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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

Agnes Quisumbing

Agnes Quisumbing is a Senior Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. She co-leads a research program that examines how closing the gap between men’s and women’s ownership and control of assets may lead to better development outcomes.

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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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Overview

Increasing productivity in food systems while staying within environmental boundaries and maintaining biodiversity

FROM CGIAR.ORG … Agriculture is the biggest driver of forest and biodiversity loss, including of diversity crucial to healthy diets and nutrition. A third of the world’s soils are degraded, and agriculture accounts for about 70% of global freshwater withdrawals. A healthy natural environment and biodiversity are critical for the long-term sustainability of food systems, and human health.

CGIAR Research Initiatives

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Biodiversity by the numbers

Agriculture is the biggest driver of forest and biodiversity loss, including of diversity crucial to healthy diets and nutrition.

US$1B

estimated economic returns on just a few of IFPRI’s research efforts

46

gold standard impact assessment reports commissioned

27

years of measuring institutional impact

412

million/people indirectly benefitting from IFPRI

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Report

Impacts of Africa RISING in Ghana

2024Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Castaing, Pauline; Kizito, Fred; Vitellozzi, Sveva; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne
Details

Impacts of Africa RISING in Ghana

Sustainable intensification (SI) of the smallholder sector in Africa south of the Sahara is among the approaches pursued to build resilient food systems that can supply nutritionally adequate food in the face of rapid population growth and climatic changes. This study assesses the impact of Africa RISING, an SI program in Ghana implemented in the poorest and most food insecure areas of the country since 2012. The program first validated and then scaled up a wide range of SI interventions focused on improved agronomic management and crop cultivars; improved livestock feed, housing conditions, and species; crop-livestock integration; integrated natural resource management; vegetable production and nutritional education; and small-scale mechanization. Impact is estimated using two rounds of quasi-experimental panel data (conducted in 2014 and 2020), propensity score matching, and difference-indifferences techniques. The study design allows us to estimate the impact of Africa RISING by comparing outcomes among program beneficiaries with those of two different control groups—one residing in program villages (within village comparison) and another in non-program (control) villages (out-of-village comparison) on several indicators across five SI domains—environment, productivity, economic, human, and social. We also conduct a placebo test comparing non-beneficiaries in the two control groups. Results from panel data analyses show improvements in several indicators in the environmental and productivity domains. We also find a positive impact on use of conservation practices (fallowing, disc/moldboard ploughing, manure), groundnut yield, livestock, net crop income, and women’s likelihood of becoming members of farmers groups relative to non-beneficiaries. We do not find a statistically significant effect on consumption- and asset-based poverty rates, household dietary diversity, and several indicators of maternal and child nutrition. For both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, the share of monetary-based non-poor, dietary diversity, and food security have declined between baseline (2014) and follow-up (2020) likely due COVID-19. Our study highlights useful empirical lessons learned for informing future program design and impact assessments.

Year published

2024

Authors

Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Castaing, Pauline; Kizito, Fred; Vitellozzi, Sveva; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne

Citation

Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Castaing, Pauline; Kizito, Fred; Vitellozzi, Sveva; and Boukaka, Sedi-Anne. 2024. Impacts of Africa RISING in Ghana. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148741

Country/Region

Ghana

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Impact Assessment; Sustainable Intensification; Smallholders; Resilience; Food Systems; Climate Change

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Report

Brief

Africa RISING in Tanzania: Impact brief

2024Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Vitellozzi, Sveva
Details

Africa RISING in Tanzania: Impact brief

Africa RISING project in Tanzania was implemented in Babati, Kongwa, and Kiteto districts. The project aimed at improving cropping systems through the promotion of stress resilient and high-yielding crop varieties (groundnut, sorghum, maize, and pigeon pea), support of cereal-legume intercropping, and fostering of good agricultural practices in vegetable production through reduction in pesticide use. The project also supported the adoption of a series of natural resource management practices such as rainwater harvesting, planting of fodder crops, use of mineral fertilizers, and balanced application of farmyard manure. In addition, the livestock system arm of the project introduced improved animal feeding to boost egg and milk production and reduce feed costs. Other program interventions included mechanization for postharvest handling and introduction of an integrated nutrition package for nutrition and health gains, especially for children.

Year published

2024

Authors

Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Vitellozzi, Sveva

Citation

Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne; and Vitellozzi, Sveva. 2024. Africa RISING in Tanzania: Impact brief. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148749

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Brief

Report

Impacts of Africa RISING in Tanzania

2024Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Tzintzun, Ivan; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne; Vitellozzi, Sveva
Details

Impacts of Africa RISING in Tanzania

Sustainable intensification (SI) of the smallholder sector in Africa south of the Sahara is among the approaches pursued to build resilient food systems that can supply nutritionally adequate food in the face of rapid population growth and climatic changes. This study assesses the impact of an SI program in Tanzania implemented in the poorest and most food insecure areas of the country since 2012. The program first validated and then scaled up a wide range of SI interventions focused on improved agronomic management and crop cultivars; improved livestock feed, housing conditions, and species; crop-livestock integration; integrated natural resource management; vegetable production and nutritional education; and small-scale mechanization. Impact is estimated on several SI indicators and domains using two rounds of quasi-experimental panel data (conducted in 2014 and 2022), propensity score matching, and difference-in-differences techniques. The study design allows us to estimate the impact of Africa RISING by comparing outcomes among program beneficiaries with two different counterfactual groups—one located inside program villages (within-village comparison) and another in non-program (control) villages (out-of-village comparison)—on several indicators across five SI domains environment, productivity, economic, human, and social. We also conduct a placebo test comparing non-beneficiaries in the two counterfactual groups. Results from panel data analyses show improvements in several indicators in the environmental and productivity domains. We also find positive impact of participation in Africa RISING on several indicators under all the considered domains: beneficiaries were less likely to experience soil erosion, used more inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds) per hectare, obtained higher legume yields, were more likely to produce meat and dairy, reported higher net livestock income, and experienced fewer months of food insecurity. Estimates based on within-village, out-of-village, overall, and placebo comparisons suggest important insights about the challenges in assessing the impact of agricultural programs in general and, specifically, participatory multi-intervention programs in the presence of sample (self-)selection and spillovers. Our study highlights useful empirical lessons learned for informing future program design and impact assessments.

Year published

2024

Authors

Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Tzintzun, Ivan; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne; Vitellozzi, Sveva

Citation

Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne; Tzintzun, Ivan; and Vitellozzi, Sveva. 2024. Impacts of Africa RISING in Tanzania. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148751

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Impact Assessment; Sustainable Intensification; Smallholders; Resilience; Food Systems; Climatic Change

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Report

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GFPR Southeast Asia Launch: Improving Diets and Nutrition through Food Systems: What Will it Take?
Series/Special Event

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July 17, 2024, 7:30 – 3:00 pm

GFPR Southeast Asia Launch: Improving Diets and Nutrition through Food Systems: What Will it Take?

Across Southeast Asia, the double burden of malnutrition—hunger and micronutrient deficiencies, plus overweight and obesity—is widely evident, and is driven by unhealthy diets. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of healthy diets, but consumption of these healthy foods falls well below recommended levels across the region. The drivers of poor diets include the relatively […]

Agenda
GFPR Southeast Asia Launch: IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report on Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition
Series/Special Event

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July 18, 2024, 10:00 – 11:00 am

GFPR Southeast Asia Launch: IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report on Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition

Click HERE to join the IFPRI-ADB Event on IFPRI’s 2024 GFPR on July 18, 2024 from 10:00am to 11:00am Manila time (GMT+8) / July 17, 2024 from 10:00pm to 11:00pm Washington, DC time (EDT). This event, co-organized by the Asian Development Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will present an overview of […]

Improving Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Nigeria: Policies and Actions
Series/Special Event

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July 25, 2024, 10:00 – 1:30 pm

Improving Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Nigeria: Policies and Actions

Livestreaming will be available on this page on the day of the event. 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 […]