Desmond Jolly has long had the sense that he could effect change and fix problems.

As an 18-year-old growing up in Jamaica, he was convinced he could turn the fortunes of his family's farm.

"I thought, being young and smart, I could come up with minor changes to make it profitable. So I bought chickens, built hen houses, sold eggs and planted pasture," he recalled. He continued to run the farm for several years, but did not see the hoped for success.

"My mom encouraged me to move into the direction of higher education — and I was always quick to please," he said with a smile.

So in 1961, he enrolled at Utah State University. It was there he realized that economics was far more than theorizing and number-crunching, and actually might equip him to tackle the world's problems. Although his roommate predicted he "would starve" as an economist, Jolly completed his bachelor's degree in economics at Utah State and went on to earn master's and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of Oregon.

"Originally, I thought I would go into the public arena in the form of international or national planning, such as for the United Nations or in a national ministry," he said.

But he returned to the world of academia, joining the UC Davis faculty in 1971 in the agricultural economics department. As a UC Cooperative Extension economist, he has addressed issues ranging from food costs and consumer lending to agricultural marketing and international agricultural development.

In 1995, he was appointed director of the UC Small Farm Center at UC Davis, which had been established 16 years earlier to provide research-based information to California's small-scale farmers, those whose operations annually gross $250,000 or net between $30,000 and $50,000.

The small farm program began with an emphasis on new crops, but has since moved on to focus on new activities, such as agri-tourism and other added-value products.

"We were able to become the leading organization in the United States on agritourism," Jolly said, pointing out that California is ideally suited for agritourism. Jolly notes that small-farm producers have had many successes over the years, including fostering organic farming 30 years before the concept caught on with large-scale farmers, developing the concept of community-based agriculture and other forms of direct marketing to consumers, and even introducing salad-green mixes as a product.

And small-farm operators have succeeded in the face of all of the challenges confronting agriculture as whole.

"Some issues have become more pronounced in California," he noted. "When I started at UC Davis 34 years ago, urbanization was not the problem that it is now. As California continues to grow — we're now at 34 million people — we are facing more pressures from development and urbanization. Also, the external pressures on agriculture of water quality, air quality and natural resources have grown."

"But for agriculture, the big bogeyman is globalization; increasing pressures from people all over the world create great risk and uncertainty."

To compete in the global market, California farmers have to have not only high quality products, but also good advertising and top-notch marketing, Jolly said.

"California agriculture will have to reconfigure itself to make more efficient use of resources such as land, water and labor," he said. "If it can do that, we can have another century of viable agriculture in California, and the university has a role to play in charting that course."

Jolly is slated to retire in July, and plans then to have more time for writing. "One should look at life as opening and writing chapters as appropriate…and there still are more chapters to be written. That's kind of exciting."

What's the best part of your job?

The best part is the creative part, whether designing new projects, publications or Web sites.

What's the worst part?

Those elements that have to do with bureaucracy. But I tolerate that so I can do the creative part.

What is your favorite place?

It used to be the library. When I was younger, I thought that education was the answer to everything, so I spent oodles of time in the library studying. Now I spend a lot of time in the arboretum. I go there for walks frequently. It's like a sanctuary and an inspiration. It's a contained and beautiful flow of nature — designed nature — but nonetheless beautiful.

What's your guilty pleasure?

Buying books and music. I have way long ago outpaced my capacity to store books and CDs. I like many different kinds of music. Jazz has been my favorite, but I've grown to like what they call "world music." And, since my daughter is an opera singer, I like opera.

What books have you read recently?

I'm reading When the Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman. I was pleasantly surprised by how well written it is, but also by how well the narrator takes you back to that time and place. I think it's a marvelous work Jay has given us to help us better understand our country, human nature and nature.