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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

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. 

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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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Tunisia

countries and regions

Publications

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Working Paper

Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia

2023Leight, Jessica; Mvukiyehe, Eric
Details

Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia

While a growing literature analyzes the economic effects of cash for work programs in developing countries, there remains little evidence about the longer-term effects of these interventions. This paper presents findings from a randomized controlled trial evaluating a three month intervention providing public works em ployment in rural Tunisia. The evaluation design incorporates two dimensions of randomization — community-level randomization to treatment and control, and individual-level randomization among eligible individuals — and a sample of 2,718 individuals was tracked over five years. The findings suggest that cash for work leads to significant increases in labor market engagement, assets, consumption, financial inclusion, civic engagement, psychological well being, and women’s em powerment one-year post-treatment; however, these effects have largely attenuated to zero five years post-treatment, with the exception of a positive effect on assets. There is also evidence of positive spillover effects within treatment communities, but these effects similarly attenuate over time.

Year published

2023

Authors

Leight, Jessica; Mvukiyehe, Eric

Citation

Leight, Jessica; and Mvukiyehe, Eric. 2023. Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2184. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136708

Country/Region

Tunisia

Keywords

Northern Africa; Africa; Labour Market; Employment; Randomized Controlled Trials; Public Works; Economics; Assets; Developing Countries; Cash Transfers; Cash Flow; Rural Areas; Gender Equity; Public Participation; Finance; Women

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136708 Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Journal Article

Cluster-based agricultural development: A comparison between China and Africa

2023Zhang, Xiaobo
Details

Cluster-based agricultural development: A comparison between China and Africa

Clusters for high-value crops are ubiquitous in China and in African countries. Drawing from three case studies (potato cluster in China, medicinal and aromatic cluster in Egypt, and dates cluster in Tunisia), this chapter discusses the major challenges facing cluster development and the roles of different agents (e.g. entrepreneurs, business associations, and local governments). Cluster development involves supply-side or demand-side bottlenecks along the way, which are beyond the capacity of individual enterprises. Whether a cluster can develop to the next stage depends crucially upon whether the bottlenecks can be resolved. Because the bottlenecks are context- and temporal-specific, it would be impossible for a planner or outsider donor to prescribe a one-size-fits-all intervention to overcome all the binding constraints. Instead, local elites, such as business leaders and local officials, can play a greater role in identifying the emerging bottlenecks and figuring out indigenous solutions. In China, because local governments have an embedded interest in promoting local economic development, they are keen to provide local public goods or initiate joint actions to address the successive binding constraints and facilitate cluster development. By comparison, the role of the local government is more muted in Africa, limiting the growth potentials of agricultural clusters.

Year published

2023

Authors

Zhang, Xiaobo

Citation

Zhang, Xiaobo. 2023. Cluster-based agricultural development: A comparison between China and Africa. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 26(1). https://doi.org/10.22434/IFAMR2022.0041

Country/Region

China; Tunisia; Egypt

Keywords

Eastern Asia; Asia; Middle East; Northern Africa; Africa; Potatoes; Business Associations; Entrepreneurs; Supply Balance; Economic Development; Aromatic Compounds; Dates; Crops; Constraints; Government; Medicinal Plants

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.22434/ifamr2022.0041 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

A study of Tunisia’s leather and date sectors

2021Abdelaziz, Fatma; Ellis, Mia; Zhang, Xiaobo
Details

A study of Tunisia’s leather and date sectors

Based on field visits, structured interviews, and reviews of the literature and secondary data, we examine major challenges facing the leather and date clusters in Tunisia. The challenges vary greatly between the clusters. The leather and footwear industry faces a decline in external demand. After the global economic crisis in the late 2000s and the Arab Spring in the early 2010s, the sector lost international competitiveness. To revitalize the sector, policies should be designed to expand markets for leather and footwear. Exploring trade agreement with the US, leveling the tariff rate for intermediate goods and shoes, attracting foreign direct investment, and improving leather quality are among potential options. Implementing these policies will require coordination among different government agencies and private sector stakeholders. Besides demand challenges, lack of water treatment also is a major challenge facing tanneries across Tunisia. The international demand for Tunisian dates has been very strong. Most of the major challenges are on the supply side, such as value chain coordination, inadequate water supply, labor shortages, diseases, lack of new varieties, and limited value addition. The supply-side options include diversifying varieties and expanding into date derivative and palm waste products, promoting labor-saving mechanization and water-saving irrigation technologies, and improving coordination along the value chain.

Year published

2021

Authors

Abdelaziz, Fatma; Ellis, Mia; Zhang, Xiaobo

Citation

Abdelaziz, Fatma; Ellis, Mia; and Zhang, Xiaobo. 2021. A study of Tunisia’s leather and date sectors. MENA RP Working Paper 36. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134942

Country/Region

Tunisia

Keywords

Northern Africa; Africa; Value Chains; Manufactured Products; Exports; Dates; Leather Industry; Farmers; Technology; Capacity Development; Leather; Markets; Trade; Livestock; Rural Areas; Abattoirs; Clusters

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134942 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Datasets

Dataset

2015 Social Accounting Matrix for Tunisia

2021Institut Tunisien de la Compétitivité et des Etudes Quantitatives; International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

2015 Social Accounting Matrix for Tunisia

The Tunisian regionalized SAM is built using the national accounts statistics, the Supply and Use Tables for 2015 that were produced by National Institute of Statistics (NIS). The regionalized matrix is constructed in three steps that are national, household and regional. The national 2015 SAM for Tunisia includes 46 sectors and 46 products. For the household SAM, factors of production and the household accounts are split, respectively into 13 and 15 factor and household categories. Labor is disaggregated across rural and urban areas and into four education-level categories. Capital is also disaggregated into four subcategories: crops, livestock, mining, and other; and land. Households are disaggregated by national per capita expenditure quintiles, and then split into rural farm, rural nonfarm, and urban households. For the regionalized SAM, sectoral production, production factors, and household groups are disaggregated into seven subnational regions: Greater Tunis, North East, North West, Center East, Center West, South East and South West. In total, the regional 2015 SAM includes 105 household groups and composed of 513 rows x 513 columns.

Year published

2021

Authors

Institut Tunisien de la Compétitivité et des Etudes Quantitatives; International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

Institut Tunisien de la Compétitivité et des Etudes Quantitatives; International Food Policy Research Institute. 2021. 2015 Social Accounting Matrix for Tunisia. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/ELK4P3. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Tunisia

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; National Accounting; Taxes; Household Expenditure; Modelling; Labour; Social Accounting Matrix; Economic Indicators; Sex-disaggregated Data; Household Consumption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/elk4p3 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

Tunisia Social Accounting Matrix, 2012

2016International Food Policy Research Institute; Institut Supérieur Agronomique de Chott-Mariem
Details

Tunisia Social Accounting Matrix, 2012

The Tunisia Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), 2012 was built with a focus on analyzing the structure and importance of the agriculture and trade in the Tunisian economy. This SAM helps to understand the linkages between agricultural production, factor income distribution, and households’ incomes and expenditures. The 2012 Input-Output (I-O) and the supply-use table were the two main data sources used in building the disaggregated activity sector and commodity accounts. One of the most important added values of this SAM is the estimation of agricultural technologies.

Year published

2016

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute; Institut Supérieur Agronomique de Chott-Mariem

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute; Institut Supérieur Agronomique de Chott-Mariem. 2016. Tunisia Social Accounting Matrix, 2012. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/E0O4MM. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Tunisia

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; National Accounting; Income Distribution; National Income; Social Accounting Matrix

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/e0o4mm Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

ASTI Tunisia Database

2014Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators
Details

ASTI Tunisia 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

2014

Authors

Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators

Citation

Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators. 2014. ASTI Tunisia database. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://www.asti.cgiar.org/tunisia. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Tunisia

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Agricultural Research

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-3.0

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Dataset

Blogs

The long-run effect of public works employment: Evidence from Tunisia
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 25, 2023

The long-run effect of public works employment: Evidence from Tunisia

By Jessica Leight and Eric Mvukiyehe

Evaluating the impacts of workfare.

Launch event: Agricultural Investment Data Analyzer (AIDA) guides policy makers on potential economic and social impacts
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 19, 2021

Launch event: Agricultural Investment Data Analyzer (AIDA) guides policy makers on potential economic and social impacts

By Dalia ElSabbagh

A new tool now available for Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, and Yemen.

New modeling toolkit aids development planners in MENA countries
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 30, 2018

New modeling toolkit aids development planners in MENA countries

By Mai Mahmoud

New data-based tools for agricultural policy planners in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia.

View all Blogs

Events

Agricultural Investment Data Analyzer (AIDA): Guiding Agricultural Investments for Higher Impact
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

February 24, 2021, 1:30 – 3:00 pm

Agricultural Investment Data Analyzer (AIDA): Guiding Agricultural Investments for Higher Impact

COVID-19 is accelerating the use of digital technology and tools around the world. This trend also provides an opportunity to make complex investment analysis tools more user-friendly and ultimately to promote more evidence-based decision-making among governments. The Agricultural Investment Data Analyzer (AIDA) is the first online tool that uses an economy-wide model to assess the […]

News

June 20, 2020 | In the News

COVID-19 in Tunisia: The hodgepodge of economic impact assessment (Kapitalis) 

Kapitalis (Tunisia) published an article stating that the latest study on COVID-19 and developing countries measures the impacts of COVID-19, particularly in terms of recession, poverty, and unemployment. The study is rather conservative in its estimates and minimalists in its explanations. IFPRI provided a study that contradicts the UNDP study. The IFPRI study, 2015 regionalized social accounting matrix for Tunisia: A […]

June 20, 2020 | In the News

COVID-19 in Tunisia: The hodgepodge of economic impact assessment (Kapitalis)

Kapitalis (Tunisia) published an article stating that the latest study on COVID-19 and developing countries measures the impacts of COVID-19, particularly in terms of recession, poverty, and unemployment. The study is rather conservative in its estimates and minimalist in its explanations. IFPRI provided a study that contradicts the UNDP study. The IFPRI study, 2015 regionalized […]

November 03, 2020 | In the News

Tunisia should be a beacon of hope in a troubled region (Polity.org)

Polity.org (South Africa) published an article on Tunisia being the only democratic success story in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Nearly a decade since the revolution though, the country still struggles with problems that include high unemployment particularly among the youth and women, rising inflation, porous borders, and violent extremism, a large informal economy, and political fragmentation. These constraints have been amplified […]

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Projects

COVID-19 Policy Response (CPR) Portal

COVID-19 Policy Response (CPR) Portal

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Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation (PARI)

Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation (PARI)

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