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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

Liangzhi You

Liangzhi You is a Senior Research Fellow and theme leader in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit, based in Washington, DC. His research focuses on climate resilience, spatial data and analytics, agroecosystems, and agricultural science policy. Gridded crop production data of the world (SPAM) and the agricultural technology evaluation model (DREAM) are among his research contributions. 

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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experts

Channing Arndt

Senior Director, Transformation Strategies, CGIAR and IFPRI

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Channing

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Bio

Channing Arndt is the Senior Director for Transformation Strategies, where he oversees four units within IFPRI/CGIAR: Natural Resources and Resilience, Innovation Policy and Scaling, Foresight and Policy Modeling, and Development Strategies and Governance, which houses IFPRI’s regional offices and country programs. He has worked closely with central decision-making organs at the national level in Africa and Asia, including six years of resident experience in the Ministry of Planning and Finance in Mozambique. He has dedicated his career to the systemic transformations that underpin inclusive and sustainable economic development, and established a reputation for building institutional capacity in countries and via research networks such as the African Economic Research Consortium. His recent books include Growth and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa; Measuring Poverty and Wellbeing in Developing Countries; and The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions. He has published research in leading academic journals on a range of topics including agricultural development, poverty measurement, poverty alleviation and growth, market integration, nutrition, gender and discrimination, HIV/AIDS, technological change, trade policy, aid effectiveness, energy, bioenergy, climate variability, and the implications of climate change.

Publications

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Publications

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Working Paper

Systematic risk profiling: A novel approach with applications to Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi

2024Mukashov, Askar; Robinson, Sherman; Thurlow, James; Arndt, Channing; Thomas, Timothy S.
Details

Systematic risk profiling: A novel approach with applications to Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi

This paper uses machine learning, simulation, and data mining methods to develop Systematic Risk Profiles of three developing economies: Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi. We focus on three exogenous shocks with implications for economic performance: world market prices, capital flows, and climate-driven sectoral productivity. In these and other developing countries, recent decades have been characterized by increased risks associated with all these factors, and there is a demand for instruments that can help to disentangle them. For each country, we utilize historical data to develop multi-variate distributions of shocks. We then sample from these distributions to obtain a series of shock vectors, which we label economic uncertainty scenarios. These scenarios are then entered into economywide computable general equilibrium (CGE) simulation models for the three countries, which allow us to quantify the impact of increased uncertainty on major economic indicators. Finally, we utilize importance metrics from the random forest machine learning algorithm and relative importance metrics from multiple linear regression models to quantify the importance of country-specific risk factors for country performance. We find that Malawi and Rwanda are more vulnerable to sectoral productivity shocks, and Kenya is more exposed to external risks. These findings suggest that a country’s level of development and integration into the global economy are key driving forces defining their risk profiles. The methodology of Systematic Risk Profiling can be applied to many other countries, delineating country-specific risks and vulnerabilities.

Year published

2024

Authors

Mukashov, Askar; Robinson, Sherman; Thurlow, James; Arndt, Channing; Thomas, Timothy S.

Citation

Mukashov, Askar; Robinson, Sherman; Thurlow, James; Arndt, Channing; and Thomas, Timothy S. 2024. Systematic risk profiling: A novel approach with applications to Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2286. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Kenya; Rwanda; Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Climate; Computable General Equilibrium Models; Machine Learning; Risk; Uncertainty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Working Paper

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Brief

From promises to action: Strengthening global commitments to fight hunger and food insecurity

2024
Menon, Purnima; Resnick, Danielle; Zorbas, Christina; Martin, Will; Vos, Rob; Jones, Eleanor; Suri, Shoba; Iruhiriye, Elyse; Headey, Derek D.; Arndt, Channing
…more Fritschel, Heidi
Details

From promises to action: Strengthening global commitments to fight hunger and food insecurity

Since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, heads of state and ministers at global convenings have repeatedly expressed commitments in support of achieving SDG2 — Zero Hunger — by 2030. Yet progress toward SDG2 has stalled, owing to economic slowdowns, unforeseen crises, geopolitical conflict, and lackluster investment in agricultural productivity and open trade. Where have commitments to SDG2 fallen short? While SDG2 calls for ending global hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition by 2030, this brief predominantly focuses on progress and commitments related to hunger and food insecurity. Drawing on the results of two recent studies, the policy brief (1) discusses trends and setbacks toward reducing hunger and food insecurity, (2) analyzes progress on the “means of implementation,” or mix of finances, technology, and policy choices, to address SDG2, (3) assesses 107 commitment statements in support of SDG2 made at 68 global meetings since 2015, and (4) explores how to improve accountability in the commitment-making process to accelerate progress toward Zero Hunger.

Year published

2024

Authors

Menon, Purnima; Resnick, Danielle; Zorbas, Christina; Martin, Will; Vos, Rob; Jones, Eleanor; Suri, Shoba; Iruhiriye, Elyse; Headey, Derek D.; Arndt, Channing; Fritschel, Heidi

Citation

Menon, Purnima; Resnick, Danielle; Zorbas, Christina; Martin, Will; Vos, Rob; Jones, Eleanor; Suri, Shoba; Iruhiriye, Elyse; Headey, Derek; Arndt, Channing; and Fritschel, Heidi. 2024. From promises to action: Strengthening global commitments to fight hunger and food insecurity. IFPRI Policy Brief July 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149046

Keywords

Food Security; Food Policies; Hunger; Governance; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Working Paper

From promises to action: Analyzing global commitments on food security and diets since 2015

2024Zorbas, Christina; Resnick, Danielle; Jones, Eleanor; Suri, Shoba; Iruhiriye, Elyse; Headey, Derek D.; Martin, Will; Vos, Rob; Arndt, Channing; Menon, Purnima
Details

From promises to action: Analyzing global commitments on food security and diets since 2015

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), Zero Hunger, by 2030 is in jeopardy due to slowing and unequal economic growth, climate shocks, the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, lackluster efforts toward investing in food system sustainability and agricultural productivity growth, and persistent barriers to open food trade. Nevertheless, numerous commitments to achieving SDG 2 have been repeatedly expressed by Heads of State and Ministers at diverse global meetings since the SDGs became a focus in 2015. To identify the intensity and degree of convergence of commitments that national governments have collectively made to realizing SDG 2, this paper provides a qualitative assessment of statements from more than 68 global meetings and 107 intergovernmental commitment documents since 2015. Analyzing these commitments against seven critical factors necessary for impact at scale, we find that stated intentions to solve the global food security and hunger challenge have become more pronounced at global meetings over time, especially in the wake of the crises. However, the intent to act is not consistently matched by commitments to specific actions that could help accelerate reductions in hunger. For instance, while increased financing is often recognized as a priority to reach SDG 2, few commitments in global fora relate to detailed costing of required investments. Similarly, many commitment statements lack specificity regarding what and how policy interventions should be scaled up for greater action on SDG 2 or the ways to enhance different stakeholders’ capacities to implement them. While horizontal coherence was mentioned across most global fora, it was only present in about half of the commitment statements, with even less recognition of the necessity for vertical coherence from global to local levels. Despite global acknowledgement of the importance of accountability and monitoring, usually by way of progress reports, we find few consequences for governments that do not act on commitments made in global fora. We discuss the implications of these findings and offer recommendations for how to strengthen the commitment-making process to help accelerate actions that can reduce food insecurity and hunger and augment the legitimacy of global meetings. This work can inform the policy advocacy community focused on SDG 2 and those engaged in catalyzing and supporting intergovernmental action on other SDGs. Our findings reiterate the importance of attention to global governance and the political economy of global meetings—which is necessary to strengthen our focus on delivering outcomes that put the world on a path that brings the solution to the problems of global hunger and food insecurity within reach.

Year published

2024

Authors

Zorbas, Christina; Resnick, Danielle; Jones, Eleanor; Suri, Shoba; Iruhiriye, Elyse; Headey, Derek D.; Martin, Will; Vos, Rob; Arndt, Channing; Menon, Purnima

Citation

Zorbas, Christina; Resnick, Danielle; Jones, Eleanor; Suri, Shoba; Iruhiriye, Elyse; Headey, Derek D.; Martin, Will; et al. 2024. From promises to action: Analyzing global commitments on food security and diets since 2015. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2238. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138946

Keywords

Food Security; Diet; Accountability; Food Policies; Hunger; Governance; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Climate Risk to Resilience: Financing adaptation in African countries
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 07, 2023

Climate Risk to Resilience: Financing adaptation in African countries

By Channing Arndt

New insights for scaling up efforts in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia.

IFPRI Global Food Policy Report 2022: Accelerating food systems transformation to combat climate change
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 12, 2022

IFPRI Global Food Policy Report 2022: Accelerating food systems transformation to combat climate change

By Johan Swinnen, Channing Arndt, and Rob Vos

Six policy priorities that can—and should—be implemented now.

The role of agriculture and food systems in achieving net zero global GHG emissions
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 24, 2021

The role of agriculture and food systems in achieving net zero global GHG emissions

By Channing Arndt

Agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) is currently the only major sector with serious potential to become a net emissions sink.

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Events

IFPRI @ 29th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

November 11 to 22, 2024

IFPRI @ 29th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29)

IFPRI is pleased to participate in the 29th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) being held in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11 to November 22, 2024. COP29 is a pivotal opportunity to accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis. With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe. […]

32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

August 2 to 7, 2024

32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists

The triennial International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE-2024), centred on the theme “Transformation Towards Sustainable Agri-Food Systems” is scheduled from August 2-7, 2024, in New Delhi, India. The conference offers a distinctive platform, providing a golden opportunity for the agricultural academic institutions and researchers to convene in person, exchange knowledge, and actively contribute to the […]

2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

July 8 to 18, 2024

2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held from Monday, July 8, to Wednesday, July 17, 2024, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Monday, July 15, to Wednesday, July 17, 2024 as part of the High-level Segment of the […]

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News

July 21, 2022 | In the News

Future scorching: Average temperature in India to grow by 4.4 degrees Celsius (Mint) 

Mint published an article, writing that IFPRI’s 2022 Global Food Policy Report reports that India’s summer heat waves are likely to triple or quadruple due to climate change. The Report finds, “South Asia is a climate change hotspot, with many climate-induced risks compounded by significant existing vulnerabilities.” Channing Arndt, Director of IFPRI’s Environment and Production […]

June 11, 2020 | In the News

Who has been hit hardest by South Africa’s lockdown? We found some answers (The Conversation)

The Conversation published an op-ed by EPTD Division Director Channing Arndt, Senior Research Fellow Emeritus Sherman Robinson, and Scientist Sherwin Gabriel that stated in the case of South Africa, the lockdown policies are relatively stringent, and the economic impacts large. Along with analysis and recommendations, the authors said, “With a catastrophic global pandemic coming on top of more than a […]

May 05, 2020 | In the News

SA’s economic recovery plan: Prof. Channing Arndt (SABC News)

SABC News interviewed EPTD Director Channing Arndt on the South Africa Scheme, ‘Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED)’ which has released an initial analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the South African economy. Arndt stated that “It would be difficult for the lockdown to go on for months. The flow of goods and services would have slowed by one-third. The longer the lockdown goes, the more […]

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