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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.

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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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Natural Resources and Resilience

Ryan Nehring

Research Fellow

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Ryan Nehring is a Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit whose research focuses on the political economy of natural resource policy, agricultural research institutions, and food systems. He has worked as a researcher in sustainable development for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)–International Policy Centre (Brasília, Brazil) and has been a consultant on projects related to food systems and rural poverty for numerous UN agencies.

Before joining IFPRI, Ryan was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. He holds an MA in international development studies from St. Mary’s University, Canada, and an MS and PhD in development sociology from Cornell University.

Languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish

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Publications

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Journal Article

The political economy of agroecological transitions: Key analytical dimensions

2025McKay, Ben M.; Nehring, Ryan; Catacora-Vargas, Georgina
Details

The political economy of agroecological transitions: Key analytical dimensions

There is a growing global interest in agroecology, yet agroecological transitions remain fraught with challenges. These include the need to reconfigure the productive and reproductive agrarian relations of unsustainable food systems and to rethink how we work with ecosystems. Using a political economy approach, we propose five key interrelated dimensions for analyzing agroecological transitions: (i) social metabolism; (ii) labor dynamics; (iii) markets and resources; (iv) social organization; and (iv) policies and politics. While these dimensions are often analyzed separately and to varying degrees, we argue that together they contribute to a comprehensive analysis of the political economy of agroecological transitions.

Year published

2025

Authors

McKay, Ben M.; Nehring, Ryan; Catacora-Vargas, Georgina

Citation

McKay, Ben M.; Nehring, Ryan; and Catacora-Vargas, Georgina. The political economy of agroecological transitions: Key analytical dimensions. Journal of Peasant Studies. Article in press. First published online October 8, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2024.2399138

Keywords

Agroecology; Food Systems; Markets; Politics

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2024.2399138 Source record

Project

Agroecology

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

Why do multistakeholder processes emerge and flourish? Identifying and operationalizing the leading hypotheses

2024Andersson, Krister; Nehring, Ryan; Zhang, Wei; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Details

Why do multistakeholder processes emerge and flourish? Identifying and operationalizing the leading hypotheses

The literature on Multistakeholder Processes (MSPs) includes several studies that seek to specify the conditions under which MSPs perform well and deliver tangible governance improvements that would otherwise not happen. This is important research as MSPs are gaining popularity as an alternative to more traditional governance strategies, such as centralized, government-led activities. MSPs are often proposed in institutional settings where formal governance institutions are perceived to be ineffective or inequitable. In principle, studies that explain variation in MSP outcomes have the potential to inform MSP organizers and their decisions about how to organize their future MSPs in ways that save resources and improve outcomes. However, the existing MSP research programs demonstrate at least three limitations: First, the literature is characterized by the production of long lists of potential determinants of MSP performance, which makes it challenging for researchers to offer practical advice as to which of these factors is most important for MSP organizers to address first, and under which contextual conditions. Second, there is little agreement among scholars about what the core elements of a well-functioning MSP are, which elements affect mostly the emergence vis-à-vis effectiveness, and it is rare that studies specify which conditions or factors are essential and which may be helpful but not critical ingredients of success. Third, there is a dearth of theory-driven research that uses causal inference methods to test the theoretical propositions, which means that it is difficult to assess the quality of evidence in literature’s existing, mostly descriptive analyses. To advance knowledge about the emergence and flourishing of MSPs, and move beyond the production of long lists of associative success factors, there is an urgent need for researchers to come together in a community of practice to address the noted shortcomings. The Community of Practice will also promote the development of new and innovative ways of conducting MSP work, which will enable researchers to improve outcomes in terms of both cost-effectiveness and equity. In this paper, we review and synthesize the leading hypotheses on MSP emergence and effectiveness, develop a theoretical framework that captures the leading hypotheses, and discuss the viability of employing causal inference methods to test new hypotheses related to the emergence and flourishing of MSPs. We conclude by outlining the contours of a community of practice and how it can help advance MSP scholarship.

Year published

2024

Authors

Andersson, Krister; Nehring, Ryan; Zhang, Wei; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.

Citation

Andersson, Krister; Nehring, Ryan; Zhang, Wei; and Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. 2024. Why do multistakeholder processes emerge and flourish? Identifying and operationalizing the leading hypotheses. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2312. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168720

Keywords

Stakeholders; Fora; Research

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Low-Emission Food Systems

Record type

Working Paper

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Journal Article

The technopolitics of agronomic knowledge and tropical(izing) vegetables in Brazil

2024Nehring, Ryan
Details

The technopolitics of agronomic knowledge and tropical(izing) vegetables in Brazil

This article critically analyzes the social and political factors behind the advancement of technoscientific development in modern Brazilian agriculture. In the second half of the 20th century, Brazil underwent a rapid industrialization in the agricultural sector by more than doubling productivity in key global commodities and a widespread migration of people from rural to urban areas. Most observers point to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) as the technological engine that drove the industrialization of Brazilian agriculture. Existing approaches to analyze technoscientific development tend to overlook the role of the environment and individual scientists in enacting change. I argue that, especially in the case of agriculture, technoscientific development hinges on the extent to which the environment is disregarded or embraced by those who have the institutional support and capacity to innovate. To support my argument, I draw on two contrasting cases of crop development spearheaded by Embrapa scientists: the tropicalization of the carrot and participatory research on non-conventional vegetables. Through those two cases, the article demonstrates how the general and specific, the transnational and local, and the industrial and agroecological are all key contrasting factors for understanding technoscientific development in agriculture. This research is based on extensive interviews and participant observation at Embrapa’s vegetable research center near Brasilia, Brazil.

Year published

2024

Authors

Nehring, Ryan

Citation

Nehring, Ryan. 2024. The technopolitics of agronomic knowledge and tropical(izing) vegetables in Brazil. Environmental Science and Policy 162(December 2024): 103911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103911

Country/Region

Brazil

Keywords

Americas; South America; Agricultural Research; Carrots; Food Systems; Politics; Technology; Tropical Zones; Vegetables

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103911 Source record

Project

Agroecology

Record type

Journal Article

Events

IFPRI @ Adaptation Futures 2023
IFPRI at External Event

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October 2 to 6, 2023

IFPRI @ Adaptation Futures 2023

Event: October 2, 2023 – 9:00 AM to October 6, 2023 – 6:00 PM EDT. IFPRI is participating in Adaptation Futures 2023 conference. The AF2023 Conference seeks to learn from Indigenous, local knowledge and voices in climate change adaptation research, policies, practices, and actions around the world.

Tropentag 2023
IFPRI at External Event

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September 20 to 22, 2023

Tropentag 2023

Event: September 20, 2023 – 8:30 AM to September 22, 2023 – 6:10 PM CEST. IFPRI is participating and will be featured in this years’ annual interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development (TROPENTAG).