Scott Killough

Scott Killough, PhD is the vice president for learning and innovation at World Neighbors. He has more than 25 years experience in participatory agricultural and rural development management, having worked and lived in several countries. His background in rural development has a focus on livelihoods and agriculture, and includes field experience and expertise in program development and management, institutional learning and innovation mechanisms focusing on participatory methods and agricultural extension education systems. He is especially interested in the development of farmer-centered agricultural innovation programs which address issues of food security, income generation, environmental degradation and rural poverty.

He recently served as the Co-Chair of the Promoting Local Innovation (Prolinnova – prolinnova.net) – an NGO-initiated partnership program to build a global learning network to promote local innovation in ecologically-oriented agriculture and natural resource management.

From 1990 to 2006, Scott worked with the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (based in the Philippines), and provided leadership to their community-based rural development programs, as well as their international training and outreach programs.

Scott has worked in a number of countries in Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), Southeast Asia (the Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR & Vietnam), East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda), and South Asia (Nepal, India & Bangladesh). In the early 1980s, Scott lived in Guatemala for three years and worked in community-based livestock development projects and as a technical trainer for para-veterinary technicians.

Fluent in Spanish, Scott completed a Ph.D. with the University of Reading in the U.K and he holds a Master’s degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University, and a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics (and Political Science) from Oklahoma State University.