Work on the implications of the Ukraine crisis on food systems and research on trade, food standards, and poverty recognized
Washington, D.C. June 24, 2023 – Researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) were recognized today with two prestigious awards from the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA).
Joseph Glauber (Senior Research Fellow), David Laborde (former Senior Research Fellow), and Charlotte Hebebrand (Director of Communications and Public Affairs) received the AAEA’s Quality of Communication Award for the special series of blog posts, briefs, and events analyzing the continuing repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war and other factors exacerbating food price inflation and food insecurity.
Johan Swinnen, IFPRI Director General and Managing Director, System Transformation, CGIAR, and co-author Miet Maertens, received Publication of Enduring Quality Award for their paper “Trade, Standards, and Poverty: Evidence from Senegal” (World Development, 2009).
Both awards were presented on July 24 at the AAEA Awards and Fellows Recognition Ceremony at the 2023 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Quality of Communication Award
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the conflict quickly sparked fears of a global food crisis. The food and fertilizer price shock triggered by the invasion came on top of already elevated food and fertilizer prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and exacerbated food and nutrition insecurity among vulnerable populations. The Black Sea region is critical to meeting the world’s food needs, as is Russia’s role in supplying natural gas and, along with Belarus, fertilizers. Early in the crisis, the FAO estimated that a prolonged disruption of exports from Ukraine and Russia could increase the number of undernourished people by 8 to 13 million in 2022.
IFPRI responded rapidly to the need for information and policy advice to address this new crisis. The first analysis on potential impacts was released on February 24, 2002, the day of the invasion. Since then, a wide array of research on global and local impacts of the war and its interactions with other shocks on food security has been launched, with communications of the key findings through many webinars and a special blog series on High Food and Fertilizer Prices and War in Ukraine. These analyses and recommendations were complemented by a set of online trackers and dashboards, providing access to detailed information, and allowing for rapid dissemination of critical information and was widely shared through the IFPRI website and communications with policymakers and media outlets. IFPRI’s strong presence at the country level allowed researchers to provide important insights into the conflict’s impact on vulnerable countries and regions. The research, blog posts, and webinars included timely analysis of trade flows, tracking of food prices and policy responses, and results of impact modeling for vulnerable countries, which were more fully examined in a series of briefs. The blog posts have been compiled in an e-book “The Russia-Ukraine conflict and global food security.”
IFPRI’s blog series continues to analyze the impacts of the war in Ukraine as well as other developments impacting food prices and food security around the world.
Publication of Enduring Quality Award
AAEA’s Publication of Enduring Quality Award was bestowed to Miet Maertens, Professor at KU Leuven, and Johan Swinnen, Director General, IFPRI, and Managing Director, System Transformation, CGIAR, for their 2009 paper in World Development “Trade, Standards, and Poverty: Evidence from Senegal.”
The paper was the first of its kind to examine the impact of stricter standards on global food supply chains and poor households by using micro data from companies and households, drawing on survey information from fresh fruits and vegetable export chains from Senegal to the EU. The article became a significant breakthrough in a previously contentious literature on the impact of modernizing agrifood supply chains and globalization on the rural poor in low-income countries. By demonstrating a substantial growth in exports despite rising standards, the study highlighted how this development played a crucial role in boosting rural incomes and reducing poverty. Tightening standards, Swinnen and Maertens concluded, induced a shift from smallholder contract farming to integrated estate production, altering the mechanism through which poor households benefited: through labor markets instead of product markets.
“Considering the steady increase in food standards to address sustainability concerns since this paper was published, this seminal work on trade, standards, and poverty remains extremely pertinent,” said Charlotte Hebebrand, IFPRI Director of Communications and Public Affairs.
The article had a substantial policy impact and contributed to rethinking of what constitutes pro-poor development strategies in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. The research also made important methodological contributions in value chain and poverty analyses. The scientific impact and enduring quality of the article is reflected in an impressive, and growing, number of citations. In Scopus, the article belongs to the 99th percentile in terms of citations. According to Google Scholar, its annual citations have varied between 60 and 100 since 2010.
Visit this page for more information about IFPRI at 2023 AAEA Annual Meeting.
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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI’s strategic research aims to identify and analyze alternative international and country-led strategies and policies for meeting food and nutrition needs in low- and middle-income countries, with particular emphasis on poor and vulnerable groups in those countries, gender equity, and sustainability. It is a research center of CGIAR, a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development. www.ifpri.org
Media inquiries: Evgeniya Anisimova, e.anisimova@cgiar.org, +1 (202) 627 4394