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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. 

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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TOPIC

COVID-19

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) poses a new global threat. As the world battles this pandemic and as economies and livelihoods are disrupted, the poor and vulnerable are likely to suffer most. The COVID-19 crisis is challenging food systems and health systems around the world, and its unprecedented impacts on livelihoods raise serious concerns about food and nutrition security for many of the world’s poor.

IFPRI is actively working to support evidence-based policymaking in the context of COVID-19 at national, regional, and global levels. Please visit the spotlight page for IFPRI’s ongoing analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and nutrition security and development, including blog posts, publications, events, data tools, and more. IFPRI’s COVID-19 research is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 8, SDG 10, and SDG 17.

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topics

Publications

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Brief

Impact of COVID-19 on food security and cropping patterns in Tajikistan: Evidence from a telephone survey in Khatlon Province

2024Rajiv, Sharanya; Akramov, Kamiljon T.; Aliev, Jovidon
Details

Impact of COVID-19 on food security and cropping patterns in Tajikistan: Evidence from a telephone survey in Khatlon Province

Poor households are the most vulnerable to external shocks. When Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation restricted wheat exports in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, prices for wheat flour and derived products (staple food) increased sharply in Central Asian countries that are dependent on wheat import (the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan). These export restrictions also increased fears of adverse food security outcomes in importing countries. In Tajikistan, these global dynamics translated into significant challenges given its reliance on imports to meet around half of its cereal requirements. The FAO forecasted Tajikistan’s cereal import requirement for 2020/21 at 1,225,000 tons or about 50 percent of its total consumption. Most of this import requirement was made up of wheat, which is a key staple in the Tajik diet, comprising about 54% of total wheat consumption. The country’s key wheat supplier, Kazakhstan, imposed export limitations in April and May 2020. Consequently, despite a good domestic harvest and price stabilization initiatives by the Government of Tajikistan, the domestic price of wheat remained well above the 2019 levels. To unpack the impact of COVID-19 on rural livelihoods and farm decision making, panel data from 1,200 households in Khatlon province in Tajikistan was analyzed. Data was collected through a phone survey in September-October 2020 in 12 districts of Khatlon province, with a set of households previously surveyed in September 2018. The analysis examines respondents’ perceptions of the pandemic’s effects on their households’ livelihoods and agricultural production, disaggregate by 2018 household wealth quartiles. The analysis is descriptive and summarizes respondents’ perceptions. The methodology doesn’t allow us to determine causal pathways or generalize the results beyond Khatlon province.

Year published

2024

Authors

Rajiv, Sharanya; Akramov, Kamiljon T.; Aliev, Jovidon

Citation

Rajiv, Sharanya; Akramov, Kamiljon T.; and Aliev, Jovidon. 2024. Impact of COVID-19 on food security and cropping patterns in Tajikistan. Project Note September 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155378

Country/Region

Tajikistan

Keywords

Asia; Central Asia; Covid-19; Cropping Patterns; Food Security; Households; Shock

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Brief

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Working Paper

Does nutrition-sensitive social protection protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2024Ahmed, Akhter U.; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John; Roy, Shalini
Details

Does nutrition-sensitive social protection protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Evidence shows that cash and in-kind transfer programs increase food security while interventions are ongoing, including during or immediately after shocks. But less is known about whether receipt of these programs can have protective effects for household food security against shocks that occur several years after interventions end. We study the effects of a transfer program implemented as a cluster-randomized control trial in rural Bangladesh from 2012-2014 – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) – on food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess TMRI’s impacts at three post-program time points: before the shock (2018), amidst the shock (2021), and after the immediate effects of the shock (2022). We find that TMRI showed protective effects on household food security during and after the pandemic, but program design features “mattered”; positive impacts were only seen in the treatment arm that combined cash transfers with nutrition behavior change communication (Cash+BCC). Other treatment arms – cash only, and food only – showed no significant sustained effects on our household food security measures after the intervention ended, nor did they show protective effects during the pandemic. A plausible mechanism is that investments made by Cash+BCC households in productive assets – specifically livestock – increased their pre-shock resilience capacity.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter U.; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hoddinott, John; and Roy, Shalini. 2024. Does nutrition-sensitive social protection protection build longer-term resilience? Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2282. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155053

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Covid-19; Resilience; Shock; Social Protection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

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Blog Post

Feeding minds, fueling futures: How School Feeding Programs (SFP) drive development in low-Income nations like Ethiopia

2024Zerfu, Taddese Alemu
Details

Feeding minds, fueling futures: How School Feeding Programs (SFP) drive development in low-Income nations like Ethiopia

Ethiopian households face daunting challenges due to inflation, conflict, drought, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite significant socio-economic growth, the country remains highly susceptible to climate-induced shocks, compounded by destructive conflicts and persistent insecurity (1). Ethiopia is one of the most impacted countries in the world regarding food security, with up to 20 million (16% of the population) suffering from severe food insecurity (2,3). Many children are dropping out of school due to hunger (3). This predicament is exacerbated by students’ inability to concentrate or attend class, either due to hunger or familial obligations to seek food.

Year published

2024

Authors

Zerfu, Taddese Alemu

Citation

Zerfu, Taddese Alemu. 2024. Feeding minds, fueling futures: How School Feeding Programs (SFP) drive development in low-Income nations like Ethiopia. ANH Academy Blog post. First published online July 29, 2024. https://www.anh-academy.org/community/blogs/feeding-minds-fueling-futures-how-school-feeding-programs-sfp-drive-development-in

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Covid-19; Food Insecurity; Hunger; School Feeding

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Blog Post

Blogs

COVID-19 in South Asia: Lessons from a time of upheaval
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 15, 2023

COVID-19 in South Asia: Lessons from a time of upheaval

By Kalyani Raghunathan

How food systems fared amid disruption.

Tropentag 2023: Battling the global 3Cs (climate change, COVID-19, conflict) through food systems transformation
IFPRI Blog
 | 
October 27, 2023

Tropentag 2023: Battling the global 3Cs (climate change, COVID-19, conflict) through food systems transformation

By Mary Grace Barbacias

Encouraging scientific understanding for sustainability.

Lanzamiento del Informe Global de Políticas Alimentarias 2023 en América Latina: Políticas para construir resiliencia ante los shocks
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 07, 2023

Lanzamiento del Informe Global de Políticas Alimentarias 2023 en América Latina: Políticas para construir resiliencia ante los shocks

By Brian McNamara

A region key to feeding the world faces an era of global crisis.

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Events

Nourish the Dialogue: Investing in nutrition and diets as significant determinants of health
Series/Special Event

 | 

April 19, 2024, 11:30 – 12:30 pm

Nourish the Dialogue: Investing in nutrition and diets as significant determinants of health

Hybrid Special Event: April 19, 2024 – 11:30 PM- 12:30 PM EDT. This special event will convene nutrition and climate experts to discuss the vital role of healthy diets; showcase a suite of proven solutions across the agrifood value chain for improving diets in low- and middle-income countries; and examine how best to scale these solutions so that everyone can reap the benefits of sustainable healthy diets.

5th Global Food Security Conference
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

April 9 to 12, 2024

5th Global Food Security Conference

Conference: April 9-12, 2024 – 7:30 AM- 6:00 PM CET. Building on the momentum from the UN Food System Summit and recognizing that the 2030 target year of the Sustainable Development Goals is on the horizon, this 5th Global Food Security Conference will bring together science, business, and policy to address this need.

From Commitments to Impact: Analyzing the Global Commitments Toward Promoting Food Security and Healthy Diets
Series/Special Event

 | 

February 6, 2024, 9:00 – 10:30 am

From Commitments to Impact: Analyzing the Global Commitments Toward Promoting Food Security and Healthy Diets

Hybrid Event: February 6, 2024 at 9:00am-10:30am EST. This event will shed light on commitments already made, share research results on the potential of current commitments to achieve a focused set of food and nutrition security goals, and foster continued dialogue with global advocacy partners.

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News

February 10, 2023 | In the News

Food and biofuels in debate (Agri Dees) 

Agri Dees published a summary of an IFPRI seminar. Agri Dees states that the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered deep geopolitical upheavals and a crisis on the food and energy security fronts. Agriculture is at the center of this crisis issue: to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, can we dedicate part of agricultural production to […]

February 10, 2023 | In the News

Top food exporter Argentina confronts rising hunger and poverty (The New Humanitarian) 

The New Humanitarian interviewed Valeria Piñeiro, IFPRI’s acting head for Latin America, for the article about the worsening situation with hunger and poverty in Argentina. Piñeiro is asking the international community not to neglect Argentina and Latin America. In the decade up to 2015, the region was hailed for outperforming others in reducing hunger and poverty, but […]

January 03, 2023 | In the News

Food price spike may fuel nutrition crisis (The Nation) 

Growing food crises with spiking prices will have an impact on poor and food insecure populations writes the Nation (Nigeria), quoting a recent analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) which notes that food inflation poses larger wasting risks for children of poor and landless rural households, exacerbating existing inequalities.  According to IFPRI, food prices […]

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Our experts

James Allen IV

James Allen IV

Associate Research Fellow, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Francisco Ceballos

Francisco Ceballos

Research Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions, Latin America and the Caribbean

Paul Dorosh

Paul Dorosh

Senior Research Fellow , Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Olivier Ecker

Olivier Ecker

Senior Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Jenny Smart

Jenny Smart

Senior Program Manager, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Prapti Barooah

Prapti Barooah

Senior Research Analyst, Natural
Resources and Resilience

Harriet Mawia

Harriet Mawia

Research Officer, Development
Strategies and Governance