IFPRI CGIAR
Subscribe

Back

What we do

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.

benin_samuel_0

researcher spotlight

Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin is the Acting Director for Africa in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He conducts research on national strategies and public investment for accelerating food systems transformation in Africa and provides analytical support to the African Union’s CAADP Biennial Review.

Where we work

Back

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.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

Subscribe

partnerships

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), government agency working on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government, is dedicated to reducing poverty throughout the world. SIDA works to help implement Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (PGU), reform cooperation with Eastern Europe, and distribute humanitarian aid to people in need of assistance. Its mission is to allocate aid and other funding to international development initiatives.

Homepage Link
donor-sida

Projects

Supporting ReSAKSS and CAADP

Supporting ReSAKSS and CAADP

From 2006 to 2020, IFPRI facilitated the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development……

View all Projects

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Trade competitiveness among COMESA countries in agricultural commodity exports

2019Guthiga, Paul M.; Ogada, Maurice Juma; Karugia, Joseph T.; Ongudi, Silas; Mugweru, Lydiah
Details

Trade competitiveness among COMESA countries in agricultural commodity exports

This paper uses trade data from the COMESA statistical database covering 19 countries covering the period 1997 to 2013 to analyze the trade competitiveness of selected agricultural commodities traded among COMESA member states using the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) methodology. The computed RCA indices showed that countries in the COMESA region had fluctuating advantages in trade in different food staples over the years. The highest positive RCA indices include; bovine meat and cassava (Kenya and Uganda), live bovine animals (Kenya), maize grain (Uganda), tomatoes (Ethiopia, Madagascar), fish (Eritrea), cassava (Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda) wheat flour (Zambia), Onions (Madagascar) and dry legumes and pulses (Malawi). The results of the study can inform policy discussions on how integration through specialization and trade envisaged in the COMESA Treaty can be realized. The fluctuating RCA indices from year to year reflect weather- dependent agricultural production systems. This means that individual countries’ competitiveness fluctuates year to year depending on weather. To address the observed fluctuation in RCA indices countries should invest in production systems that are less weather-dependent, such as irrigated agriculture. Countries also need to promote drought-resistant and drought-tolerant crop varieties and early warning systems.

Year published

2019

Authors

Guthiga, Paul M.; Ogada, Maurice Juma; Karugia, Joseph T.; Ongudi, Silas; Mugweru, Lydiah

Citation

Guthiga, P., Ogada, M., Karugia, J., Ongudi, S. and Mugweru, L. 2019. Trade competitiveness among comesa countries in agricultural commodity exports. ReSAKSS Working Paper 41. Washington, D.C.: IFPRI.

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Southern Africa; Agricultural Products; Competitiveness; Caadp; Trade

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

A coupled modeling framework for sustainable watershed management in transboundary river basins

2017Khan, Hassaan Furqan; Yang, Y. C. Ethan; Xie, Hua; Ringler, Claudia
Details

A coupled modeling framework for sustainable watershed management in transboundary river basins

There is a growing recognition among water resource managers that sustainable watershed management needs to not only account for the diverse ways humans benefit from the environment, but also incorporate the impact of human actions on the natural system. Coupled natural– human system modeling through explicit modeling of both natural and human behavior can help reveal the reciprocal interactions and co-evolution of the natural and human systems. This study develops a spatially scalable, generalized agent-based modeling (ABM) framework consisting of a process-based semi-distributed hydrologic model (SWAT) and a decentralized water system model to simulate the impacts of water resource management decisions that affect the food–water–energy–environment (FWEE) nexus at a watershed scale. Agents within a river basin are geographically delineated based on both political and watershed boundaries and represent key stakeholders of ecosystem services. Agents decide about the priority across three primary water uses: food production, hydropower generation and ecosystem health within their geographical domains. Agents interact with the environment (streamflow) through the SWAT model and interact with other agents through a parameter representing willingness to cooperate. The innovative twoway coupling between the water system model and SWAT enables this framework to fully explore the feedback of human decisions on the environmental dynamics and vice versa. To support non-technical stakeholder interactions, a web-based user interface has been developed that allows for role-play and participatory modeling. The generalized ABM framework is also tested in two key transboundary river basins, the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia and the Niger River basin in West Africa, where water uses for ecosystem health compete with growing human demands on food and energy resources. We present modeling results for crop production, energy generation and violation of ecohydrological indicators at both the agent and basin-wide levels to shed light on holistic FWEE management policies in these two basins.

Year published

2017

Authors

Khan, Hassaan Furqan; Yang, Y. C. Ethan; Xie, Hua; Ringler, Claudia

Citation

Khan, Hassaan Furqan; Yang, Y. C. Ethan; Xie, Hua; Ringler, Claudia. 2017. A coupled modeling framework for sustainable watershed management in transboundary river basins. Colombo, Sri Lanka: CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). 21(12):14 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6275-2017

Keywords

Western Africa; Hydrological Modelling; Models; Water Management; Sustainability; Watershed Management; Watersheds; River Basins; Ecosystem Services

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6275-2017 Source record

Project

Water, Land and Ecosystems

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Heterogeneity in riverine ecosystem service perceptions: Insights for water-decision processes in transboundary rivers

2017Khan, Hassaan Furqan; Yang, Yi-Chen E.; Ringler, Claudia
Details

Heterogeneity in riverine ecosystem service perceptions: Insights for water-decision processes in transboundary rivers

The objective of this study is to analyze heterogeneous perceptions of the relative importance of riverine ecosystem services to inform policy decisions. To improve allocation of scarce resources across competing uses, it is crucial to understand the values placed on various water uses. Based on electronic surveys conducted across three transboundary river basins—the Indus, Mekong, and Niger—we assess how perceptions of ecosystem services provided by these river basins differ by geography within and across basins, by type of respondent, and under alternative future conditions. The results reveal regions within each basin that are deemed to be most at risk ecologically and identify services with the most pressing need for investment. Water for irrigation and energy production are considered the most important services across all basins, with importance shifting from energy to food production from upstream to downstream. Comparative analysis reveals that perceptions are influenced to some extent by the technical and organizational background of stakeholders. These results emphasize the need for diverse stakeholders to be involved in water resources decision-making processes. Rules derived from the electronic surveys can enhance water systems modeling, in particular, decentralized modeling approaches that use bottom-up processes with enhanced representation of the interactions between heterogeneous subsystems.

Year published

2017

Authors

Khan, Hassaan Furqan; Yang, Yi-Chen E.; Ringler, Claudia

Citation

Khan, Hassaan Furqan; Yang, Yi-Chen E.; and Ringler, Claudia. 2017. Heterogeneity in riverine ecosystem service perceptions: Insights for water-decision processes in transboundary rivers. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1668. Washington, D.C.

Keywords

Resource Management; Water Management; Surveys; Stakeholders; Water; Transboundary Waters; Ecosystem Services

Language

English

Source

Source record

Project

Water, Land and Ecosystems

Record type

Working Paper

Events

Virtual Event - COVID-19: The role of the agriculture-ecosystem health interface
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

August 18, 2020, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Virtual Event – COVID-19: The role of the agriculture-ecosystem health interface

Presenters discuss possible cross-sectoral policies and actions for enhancing human and ecosystem health, with a focus on the role of One CGIAR. WATCH VIDEO

Blogs

Can sports and life skills programs improve labor force outcomes for vulnerable youth?
IFPRI Blog
 | 
February 11, 2021

Can sports and life skills programs improve labor force outcomes for vulnerable youth?

By Lori Beaman, Sylvan Herskowitz, Niall Keleher, and Jeremy Magruder

Analyzing impacts of a program in Monrovia, Liberia.