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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

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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Research by country and region

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partnerships

The Nature Conservancy, a non-governmental organization, is dedicated to protecting and conserving nature for people today and for future generations to come. The Nature Conservancy is a leader in conservation and is working to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Nature Conservancy seeks to address and correct unsustainable agricultural practices, while at the same time supporting improvements in soil health, habitat conservation and resource efficiency.

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Publications

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Report

Changing the equation: Leveraging true cost accounting to accelerate agri-food systems transformation

2024Klaus, Lisa Maria; Riemer, Olivia; Müller, Alexander
Details

Changing the equation: Leveraging true cost accounting to accelerate agri-food systems transformation

The global agri-food system, from field to fork, is failing to nourish billions of people properly, is responsible for nearly a third of all greenhouse gas emissions and is a major driver of biodiversity loss. As it currently operates, this system imposes significant hidden costs on the environment, on the workers who produce ‘cheap’ food in dangerous or precarious conditions, consumers, and society as a whole. These hidden costs, or ‘externalities’, include water pollution remediation, social support for underpaid workers, and public health costs related to diet-related diseases, none of which are captured by traditional economic metrics. Externalities are prevalent in all sectors of the economy, not just agri-food systems, and are systematically ignored in conventional accounting and reporting systems. This omission leads to distorted market signals that encourage unsustainable business practices, the consequences of which are borne by society, particularly disadvantaged communities, and will weigh heavily on future generations while the polluters reap financial rewards. Addressing externalities is therefore essential to building an economic system that supports sustainable development.

Year published

2024

Authors

Klaus, Lisa Maria; Riemer, Olivia; Müller, Alexander

Citation

Klaus, Lisa Maria; Riemer, Olivia; and Müller, Alexander. 2024. Changing the equation: Leveraging true cost accounting to accelerate agri-food systems transformation. Foresee Series Report 5. TMG – Think Tank for Sustainability.

Keywords

Agrifood Systems; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Biodiversity; True Cost Accounting; Sustainability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-SA-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.35435/1.2024.2 Source record

Project

Low-Emission Food Systems

Record type

Report

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Book Chapter

Crop production: An engine in need of an upgrade

2024Aung, Nilar; San, Cho Cho; Boughton, Duncan; Minten, Bart; Naing, Phyo Thandar; Belton, Ben; Lambrecht, Isabel
Details

Crop production: An engine in need of an upgrade

According to the Myanmar Living Conditions Survey (MLCS) undertaken in 2017, 54 percent of rural households and 8.4 percent of urban households earn some of their income from crop farming (CSO, UNDP, and World Bank 2020). As seen in Chapter 2, crop production has important value-added and employment linkages upstream and downstream from farms, including in fertilizer and chemical input supply, mechanization services, transport, processing, wholesale and retail distribution, and exports. Crop production also provides the majority of the nation’s calorie intake as well as raw material for processed animal feed. However, as Chapter 3 shows, with maize as the one exception, the crop sector itself has not grown in recent years due to decades of underinvestment in agricultural research, limited transport infrastructure, and highly variable prices for export crops. This chapter provides a more detailed picture of the spatial distribution of crop production and production technologies, which is relevant to the discussion in Chapter 18 on regional variations in rural livelihoods.

Year published

2024

Authors

Aung, Nilar; San, Cho Cho; Boughton, Duncan; Minten, Bart; Naing, Phyo Thandar; Belton, Ben; Lambrecht, Isabel

Citation

Aung, Nilar; San, Cho Cho; Boughton, Duncan; Minten, Bart; Naing, Phyo Thandar; Belton, Ben; and Lambrecht, Isabel. 2024. Crop production: An engine in need of an upgrade. In Myanmar’s agrifood system: Historical development, recent shocks, future opportunities, Duncan Boughton, Ben Belton, Isabel Lambrecht, and Bart Minten, eds. Chapter 8, Pp. 201-220. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155184

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

Asia; Agrifood Systems; Crop Production; Development; Economic Shock; Governance; Spatial Distribution

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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Book Chapter

Conclusion: From recovery to renewal of the agrifood system

2024Boughton, Duncan; Minten, Bart
Details

Conclusion: From recovery to renewal of the agrifood system

Myanmar’s agrifood system is of critical importance for the near-term survival and longer-term flourishing of its diverse population. Prior to the recent crises, the food system accounted for almost half (47 percent) of Myanmar’s GDP and almost two-thirds (64 percent) of employment, while primary agriculture accounted for 22 percent of GDP and 49 percent of employment (Chapter 2). Recovery from the multiple crises Myanmar has faced since 2020 will require a combination of effective humanitarian assistance and sustained policy reforms and investment to resolve infrastructure limitations and constraints to sustainable productivity growth. These efforts are necessary to enable the agrifood system to fulfill its potential to improve food and nutrition security and reduce poverty. Our concluding chapter first reviews the trajectory of the agrifood system through multiple economic shocks, from the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020 through to the end of 2023; and the types of assistance needed to mitigate widespread food and nutrition insecurity. It then turns to longer-term investments and policies required to enable the agrifood system to drive long-term recovery and sustainable economic growth. While many of the shocks experienced by Myanmar since the onset of COVID-19 have also been experienced by other low-income countries, the consequences have been magnified and prolonged due to the military coup of February 1, 2021.

Year published

2024

Authors

Boughton, Duncan; Minten, Bart

Citation

Boughton, Duncan; and Minten, Bart. 2024. Conclusion: From recovery to renewal of the agrifood system. In Myanmar’s agrifood system: Historical development, recent shocks, future opportunities. Boughton, Duncan; Belton, Ben; Lambrecht, Isabel B.; Masias, Ian; and Minten, Bart (Eds.). Chapter 19, Pp. 513-532. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155201

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

South-eastern Asia; Agrifood Systems; Employment; Agriculture; Nutrition; Poverty; Shocks; Economic Growth

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

Events

Virtual Event - COVID-19: The role of the agriculture-ecosystem health interface
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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August 18, 2020, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Virtual Event – COVID-19: The role of the agriculture-ecosystem health interface

Presenters discuss possible cross-sectoral policies and actions for enhancing human and ecosystem health, with a focus on the role of One CGIAR. WATCH VIDEO

Bigger Change Faster: Integrated Development, Health, and Environment Actions for a Sustainable Future
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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October 23, 2019, 12:15 – 1:45 pm

Bigger Change Faster: Integrated Development, Health, and Environment Actions for a Sustainable Future

From climate change to malnutrition, poverty to biodiversity loss, air pollution to humanitarian crises—the problems facing our world today are deeply interconnected. Holistic initiatives to address these challenges, notably the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are becoming more common. But efforts siloed within the development, health, or environment communities remain the norm. This seminar discusses the […]

Blogs

Earth Day 2023: Empowering local communities as stewards of Earth’s freshwater resources
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 21, 2023

Earth Day 2023: Empowering local communities as stewards of Earth’s freshwater resources

By Wei Zhang and Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Advantages of Community-Based Conservation.

World Water Day 2021: How can we manage better what we value most?
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 22, 2021

World Water Day 2021: How can we manage better what we value most?

By Claudia Ringler and Ruth Meinzen-Dick

What we really mean when we talk about water’s value.