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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

Liangzhi You

Liangzhi You is a Senior Research Fellow and theme leader in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit, based in Washington, DC. His research focuses on climate resilience, spatial data and analytics, agroecosystems, and agricultural science policy. Gridded crop production data of the world (SPAM) and the agricultural technology evaluation model (DREAM) are among his research contributions. 

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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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Kenya

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Publications

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Journal Article

Adapting the Women’s empowerment in nutrition index: Lessons from Kenya

2025Lentz, E.; Jensen, Nathaniel D.; Lepariyo, Watson; Narayanan, S.; Bageant, E.
Details

Adapting the Women’s empowerment in nutrition index: Lessons from Kenya

Women face a disproportionate burden of malnutrition and food insecurity. Research has shown that women’s empowerment can buffer women against nutritional problems. This paper contributes to ongoing efforts to measure women’s empowerment that are both context-sensitive and universal, focusing on the recently developed Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition Index (WENI). Earlier research has shown it is both a valid construct and positively related to dietary and nutritional outcomes of women in South Asia. We establish that WENI is generalizable to agropastoral and pastoral Kenya, an area with substantially different livelihoods, food system, norms, and institutions than South Asia. We find that a locally contextualized WENI is strongly associated with women’s body mass index and dietary diversity as well as household level food insecurity. We also present findings for two shorter variations of WENI: an abbreviated WENI (A-WENI) and a cross context WENI (CC-WENI). A-WENI contains a small subset of WENI indicators identified using machine learning with South Asian data and therefore is context-specific. CC-WENI does not contain indicators specific to the validation context. We find that they perform comparably well with caveats. Thus, as use of WENI expands we recommend adapting WENI for in-depth analyses of women’s nutritional empowerment; using CC-WENI for cross-context comparisons; and using A-WENI for rapid appraisals of community level progress in a given context.

Year published

2025

Authors

Lentz, E.; Jensen, Nathaniel D.; Lepariyo, Watson; Narayanan, S.; Bageant, E.

Citation

Lentz, E., Jensen, N., Lepariyo, W., Narayanan, S. and Bageant, E. 2024. Adapting the women’s empowerment in nutrition index: Lessons from Kenya. World Development 188: 106887.

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Nutrition; Women

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106887 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Brief

The true costs of food production in Kenya

2024Benfica, Rui; Davis, Kristin; Oulu, Martin; Termote, Céline; Fadda, Carlo
Details

The true costs of food production in Kenya

Key takeaways • True cost accounting allows for the measurement of hidden impacts of food production on the environment, human health, and society. • Our findings show that at the national level for all crop sectors: o Social costs account for 90% and environmental for 10% of external cost structure. o Major social cost sources are underpayment, child labor, and occupational health risks. o Major environmental cost sources are land-use expansion and climate change. • Findings at farm level in NATURE+ Initiative sites in Kajiado, Kisumu, and Vihiga, for the crop sector show that: o Direct costs (70% of true costs) are predominantly hired labor and seed costs o External costs represent about 30% of the true costs o Social externalities costs (84%) are greater than environmental costs (16%) o Forced labor is the most important impact, followed by child labor, underpayment, and gender wage gaps o Environmental externalities include land occupation (land use) and soil degradation

Year published

2024

Authors

Benfica, Rui; Davis, Kristin; Oulu, Martin; Termote, Céline; Fadda, Carlo

Citation

Benfica, Rui; Davis, Kristin; Oulu, Martin; Termote, Céline; and Fadda, Carlo. 2024. The true costs of food production in Kenya. Nature-Positive Solutions Initiative Policy Brief. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; True Cost Accounting; Food Production; Crops; Climate Change; Labour

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Nature-Positive Solutions

Record type

Brief

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Journal Article

Monitoring biofortification program performance and potential for impact: Indicators, methods, and learnings from the commercialization of biofortified crops program in six countries across Africa and Asia

2024Friesen, Valerie M.; Mudyahoto, Bho; Nyangaresi, Annette M.; Gorla, Ishank; Mbuya, Mduduzi NN
Details

Monitoring biofortification program performance and potential for impact: Indicators, methods, and learnings from the commercialization of biofortified crops program in six countries across Africa and Asia

Background Biofortification of staple crops is a food-based strategy to reduce the high global burden of micronutrient deficiencies. Monitoring program performance is essential to ensure biofortification programs have high potential for impact; however, few indicators and methods for doing so are publicly available. Objective We documented the set of standardized indicators and methods used to monitor the Commercialization of Biofortified Crops (CBC) program and reviewed their strengths and limitations. Methods Following the CBC program impact pathway, we identified and defined a set of indicators and corresponding methods. Country-level implementation teams contextualized and operationalized them to monitor 9 country-crop programs (i.e., high iron beans in Kenya and Tanzania, iron pearl millet in India, vitamin A maize in Nigeria and Tanzania, vitamin A cassava in Nigeria, zinc wheat in Pakistan and India, and zinc rice in Bangladesh) from 2020 to 2022. Results Twenty indicators were defined across domains of seed supply, production, availability, awareness, capacity development, advocacy, and consumption of biofortified foods. Data collection methods included external and internal document review, farmer household surveys, rapid market assessments, and modeling. The strengths of these methods were that they were rapid to conduct, low cost, and simple to use. For some methods, the limitations were the potentially reduced accuracy of some results due to the use of external data sources or secondary data inputs and unavailability of data. Conclusions The indicators and methods used in the CBC program are practical and cost effective for monitoring the implementation of biofortification programs because they generate the range of information necessary to understand how effectively a program is delivered and bolster plausibility arguments for attributing observed impacts to program activities. Further testing is needed to confirm their generalizability when applied to different contexts and paired with impact evaluations with the aim of producing publicly available global guidance documents.

Year published

2024

Authors

Friesen, Valerie M.; Mudyahoto, Bho; Nyangaresi, Annette M.; Gorla, Ishank; Mbuya, Mduduzi NN

Citation

Friesen, Valerie M.; Mudyahoto, Bho; Nyangaresi, Annette M.; and Mbuya, Mduduzi NN. 2024. Monitoring biofortification program performance and potential for impact: Indicators, methods, and learnings from the commercialization of biofortified crops program in six countries across Africa and Asia. Current Developments in Nutrition 8(12): 104498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.104498

Country/Region

Kenya; Nigeria; Pakistan; India; Bangladesh

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Asia; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Eastern Africa; Southern Asia; Biofortification; Crops; Capacity Development; Indicators

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.104498 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Datasets

Dataset

Nature+ Quantitative Baseline Household & Worker Survey, Kenya

2024International Food Policy Research Institute; Kula Vyema Centre
Details

Nature+ Quantitative Baseline Household & Worker Survey, Kenya

In 2023, the Nature Positive Solutions (Nature+) baseline survey was conducted in Kenya, focusing on the Counties of Kisumu, Vihiga, and Kajiado. The study aimed to describe the socio-economic conditions and agricultural systems in these areas, providing a baseline assessment to inform ongoing Nature+ interventions. The survey covered 1,502 smallholder farmer households (752 treated and 750 control) across 25 villages. Data collection employed a two-stage sampling technique and assessed various variables, including socio-economic characteristics, agricultural practices, land use, nutrition, and adoption of Nature+ practices. This data will support the evaluation of Nature+’s impacts on inclusion, poverty reduction, food security, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability. Additionally, the survey included interviews with 1056 workers, covering socio-demographic characteristics, contract types, forced labor, harassment, workplace health and safety, wages, and overtime. All monetary variables are expressed in Kenyan Shilling (KSH).

Year published

2024

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute; Kula Vyema Centre

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Kula Vyema Centre (KVC). 2024. Nature+ Quantitative Baseline Household & Worker Survey, Kenya. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QFQURF. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Baseline Studies; Farming Systems; Smallholders; Agricultural Practices; Land Use; Nutrition; Impact Assessment; Inclusion; Poverty Alleviation; Food Security; Community Involvement

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

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

Project

Nature-Positive Solutions

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

2021 Social Accounting Matrix for Kenya

2023The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis; Kenya National Bureau of Statistics; International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

2021 Social Accounting Matrix for Kenya

The Nexus Project is a collaboration between IFPRI and its partners, including national statistical agencies and research institutions. Our aim is to improve the quality of social accounting matrices (SAMs) used for computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling. The Nexus Project develops toolkits and establishes common data standards, procedures, and classification systems for constructing and updating national SAMs. The 2021 Kenya SAM follows the Standard Nexus Structure. The open access version of the Kenya SAM separates domestic production into 42 activities. Factors are disaggregated into labor, land, and capital. Labor is further disaggregated across three education categories. Representative households are disaggregated by rural and urban areas and by per capita expenditure quintile. The remaining accounts include enterprises, government, taxes, savings-and-investment, and the rest of the word.

Year published

2023

Authors

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis; Kenya National Bureau of Statistics; International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA); Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS); International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2023. 2021 Social Accounting Matrix for Kenya. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XLKGGA. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; National Accounting; Social Accounting Matrix; Household Consumption; Household Expenditure; Economic Indicators; Labour

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

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

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

Food Security Simulator — Kenya

2023International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Food Security Simulator — Kenya

The Food Security Simulator is an innovative and easy to use, MS-Excel-based tool for assessing the potential short-term impacts of food price or household income shocks on food security and people’s diets. The Simulator is an ideal tool for first-cut forward-looking evaluations of direct, household-level outcomes of economic crises and policy responses in a timely manner. Key indicator results are summarized in concise overview tables and visualized in graphs. The underlying data include estimates from representative household survey data and rigorous, sophisticated food demand models to capture consumer behavior. The dataset is publicly available and can be downloaded from: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/NS1A7V.

Year published

2023

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2023. Food Security Simulator – Kenya. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/NS1A7V. Harvard Dataverse. Version 4.

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Food Security; Prices; Income; Shocks; Diet

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/ns1a7v Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Dataset

Blogs

A shock to the (food) system: Using new IFPRI tools to evaluate household food security outcomes
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 10, 2024

A shock to the (food) system: Using new IFPRI tools to evaluate household food security outcomes

By Andrew Comstock, Olivier Ecker, and Eleanor Jones

Simulating impacts of crisis and responses.

World Food Safety Day 2024: Empowering consumers and small businesses with information
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 06, 2024

World Food Safety Day 2024: Empowering consumers and small businesses with information

By Vivian Hoffmann

Targeting interventions to benefit public health.

Adapt, assess, progress: Integrating measures of women’s empowerment into rural development projects
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 13, 2024

Adapt, assess, progress: Integrating measures of women’s empowerment into rural development projects

By Carlo Azzarri, Sedi-Anne Boukaka, Jessica Heckert, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Greg Seymour, and Sara Savastano

A new tool developed by IFPRI and IFAD.

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Events

Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: Africa Regional Launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report
Series/Special Event

 | 

November 14, 2024, 2:30 – 4:30 pm

Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: Africa Regional Launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report

Despite significant progress in addressing hunger and undernutrition in the early 2000s, malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a major challenge in all regions of the world. Unhealthy diets remain the primary drivers of many forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Today, the number of people who […]

Navigating Sudan’s Conflict: Research Insights and Policy Implications
Series/Special Event

 | 

March 5, 2024, 12:00 – 9:00 pm

Navigating Sudan’s Conflict: Research Insights and Policy Implications

Hybrid Event: March 5, 2024 at 8:00am-6:00pm EAT / 12:00am – 10:00am EST. IFPRI and UNDP have partnered for this event on wide-ranging and in-depth analysis to better understand the socioeconomic impact of the war in Sudan, and to inform policy and programmatic recommendations.

Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future
Series/Special Event

 | 

January 8, 2024, 4:30 – 5:45 pm

Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future

Hybrid Event: January 8, 2023 at 8:30am-9:45am EST/ 4:30pm-5:45pm EAT. During this hybrid book launch, speakers from academia, Kenyan research institutes, policy institutions, and CGIAR will discuss the new book Food System Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future. A light reception will follow the presentations.

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News

January 08, 2024 | Press Release

A new book provides a roadmap for food systems transformation in Kenya

The past few years have seen Kenya, along with many other countries, confronted with multifaceted and compounding challenges. The disruptions caused by COVID-19, high levels of food price inflation, and environmental crises, such as locust infestations and droughts, have severely tested the resilience of Kenya’s food systems and the affordability of food for its citizens. […]

September 28, 2023 | In the News

Food prices are rising as countries limit exports. Blame climate change, El Nino and Russia’s war (Associated Press)

“Countries have imposed restrictions on the food they export to protect their own supplies from the combined effect of the war in Ukraine, El Nino’s threat to food production and increasing damage from climate change,” writes the Associated Press. “Tanzania’s onion limits this year are part of the “contagion” of food restrictions from countries spooked by supply […]

September 18, 2023 | In the News

Kenya’s new urban school meal plan is ambitious – it could offer lessons for scaling up (The Conversation) 

More than 250,000 children in public primary schools in Nairobi will receive regular subsidized school meals provided by the county government. The Dishi Na County program is Kenya’s first in an urban setting. The national school meal program set up in 2009 serves more than 1.5 million children in rural drought-affected counties. The Conversation asked Elisheba Kiru (African Population and […]

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Projects

Economywide Risk Assessments

Economywide Risk Assessments

Developed using advanced machine learning, simulation, and data mining techniques, these country briefs provide detailed risk assessments of key economic indicators. Produced by IFPRI, the……

Food Security Simulator

Food Security Simulator

The Food Security Simulator is an innovative, easy-to-use MS-Excel-based tool for assessing the potential short-term impacts of food price or household income shocks on food……

Strengthening National Capacities and Policies for Food Systems Analysis and Transformation in Kenya, Ghana, and Senegal

Strengthening National Capacities and Policies for Food Systems Analysis and Transformation in Kenya, Ghana, and Senegal

Food systems encompass the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal of food……

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