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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

Emily Schmidt

Emily Schmidt is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. Her most recent research explores household livelihood strategies in Papua New Guinea, including linkages between agriculture, poverty, and nutrition outcomes among rural smallholder farmers.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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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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Unit

Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Vi Thanh Market is the largest and most special outdoor agricultural market in Vietnam

Drastic changes in the functioning of food markets are needed to achieve food security and adequate nutrition for all people, as well as contributing to poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

Research units

Overview

The Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit (MTI) provides innovative, evidence-based policy solutions to help drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth for smallholders, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and workers in the agrifood sector. By analyzing local, regional, and global economic environments, trade conditions, and value chains from farm to fork, MTI identifies policies that can transform agricultural and rural economies and build resilience to climatic and market shocks.

These policies include measures toward more effective market institutions and regulation, greater market efficiency, lower transaction costs, and reduced food loss and waste, along with greater market access and income and employment opportunities for smallholders, SMEs, and workers in the agrifood sector. MTI conducts research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Areas of Focus

Market-based solutions

Market imperfections impede healthy and sustainable food system outcomes. To address these imperfections, MTI conducts research on market-based solutions and adequate policy support for achieving food safety, affordable healthy diets, food loss reduction, and sustainable production. This research includes analysis of options and trade-offs of reorienting existing agricultural support for achieving these multiple objectives for food system change.

Inclusive value chains

Agrifood systems are a major source of employment but fail to provide decent livelihoods for most farmers and workers. MTI research seeks to leverage food value chain innovations, using inclusive business models and process innovations in logistics, wholesale and retail trade, and finance to make food production and distribution more efficient, while creating better incomes, jobs and livelihoods, especially for women and youth. A gender perspective is integrated into all MTI research.

Trade policies

World food markets are volatile, but increasingly important for food security and sustainability. MTI research evaluates the impact of trade barriers, including nontariff barriers and food standards, and the potential for trade policy reform to achieve food system sustainability, food safety, and food security across countries. MTI’s research and expertise also contribute to global agendas, including G20 and World Trade Organization discussions on trade and farm policy.

Shocks and resilience

Conflict, climate change, and global economic shocks pose increasing risks to rural livelihoods and food security. MTI contributes to decision-making for increased food system resilience by providing real-time monitoring of risks, building evidence on risk-management options such as innovative approaches to crop insurance and bundled risk management mechanisms, and tools for assessing impacts of global shocks on domestic food systems.

Methods and tools

MTI researchers use state-of-the-art global trade and economywide modeling tools, causal impact analysis, assessment of risk-management innovations, and farm-to-fork value chain analysis, including measurement of food loss and its causes. MTI contributes to capacity building and knowledge sharing through the Food Security Portal, AGRODEP, the AgIncentives Consortium, the G20 Technical Platform for the Measurement of Food Loss and Waste (TPFLW), G20’s Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), and the Knowledge Platform for Inclusive Markets and Value Chains (KISM).

Explore our latest research

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Journal Article

Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability

2025Vos, Rob; Glauber, Joseph W.; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Rice, Brendan
Details

Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability

During 2021–2022, spiking fertilizer prices raised fears that fertilizer application would drop around the world, leading to lower crop production, higher food prices, and greater food insecurity. Even writing mid-2024, a paucity of data impedes a full assessment of how the underlying global market shocks may have affected farmers and food production around the world. Using proxy indicators for fertilizer demand and farm profitability, we find that despite the steep increase in input costs, global demand for fertilizer fell only modestly during the 2022–2023 crop cycle, suggesting many (commercial) farmers were able and willing to absorb increased input costs in the context of generally good harvest prospects and, at the time, high crop prices. However, we also find the fertilizer price spikes have not been felt equally, with many farmers in Africa estimated to have been affected more adversely, even though with varied impacts also amongst those farmers.

Year published

2025

Authors

Vos, Rob; Glauber, Joseph W.; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Rice, Brendan

Citation

Vos, Rob; Glauber, Joseph W.; Hebebrand, Charlotte; and Rice, Brendan. 2025. Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability. Food Policy 133(May 2025): 102790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102790

Keywords

Shock; Fertilizers; Markets; Prices; Profitability; Global Value Chains; Supply Chain Disruptions

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102790 Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Fertilizer demand and profitability amid global fuel-food-fertilizer crisis: Evidence from Ethiopia

2025Assefa, Thomas W.; Berhane, Guush; Abate, Gashaw T.; Abay, Kibrom A.
Details

Fertilizer demand and profitability amid global fuel-food-fertilizer crisis: Evidence from Ethiopia

We assess fertilizer demand and profitability in Ethiopia in the face of the recent global fuel–food–fertilizer price crisis and other domestic shocks. We first examine farmers’ response to changes in both fertilizer and food prices by estimating price elasticity of demand. We then evaluate the profitability of fertilizer by computing average value–cost ratios (AVCRs) associated with fertilizer application before and after these crises. We use detailed longitudinal household survey data collected in three rounds, covering both pre-crisis (2016 and 2019) and post-crisis (2023) production periods, focusing on three main staple crops in Ethiopia (maize, teff, and wheat). Our analysis shows that fertilizer adoption, and yield levels were increasing until the recent crises, but these trends have been halted by these crises. We also find slightly larger fertilizer price elasticity of demand estimates than previous estimates, ranging between −0.40 and −1.12, which vary across crops. We find that farmers are more responsive to fertilizer prices than to output prices. Farmers’ response to increases in staple prices was statistically insignificant and hence not as strong as theoretically perceived. Households with smaller farm sizes are relatively more responsive to changes in fertilizer prices. Finally, we show important dynamics in the profitability of chemical fertilizer. While the AVCRs show profitable trends for most crops, the share of farmers with profitable AVCRs declined following the fertilizer price surges. Our findings offer important insights for policy focusing on mitigating the adverse effects of fertilizer price shocks.

Year published

2025

Authors

Assefa, Thomas W.; Berhane, Guush; Abate, Gashaw T.; Abay, Kibrom A.

Citation

Assefa, Thomas W.; Berhane, Guush; Abate, Gashaw T.; and Abay, Kibrom A. 2025. Fertilizer demand and profitability amid global fuel-food-fertilizer crisis: Evidence from Ethiopia. Food Policy 133: 102785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102785

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Fertilizers; Prices; Farmers; Household Surveys; Maize; Teff; Wheat; Yields

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102785 Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Inclusive and gender-transformative seed systems: Concepts and applications

2025Galiè, Alessandra; Kramer, Berber; Spielman, David J.; Kawarazuka, Nozomi; Rietveld, Anne M.; Aju, Stellamaris
Details

Inclusive and gender-transformative seed systems: Concepts and applications

CONTEXT Seed is vital to the nutrition and livelihoods of millions of women and men small-scale farmers in low- and middle-income countries. Seed systems interventions can significantly enhance food security and nutrition by accelerating the adoption of improved varieties and the use of quality seed, which in turn increase the rate of genetic gain, productivity, and household welfare. These interventions can be particularly effective when advancing gender equality by supporting women’s empowerment and addressing discriminatory gender norms. However, there is relatively little evidence on the ways in which seed systems can be an entry point for advancing gender equality by transforming discriminatory gender norms. OBJECTIVES We develop and illustrate a gender transformative approach applied to seed sector development. Our first objective is to provide a framework to better understand how seed systems interventions can contribute to gender equality by (1) integrating gender-accommodative and gender-transformative approaches; and (2) assessing their gendered impacts. Our second objective is to apply this framework to a particular innovation – gender messaging via information and communications technologies (ICTs) – and explore how seed system interventions can be made more gender-transformative. METHODS We first reviewed the existing literature to develop a framework that defines gender-transformative and accommodative seed system interventions and their impacts. We then synthesized lessons learned from the application of this framework to case studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda that used ICTs that contained gendered components. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION We discuss how a gender-accommodative approach aims for gender considerations to improve seed systems, while a gender-transformative approach flips the goal around by aiming at progress toward gender equality through seed systems. We find growing evidence on the potential of gender-transformative seed systems interventions to influence positively the empowerment of women and also men, and to create more conducive gender norms, as shown by three case studies on ICT enablers. These case studies also show that accommodative and transformative approaches are often complementary. SIGNIFICANCE We introduce research questions that research and development practitioners can ask to develop accommodative or transformative approaches in seed system interventions, and show the potential of both approaches to progress toward gender equality. The case studies indicate the feasibility of gender-transformative, ICT-enabled seed system interventions, with clear indications of the potential for low-cost adaptation at scale. However, the transformative potential of these interventions requires careful consideration of messaging content, format, and context, as well as strategic public investment and strong political will.

Year published

2025

Authors

Galiè, Alessandra; Kramer, Berber; Spielman, David J.; Kawarazuka, Nozomi; Rietveld, Anne M.; Aju, Stellamaris

Citation

Galiè A., Kramer, B., Spielman, D.J., Kawarazuka, N., Rietveld, A. and Aju, S. 2025. Inclusive and gender-transformative seed systems: Concepts and applications. Agricultural Systems 226: 104320

Country/Region

Ethiopia; Kenya; Uganda

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Eastern Africa; Southern Africa; Gender; Crops; Research

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104320 Source record

Project

Market Intelligence

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

High global phosphate prices pose potential food security risks
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 20, 2025

High global phosphate prices pose potential food security risks

By Delphine Leconte-Demarsy and Brendan Rice

Pandemic and Ukraine crisis impacts linger.

Can foreign aid curb migration to the U.S. by creating a better alternative?
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 10, 2025

Can foreign aid curb migration to the U.S. by creating a better alternative?

By Manuel Hernandez, Valeria Piñeiro, and Maria Lucia Berrospi

Investing in incentives to stay put.

Impact of proposed U.S. tariffs on agricultural trade flows in the Western Hemisphere
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 04, 2025

Impact of proposed U.S. tariffs on agricultural trade flows in the Western Hemisphere

By Joseph Glauber, Valeria Piñeiro, and Juan Pablo Gianatiempo

Modeling tracks potential disruptions.

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News

September 03, 2024 | Press Release

Ruth Hill joins IFPRI as the new Director of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit

Ruth Hill joins IFPRI as the new Director of its Markets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI) Unit, starting September 3, 2024. 

January 25, 2024 | In the News

The timing of the Red Sea attacks could not be worse for Democrats (Politico)

Senior research fellow Joseph Glauber is quoted in a Politico story about how the growing military conflict in a key trade corridor is threatening to unleash economic havoc on the global economy ahead of November. “If energy prices go up and remain high, you’d see food inflation persisting,” said Joe Glauber. He added that potential […]

January 18, 2024 | In the News

Red Sea attacks reverberate in food and ag trade (Successful Farming) 

Successful Farming quotes the IFPRI blog post on the Impacts of Red Sea shipping disruptions on global food security by senior research fellow Joseph Glauber and senior research analyst Abdullah Mamun.  According to the article, Houthi attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea are disrupting grain shipments from Europe, Ukraine, and Russia. “Trade disruptions are most likely to impact […]

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Events

IFPRI @ Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2025
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

March 27 to 28, 2025

IFPRI @ Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2025

IFPRI is pleased to participate in the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2025. The 2025 conference will be held in Paris, France and will focus on driving global action against malnutrition by bringing together stakeholders from various sectors to generate political and financial commitments to improve nutrition worldwide, with a particular focus on placing nutrition […]

No Time to Waste: Moving from Commitments to Action on Food Loss and Waste
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

March 12, 2025, 9:30 – 11:00 am

No Time to Waste: Moving from Commitments to Action on Food Loss and Waste

Significant levels of food loss and waste continue to have negative impacts on food security and the environment, and Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which aims to halve food loss and waste worldwide by 2030, remains out of reach. Join us on “12.3 Day” 2025 to take stock of efforts and opportunities to make progress toward […]

Official Launch of the Third School Meal Programs Around the World Report
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

February 4, 2025, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Official Launch of the Third School Meal Programs Around the World Report

School meal programs are an effective way to boost children’s nutrition and wellbeing, including physiological development and academic performance. These programs can also play an important role in food systems transformation by ensuring access to healthy diets, supporting equitable livelihoods, and contributing to environmental sustainability. However, data on large-scale school meal programs have historically been […]

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Recent Work

Our experts

Ruth Hill

Ruth Hill

Director, Markets, Trade, and Institutions, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Purnima Menon

Purnima Menon

Senior Director, Food and Nutrition Policy; Acting Senior Director, Transformation Strategy, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions, Nutrition, Diets, and Health, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Valeria Piñeiro

Valeria Piñeiro

Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Latin
America and the Caribbean, Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Yanyan Liu

Yanyan Liu

Senior Research Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Will Martin

Will Martin

Senior Research Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Antoine Bouet

Antoine Bouet

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Maria Lucia Berrospi

Maria Lucia Berrospi

Research Analyst, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions, Latin America and the Caribbean

Asraul Khan

Asraul Khan

Research Analyst, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Cynthia Paz

Cynthia Paz

Senior Research Analyst, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions, Latin America and the Caribbean