|
|
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), the Indian government’s foremost public policy think tank, and IFPRI signed a Statement of Intent (SoI), aiming to fortify policy and program frameworks contributing to India’s developmental objectives. The five-year SoI grants IFPRI a broad mandate to support NITI’s Agriculture Vertical in crucial areas. The SoI activities include developing and tracking Rural Transformation Indicators, supporting the design and evaluation of flagship programs, providing policy analysis tools, and generating evidence on India’s agrifood trade in regional and global contexts.
(Read press release) (Read news and see media coverage on IFPRI SAO website)
Photo: NITI Aayog and IFPRI South Asia representatives at the SoI signing ceremony on December 13, 2023, in New Delhi, India.
|
|
|
The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030: This analysis presents a recently developed food system indicator framework and holistic monitoring architecture to track food system transformation toward global development, health, and sustainability goals. Five themes are considered: (1) diets, nutrition and health; (2) environment, natural resources and production; (3) livelihoods, poverty, and equity; (4) governance; and (5) resilience. This publication is part of the Food Systems Countdown Initiative, which will track food systems annually to 2030. IFPRI’s Danielle Resnick, Quinn Marshall, and Keith Wiebe contributed to this work. (Read article in Nature Food, press release, and policy report)
|
|
|
A case for increased funding for agricultural research in the Global South: Mark Rosegrant, Timothy Sulser, and colleagues document the economic case for increased funding for agricultural research and development by extending a recent modeling exercise using IFPRI’s IMPACT model to estimate the investments required to reduce the global prevalence of hunger below 5%. Over 35 years, the increased funding is projected to boost agricultural output by 10%, reduce hunger prevalence by 35% and food prices by 16%, and increase per capita incomes by 4%. (Read article in Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis)
|
|
|
Social protection amid a crisis: Jeffrey Bloem and colleagues estimate the effects of South Africa’s Older Person’s Grant on well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While pre-pandemic the grant was found to be very effective in improving economic well-being and reducing adult hunger, these positive effects were even stronger during the first 18 months of the pandemic. The study provides critical insights into the effectiveness of cash-transfer programs during a massive global health crisis. (Read article in The World Bank Economic Review)
|
|
|
Barriers to appropriate complementary feeding: Children’s consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is increasing in Ethiopia, but little is known about the feeding practices that underlie this pattern. Jessica Leight and colleagues led a qualitative study among extremely poor households in rural Oromia state, which revealed that infants and young children were commonly given UPF before the recommended age of 6 months, and that caregivers perceived them to be affordable and convenient. (Read article in Maternal and Child Nutrition)
|
|
|
Land inheritance, youth migration, and work choices: A new IFPRI policy brief by Mulubrhan Amare, Kwaw Andam, George Mavrotas, and Adebayo Ogunniyi discusses the role land inheritance plays in shaping migration and vocational decisions of young Nigerians from rural areas. The authors demonstrate that the size of anticipated land inheritance significantly and negatively affects long-distance migration and migration to urban areas but has less influence on temporary migration. (Read policy brief)
|
|
IFPRI had a great presence at the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai (November 30-December 12). To learn more about IFPRI’s engagement at the Conference, visit our COP28 Spotlight page. Also check out this recent publication on IFPRI’s holistic approach to the challenges posed by climate change. Stay tuned for more reflections from COP28 in the future Insights!
|
|
|
On December 14, IFPRI-AMIS policy seminar “Emerging Trends in the Global Soybean Complex” explored the market outlook for soybeans and vegetable oils and examined the impact of the growing US biodiesel industry and recent developments in South American soybean production. (Watch Recording)
|
|
|
On December 12, a policy seminar organized by IFPRI and USAID discussed a new publication “From Farm to Table: Agrifood Systems and Trade Challenges in the Southern Cone.” This analysis aims to inform the political processes for transforming the Southern Cone’s regional food system. (Watch Recording)
|
|
|
On December 7, IFPRI and the CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) held a research seminar on “The E-FooD Dataset and Food Security Simulators for Kenya and Nigeria: Innovative Tools to Support National Policies and Strategies.” (Watch Recording)
|
|
|
|
While international food prices measured in US dollars have fallen, domestic food prices measured in national currencies—the prices that matter to consumers—continue to increase, contributing to a cost-of-living crisis for many low-income households. Consumer food price inflation remains in the double digits, on average, in low- and middle-income countries.
In a new issue post in our special series on the global and regional food security implications of high food and fertilizer prices, Rob Vos, Joseph Glauber, Soonho Kim, and Will Martin outline the current global landscape of food price inflation, focusing on the economically debilitating impacts on developing countries. (Read Blog)
|
|
|
Implementing a just transition to net zero: Driving climate action through extension system reforms: Agricultural extension is a linchpin of local farming systems, and aligning it with climate adaptation needs is critical, argue Suresh Babu and Ramasamy Selvaraju in our COP28 series issue post. (Read Blog)
|
|
|
Can we trust AI to generate agricultural extension advisories? Jawoo Koo, Medha Devare, and Brian King—based on a recent study published in Nature Food—discuss how scientists are experimenting with ways to use AI chatbots to provide targeted advice for Nigerian cassava farmers. (Read Blog)
|
|
|
A new rapid assessment tool for food security risks posed by global price shocks: National policymakers and international development organizations need better information on the vulnerability of individual countries to different types of economic shocks. To address this need, IFPRI’s Food Security Portal has launched a Food Import Vulnerability Index (FIVI). (Read Blog)
|
|
|
Unlocking opportunities for planet-friendly school meals: Aulo Gelli and Marie Ruel look at how a widely used existing school meals framework could be extended to optimize school meal programs to meet food and nutrition quality requirements, alongside food safety, cost, smallholder sourcing and environmental considerations. (This post summarizes IFPRI’s contribution to the new White Paper from the School Meals Coalition presented at COP28 on December 8). (Read Blog)
|
|
|
Co-creation and trust matter: Kibrom Abay, Akhter Ahmed, Clemens Breisinger, Naureen Karachiwalla, Sikandra Kurdi, and Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse show that causal impact evaluations can be extremely helpful for stakeholders to maximize the potential of their policies and programs. To ensure the uptake of evaluation-based recommendations, strong partnerships are key. (Read Blog)
|
|
|
Examining fertilizer policies: IFPRI researchers continue their focus on the fertilizer sector, looking at the impact of high fertilizer prices, fertilizer subsidies, nutrient use efficiency, and soil health, among other topics. (Read recent blog posts: “Fertilizer policies amid global supply and price shocks” and “How is Kenya’s National Fertilizer Subsidy Program working?“)
|
|
|
Bridging the smallholder finance gap: Formal financial institutions often shy away from lending to smallholder farmers and innovative solutions are needed to overcome this challenge. IFPRI and the CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets are studying one such solution—partnering with WeGro, a social enterprise in Bangladesh, to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its livestock fattening financing scheme. (Read Blog)
|
|
|
Sudan’s conflict: Oliver Kirui, Khalid Siddig, Hala Abushama, and Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse investigate the impact of the ongoing conflict on the agro-processing and manufacturing sector and on employment. Model estimates show that production declines across different sectors have resulted in a loss of about $10 billion in GDP—about a third—as of September. (Read Blog)
|
|
|
On the right track but not there yet: Tajikistan, the poorest country in Central Asia, is making significant efforts to spur economic growth and improve the well-being of its people. Isabel Lambrecht and colleagues analyze impacts on the welfare of the people of the rural Khatlon region over the past decade, focusing on infrastructure, living conditions, food security, dietary intake, and poverty. (Read Blog)
|
|
Also read summaries of our recent events:
IFPRI and CGIAR at Borlaug Dialogue 2023: Food system repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war (2023 Borlaug Dialogue Breakout session “Food System Repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine War” on Oct. 26)
Book launch: Transforming the global food system in a politically polarized world (Book Launch “The Political Economy of Food System Transformation: Pathways to Progress in a Polarized World” on Nov. 14)
Forman Lecture: Simón Barquera on tackling obesity and noncommunicable diseases in Mexico (33rd Annual Martin J. Forman Memorial Lecture “Tackling Obesity and Noncommunicable Diseases in Mexico: A Policy Approach” on Nov. 21)
Report launch: The key role of trade in strengthening food security in Latin America and the Caribbean (Policy Seminar “Food Security and Agrifood Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean” on Nov. 28)
|
|
|
Farming requires accurate, timely information — about weather, soil, seeds, fertilizers, the best available technologies, and finance, among other things — and improving access to information is crucial for farmers to thrive. Agricultural extension and advisory services (EAS) around the world are a vital conduit for improving farmers’ access to information of all kinds and key to helping them apply it.
In 2016, a consortium of development practitioners and researchers convened by Digital Green and IFPRI set out to bring new attention to the evolving role of EAS. The result was the Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which ran from 2016 to 2021. DLEC reached about 1.3 million farming households with over 100 products tailored to inform and support a wide range of audiences, in collaboration with 77 partners across 17 countries.
To learn more, read a new interactive story in our “Making a Difference” series.
|
|
|
Why extreme weather is making sugar more expensive around the globe: The Washington Post quotes Joseph Glauber, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow, in an article on the devastating effects of high global sugar prices for people in developing countries, especially in poorer countries in Africa south of the Sahara. “It is an important caloric source. They have pretty low consumption rates but having high prices really can have impacts on nutrition or at least calories in those countries,” Glauber said.
WWF-led initiative releases report on sustainable food systems in Africa amid climate crisis: Citizen Digital (Kenya) reported on a COP28 side event and quoted Claudia Ringler, Director of the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit at IFPRI. “Ensuring equitable climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, optimization of water-energy-food-environmental systems, good governance of natural resources, and innovations for food and environmental systems is critical to ensure food and nutrition security in the face of challenges,” Ringler said.
NITI Aayog, IFPRI join hands to ensure sustainable and inclusive agricultural, rural transformation: Economic Times (India) reported about the recent Statement of Intent (SoI) signed by IFPRI and NITI Aayog and quoted Johan Swinnen, IFPRI Director General and Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR. “Through this SoI, we plan to engage on a wider range of issues related to ‘Systems Transformation’, building a multi-disciplinary approach towards ensuring a sustainable food system for the country,” Swinnen said. (This news was also covered by Business Standard, Krishi Jagran, and Rural Voice).
Organised women groups to access N100bn in 2024 national budget for agric businesses -Bagudu: The Independent (Nigeria) wrote about a recent workshop on the Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov) tool held in Abuja, which was attended by the Nigerian Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Abubakar Bagudu. Kwaw Andam, IFPRI Country Program Leader, and Catherine Ragasa, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow, are quoted in the article.
Myanmar’s economy projected to grow by just 1% over the year amid conflict:
Devdiscourse cites IFPRI research in an article explaining that little economic growth is expected in Myanmar in the near term, as rising conflict, trade and logistics disruptions, volatility, and high inflation combine to negatively impact businesses and households. In surveys conducted by IFPRI in mid-2023, 40% of households reported earning less than in the previous year, with median real incomes declining by around 10%.
|
|
|
|
Poverty, gender inequality, and exclusion of marginalized groups in low- and middle-income countries are among the most difficult problems eroding people’s quality of life and limiting their economic potential. Dan Gilligan discusses how IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI) Unit works with governments and other partners and stakeholders to conduct mixed-methods multidisciplinary research to provide evidence-based guidance to inform policy. (Watch the video)
|
|
 Food System Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future.
Book Launch | January 8, 2024, 8:30AM to 9:45AM EST / 4:30PM to 5:45PM EAT
From Commitments to Impact: Analyzing the global commitments toward promoting food security and healthy diets.
Hybrid Policy Seminar | February 6, 2024, 9:00AM to 10:30AM EST
Please check our Events page for most recent updates.
|
|
CGIAR and partners launch Innovation Sprint on Gender and Climate Action: CGIAR and partners have committed US$31 million over four years (2023–2027) to ensure that climate innovations in agrifood systems are designed to work for women and rolled out in ways that address underlying gender inequalities.
The announcement was made during the COP28 side event “Tackling gender inequality for effective climate action in food systems,” organized by IFPRI, the International Potato Center (CIP), and the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform.
“The ultimate goal of this Sprint is to strengthen the capacity of low-income countries to design policies and interventions with a combined gender and climate lens,” said Elizabeth Bryan, Senior Scientist at IFPRI. (Read Press Release)
|
|
|
|
|
STAY CONNECTED WITH IFPRI
 Facebook  Twitter  IFPRI  LinkedIn |
|
|
|
