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Who we are

With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Kalyani Raghunathan

Kalyani Raghunathan is Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, based in New Delhi, India. Her research lies at the intersection of agriculture, gender, social protection, and public health and nutrition, with a specific focus on South Asia and Africa. 

Where we work

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Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Innovation Policy and Scaling

Catherine Ragasa

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

Catherine Ragasa is a Senior Research Fellow in the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit at IFPRI. She is an agricultural and applied economist analyzing policies and institutions affecting innovation, productivity growth, and transformation of agrifood systems. Prior to joining IFPRI, she worked for five years in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department at the World Bank, Washington, DC, focusing on agricultural innovation systems, value chains, and gender and inclusion in agriculture. She has also led several large-scale household and firm-level surveys in various countries and managed research programs and grants while at the World Bank and IFPRI. Catherine received her PhD in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University in 2008 and holds a master’s in Economics from the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

Publications

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Publications

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Journal Article

Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi

2024Ragasa, Catherine; Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina; McNamara, Paul
Details

Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi

This paper looks at village agriculture committees, model villages, and stakeholder panels at various levels as participatory and decentralized structures for improving demand articulation and accountability in agricultural extension service provision in Malawi. It uses various datasets including nationally representative household and community surveys, a survey of service providers, a survey of representatives from the various structures, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. It employs various estimation methods including matching techniques, matching plus regression adjustments, and an instrumental variables approach. Results show diverse experiences and functionality of these structures. Contrary to earlier reports, most of these structures are active, except for district stakeholder panels (DSPs), of which only about a quarter are active. Similarly, most of them provide a platform for discussion and feedback on service providers and the quality of their advice, except for DSPs. However, most structures were given poor ratings in terms of their responsiveness to the concerns and issues raised. Household participation in village development or agriculture committees is strongly associated with better household outcome indicators. These village committees, if they are active and responsive to farmers’ expressed concerns and needs, can contribute to better community-level outcomes. Results show that these village-level structures matter and that strengthening them is key to addressing their long-term functionality. On the other hand, a model village concept that focuses on an integrated approach to solving communities’ challenges is not associated with improved community outcome indicators; therefore, its implementation should be reviewed and improved to contribute to development outcomes.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ragasa, Catherine; Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina; McNamara, Paul

Citation

Ragasa, Catherine; Alvarez-Mingote, Cristina; and McNamara, Paul. 2024. Bottom-up approaches and decentralized extension structures for improving access to and quality of extension services and technology adoption: Multi-level analysis from Malawi. European Journal of Development Research 36: 1093–1146. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-024-00627-y

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Agriculture; Stakeholders; Agricultural Extension Systems; Surveys; Capacity Development

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-024-00627-y Source record

Project

Excellence in Agronomy

Record type

Journal Article

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Report

Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Governance (WEAGov) technical workshop: India pilot study

2024Ragasa, Catherine; Kyle, Jordan; Yasmin, Sabina; Pande, Harshita; Basu, Sampurna; Sharma, Aanshi
Details

Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Governance (WEAGov) technical workshop: India pilot study

Gender Equality research initiative Gender Equality (HER+) is a One CGIAR Research Initiative seeking to address the following four dimensions of gender inequality in agrifood systems: o Women’s lack of agency or limited ability to define and act on goals, make decisions that matter to them, and participate in the economy and in public life; o Women’s lack of access to and control over resources; o Social norms that discriminate based on gender; and o Policies and governance that fail to include and benefit women. HER+ uses impactful gender research to address the four dimensions of gender inequality by applying gender-transformative approaches to address harmful norms. It does this by bundling innovations for women’s empowerment, leveraging social protection to increase women’s access to and control over resources, and promoting inclusive governance and policies for increased resilience. HER+ will generate learning and evidence on levers and entry points to disrupt the foundations of inequality in agrifood systems (AFS).

Year published

2024

Authors

Ragasa, Catherine; Kyle, Jordan; Yasmin, Sabina; Pande, Harshita; Basu, Sampurna; Sharma, Aanshi

Citation

Ragasa, Catherine; Kyle, Jordan; Yasmin, Sabina; Pande, Harshita; Basu, Sampurna; and Sharma, Aanshi. 2024. Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Governance (WEAGov) technical workshop: India pilot study. Stakeholder Workshop Report July 2024. Montpellier, France: CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149238

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Capacity Development; Gender Equality; Innovation; Women’s Empowerment; Social Protection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Report

Designing gender- and youth-responsive agronomic solutions: accelerating the use of digital tools for delivering agronomic advice through a public-private partnership extension model in Rwanda

2024Ma, Ning; Kihiu, E.; Lambrecht, Isabel; Cole, S.; Ragasa, Catherine; Malit, J.; Uzamushaka, S.; Mudereri, B.T.
Details

Designing gender- and youth-responsive agronomic solutions: accelerating the use of digital tools for delivering agronomic advice through a public-private partnership extension model in Rwanda

This report is part of a study series offering insights into the potential of Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) Use Cases to adjust the agronomic solutions offered through the Minimum Viable Products (MVP) to better reach, benefit, and empower women and youths, and to transform norms that cause gender and social inequalities. These efforts are guided appropriately by the Reach-Benefit-Empower-Transform framework that highlights the importance of not only reaching women and young people, but also making sure that they benefit from any interventions, that the interventions further help increase their empowerment, and lead to a transformation of any restrictive attitudes, norms, and power relations that are the root causes of gender and social inequalities.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ma, Ning; Kihiu, E.; Lambrecht, Isabel; Cole, S.; Ragasa, Catherine; Malit, J.; Uzamushaka, S.; Mudereri, B.T.

Citation

Ma, N., Kihiu, E., Lambrecht, I., Cole, S., Ragasa, C., Malit, J., … & Mudereri, B.T. (2024). Designing gender- and youth-responsive agronomic solutions: accelerating the use of digital tools for delivering agronomic advice through a public-private partnership extension model in Rwanda. Study Report for the Smart Nkunganire System – Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board Use Case. Nairobi, Kenya: IITA, (42 p.).

Country/Region

Rwanda

Keywords

Africa; West and Central Africa; Eastern Africa; Agronomy; Farming Systems; Food Security; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Excellence in Agronomy

Record type

Report

Blogs

Workshop: Applying the Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov) tool to support gender-responsive policy innovation across Africa
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 12, 2024

Workshop: Applying the Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov) tool to support gender-responsive policy innovation across Africa

By Jordan Kyle, Catherine Ragasa, Susan Kaaria, Margaret Mangheni, Dorine Odongo, and Anne Omamo

Collaborating to make food systems more inclusive.

Enhancing farm productivity and rural livelihoods through ICT interventions in Malawi
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 10, 2024

Enhancing farm productivity and rural livelihoods through ICT interventions in Malawi

By Catherine Ragasa, Ning Ma, and Emmanuel Hami

New opportunities as mobile phone use grows in farming areas.

WEAGov: A new conceptual framework to assess women’s empowerment in agricultural governance
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 30, 2022

WEAGov: A new conceptual framework to assess women’s empowerment in agricultural governance

By Catherine Ragasa, Jordan Kyle, Sarah Eissler, and Patricia Kristjanson

Developing a tool to assess gender and policymaking.

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Events

ICTforAg 2024: Localizing impact
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

May 28, 2024, 9:00 – 5:00 pm

ICTforAg 2024: Localizing impact

Event: May 28, 2024 – 9:00am to 5:00pm EDT. This event explores the localization of ICT, responsible AI in agriculture, the potential for AI to increase farm profitability, empowering citizen science, and harnessing digital solutions for sustainable and regenerative farming practices.

From Research to Impact: Towards just and Resilient Agri-food Systems
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 9 to 12, 2023

From Research to Impact: Towards just and Resilient Agri-food Systems

Conference: October 09, 2023 – 9:00 AM to October 12, 2023 – 6:00 PM IST. IFPRI is participating in the 2023 annual CGIAR gender research conference will take place in New Delhi, India.

UNFSS Independent Dialogue: The Critical Role of Agricultural Extension in Advancing the 2030 Agenda: Lessons from the Field and Empirical Evidence
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

August 6, 2021, 7:00 – 9:30 am

UNFSS Independent Dialogue: The Critical Role of Agricultural Extension in Advancing the 2030 Agenda: Lessons from the Field and Empirical Evidence

Virtual Event: AUG 6, 2021 – 07:00 AM to 09:30 AM EDT. The objective of this dialogue is to come to a common understanding of how extension can contribute to the SDGs and adapt to future needs. 

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News

September 12, 2020 | In the News

Aquaculture experts train Ghanaian small fish farm operators (Aquaculture Magazine)

Aquaculture Magazine published an article on how fish farmers in Ghana are being trained to improve the adoption of good aquaculture practices, including the use of high-quality fingerlings. “The training manuals and extension materials used in the training sessions were carefully crafted by 15 experts with diverse background and experience in aquaculture production including those in the Marine […]

September 15, 2020 | In the News

Bright Yeboah: Ghana’s Aquaculture industry set on a recovery path after a double blow (My Joy Online) 

My Joy (Ghana) published an article that after a decade of tremendous growth in production, Ghana’s tilapia farmers have been hit with severe setbacks in the last two years and those setbacks are due to disease.  Poor biosecurity measures are exposing most farms to this tragedy.  Senior Research Fellow  and project lead on the TiSeed, Catherine Ragasa says, “a lot […]

March 01, 2019 | Press Release

Project to Improve Tilapia Seed Launched in Accra

Washington, D.C.: Over the past decade, Ghana’s tilapia farming has experienced tremendous growth in production, contributing to improved incomes for the industry and animal protein for consumers (according to a 2018 study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)). But loses of over 100 tonnes of cage-farmed fish in the Lake Volta region in […]

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