Remembering Michael Collinson 1937-2024

Farm Africa was deeply saddened to hear of the recent death of Michael Collinson, who served as a Farm Africa trustee from 1998 to 2007. He was Chair of our board from June 2001 to June 2004.

Mike was a highly respected agricultural economist with wide African experience.

Born in 1937 in Preston, England, Mike graduated in politics and economics at Durham University before gaining his credentials in agriculture at Reading University and Wye College in 1960 and 1961.

From 1961 he worked in Tanzania as the first farm management extension economist in the East African agricultural research service. In 1969 he returned to the University of Reading to synthesise nearly a decade of learning into his PhD thesis. The thesis was published as Farm Management in Peasant Agriculture in 1972, a book that was regarded as a seminal work that changed thinking about development work supporting smallholder farmers in Africa.

Mike was a systems thinker in all he did, always seeking to identify what could realistically be done to lift productivity of small farmers operating complex systems. His approach was simple but still revolutionary at the time—start out by talking to farmers to understand their goals and constraints—an approach that soon came to be known as Farming Systems Research (FSR).

Mike led the East Africa for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre from 1975 until 1987, when he became Social Science Advisor to the CGIAR Secretariat in Washington DC.

In 1996, Mike officially retired. It was during retirement he served on the board of Farm Africa, as well as on the board of IITA. At the request of FAO, he also produced the book A History of Farming Systems Research, a compendium with over 30 authors who had been active in the FSR movement.

Mike’s wife Norma Collinson commented: “My wonderful husband was on the board of trustees for many years, and subsequently was Chair of Farm Africa. We travelled to East Africa to visit the sites on the ground and saw the appreciation of those involved in helping and being helped: more money available and better nutrition. Mike was dedicated to helping those farmers, often women, who had to feed their children.”

Mike will be missed as a true pioneer in his field, a teacher and a friend. We are deeply grateful for the lasting impact he made while leading Farm Africa.

Mike’s funeral took place on 11 November. His family is collecting donations to Farm Africa and the Alzheimer’s Society in his memory on the MuchLoved website.