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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.

Ahmed Akhter

researcher spotlight

Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow in the IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit and Country Representative for IFPRI Bangladesh. He has worked on strategies for agricultural and rural development, social protection, and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and undernutrition in developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malawi, the Philippines, and Turkey.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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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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The International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) is a think tank dedicated to creating solutions that are sustainable for today’s problems. IISD uses research, analysis, and knowledge sharing to pinpoint solution that are effective and sustainable. IISD’s “big-picture view” in regards to problem solving allow them to address the root causes of some of the toughest challenges facing us today.

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Publications

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Working Paper

Measuring agrifood systems: New indicators and global estimates

2025Thurlow, James; Holtemeyer, Brian; Jiang, Shiyun; Pauw, Karl; Randriamamonjy, Josee
Details

Measuring agrifood systems: New indicators and global estimates

Transformation of the agrifood system is a cornerstone of many governments’ national development plans. This reflects the importance of agrifood systems for the livelihoods and wellbeing of poor populations as well as the continued strong association of agricultural transformation with longer-term economic development and structural change. Agrifood transformation is also key to healthier diets and more sustainable production systems. However, adopting an agrifood system perspective is not trivial—it requires looking “beyond agriculture” when prioritizing policies and tracking outcomes by also considering upstream and downstream agrifood-related activities, such as agro-processing and food distribution. Measuring transformation therefore requires economywide data and innovative metrics. This study introduces two such metrics: AgGDP+, which captures the total value-added across the on- and off-farm sectors of the agrifood system, and AgEMP+, which reflects the employment generated across its various components. It further explains how consistent estimates of AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ were produced for 211 and 186 countries, respectively, over the period between 2000 and 2021, and demonstrates how this Agri-Food System Dashboard—a publicly available resource—can be used to monitor transformation, prioritize investments, and better understand the evolving role of agrifood systems in national economies or at regional or global scales.

Year published

2025

Authors

Thurlow, James; Holtemeyer, Brian; Jiang, Shiyun; Pauw, Karl; Randriamamonjy, Josee

Citation

Thurlow, James; Holtemeyer, Brian; Jiang, Shiyun; Pauw, Karl; and Randriamamonjy, Josee. 2025. Measuring agrifood systems: New indicators and global estimates. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2339. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords

Agrifood Systems; Economic Development; Investment; Livelihoods; Healthy Diets; Sustainability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Determinants of household water and energy access and their impacts on food security and health outcomes in Sudan

2025Kirui, Oliver K.; Ahmed, Mosab; Raouf, Mariam; Abushama, Hala; Siddig, Khalid
Details

Determinants of household water and energy access and their impacts on food security and health outcomes in Sudan

This study investigates the determinants of access to safe water and reliable energy for households in Sudan using nationally representative data from a recent labor market survey. The results show that urbanization, education, and wealth significantly enhance the access households have to these essential services, while rural areas and less developed regions, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, face substantial challenges. Access to reliable energy correlates with better food security and health outcomes within households, and improved access to safe water significantly enhances the health of household members. Policy recommendations supported by these research results include targeted rural infrastructure investments, educational improvements, and regional interventions to address disparities in household access to safe water and reliable energy across Sudan.

Year published

2025

Authors

Kirui, Oliver K.; Ahmed, Mosab; Raouf, Mariam; Abushama, Hala; Siddig, Khalid

Citation

Kirui, Oliver K.; Ahmed, Mosab; Raouf, Mariam; Abushama, Hala; and Siddig, Khalid. 2025. Determinants of household water and energy access and their impacts on food security and health outcomes in Sudan. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2338. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174711

Country/Region

Sudan

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Energy Policies; Food Security; Health; Households; Socioeconomics; Water; Water Policies

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

NEXUS Gains

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Khatlon region’s agriculture sector development trends

2025Khakimov, Parviz; Ashurov, Timur
Details

Khatlon region’s agriculture sector development trends

This study examines recent agriculture sector development trends in Khatlon region of Tajikistan and its contribution to development of the sector between 2010 and 2021. The findings of the study show that the development of the crops sector in the region was strongly intensive, except sluggish intensive growth for cotton and extensive growth for potato. Further deep dive is needed to figure out the source of growth, however, lack of disaggregated data prevents us from doing so in this analysis. To understand the drivers of recent growth the farmers survey needs to be conducted. Unlike the crop sector, the livestock sector in Khatlon region has experienced mainly extensive growth, with surge up in cattle and small ruminants’ population rather than productivity increase. The livestock sector faces several challenges such as severe degradation of pastures due to poor pasture management system, and increased pressure on pasture due to rapidly growing livestock numbers. In addition, the sector is affected by climate change and at the same time accelerates the ongoing process of climate change due to greenhouse gases, especially methane emissions. In sum, the region now plays a vital role in meeting Tajikistan’s food security needs and income generation for rural households, however, further sustainable growth of the sector requires addressing challenges, increasing investments into the sector and promoting CSA practices (Table 1A in Appendix).

Year published

2025

Authors

Khakimov, Parviz; Ashurov, Timur

Citation

Khakimov, Parviz; and Ashurov, Timur. 2025. Khatlon region’s agriculture sector development trends. Central Asia Working Paper 6. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174596

Country/Region

Tajikistan

Keywords

Middle East; Agriculture; Crops; Development; Food Security

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Events

Virtual Event - Food and Agricultural Trade in the New Policy Environment: How Can WTO Members Support Recovery and Resilience in South Asia?
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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December 17, 2020, 6:00 – 7:15 am

Virtual Event – Food and Agricultural Trade in the New Policy Environment: How Can WTO Members Support Recovery and Resilience in South Asia?

Please note this event will be at 4:30pm IST / 6:00am EST. The coronavirus outbreak has affected trade in food and farm goods, imperiling efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition and adding to pressure already on the farm sector from climate change. The pandemic-induced postponement of the WTO’s next ministerial conference and ongoing tensions among […]

Virtual Event - Food and Agricultural Trade in the New Policy Environment: How Can WTO Members Support Recovery and Resilience in Africa (English panel)?
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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December 8, 2020, 9:30 – 10:30 am

Virtual Event – Food and Agricultural Trade in the New Policy Environment: How Can WTO Members Support Recovery and Resilience in Africa (English panel)?

How can WTO members support recovery and resilience in Africa?

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Évènement virtuel - Commerce alimentaire et agricole dans le nouvel environnement politique : Comment les membres de l’OMC peuvent-ils appuyer la reprise économique et la résilience de l'Afrique?
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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November 17, 2020, 9:30 – 10:30 am

Évènement virtuel – Commerce alimentaire et agricole dans le nouvel environnement politique : Comment les membres de l’OMC peuvent-ils appuyer la reprise économique et la résilience de l’Afrique?

Le commerce des denrées alimentaires et des produits agricoles a été affecté par la pandémie du COVID-19, mettant en péril les efforts visant à faire progresser la lutte contre la faim et la malnutrition conformément au cadre défini par les Objectifs de développement durable (ODD). En même temps, le secteur agricole subit une pression croissante […]

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