promotes national and regional agricultural policy objectives. She currently resides in South Africa and lectures at the University of Stellenbosch while conducting research with the Bureau of Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP).