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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

Emily Schmidt

Emily Schmidt is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. Her most recent research explores household livelihood strategies in Papua New Guinea, including linkages between agriculture, poverty, and nutrition outcomes among rural smallholder farmers.

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What we do

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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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.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

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partnerships

The USA is an important partner and supporter of IFPRI’s research which generates data and evidence to inform policy solutions to sustainably reduce hunger and end malnutrition.

IFPRI is fortunate to work with multiple US government agencies, embassies, and initiatives dedicated to improving food security, nutrition outcomes, economic livelihoods, and social welfare. 

Projects

Economywide Risk Assessments

Economywide Risk Assessments

Developed using advanced machine learning, simulation, and data mining techniques, these country briefs provide detailed risk assessments of key economic indicators. Produced by IFPRI, the……

Ultra-Poor graduation in Somalia

Ultra-Poor graduation in Somalia

USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance funds World Vision to implement the Ultra-Poor Graduation intervention in Baidoa, Somalia, designed to enable ultra-poor households who are internally……

Agrifood system (AFS) diagnostics

Agrifood system (AFS) diagnostics

Agrifood systems (AFS) play a potentially central role in driving economic growth and transformation in low- and middle-income countries. From a national accounting perspective, an……

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Publications

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Working Paper

Under the gun: Military and paramilitary actors in Sudan’s agri-food system

2025Resnick, Danielle; Abushama, Hala; Ahmed, Mosab O. M.; Kirui, Oliver K.; Siddig, Khalid
Details

Under the gun: Military and paramilitary actors in Sudan’s agri-food system

Armed actors, including militaries and paramilitaries, are heavily entrenched in the agrifood systems of several low- and middle-income countries, often resulting in negative implications for both agricultural transformation and democratic transitions. However, the role of armed actors is overlooked in the scholarship on the governance of agricultural value chains. To address this gap, this paper focuses on the role of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s agrifood system. Through over 50 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, the paper traces how the SAF and RSF initially gained their foothold in the agrifood system and how they interact with each other, and the private sector across diverse value chains. We argue that these actors decide to pursue investments in certain value chains depending on the extent to which the private sector is already involved and the degree of technical complexity required to attain more profitable product upgrading. Based on these considerations, we uncover four strategies used by SAF and RSF in different value chains: exclusive capture and rent extraction, competition through biased licensing and quota allocations, acquiescence to existing private competitors when value-addition is too complex, and innovation when potential is high and the private sector is absent. We show how these strategies manifest across value chains as diverse as livestock, wheat, gum Arabic, and horticulture, with secondary applications to other commodities. Given that economic competition between SAF and RSF was a major factor in the outbreak of the 2023 armed conflict, identifying how these strategies emerged and manifested not only contributes to the literature on business-state relations but also expands insights about the political economy antecedents of large-scale conflict.

Year published

2025

Authors

Resnick, Danielle; Abushama, Hala; Ahmed, Mosab O. M.; Kirui, Oliver K.; Siddig, Khalid

Citation

Resnick, Danielle; Abushama, Hala; Ahmed, Mosab; Kirui, Oliver Kiptoo; and Siddig, Khalid. 2025. Under the gun: Military and paramilitary actors in Sudan’s agri-food system. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2328. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173517

Country/Region

Sudan

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Agricultural Transformation; Food Systems; Military Operations; Political Aspects; Value Chains

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Global rice market: Current outlook and future prospects

2024Glauber, Joseph W.; Mamun, Abdullah
Details

Global rice market: Current outlook and future prospects

Rice is a major food crop supplying, on average, 516 kcal per capita per day or roughly 17.3% of total calories consumed globally in 2022. Rice production and consumption is concentrated in Asia though rice has grown as an important staple crop outside of Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa currently accounts for 7 percent of global rice consumption but account for over 28 percent of total rice imports. Rice is a thinly traded crop compared to other staples like wheat and maize. Rice imports account for about 10 percent of total consumption today but import penetration is expected to grow to about 11 percent by 2033. India is the world’s largest exporter accounting for about 40 percent of total exports in recent years. Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States account for an additional 40 percent of world exports. Mid-range projections for the next 10 years suggest that trends in place will likely continue. Yields are assumed to keep pace with global consumption trends. Sub-Saharan Africa will account for a significant share of the overall growth in consumption. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts that Sub-Saharan Africa will account for 27 percent of the growth in global rice consumption and 47 percent of the growth in global imports over the next 10 years. Climate and government distortions remain the single largest vulnerabilities to the rice market. Because of the large concentration of rice production in South and Southeast Asia, crop production is vulnerable to El Niño and other climatic events like the Indian Ocean Dipole which can bring hot and dry weather and disrupt the monsoon season. Since rice is so thinly traded, market restrictions imposed by one of more of the major exporting countries can cause large price impacts. In 2007/08, export bans affected as much as 80 percent of rice trade which caused global prices to almost triple. In July 2023, India imposed export restrictions fearing that domestic production would be harmed by a developing El Nino event. Global rice prices rose by 30 percent as a result. Importing countries bore much of the brunt of those increases, particularly poorer countries in the rice-importing areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Other potential vulnerabilities include logistical issues, particularly bottlenecks in the major shipping lanes of Asia.

Year published

2024

Authors

Glauber, Joseph W.; Mamun, Abdullah

Citation

Glauber, Joseph W.; and Mamun, Abdullah. 2024. Global rice market: Current Outlook and future prospects. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2310. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168523

Keywords

Climate; Rice; Risk; Trade; Vulnerability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Real exchange rate misalignment and economic growth: An empirical analysis for Ethiopia

2024Alemnew, Teklebirhan; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Details

Real exchange rate misalignment and economic growth: An empirical analysis for Ethiopia

In both developing and developed economies, academic and policy discussions have consistently emphasized that achieving stable economic growth and maintaining internal and external balance require an exchange rate aligned with its long-term equilibrium value. This paper examines the impact of real exchange rate misalignment on Ethiopia’s economic growth from 1980 to 2022. The study begins by estimating the equilibrium real exchange rate using the Behavioral Equilibrium Exchange Rate (BEER) approach to calculate the misalignments. It then analyzes the effects of these misalignments on economic growth using Vector Autoregressive (VAR) and Hansen’s (2000) threshold regression model. The VAR and Impulse Response Function (IRF) analyses reveal that real exchange rate misalignments have an immediate positive impact on economic growth, which diminishes between the eighth and sixteenth years and stabilizes as a permanent long-term effect. The threshold regression results indicate that undervaluation of the Ethiopian Birr enhances economic growth up to a 13.95% deviation from the equilibrium real exchange rate, while overvaluation supports growth up to a 7.15% threshold. Beyond these limits, misalignments hinder growth. The study underscores the importance of avoiding excessive deviations from the equilibrium exchange rate to sustain economic growth. Furthermore, it highlights the need for consistent macroeconomic policies to minimize the gap between the actual and equilibrium real exchange rates. These findings emphasize the critical role of exchange rate policy in promoting sustainable economic development in Ethiopia.

Year published

2024

Authors

Alemnew, Teklebirhan; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum

Citation

Alemnew, Teklebirhan; and Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum. 2024. Real exchange rate misalignment and economic growth: An empirical analysis for Ethiopia. ESSP Working Paper 163. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172441

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Economic Growth; Policies; Exchange Rate

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Working Paper

Events

Release of the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Ghana
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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August 24, 2023, 5:30 – 7:00 am

Release of the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Ghana

Event: August 24, 2023 – 5:30 AM- 7:00 AM EDT. IFPRI is co-hosting the release of the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Ghana under the Nexus Project in partnership with the Ghana Statistical Service and the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research.

Irrigation sensible à la nutrition au Mali : un guide pour progresser en matière de sécurité hydrique, alimentaire et nutritionnelle au Mali
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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August 2, 2023, 9:00 – 10:30 am

Irrigation sensible à la nutrition au Mali : un guide pour progresser en matière de sécurité hydrique, alimentaire et nutritionnelle au Mali

Virtual Event: August 2, 2023 – 9:00 AM- 10:30 AM EDT. Irrigation contributes to agricultural intensification and farm profitability, helps farm households extend the growing season, and is increasingly important for farmers’ resilience to climate shocks and stressors. Please join us for a webinar to discuss this important topic on August 2 at 9:00 EST and 13:00 GMT (Bamako time).

Harmful Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Subsidies
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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December 14, 2022, 3:00 – 4:30 pm

Harmful Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Subsidies

Virtual Event: December 14, 2022 – 3:00 PM- 4:30 PM EST. This seminar will discuss the harmful environmental impacts of agricultural subsidies and how repurposing them could lead to policies that work better for people and the planet.

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Blogs

Transforming rural livelihoods: Lessons from the Africa RISING program
IFPRI Blog
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February 24, 2025

Transforming rural livelihoods: Lessons from the Africa RISING program

By Carlo Azzarri, Beliyou Haile, and Sedi-Anne Boukaka

Improving smallholder farming systems in four countries.

Borlaug Dialogue side event: Reducing food loss and waste to address climate change in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia
IFPRI Blog
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December 26, 2024

Borlaug Dialogue side event: Reducing food loss and waste to address climate change in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia

By Nandita Srivastava

Managing value chains to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Egypt’s experience bridging cash transfers and an economic inclusion program for sustainable social protection
IFPRI Blog
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December 18, 2024

Egypt’s experience bridging cash transfers and an economic inclusion program for sustainable social protection

By James Allen IV, Daniel Gilligan, Sikandra Kurdi, and Basma Yassa

A path for moving out of poverty.

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