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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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experts

Development Strategies and Governance

Bedru Balana

Research Fellow and Acting Program Leader, Nigeria

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Bio

Bedru Balana is a Research Fellow and the Acting Program Leader for the Nigeria Country Program in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit, based in IFPRI’s Nigeria office. He is an agricultural economist with extensive experience in applied microeconomic research to inform agricultural development and food policies in Africa. His core research areas include technical and institutional constraints to investments in smallholder agriculture, agricultural markets, rural finance, agricultural technology adoption, climate-smart agriculture, livelihoods and poverty, and food and nutrition security in developing countries. He currently leads and manages large research-for-development (R4D) projects, oversees the planning and implementation of household surveys, and delivers capacity strengthening trainings. Through his supervision, mentorship, and communication with research staff, local partners, and collaborators, Bedru ensures timely completion of project activities, and his engagement with program implementers, policymakers, and donors helps inform the design and delivery of programs and policies that can sustainably enhance food security and reduce poverty in low-income countries. He has published more than 50 articles in high-impact, peer-reviewed international journals as well as book chapters, policy briefs, and technical reports. He has experience in Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso, where he undertakes several agriculture development research, policy dialogue, and capacity strengthening activities. Prior to joining IFPRI, Bedru worked in different academic and development research organizations including Mekelle University (Ethiopia), James Hutton Institute (UK), and in two CGIAR centers (IWMI and IFPRI). He earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Addis Ababa University, and a PhD in agricultural economics from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.

CV

Publications

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Working Paper

Do public works investments in watershed rehabilitation and small-scale irrigation improve nutrition and resilience? Evidence from bureau for humanitarian assistance interventions in support of Ethiopia’s productive safety net program

2024Balana, Bedru; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Arega, Tiruwork; Ringler, Claudia; Bryan, Elizabeth; Yami, Mastewal; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum; Wondwosen, Abenezer
Details

Do public works investments in watershed rehabilitation and small-scale irrigation improve nutrition and resilience? Evidence from bureau for humanitarian assistance interventions in support of Ethiopia’s productive safety net program

Between 2017 and 2021, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of the United States Agency for International Development supported public works in the areas of watershed rehabilitation and small-scale irrigation under Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). The investments aimed to improve food security and nutrition and to increase the resilience capacities of households through improved natural resource systems and asset development. However, there is little evidence about how these water-related investments supported household food security, nutritional outcomes, and resilience. This study used a mixed-methods approach to fill some of these knowledge gaps. Econometric results show that households in BHA intervention areas had smaller food gaps, and this association is statistically significant. Similarly, households that adopted small-scale irrigation and water harvesting techniques on their own plots show significantly better nutritional outcomes than those that did not. The results further suggest that in general the households in BHA areas are more resilient than those in non-BHA woredas. However, higher resilience capacities are associated with agricultural water management on own plots rather than with public works in communal lands. Thus, if household security, nutrition and resilience are key goals of program interventions, then programs need to grow intentionality in developing assets, and particularly irrigation.

Year published

2024

Authors

Balana, Bedru; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Arega, Tiruwork; Ringler, Claudia; Bryan, Elizabeth; Yami, Mastewal; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum; Wondwosen, Abenezer

Citation

Balana, Bedru; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Arega, Tiruwork; Ringler, Claudia; Bryan, Elizabeth; et al. 2024. Do public works investments in watershed rehabilitation and small-scale irrigation improve nutrition and resilience? Evidence from bureau for humanitarian assistance interventions in support of Ethiopia’s productive safety net program. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2308. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168643

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Public Works; Public Investment; Watershed Management; Small-scale Irrigation; Nutrition; Resilience; Social Safety Nets; Food Security

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

NEXUS Gains

Record type

Working Paper

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Report

Does labelling differentiate products and create price premiums? The case of tomatoes from northeast Nigeria

2024Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Shi, Weilun
Details

Does labelling differentiate products and create price premiums? The case of tomatoes from northeast Nigeria

This note describes a labelling experiment introduced to crates of tomatoes cool transported from the northeast region of Nigeria to Lagos or Port Harcourt. A label was attached to a random sample of crates to ensure that the quality of tomatoes is orthogonal to the labels and the destination market was not informed of the experiment. The label contained the information on (a) the project (IFPRI), (b) the transportation method (cool transportation), and (c) the origin of tomatoes (Jos or Gombe), as shown below. The experiment was conducted in the first rounds from Jos and Gombe (Lagos), and the fifth round from Jos (Port Harcourt). As expected, the labeled crates were priced higher than the unlabeled crates. About 9 to 33% of the sale price is attributed to improved information on the quality of tomatoes via the labels.

Year published

2024

Authors

Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Shi, Weilun

Citation

Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth; and Shi, Weilun. 2024. Does labelling differentiate products and create price premiums? The case of tomatoes from northeast Nigeria. CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets Technical Report. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168929

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Prices; Tomatoes; Capacity Building; Labelling; Cold Chains; Experimental Design

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Report

Solar drying technology for post-harvest loss management of horticulture products: Findings from baseline survey in Nigeria

2024Balana, Bedru; Popoola, Olufemi; Yamauchi, Futoshi; Olanipekun, Caleb; Totin, Edmond; Salaudeen, Kamaldeen Oladimeji; Muhammad, Aminu; Shi, Weilun; Liu, Yanyan
Details

Solar drying technology for post-harvest loss management of horticulture products: Findings from baseline survey in Nigeria

Creating a sustainable food system requires addressing the critical challenges of food waste and loss. This is particularly crucial for small-scale farmers who supply local markets but lack access to modern preservation technologies, leading to significant product losses between harvesting and selling. Research indicates that in low-and middle-income countries, approximately 38 percent of harvested perishable agricultural goods are lost before consumption. Globally, about 22 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost in the supply chain before reaching retailers (FAO, 2019). These postharvest losses have significant impacts to low economic return and household food and nutrition security. Post-harvest losses also contribute significantly to environmental concerns, accounting for roughly 8 percent of yearly global greenhouse gas emissions. Among all food categories, fruits and vegetables experience the highest losses by weight.

Year published

2024

Authors

Balana, Bedru; Popoola, Olufemi; Yamauchi, Futoshi; Olanipekun, Caleb; Totin, Edmond; Salaudeen, Kamaldeen Oladimeji; Muhammad, Aminu; Shi, Weilun; Liu, Yanyan

Citation

Balana, Bedru; Popoola, Olufemi; Yamauchi, Futoshi; Olanipekun, Caleb; Totin, Edmond; et al. 2024. Solar drying technology for post-harvest loss management of horticulture products: Findings from baseline survey in Nigeria. CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets Technical Report. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169151

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Capacity Development; Food Security; Horticulture; Households; Nutrition; Solar Drying; Sustainability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Report

Events

WFP Climate Impact Evaluation Forum
IFPRI at External Event

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October 7 to 9, 2024

WFP Climate Impact Evaluation Forum

Extreme weather events pose one of the biggest threats to global food security. Increasingly, climate disasters like floods, droughts, and cyclones, are striking regions previously unaccustomed to such crises. In the Asia Pacific region, the United Nations World Food Programme work hand-in-hand with several partners to support vulnerable communities preparing, responding, and recovering from climate shocks […]

Africa Food Systems Forum 2024 Summit
IFPRI at External Event

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September 2 to 6, 2024

Africa Food Systems Forum 2024 Summit

The Africa Food Systems Forum 2024 annual summit will be a timely opportunity to convene diverse stakeholders, including world leaders, investors, academia, farmers’ organizations, and the private sector, to spotlight innovations, technologies, best practices, business models, policy delivery mechanisms, and investments to accelerate food systems transformation in Africa and beyond, with youth and women at […]

WFP Impact Evaluation Forum
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

December 4 to 7, 2023

WFP Impact Evaluation Forum

Event: December 4, 2023 – 09:00 AM to December 7, 2023 – 6:30 PM CET. IFPRI is participating in the first United Nations World Food Programme Impact Evaluation Forum in Rome, Italy.

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News

August 27, 2022 | In the News

FG inaugurates six-year policy to promote innovation, investment in agric sector (The Cable) 

The Cable (Nigeria) published an article announcing the six-year national agricultural technology and innovation policy (NATIP) from 2022 to 2027 to enhance agribusiness in the country. The policy also aims to increase resilience and digital agriculture, thereby, promoting agricultural investments.   Bedru Balana, country program leader, IFPRI, said women and youth should be mainstreamed across the […]

August 26, 2022 | In the News

Untapped potential in agriculture can help food security – USAID/Nigeria (News Agency Nigeria) 

News Agency Nigeria posted an article on the launch of the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP) 2022 – 2027.  Agriculture is important to the growth and development of the economy, adding that in 2020, agriculture contributed over 25 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The new policy is a deliberate effort by […]

July 26, 2019 | In the News

Irrigation earns flood-prone farmers US$4,344 a hectare (SciDev.Net)

Promoting flood-recession agriculture could reduce seasonal migration during the dry season, helping farmers increase production, income, and food security. 

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