Dr. Jim Barnhart

Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, USAID and Deputy Coordinator for Development, Feed the Future

​Dr. Jim Barnhart is the Assistant to the Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, and Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. In this dual role, Dr. Barnhart coordinates the implementation of Feed the Future across the U.S. Government, oversees its execution, reports on results, and leads engagement with the external community to ensure that food security remains high on the development agenda. He oversees USAID’s technical and regional expertise focused on improving agriculture-led growth, resilience, nutrition and water security, sanitation, and hygiene.

Most recently, Dr. Barnhart served as Mission Director for USAID/Jordan (2015-2020). Prior to that, he oversaw the former USAID Bureau for Food Security’s research and policy divisions, its engagement with the private sector, food security-related communications and outreach, and overall operations.
Dr. Barnhart earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University, a master’s degree in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and received his B.A. degree from Furman University.

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