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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

Cynthia Paz

Senior Research Analyst

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Bio

Cynthia Paz is a Senior Research Analyst with the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit, and is based at IFPRI-Washington, DC.

Publications

Publications

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Journal Article

Can survey design reduce anchoring bias in recall data? Evidence from smallholder farmers in Malawi

2024Godlonton, Susan; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Paz, Cynthia
Details

Can survey design reduce anchoring bias in recall data? Evidence from smallholder farmers in Malawi

Recall biases in retrospective self-reported survey data have important implications for empirical research. We leverage the survey design literature and test three strategies to attenuate mental anchoring in retrospective data collection: question ordering, retrieval cues and aggregate (community) anchoring. We focus on maize production and happiness reports among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Asking for retrospective before concurrent data on average reduces recall bias (i.e. the deviation of the recalled versus the concurrent outcome reported in the previous period) by 34 per cent for maize production, a meaningful improvement with no increase in data collection costs. Retrieval cues are less successful and community anchors can exacerbate the bias. None of the strategies help to ease the recall bias for happiness reports.

Year published

2024

Authors

Godlonton, Susan; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Paz, Cynthia

Citation

Godlonton, Susan; Hernandez, Manuel A.; and Paz, Cynthia. European Review of Agricultural Economics. Article in Press. First published online on November 6, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbae026

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Survey Design; Data Collection; Maize; Smallholders; Agriculture

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbae026 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

COVID-19 and extreme weather: Impacts on food security and migration attitudes in the rural area of Guatemala

2024Ceballos, Francisco; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Paz, Cynthia
Details

COVID-19 and extreme weather: Impacts on food security and migration attitudes in the rural area of Guatemala

This paper examines the continuing effects of COVID-19 and exposure to weather extremes on income, dietary, and migration outcomes in the rural area of Guatemala. We rely on a comprehensive longitudinal survey of 1,612 smallholder farmers collected over three survey rounds in 2019, 2020, and 2021. We find improvements in incomes, food security, dietary diversity, and animal source foods (ASF) consumption in 2021 relative to 2020, but with levels still below pre-pandemic ones in 2019. We also find a substantial increase in the intention to emigrate that was not observed in the onset of the pandemic. In terms of the channels mediating the variations in dietary diversity and migration intentions, income shocks seem to have played a role, in contrast to direct exposure to the virus, local mobility restrictions, and food market disruptions. Importantly, households exposed to ETA and IOTA tropical storms, in addition to COVID-19, were considerably more prone to exhibit larger increases in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecure episodes and larger decreases in their diet quality and ASF consumption. The study provides novel evidence on vulnerable households’ wellbeing in the aftermath of a global crisis, including the effects of compound shocks.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ceballos, Francisco; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Paz, Cynthia

Citation

Ceballos, Francisco; Hernandez, Manuel A.; and Paz, Cynthia. 2024. COVID-19 and extreme weather: Impacts on food security and migration attitudes in the rural area of Guatemala. World Development 173(2024): 106422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106422

Country/Region

Guatemala

Keywords

Latin America; Covid-19; Food Security; Extreme Weather Events; Households; Income; Diet; Migration; Rural Areas; Shock

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106422 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Brief

Feed the Future Guatemala Value Chains Project: Summary of impact evaluation study

2023Hernandez, Manuel A.; Ceballos, Francisco; Paz, Cynthia; Espinoza, Alvaro
Details

Feed the Future Guatemala Value Chains Project: Summary of impact evaluation study

Guatemala experiences high and continued chronic malnutrition and poverty rates, with a particular concentration around predominantly rural and indigenous areas in the Western Highlands. Agricultural development is similarly low in the region, with farmers generally cultivating small landholdings, showing low agricultural productivity, and having limited ability for capital investment and an overall lack of market opportunities, combined with a relatively weak government support. This brief presents the main findings of the impact evaluation of USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) Guatemala Value Chains Project that aimed to increase agricultural incomes, strengthen resilience, and improve nutritional outcomes of small farmers and their families in the Western Highlands of the country. The Project was created in 2017, building on the successes and lessons learned from the previous five years of implementation of the FTF Initiative in Guatemala, and relying on four expected results: improving agricultural productivity and diversifying income generation alternatives; expanding access to markets; increasing resilience through implementation of climate-smart and nutrition sensitive agriculture; and strengthening the agriculture and food security enabling environment.

Year published

2023

Authors

Hernandez, Manuel A.; Ceballos, Francisco; Paz, Cynthia; Espinoza, Alvaro

Citation

Hernandez, Manuel A.; Ceballos, Francisco; Paz, Cynthia; and Espinoza, Alvaro. 2023. Feed the Future Guatemala Value Chains Project: Summary of impact evaluation study. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137042

Country/Region

Guatemala

Keywords

Latin America; Central America; Northern America; Investment; Farmers; Malnutrition; Markets; Agricultural Development; Food Security; Poverty; Rural Areas

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137042 Source record

Record type

Brief

Blogs

Survey: Short-term impacts of COVID-19 in rural Guatemala call for a closer, continuous look at the food security and nutritional patterns of vulnerable families
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 13, 2021

Survey: Short-term impacts of COVID-19 in rural Guatemala call for a closer, continuous look at the food security and nutritional patterns of vulnerable families

By Francisco Ceballos, Manuel Hernandez, and Cynthia Paz

A lockdown and other pandemic measures erode incomes, food security, and dietary diversity in the Western Highlands.