IFPRI Insights: January 2021

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January 11, 2021

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An IFPRI Interactive: Self-Employed Women’s Livelihoods During COVID-19
Our new interactive, “Determination and Resilience amid COVID-19 Uncertainty,” provides a close look at how the pandemic impacted the livelihoods of five members of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India. Using rich interview data from an IFPRI phone survey, Claudia Ringler et al. share the stories of how Budhiben, a hand-pump repairer; Gauriben, a rural homestay manager/entrepreneur; Rekhaben, a farmer; Shantaben, a street vendor; and Ayeshaben, a snack shop owner; coped with the challenges of lockdowns. (Check Out the Interactive)

Nutrition Gains: Jef Leroy, Deanna K Olney, Noé Nduwabike, and Marie Ruel assessed the impact of a food-assisted maternal and child health program (FA-MCHN) on child wasting in Burundi, finding it most successful for children between 6 to 12 months old from the most disadvantaged households. (Read Article)

The Lay of the Land: In their recent analysis of 117 studies on how land tenure affects human wellbeing and the environment, Wei Zhang and colleagues report that two thirds of the studies find positive links between improved land tenure security and positive social and environmental outcomes. (Read Article)

Tackling Early Marriage: Samuel Scott, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Sumanta Neupane, Priyanjana Pramanik, Purnima Menon, and colleagues explain that early marriage in South Asia disproportionately burdens poor, uneducated women in rural areas. While early marriage is still common in the region, much of its decline in India & Nepal is due to improved wealth and education. (Read Article)

Understanding Misunderstandings: Survey errors, resulting from a mix of farmers misperceiving and misreporting their plot size, are affecting research on agricultural intensification in Africa, according to Kibrom Abay, Leah Bevis, and Christopher Barrett. (Read Article)

More Micronutrients: In a study of women’s and children’s micronutrient levels in rural Burkina Faso, Loty Diop, Elodie Becquey, Zuzanna Turowska, Lieven Huybregts, Marie Ruel, and Aulo Gelli conclude that urgent action needs to be taken to improve micronutrient intakes among pregnant and breastfeeding women. (Read Article)

>> Read More Research

Are We Done Yet?
Analyses of livelihood strategies for women and youth are crucial to designing effective poverty programs, but response fatigue during survey-taking biases our understanding of rural livelihoods against women and youth. In their blog, Kate Ambler, Sylvan Herskowitz, and Mywish Maredia explain that survey-taking fatigue leads to the underreporting of labor activities and contributions of household members who are listed later in the survey question order, with particularly strong effects for women and young people. (Read Blog)

Supporting Students: There is concern that the lockdown-related school closures all around the world may have enduring effects on the students stuck at home. Anjali Pant, Samuel Scott, and Phuong Nguyen draw on survey data of 20,000 adolescents in northern India to estimate the impact of closed schools on educational achievement, and suggest how targeted government policies could help. (Read Blog)

Conversations Over Coffee: Vandana Sharma, Negussie Deyessa, Jessica Leight, and Timothy Karoff report on results from an intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention project in rural Ethiopia, which used the cultural practice of coffee ceremonies as a vehicle for the intervention’s group sessions. They highlight the importance of male engagement in IPV projects, and share the impacts of the intervention on sexual health practices, household task-sharing, substance abuse, mental health, and more. (Read Blog)

Mechanization Evolution: The latest IFPRI book, “An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development: How Much Can Africa Learn from Asia?”, discusses the divergent patterns of Asian and African experiences with the adoption of tractors, combine harvesters, and other farm machinery. Francesca Edralin provides a helpful summary of the book’s highlights. (Read Blog)

India’s New Nutrition Data: Purnima Menon, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Rasmi Avula, Esha Sarswat, and team did a rapid analysis to examine the nutrition and health trends between India’s 2015-2016 National Family Health Survey data and the new 2019 data. They report that, while many states have made good progress on reducing indicators of malnutrition, there is much cause for concern with stagnant anemia levels and overweight on the rise. The authors discuss ways to take action, starting with childhood nutrition. (Read Blog)

>> Read More Blogs

Podcast Episode #12: The Challenges of Phone Surveys with Women in India during COVID
In the final episode of our podcast series Research Talks, IFPRI Research Analyst Shweta Gupta tells the story of how COVID-19 forced her research team to shift from doing in-person household surveys of women in Gujarat, India, to telephone surveys. The change has impacted not only women’s participation rate, but also their answers on survey questions about empowerment, depending on whether their speakerphone is on or off. (Listen to the Episode)

New Director of Communications and Public Affairs
IFPRI is pleased to welcome Charlotte Hebebrand as its new Director of Communications and Public Affairs! Ms. Hebebrand has lead several international organizations throughout her career, and has more than 25 years of experience in policy-oriented research, outreach, and management. (Read Bio)

According to the results that were issued by IFPRI and the recommendations that were passed, many things have been done that were positive in the program.” – Nivine El-Kabbag, Minister of Social Solidarity (Event)

Sadly, we are living in…a time when 25 years of progress has been reversed in less than 25 weeks,” – Ellen Piwoz, Keynote Speaker at IFPRI’s 30th Annual Forman Lecture (Event)

Regional trade has contributed to the mitigation of adverse effects of the pandemic on food and nutrition security in Eurasia,” – Roman Romashkin, Deputy Director of Development at ECFS (Event)

We are confident that we have a unique methodology of day-to-day monitoring systems along corridors in West Africa,” – Brahima Cisse, an expert at Comité Inter-Etat de Lutte contre la Sècheresse au Sahel (Event)

We calculated approximately a billion dollars in new intra-regional exports due to [the AfCFTA],” – Andrew Mold, Chief of Regional Integration at UNECA’s Office for Eastern Africa (Event)

Agriculture passed the test, it is on its feet and the food supply is increasing in a worrying social context, in the face of great and numerous challenges,” – Manuel Otero, IICA Director General (Event)

There were instances where we had more than 30 kilometer stretches of tracks along East African borders with drivers waiting to be [COVID-19] tested,” – Elizabeth M. Nderitu, Programme Manager, Standards Quality Infrastructure (SQI) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), TradeMark East Africa (Event)