Michael Brüntrup is an agricultural engineer and holds a PhD in agricultural economy. After some years in the acdemia and as a freelance consultant, he currently works at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) (since 2003). His interests cover topics related to agriculture and rural development, trade policy and food security with a geographical focus on Sub- Sahara Africa. His most recent work deals with bioenergy production, large scale land acquisitions, and large scale agro-industries and their relations with smallholder farmers and rural areas, as well as food security in a broader sense.