Madhur Gautam is a Lead Economist with the Agriculture Global Practice at the World Bank. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maryland. With experience across many parts of the World Bank over the past 25 years including Development Economics (Research), Agricultural Policies Division, Independent Evaluation Group, and Operations unit in Africa and South Asia, the main focus of his current work is on agricultural and food policy analysis and development strategy. In addition to leading major evaluations, including the review of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Relief Program, he has authored and contributed to numerous reports, policy notes and journal papers on a range of topics including agriculture productivity growth, research and extension, rural finance, food price volatility, risk management, social safety nets, rural poverty, structural transformation, forestry, and broadly agriculture and rural development policy.