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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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Sri Lanka

countries and regions

Publications

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Report

Resilient Cities urban nutrition profile: Sri Lanka

2024Margolies, Amy; Craig, Hope; Namara, Rebecca; Sehgal, Mrignyani; Hemachandra, Dilini; Olney, Deanna K.
Details

Resilient Cities urban nutrition profile: Sri Lanka

Key Messages Child stunting has declined in both rural and urban areas since 2016, but still affects a third of children on estates. Wasting prevalence has increased dramatically since 2016, reaching an alarming prevalence of 20 percent in urban areas. There is insufficient intake of nutritious foods, particularly in rural areas, and diet quality is negatively influenced by obesogenic food environments as the urbanization process continues. The cost of a healthy diet increased from $3.58 to $4.77 per person per day from 2017 to 2022, and 41 percent of the population is unable to afford a healthy diet. The prevalence of overweight, obesity and noncommunicable diseases is increasing nationally with higher burdens of overweight and obesity in urban populations and among women. National nutrition policies reference urban areas but do not adequately address the dual challenges of undernutrition (such as wasting) and overnutrition (such as overweight, obesity, and NCDs) common to urban contexts. Evidence is lacking on how to effectively address the double burden of malnutrition, yet clearly double-duty actions to address all forms of malnutrition will be essential.

Year published

2024

Authors

Margolies, Amy; Craig, Hope; Namara, Rebecca; Sehgal, Mrignyani; Hemachandra, Dilini; Olney, Deanna K.

Citation

Margolies, Amy; Craig, Hope; Namara, Rebecca; Sehgal, Mrignyani; Hemachandra, Dilini; and Olney, Deanna. 2024. Resilient Cities urban nutrition profile: Sri Lanka. Resilient Cities Country Profile. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Sri Lanka

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Stunting; Rural Urban Relations; Children; Wasting Disease (nutritional Disorder); Nutrition; Diet; Food Prices; Non-communicable Diseases; Policies

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Resilient Cities

Record type

Report

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Brief

Food environment research in Sri Lanka: A desk review

2024Clarke, Rebecca Namara; Sehgal, Mrignyani; Marshall, Quinn; Kumar, Neha
Details

Food environment research in Sri Lanka: A desk review

Key Findings • Research has documented the availability of modern food retail (e.g. fast-food) in both urban and rural contexts, and its influence especially on adolescents. • Barriers to accessing healthy diets include the high cost of nutritious foods, especially vegetables and animal source foods, the time needed to cook fresh meals, and food safety • Most research to date has utilized cross-sectional designs, with relatively few studies examining associations with diet or health outcomes, or evaluating interventions.

Year published

2024

Authors

Clarke, Rebecca Namara; Sehgal, Mrignyani; Marshall, Quinn; Kumar, Neha

Citation

Clarke, Rebecca Namara; Sehgal, Mrignyani; Marshall, Quinn; and Kumar, Neha. 2024. Food environment research in Sri Lanka: A desk review. FRESH Brief November 2024. CGIAR Initiative on FRESH. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Sri Lanka

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Adolescents; Capacity Development; Diet Quality; Food Environment; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Brief

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Working Paper

Farming for the future: Prioritization of climate-smart agriculture technologies in SAARC countries

2024Kapoor, Shreya; Sma, Abdelkarim; Pathak, Himanshu; Pradhan, Mamata
Details

Farming for the future: Prioritization of climate-smart agriculture technologies in SAARC countries

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is pivotal in combating the impacts of climate change on global agriculture and food security. It has increasingly gained prominence as an adaptation strategy against the adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture, particularly in South Asia. However, scaling up the adoption of CSA interventions becomes critical, due to predominantly small and marginal nature of landholdings in the region, various institutional and policy constraints, and trade regulations and barriers. Another significant challenge lies in categorizing and prioritizing the multitude of technologies considered to be climate smart. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the different CSA technologies within the socio-economic context of six South Asian countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, with the main objective of proioritization and scaling-up of these methods. The study begins by compiling an inventory of existing technologies and subsequently prioritizing them by using the World Bank (WB) CSA Technology Index. Secondly, the study tries to address the key challenges and propose policy measures to upscale the adoption of CSA technologies in these countries using participatory research conducted with the key stakeholders in these countries. The participatory research provided valuable insights, revealing critical policy and institutional barriers, and providing a basis for framing strategies and policy solutions to facilitate wider adoption of CSA technologies in the region.

Year published

2024

Authors

Kapoor, Shreya; Sma, Abdelkarim; Pathak, Himanshu; Pradhan, Mamata

Citation

Kapoor, Shreya; Sma, Abdelkarim; Pathak, Himanshu; and Pradhan, Mamata. 2024. Farming for the future: Prioritization of climate-smart agriculture technologies in SAARC countries. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2285. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute

Country/Region

Bangladesh; Bhutan; India; Nepal; Pakistan; Sri Lanka

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Climate Change; Climate-smart Agriculture; Prioritization; Scaling Up

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Datasets

Dataset

ASTI Sri Lanka Database

2019Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators
Details

ASTI Sri Lanka Database

This dataset includes national-level time series data on researcher capacity by qualification level, age bracket, discipline mix, and commodity, as well as a detailed breakdown of agricultural research investment across government, higher education, nonprofit, and (where possible) private for-profit agricultural research agencies. These data were derived through a series of primary survey rounds conducted by IFPRI’s Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) and in close collaboration with a large network of national collaborators. The ASTI data constitute a powerful resource for national and regional research managers, policymakers, donor organizations, and other stakeholders. ASTI’s key indicators provide both a diagnostic tool for assessing the allocation and use of existing resources and an advocacy tool for increasing resources and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of resource use. The ASTI website offers interactive pages that allow users to access country-level time series data, make cross-country comparisons, create graphs, and download country datasets and publications as well as detailed institutional information on agencies involved in agricultural research. The interactive benchmarking tool on the ASTI website is a convenient map-based instrument allowing users to make cross-country comparisons and rankings based on a wide set of financial and human resource indicators. The detailed ASTI datasets are available in an easy-to-use data download tool. Detailed information on definitions, methodology, and calculation procedures are available at www.asti.cgiar.org

Year published

2019

Authors

Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators

Citation

Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators. 2019. ASTI Sri Lanka Database. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. http://www.asti.cgiar.org/sri-lanka. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Sri Lanka

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Agricultural Research

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-3.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Dataset

Blogs

Dietary diversity among men and women in rural Sri Lanka
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 31, 2021

Dietary diversity among men and women in rural Sri Lanka

By Deanna Olney, Bess Caswell, Renuka Silva, and Malika Fernando

Insights into the food pyramid.

Don't miss the BIMSTEC bus: Regional integration with South Asia-Southeast Asia bloc brings advantages for India
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 25, 2019

Don’t miss the BIMSTEC bus: Regional integration with South Asia-Southeast Asia bloc brings advantages for India

By Manmeet Ajmani, Vishruta Choudhary, and Devesh Roy

India's partnership with the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) seems poised to bear fruit.

Cash it out? Why food-based programs exist, and how to improve them
IFPRI Blog
 | 
October 06, 2017

Cash it out? Why food-based programs exist, and how to improve them

By Ugo Gentilini, Harold Alderman, and Ruslan Yemtsov

Despite the shift to distribute food aid via cash transfers, they are not a one-size-fits-all solution, a new World Bank report suggests.

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Events

Fruit & Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets: 2024 FRESH Science Conference
Series/Special Event

 | 

August 26 to 27, 2024

Fruit & Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets: 2024 FRESH Science Conference

Poor diets are a primary cause of malnutrition and the leading cause of disease worldwide. Improving diets, especially through increasing fruit and vegetable intake, can help to address these health and nutrition challenges. However, fruit and vegetable intake falls below recommended levels globally. The factors contributing to low fruit and vegetable consumption are complex, requiring […]

Micronutrient Forum: 5th Global Conference
Series/Special Event

 | 

November 9 to 13, 2020

Micronutrient Forum: 5th Global Conference

IFPRI is participating in the Micronutrient Forum’s 5th Global Conference on “Building New Evidence and Alliances for Improving Nutrition.” Food systems are at the heart of determining what people eat. Micronutrients are at the heart of the potential of food systems to deliver optimal health. The 2020 Micronutrient Forum conference will continue to cover the broad […]

News

March 15, 2023 | In the News

Recalibrate BIMSTEC (Hindu Business Line)

In an op-ed published by Hindu Business Line, IFPRI South Asia’s Devesh Roy, Shahidur Rashid, and Mamata Pradhan write, “Trade and investment are major instruments to attain food security across the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member-states, particularly in a climate-affected, post-pandemic world. However, trade and market integration is an area where the […]

March 05, 2023 | Press Release

IFPRI-BIMSTEC Secretariat formalize partnership to promote  sustainable and inclusive food systems transformation

Dhaka, Bangladesh: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in Dhaka. IFPRI, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the BIMSTEC Secretariat, is conducting research and facilitating capacity sharing in […]

December 20, 2022 | In the News

Is organic farming to blame for Sri Lanka’s crisis? (Atlanta Business Journal) 

The political right and others are seizing on the country’s banning of chemical fertilizers as the proximate culprit that led to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa turning over his palace to protesters last week, writes the Atlanta Business Journal in an article on the food security crisis in Sri Lanka. The journal disagrees with where the blame lies. […]

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Projects

Consortium for Scaling-up Climate Smart Agriculture in South Asia

Consortium for Scaling-up Climate Smart Agriculture in South Asia

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Operational Research for WFP’s Food assistance for Assets (FFA) Program in Sri Lanka

Operational Research for WFP’s Food assistance for Assets (FFA) Program in Sri Lanka

Background: The World Food Programme (WFP) and IFPRI have been collaborating for several years to increase the impacts of WFP’s programs on diet, nutrition and……

Food Security Policy, Research, Capacity, and Influence (PRCI)

Food Security Policy, Research, Capacity, and Influence (PRCI)

…

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