Joachim von Braun is Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn University, and Professor for economic and technological change (Germany) at the same institution. His research focuses on economic development, science and technology policy, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, resource economics and trade. Von Braun is President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican; member of the German National Academy of Science – Leopoldina, the Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), the Academy of Arts and Science North Rhine-Westphalia, a fellow of the African Academy of Science and of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. He is Vice President of the German NGO “Welthungerhilfe”. Previously, he was Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). He was elected as president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), received honorary degrees and several other awards.