John Burns

John BurnsChief of Party/Senior Manager (Former Employee)

John was the chief of party for the USAID funded Resilience Learning Project from 2014 to 2016. Additionally, he led a variety of multi-year, multi-country initiatives aimed at improving policy and programming around drought emergencies in the Horn of Africa since 2006. He was closely involved in the development and application of tools and methods to assess the impact of various types of humanitarian and development interventions in diverse contexts. John co-authored a guide to participatory impact assessment and taught an online graduate course on impact measurement at Tufts.

Prior to joining the center, John worked in various capacities for the European Commission, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Food Program in the Horn of Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

Feinstein Research Projects

Research and Capacity-building Support to the Nawiri Project
By Helen Young, Andy Catley, John Burns, Elizabeth Stites, Anastasia Marshak, Anne Radday | February 2022

Nawiri is evidence-based development project to address acute malnutrition in northern Kenya. Catholic Relief Services leads a consortium in Isiolo and Marsabit counties and Feinstein provides research and capacity-building support.

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Growth, Health, and Governance, Karamoja, Uganda
By Elizabeth Stites, John Burns, Darlington Akabwai, Kimberly Howe | April 2018

This USAID-funded five year project (2012-2017) aims to improve livelihoods outcomes for the pastoral, agro-pastoral, and agrarian populations in the region.

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Feinstein Publications

Local Knowledge and Perceptions on the Causes of Malnutrition among the Dasanech in Kenya
Cover of report on local knowlege and perceptions of malnutrition in Illeret Kenya
By John Burns, Andy Catley, Mohamed M. Yusuf, Felista Ntesekwa Timaado, Paul Lokono, Joshua Anete | July 2022

This study share the results of a rapid community-level analysis of the causes of acute malnutrition among the Dasanech in northern Kenya.

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Brief: Livelihoods Change, Drought, and Malnutrition in Illeret, Northern Kenya
Cover of Brief about Illeret, Kenya
By John Burns, Andy Catley | June 2022

This brief report on how recent livelihoods trends such as the loss of the delta and recent shocks such as the 2022 drought have directly impacted food security and nutrition in Illeret, Kenya.

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