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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

Carlo Azzarri

Carlo Azzarri is a Senior Research Fellow in the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. His work focuses on the relationships among poverty, nutrition, food security, agriculture, the environment, production, and migration—analyzed at both micro and macroeconomic levels, primarily using quantitative methods.

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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 University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is dedicated to advancing the knowledge in agricultural, human and natural resources. The Institute seeks to make their knowledge accessible to sustain and improve upon the quality of human life. IFAS also provides research and development for Florida’s agricultural, natural resources and related food industries.

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Publications

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Journal Article

Confidence and information usage: Evidence from soil testing in India

2025Gars, Jared; Fishman, Ram; Kishore, Avinash; Rothler, Yoav; Ward, Patrick S.
Details

Confidence and information usage: Evidence from soil testing in India

Informational barriers are often considered to be a major constraint to the adoption of improved farming practices, inputs, and technologies by smallholder farmers. In the Indian context, it is widely believed that farmers misapply chemical fertilizers because they lack scientific information on soil conditions and corresponding fertilizer recommendations, thus resulting in imbalanced and potentially detrimental fertilizer application. Policymakers are frequently interested in providing farmers with various streams of information to overcome these informational barriers to optimize farming activities. However, such informational interventions frequently fail either because generic recommendations may be ill-suited for decision makers in highly heterogeneous agricultural environments or because farmers’ beliefs may be so entrenched as to make them unresponsive to new information. We implemented a field experiment in Bihar, India to test whether plot-specific fertilizer recommendations affect farmers’ fertilizer use. We find little evidence for sizable impacts on fertilizer use in general, though impacts are more apparent for low cost or costless recommendations such as increasing the use of highly subsidized fertilizers or shifting the timing of application. Despite modest evidence of such effects, even those fall short of their potential magnitude. We show that treated farmers who are less confident in their subjective beliefs about optimal fertilizer application rates (i.e., with more disperse priors) are more responsive to the recommendations and have a higher ex ante willingness to pay for soil testing. These results suggest that heterogeneity in beliefs may constrain the overall effectiveness of information provision, even when the information is tailored to individual farms. JEL Classification: D83, O13

Year published

2025

Authors

Gars, Jared; Fishman, Ram; Kishore, Avinash; Rothler, Yoav; Ward, Patrick S.

Citation

Gars, Jared; Fishman, Ram; Kishore, Avinash; Rothler, Yoav; and Ward, Patrick S. Confidence and information usage: Evidence from soil testing in India. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Article in press. First published online January 23, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12513

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Fertilizers; Soil Analysis; Smallholders

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12513 Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

Access to markets, weather risk, and livestock production decisions: Evidence from Ethiopia

2020Abay, Kibrom A.; Jensen, Nathaniel D.
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Access to markets, weather risk, and livestock production decisions: Evidence from Ethiopia

Despite several studies showing the effect of access to markets and weather conditions on crop production, we know quite little on whether and how livestock production systems respond to variation in weather risk and access to markets. In this paper, we study whether and how livestock production responds to access to markets and varying weather risk. We also explore whether such responses vary across livelihood zones and livestock production systems. We study these research questions using information on the livestock production, ownership, and marketing decisions of households in Ethiopia. We find that households living close to markets are more likely to engage in market-oriented livestock production and use modern livestock inputs. We also find that households exposed to more unpredictable weather are less likely to engage in livestock production for markets. Rather, they are more likely to engage in livestock production for precautionary savings and insurance. Furthermore, greater rainfall uncertainty influences livestock portfolio allocation towards those types of livestock which can be easily liquidated, while also discouraging investment in modern livestock inputs. However, these responses and patterns vary across livelihood zones and production systems – most of these stylized responses and impacts are more pronounced in the arid and semi-arid lands of Ethiopia, where livestock herding remains a dominant source of livelihood. Those households relying only on livestock production seem more sensitive and responsive to weather risk and weather shocks. The heterogeneity in responses to and impacts of weather risk among farming systems and livelihoods highlights the need for more tailored livestock sector policies and interventions.

Year published

2020

Authors

Abay, Kibrom A.; Jensen, Nathaniel D.

Citation

Abay, Kibrom A.; and Jensen, Nathaniel D. 2020. Access to markets, weather risk, and livestock production decisions: Evidence from Ethiopia. ESSP Working Paper 138. Washington, DC; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); and Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Policy Studies Institute. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133611.

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Livestock Production; Marketing; Market Access; Livestock; Weather; Risk

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133611 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Article has an altmetric score of 6
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Working Paper

Irrigation-nutrition linkages: Evidence from northern Ghana

2019Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Choufani, Jowel; Bryan, Elizabeth; Abizari, Abdul-Razak; Ringler, Claudia; Amikuzuno, Joseph
Details

Irrigation-nutrition linkages: Evidence from northern Ghana

We analyze the linkages between irrigation and nutrition using data from irrigators and non-irrigators in Northern Ghana. The results show that (i) there is a modest difference in the overall household dietary diversity score between irrigators and non-irrigators, (ii) there are significant differences in the consumption of animal source foods between irrigators and non-irrigators, (iii) there are significant differences in the consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as sugar and honey between irrigators and non-irrigators, and (iv) the sources of food consumption differ between irrigators and non-irrigators. The analysis shows strong association between households’ nutritional status and their access to irrigation, with evidences suggesting that the irrigation-nutrition linkages play out both through the income and production pathways in Northern Ghana.

Year published

2019

Authors

Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Choufani, Jowel; Bryan, Elizabeth; Abizari, Abdul-Razak; Ringler, Claudia; Amikuzuno, Joseph

Citation

Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Choufani, Jowel; Bryan, Elizabeth; Abizari, Abdul-Razak; Ringler, Claudia; and Amikuzuno, Joseph. 2019. Irrigation-nutrition linkages: Evidence from northern Ghana. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1887. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147308

Country/Region

Ghana

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Income; Production; Technology; Capacity Development; Nutrition; Irrigation; Food Consumption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133515 Source record

Project

Water, Land and Ecosystems

Record type

Working Paper

Article has an altmetric score of 11

Events

CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture Convention
IFPRI at External Event

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October 3 to 5, 2018

CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture Convention

IFPRI Staff are participating in the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture co-hosted by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) taking place October 3-5, 2018 at the Campus of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya. This convention is the second yearly event to bring together the people and organizations that make the […]