Muhammad Ahsan Rana is an academic and a development professional with rich experience of working in public and nonprofit sectors in Pakistan. He has been trained and educated in premier institutions in Law, Economics, Social Planning and International Development. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne in Development Studies. His PhD thesis examines the political economy of the commercialisation of genetically modified crops in Pakistan.
He started his career in 1990 as an officer of the Civil Service of Pakistan. Being member of the District Management Group, he served in various parts of Pakistan in different policy formulation and implementation positions. Since 1999, he has pursued his interests in development and research. During this period, he has held key positions in several leading Pakistani NGOs.
He has also worked with several national and international organisations as consultant on various assignments. His core areas of expertise are social policy, agricultural policy, and public sector governance. Organisations that he has worked with include ILO, USAID, Crown Agents, CIDA, JBS International, the World Bank, IFPRI and LUMS.
He currently teaches Social Policy and Agricultural Policy in the Suleman Dawood School of Business. He has prveiously taught undergraduate and post-graduate courses at the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He has also taught executive courses at LUMS. He has written and published case studies and policy papers on social and economic development issues.
Ahsan Rana, M. & Malik, N. (2021). Friendly Fire: Wheat Subsidy in Punjab.. Pakistan Development Review, The, 60 (2), 153-174, doi:http://doi.org/10.30541/v60i2pp.153-174.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2021). When Seed Becomes Capital: Commercialisation of Bt Cotton in Pakistan.. Journal of Agrarian Change.
Nadeem, M. & Rana, M. (2020). Civil Society in Pakistan on exclusive discourse of Projectization.. Dialectical Anthropology.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2020). Decentralisation Experience in Pakistan: the 18th Constitutional Amendment.. Asian Journal of Management Cases.
Malik, N. & Rana, A. (2019). The History of Local Governance in Pakistan: What Lessons to Learn?. Journal of International Politics, 3 (1), Pp. 26-35..
Nisar, A. & Rana, M. (2018). Challenges of Public Sector Management: The Case of Medicine Provision in Public Hospitals in Punjab.. Journal of Public Affairs Education.
Rana, M. (2017). Perfect Strangers: State and NGOs in Pakistan. The Economic & Political Weekly, 52 (3).
Rana, M. (2017). Business as Usual: District Education Authorities in Punjab. Asian Journal of Management Cases, 14 (2), 176-197.
Rana, M. (2015). Building a Dashboard for the Punjab Health Department. Asian Journal of Management Cases, 12 (2).
Rana, M. (2014). Education Reform in Punjab: A Decentralized Governance Framework for Govt. Schools. Lahore Journal of Policy Studies, 5 (1).
Rana, M. (2004). Setting Standards in the Nonprofit Sector. International Journal of Civil Society Law, II(IV): 5.
Rana, M. (2004). The Resource generation Challenge: Can Accountability Help?. Alliance, 9 (4).
Rana, M. (2004). NPO self-regulatio: The Pakistan Model.. Alliance, 9 (1).
Rana, M. (2004). Improving accountability - the NPO certification experience in Pakistan.. Accountability Forum, 1 (1).
Ahsan Rana, M. & Zafar, S. (2023). Restructuring Small Industries Development Board (SIDP, KPK. Lahore), Published. Not applicable, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2023). Exploring Policy Options for Promoting Agribusiness Investment in Balochistan. Lahore., Published. NA, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2022). To Kill a Mockingbird: Bentham and Locke in Gambat, Pakistan., Published. NA, LUMS Case Research Center.
Rana, M. (2019). The Political Economy of Wheat Procurement in Punjab, Published. Case Research Unit LUMS. LUMS No. 13-107-2019-2, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2018). Agricultural Produce Markets in Punjab. Lahore., Published. Case Research Unit, LUMS. LUMS no. 13-106-2018-2, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2014). The Seed Industry in Pakistan: Regulation, Politics and Entrepreneurship., Published. Pakistan Strategy Support Program, Working Paper No. 19. Islamabad/Washington DC, IEPRI.
Rana, M. & Nisar, M. (2018). Revamping the Drug Testing System in Punjab: Public Management Challenges in a Multilevel Governance Framework, Published. Case Research Center, LUMS, LUMS No. 16-176-2018-1, (pp. 12), Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2016). Punjab Education Foundation: Governance Structure and Program Portfolio, Published. CRC Number 16-308-2015-2, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. & Awan, A. (2015). Institutional inadequacies: Data Collection on Healthcare Providers in Punjab, Published. CRC Number 16-304-2015-2, 16-304-2015-1.
Rana, M. (2014). Improving Agricultural Productivity in Pakistan: Use of Improved Seeds, Published. CRC Number 13-102-2014-2, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2014). High Value Horticultural Crops in Pakistan: Mango, Citrus and Vegetables, Published. CRC Number 13-103-2014-2, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2014). Punjab Health Foundation: Governance Structure and Program Portfolio, Published. CRC Number 16-172-2014-1, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2014). Seed Provision in Pakistan: the Political Economy of Legislative and Institutional Reform, Published. CRC Number 13-101-2014-2, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2013). Primary and Secondary Education in Pakistan: Key Issues and Challenges, Published. CRC Number 16-293-2013-2, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2013). Monitoring and Evaluation in the Punjab Health Department, Published. CRC Number 30-122-2013-1, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. (2012). Contextualising Administrative and Fiscal Decentralisation: the 18th Constitutional Amendment, Published. CRC Number 10-007-2013-2, Case Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Rana, M. & Adhikari,, A. (2020). , Politics and Implications of Pakistan's Plant Breeders' Rights Act, Published. Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson (Eds.), Intellectual Property Law and Plant Protection:, (pp. 104-123), Challenges and Developments in Asia.
Rana, M. & Spielman, D. (2016). The Architecture of the Pakistani Seed Industry: Dissonance between the Market and the Regulation, Published. David J. Spielman, Sohail J. Malik, Paul Dorosh and Nuzhat Ahmad (editors). (Eds.), Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Pakistan, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Rana, M. (2008). Enhancing Resource Generation in Local Government, Published. Devolution and Governance, Oxford University Press.
Rana, M. (2008). Environmental Effects of Agricultural Biotechnology, Published. Managing NGOs in Developing Countries, Oxford University Press.
Rana, M. (2008). Nonprofit Sector in Pakistan, Published. Devolution and Governance, Oxford University Press.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2023). سرمایہ دارانہ فلاحی نظام ۔ ایک تنقیدی جائزہ.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2021). Public Intervention in Wheat Market: A Case Study of Punjab.
Rana, M. (2013). Exploring Dynamics of Cotton Seed Provision in Sindh: Informing Policy and Business Decisions..
Ahsan Rana, M. (2023). 17. Rana, M. A. (2023). Review of The Ulema in Contemporary Pakistan: Contesting and Cultivating an Islamic Republic, by Mashal Saif. Journal of Asian and African Studies..
Ahsan Rana, M. (2023). ). Review of How Pakistan Was Made: The Economic Rationale for Partition. Australian Outlook.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2021). Regulatory Issues in Pakistan's Seed Sector.
Ahsan Rana, M. (2020). Book review of Cultivating Knowledge: Biotechnology, Sustainability, and the Human Cost of Cotton Capitalism in India.
Rana, M. (2016). 'Book Review: Corporate Social Responsibility and Development in Pakistan'.
Rana, M. (2007). Book Review: Science, Agriculture and the Politics of Policy.