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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.

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researcher spotlight

Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin is the Acting Director for Africa in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He conducts research on national strategies and public investment for accelerating food systems transformation in Africa and provides analytical support to the African Union’s CAADP Biennial Review.

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Development Strategies and Governance

Ben Belton

Research Fellow

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Ben Belton

Bio

Ben Belton is a Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, based in Dhaka. He is an applied interdisciplinary social scientist with more than 15 years’ field experience living and working in South and Southeast Asia, in countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, India, Cambodia, and Malaysia. Ben is a leading global scholar on aquaculture and fisheries development. His research interests are broad, spanning value chains, food systems, livelihoods, rural transformation, agrarian change, and their links to food and nutrition security, poverty, well-being, and the environment. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles on these subjects, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to develop an evidence base for effective policy actions. In addition to his role at IFPRI, Ben holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor, International Development at the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University.

Publications

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Publications

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Journal Article

African domestic supply booms in value chains of fruits, vegetables, and animal products fueled by spontaneous clusters of SMEs

2024Reardon, Thomas; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Belton, Ben; Dolislager, Michael; Minten, Bart; Popkin, Barry; Vos, Rob
Details

African domestic supply booms in value chains of fruits, vegetables, and animal products fueled by spontaneous clusters of SMEs

There is an international consensus that Africans consume less fruits and vegetables (FV), and animal products (AP) than they need for adequate nutrition, and that production and supply chains of these products are constrained. Yet, in this paper, we show that despite these problems, there is a lot of dynamism in demand and supply of these nutrient-dense products in Africa: (1) macro evidence of “domestic supply booms”—with supply growing as fast as or faster than in Asia and Latin America; (2) only 2–4% of FV, and 10% of AP consumption in Africa is imported, and only about 1–2% of the output of FV and AP is exported: the supply booms have thus been overwhelming domestically sourced, not imported; (3) micro evidence of substantial shares of consumption of FV and AP in total food consumption, similar to Asia’s; (4) evidence of rapid development of spontaneous clusters of farms and off-farm SMEs (output wholesalers, logistics, processors, and agro-dealers supporting farmers). These clusters are important in fueling the supply booms. Illustrative cases from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia are presented. We recommend that African governments and international partners: (1) internalize the fact that these spontaneous clusters are forming and already fueling supply booms; (2) note that important drivers of the booms have been government investments in wholesale markets, roads, and other infrastructure like electrification, and agricultural research/extension; (3) leverage and support existing spontaneous clusters and help new ones to form by greatly increasing those three types of public investments. JEL Codes: O20, Q13, Q18

Year published

2024

Authors

Reardon, Thomas; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Belton, Ben; Dolislager, Michael; Minten, Bart; Popkin, Barry; Vos, Rob

Citation

Reardon, Thomas; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Belton, Ben; Dolislager, Michael; Minten, Bart; Popkin, Barry; and Vos, Rob. 2024. African domestic supply booms in value chains of fruits, vegetables, and animal products fueled by spontaneous clusters of SMEs. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 46(2): 390-413. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13436

Country/Region

Ethiopia; Nigeria; Zambia

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Eastern Africa; Western Africa; Southern Africa; Animal Products; Enterprises; Fruits; Vegetables; Value Chains

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13436 Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Double jeopardy: COVID-19, coup d’état and poverty in Myanmar

2023
Boughton, Duncan; Headey, Derek D.; Mahrt, Kristi; Cho, Ame; Diao, Xinshen; Lambrecht, Isabel; Minten, Bart; Goeb, Joseph; Masias, Ian; Belton, Ben
…more Aung, Nilar; San, Cho Cho
Details

Double jeopardy: COVID-19, coup d’état and poverty in Myanmar

Myanmar experienced multiple COVID shocks as well as a military takeover in February 2021. Impacts on household poverty remain uncertain, however, because large-scale in-person surveys were impossible during the pandemic and heightened internal conflict. We use ex ante simulation models and phone survey evidence to estimate the poverty effects of these shocks and identify factors correlated with them. While each approach has limitations, and cannot explicitly validate each other, they both indicate rising rural and urban poverty and capital-depleting coping mechanisms. Wider use of simulation modeling could help mobilize social protection faster than waiting for survey results in emergencies.

Year published

2023

Authors

Boughton, Duncan; Headey, Derek D.; Mahrt, Kristi; Cho, Ame; Diao, Xinshen; Lambrecht, Isabel; Minten, Bart; Goeb, Joseph; Masias, Ian; Belton, Ben; Aung, Nilar; San, Cho Cho

Citation

Boughton, Duncan; Headey, Derek D.; Mahrt, Kristi; Cho, Ame; Diao, Xinshen; Lambrecht, Isabel; Minten, Bart; Belton, Ben; et al. Double jeopardy: COVID-19, coup d’état and poverty in Myanmar. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 45(4): 1998-2016. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13390

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

South-eastern Asia; Asia; Surveys; Coronavirus; Covid-19; Households; Coronavirinae; Coronavirus Disease; Poverty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13390 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Dataset of biological community structure in Deepor Beel using eDNA approach–A RAMSAR wetland of Assam, India

2023
Nikita, Rajkumari; Ghosh, Anwesha; Yash; Kumar, Chakresh; Mandal, Arkaprava; Saini, Nirupama; Dubey, Sourabh Kumar; Gogoi, Kalpajit; Rajts, Francois; Belton, Ben
…more Bhadury, Punyasloke
Details

Dataset of biological community structure in Deepor Beel using eDNA approach–A RAMSAR wetland of Assam, India

Deepor Beel, located in the state of Assam in India, is a Wetland of International Importance with a Wildlife Sanctuary and is the only RAMSAR site in the state. Though of invaluable ecological significance, the wetland is facing anthropogenic stressors, leading to rapid degradation of ecological health. In December 2022, surface water was collected from six stations of Deepor Beel to elucidate biological communities using the eDNA approach. At the time of sampling, in-situ environmental parameters were measured in triplicates. The dissolved nutrients and concentrations of metals and metalloids were estimated using UV–Vis Spectrophotometry and ICP-MS approaches respectively. The study revealed a high concentration of dissolved nitrate in the surface water. High-throughput sequencing using Nanopore sequencing chemistry in a MinION platform indicated the overwhelming abundance of Moraxellaceae (Prokaryotes) and Eumetazoa (Eukaryotes). The abundance of Cyprinidae were also encountered in the studied wetland reflecting the biodiversity of fish populations. High nitrate along with elucidated microbial signals are crucial to designate ecological health status of Deeper Beel. This study is aimed at generating baseline information to aid long-term monitoring and restoration of the Deepor Beel as well as the first comprehensive assessment of a RAMSAR Site located in northeast of India.

Year published

2023

Authors

Nikita, Rajkumari; Ghosh, Anwesha; Yash; Kumar, Chakresh; Mandal, Arkaprava; Saini, Nirupama; Dubey, Sourabh Kumar; Gogoi, Kalpajit; Rajts, Francois; Belton, Ben; Bhadury, Punyasloke

Citation

Nikita, Rajkumari; Ghosh, Anwesha; Yash; Kumar, Chakresh; Mandal, Arkaprava; Belton, Ben; et al. 2023. Dataset of biological community structure in Deepor Beel using eDNA approach–A RAMSAR wetland of Assam, India. Data in Brief 52(February 2024): 109786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109786

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Nanoplankton; Chordata; Wetlands; Freshwater

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109786 Source record

Record type

Journal Article