Erin McGuire

Erin McGuire is the Executive Director of the International Agricultural Development (IAD) Graduate Program at the University of California, Davis, and Founder of Responsible Innovations, a public benefit company advancing inclusive agricultural innovation. At IAD, McGuire strengthens partnerships, professional development, and career pathways that prepare students to address complex food systems challenges. She brings systems thinking and real-world experience into graduate education while connecting students and faculty with alumni, research institutions, and communities worldwide. Her research explores how agricultural innovation can support local livelihoods and healthier diets, how its benefits and trade-offs vary across communities, and how global investments shape fruit and vegetable value chains.

Previously, McGuire directed the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture, overseeing a portfolio of 19 research projects across East and West Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia, and UC Davis. The portfolio addressed smallholder livelihoods, social networks, postharvest management, and informal market value chains. McGuire spent time with the UC Davis Small Farms Institute looking at the multiplier effects of purchasing local agriculture products in California. 

McGuire previously served as policy director for the National Farm to School Network, advancing policies that connected children’s nutrition with local agriculture and small farm livelihoods. She also worked in the United States Congress on Farm Bill policies to improve nutrition for vulnerable communities and strengthen community-based agriculture.

McGuire holds a PhD from UC Davis focused on equity in agricultural innovation systems and an MS in International Agricultural Development focused on microeconomics and small-scale farming systems.

Recent Work:

McGuire, E., & Rico Mendez, G., Rabsum, S., Yumbya, P., Ameyah, D., Jarman, A., Steinmetz, T., Tschirley, D., & Thumbi, M. (2024). Nothing for us without us: Localizing agricultural innovation systems: A case study from Feed the Future Innovation Labs. Manuscript submitted for publication to World Development Perspectives.

McGuire, E., Ewell, H., Bailey, A., Marina Valencia Leñero, E., Liani, M., Kabirgi, M., Al-Zu’bi, M., Giang Luu, L., & Sylvester, J. (2024) Breaking Biases and Building Momentum: Transforming Agricultural Research for Development Practices: Recommendations and Research Opportunities  (2024) Manuscript submitted for publication to npj Sustainable Agriculture.

Dijkxhoorn, Y., McGuire, E., Talabi, O., Termeer, E., Jarman, A., Ndayitabi, S., & de Steenhuijsen Piters, B. (2024). Towards food system innovation: Engaging midstream actors in informal vegetable value chains. Submitted and provisionally accepted to The European Journal of Development Research.

McGuire, E., Boa-Alvarado, M., Marina Valencia Leñero, E., Al-Zu’bi, M., Giang Luu, L., & Sylvester, J. (2024).  Equity principles for social transformation. Agricultural Systems. Volume 218, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.103999.

McGuire, E., Leeuwis, C., Rietveld, A., & Teeken, B. (2024). Anticipating social differentiation and unintended consequences in scaling initiatives using GenderUp, a method to support responsible scaling. Agricultural Systems. Volume 215, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.103866.

Archie Jarman, Thompson, J., McGuire, E., Reid, M., Rubsam, S., Becker, K., & Mitcham, E. (2023). Postharvest technologies for small-scale farmers in low- and middle-income countries: A call to action. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2023.112491

McGuire, E., Rietveld, A., Crump, C., & Leeuwis, C. (2022). Anticipating gender impacts in scaling agriculture for development technologies: Insights from the literature. World Development Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100386