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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

Kate Ambler

Kate Amber is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit. Kate’s research broadly focuses on interventions that can increase incomes for smallholders and other microenterprises in agrifood value chains, with a specific focus on the inclusion of women. This includes work on programming in fragile settings, innovations in agricultural finance, and regulatory solutions for food safety. 

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

Innovation Policy and Scaling

Jen Foley

Senior Program Manager, HarvestPlus

Bio

Jen Foley is a Senior Program Manager and the lead of knowledge translation for HarvestPlus in the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health through biofortification and provides global leadership on agricultural-nutrition evidence and technology. Jen leads multicountry projects across Africa and Asia that bring together interdisciplinary partners to implement and scale proven solutions that tackle malnutrition. She also supports the generation of scientific evidence through the HarvestPlus research portfolio on the efficacy of nutrient-enriched crops on nutrition and health globally. Jen has field experience in West and East Africa, including in Gambia, Rwanda, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in South and Southeast Asia, particularly in India and Cambodia.

Before joining IFPRI, Jen managed research projects and gained expertise in science communications at HarvestPlus and at universities and research institutes in Canada and the United Kingdom. She received a master of science degree in public health nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and bachelor’s degrees in life sciences and kinesiology and physical education from Edinburgh University, UK, and Queen’s University, Canada.

HarvestPlus

Innovation Policy and Scaling

Publications

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Book Chapter

Plant-source foods: Leveraging crops for nutrition and healthy diets

2024Boy, Erick; Brouwer, Inge D.; Foley, Jen; Palacios, Natalia; Scott, Samuel P.; Taleon, Victor
Details

Plant-source foods: Leveraging crops for nutrition and healthy diets

Addressing the urgent need for food systems to support sustainable healthy diets will require a major improvement in the availability of and access to affordable, nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in low- and middle-income countries, along with increased consumer demand for healthy diets. Plant-source foods are key components of sustainable healthy diets. This chapter examines food crops that could be leveraged to improve health outcomes, describes production systems and their role in providing populations access to highly nutritious crops, and presents examples of evidence-based technologies that improve the nutritional content of crops, especially for vulnerable populations.

Year published

2024

Authors

Boy, Erick; Brouwer, Inge D.; Foley, Jen; Palacios, Natalia; Scott, Samuel P.; Taleon, Victor

Citation

Boy, Erick; Brouwer, Inge D.; Foley, Jennifer; Palacios, Natalia; Scott, Samuel P.; and Taleon, Victor. 2024. Plant-source foods: Leveraging crops for nutrition and healthy diets. In Global food policy report 2024: Food systems for healthy diets and nutrition. Chapter 6, Pp. 54-61. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141888

Keywords

Nutrition; Healthy Diets; Food Crops; Food Consumption; Biofortification; Food Processing

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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Journal Article

Preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course: A call to action

2024Lowe, Nicola M.; Hall, Andrew G.; Broadley, Martin R.; Foley, Jen; Boy, Erick; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.
Details

Preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course: A call to action

Through diverse roles, zinc determines a greater number of critical life functions than any other single micronutrient. Beyond the well-recognized importance of zinc for child growth and resistance to infections, zinc has numerous specific roles covering the regulation of glucose metabolism, and growing evidence links zinc deficiency with increased risk of diabetes and cardiometabolic disorders. Zinc nutriture is thus vitally important to health across the life course. Zinc deficiency is also one of the most common forms of micronutrient malnutrition globally. A clearer estimate of the burden of health disparity attributable to zinc deficiency in adulthood and later life emerges when accounting for its contribution to global elevated fasting blood glucose and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Yet progress attenuating its prevalence has been limited due, in part, to the lack of sensitive and specific methods to assess human zinc status. This narrative review covers recent developments in our understanding of zinc’s role in health; the impact of the changing climate and global context on zinc intake; novel functional biomarkers showing promise for monitoring population-level interventions; and solutions for improving population zinc intake. It aims to spur on implementation of evidence-based interventions for preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course. Increasing zinc intake and combatting global zinc deficiency requires context-specific strategies and a combination of complementary, evidence-based interventions including supplementation, food fortification, and food and agricultural solutions such as biofortification, alongside efforts to improve zinc bioavailability. Enhancing dietary zinc content and bioavailability through zinc biofortification is an inclusive nutrition solution that can benefit the most vulnerable individuals and populations affected by inadequate diets to the greatest extent.

Year published

2024

Authors

Lowe, Nicola M.; Hall, Andrew G.; Broadley, Martin R.; Foley, Jen; Boy, Erick; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.

Citation

Lowe, Nicola M.; Hall, Andrew G.; Broadley, Martin R.; Foley, Jennifer; Boy, Erick; and Bhutta, Zulfiqar A. 2024. Preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course: A call to action. Advances in Nutrition 15(3): 100181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100181

Keywords

Zinc; Micronutrient Deficiencies; Deficiency Diseases; Biofortification; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100181 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Transforming Nigerian food systems through their backbones: Lessons from a decade of staple crop biofortification programing

2022Birol, Ekin; Foley, Jen; Herrington, Caitlin; Misra, Rewa; Mudyahoto, Bho; Pfeiffer, Wolfgang; Diressie, Michael Tedla; Ilona, Paul
Details

Transforming Nigerian food systems through their backbones: Lessons from a decade of staple crop biofortification programing

This article presents the evolution of the biofortification program in Nigeria over the last decade and the role of interdisciplinary research in informing cost-effective, efficient, and inclusive development; implementation; and scaling of this program. Launched in 2011 to improve Nigeria’s food systems to deliver accessible and affordable nutrients through commonly consumed staples, the Nigeria biofortification program was implemented through an effective partnership between the CGIAR and public, private, and civil society sectors at federal, state, and local levels. By the end of 2021, several biofortified varieties of Nigeria’s 2 main staples, namely cassava and maize, were officially released for production by smallholders, with several biofortified varieties of other key staples (including pearl millet, rice, and sorghum) either under testing or in the release pipeline. In 2021, the program was estimated to benefit 13 million Nigerians consuming biofortified cassava and maize varieties. The evidence on the nutritional impact, consumer and farmer acceptance, and cost-effective scalability of biofortified crops documented by the program resulted in the integration of biofortified crops in several key national public policies and social protection programs; private seed and food company products/investments, as well as in humanitarian aid.

Year published

2022

Authors

Birol, Ekin; Foley, Jen; Herrington, Caitlin; Misra, Rewa; Mudyahoto, Bho; Pfeiffer, Wolfgang; Diressie, Michael Tedla; Ilona, Paul

Citation

Birol, Ekin; Foley, Jennifer; Herrington, Caitlin; Misra, Rewa S.; Mudyahoto, Bho; Pfeiffer, Wolfgang; Diressie, Michael Tedla; and Ilona, Paul. 2023. Transforming Nigerian food systems through their backbones: Lessons from a decade of staple crop biofortification programing. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 44(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/03795721221117361

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Sorghum; Pearl Millet; Biofortification; Rice; Interdisciplinary Research; Maize; Cassava; Food Systems

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1177/03795721221117361 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Global Food Policy Report 2024: Leveraging plant-source foods for sustainable healthy diets
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 04, 2024

Global Food Policy Report 2024: Leveraging plant-source foods for sustainable healthy diets

By Erick Boy, Inge Brouwer, Jen Foley, Natalia Palacios, Samuel Scott, and Victor Taleon

Integrating more fruits, vegetables, and other high-quality crops into food systems.

Potential impact of zinc-enriched rice on zinc intakes in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines
IFPRI Blog
 | 
September 20, 2024

Potential impact of zinc-enriched rice on zinc intakes in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines

By Fabiana F. De Moura, Mourad Moursi, Moira Donahue Angel, Erick Boy, and Jen Foley

Nutritional benefits of enhanced biofortification.

Research-backed policy to eliminate miniket rice in Bangladesh will improve nutrition
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 01, 2024

Research-backed policy to eliminate miniket rice in Bangladesh will improve nutrition

By Victor Taleon, Zakiul Hasan, and Jen Foley

Over-processing removes essential nutrients.

View all Blogs

Events

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

October 16 to 20, 2023

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference

Hybrid Conference: October 16, 2023 – 8:30 AM to October 20, 2023 – 5:00 PM CEST. IFPRI is pleased to participate in this year’s Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference, being held at the World Forum in The Hague October 16–20, with a focus on “Nutrition for Resilience (N4R).