IFPRI CGIAR
Subscribe

Back

What we do

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.

benin_samuel_0

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.

Where we work

Back

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.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

Subscribe

experts

Development Strategies and Governance

Mamata Pradhan

Research Coordinator

profile

Bio

Mamata Pradhan is a Research Coordinator in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, based in India. She is a scholar in development researching social protection programs. Her work portfolio involves large-scale multi-country and multi-stakeholder projects in the South Asia Region. She helped develop an integrated framework for trade, environment, and food security in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Dr. Pradhan is also engaged in a transect study where urban, rural, and peri-urban food systems are studied across socioeconomic differences. The study assesses the snacking pattern across different age groups, gender, location (rural, urban, and slum), and income classes; how bad-calories are crowding out good-calories; and what policy recommendations can be sketched out to promote healthy snacking across all subpopulations.

Dr. Pradhan has been part of various large-scale observational, experimental studies and impact evaluations assessing the links across agriculture-nutrition-health from a food systems perspective. She has worked on developing survey instruments, training of the field teams, and collection of data for various studies. She also researches institutional solutions for smallholder agriculture in the form of farmer organizations in India and some ASEAN countries. Her PhD thesis involved research on understanding the demand side of social protection programs and specifically focused on the case of public distribution of food in India, the world’s largest food-based safety net. Her earlier work portfolio at IFPRI included a large-scale multi-state and multi-stakeholder project focused on issues of nutrition security. Her research has frequently utilized Net-Map, a participatory interview method for mapping power and networks. Dr. Pradhan earned her PhD in International Development from the University of East Anglia.

Development Strategies and Governance

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Conference Proceedings

Proceedings of the Provincial Consultation Workshop on Food and Agriculture System Transformation in Nepal

2023Pradhan, Mamata; Palikhe, Aruna; Maharajan, Nanda; Adhikari, Madan; Pandey, Meena; Gupta, Shalini; Mohan, Anisha
Details

Proceedings of the Provincial Consultation Workshop on Food and Agriculture System Transformation in Nepal

The United States Government’s (USG) Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) is an integrated whole-of-government approach that aims to end global hunger, poverty, and malnutrition through the Feed the Future initiative. Launched in 2010 across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, Feed the Future aims to stimulate agriculture-led growth, resilience, and nutrition in countries with significant needs and opportunities for improvement. Through partnerships that invest in agriculture, build resilience, and improve nutrition, the USG has provided the basic dignity of food to millions of families worldwide. This initiative has delivered impressive results, including an estimated 23.4 million people lifted to above the poverty line, 3.4 million children no longer stunted, and an estimated 5.2 million families overcoming hunger. Additionally, Feed the Future has unlocked $3.5 billion in financing for food security (2011–2019), generated $13.7 billion in agricultural sales, and developed and deployed over 1,000 innovations. However, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, climate change, and international conflicts have significantly hampered the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a result, the USG has developed the Global Food Security Strategy Refresh (GFSS-R) 2022–2026 that emphasizes the following five new areas of focus: 1. Equity and inclusion 2. An ambitious approach to climate change 3. Countering the long-term impacts of COVID-19 4. Employing systems thinking and working across the food system 5. Integration of conflict management, peacebuilding, and social cohesion This strategy refresh has significant implications for the Feed the Future initiative; therefore, all Feed the Future countries have now embarked on refreshing the country strategy to incorporate new programs and initiatives aligning with the GFSS-R. The strategy involves implementing a multi-faceted whole-of-government approach, assignment of ownership, and empowerment of country leadership to lead and guide the efforts for progress. The strategy refresh invokes partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, and harnesses the advancement of science, technology, and innovation to achieve these objectives. The Feed the Future interventions in Nepal ensured a very close partnership with the Government of Nepal and emphasized greater involvement of the private sector. Nepal is one of the oldest and most successful Feed the Future countries. Although efforts have been made to ensure food security in Nepal, the country still faces nutritional deficiency. Agricultural productivity in Nepal is comparatively low, and most of the farmers are still engaged in subsistence farming. Further, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters, pests, and diseases, exacerbating food insecurity leading to the prevalence of nutrition deficiencies, especially among marginalized populations who rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods. The USAID mission in Nepal commissioned the IFPRI to support the drafting of the new GFSS Nepal Country Plan. In this regard, provincial consultation workshop has been planned in collaboration with IIDS to generate constructive ideas and feedback on the past and existing interventions implemented in Nepal under Feed the Future and identify a way forward for strengthening and leveraging food and agriculture system transformation in Nepal.

Year published

2023

Authors

Pradhan, Mamata; Palikhe, Aruna; Maharajan, Nanda; Adhikari, Madan; Pandey, Meena; Gupta, Shalini; Mohan, Anisha

Citation

Padhan, Mamata; Palikhe, Aruna; Maharajan, Nanda; Adhikari, Madan; Pandey, Meena; Gupta, Shalini; and Mohan, Anisha. 2023. Proceedings of the Provincial Consultation Workshop on Food and Agriculture System Transformation in Nepal. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137010

Country/Region

Nepal

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Coronavirus; Covid-19; Hunger; Agriculture; Malnutrition; Coronavirinae; Food Security; Coronavirus Disease; Poverty; Food Systems; Climate Change

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137010 Source record

Record type

Conference Proceedings

Resource thumbnail

Brief

India’s rice export restrictions and BIMSTEC countries: Implications and recommendations

2023Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil
Details

India’s rice export restrictions and BIMSTEC countries: Implications and recommendations

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) brings together five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). Recent events have raised global concerns on food security, including for BIMSTEC countries; these events include Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Ukraine, India’s prohibition on the export of non-basmati white rice, and its 20 percent export duty on parboiled rice. This policy note spells out the likely impact of one of these events, that is, India’s restrictions on rice exports to its fellow BIMSTEC nations. Trade moves food from surplus to deficit regions and hence is crucial for maintaining a stable food supply. Historically, the global supply of cereals has been stable (Bradford et al. 2022); this implies that trade (or the lack of it) can be directly mapped onto area-specific food insecurity. At the same time, shocks leading to trade disruption can pose serious challenges, particularly for countries with high import penetration in food.

Year published

2023

Authors

Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil

Citation

Kamar, Abul; Roy, Devesh; Pradhan, Mamata; and Saroj, Sunil. 2023. India’s rice export restrictions and BIMSTEC countries: Implications and recommendations. Policy Note September 2023. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136875

Country/Region

India; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Nepal; Sri Lanka

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Imports; Exports; Cereals; Rice; Trade Barriers; Trade; Food Security; Shocks

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136875 Source record

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Agricultural transformation and market integration in the ASEAN region: Responding to food security and inclusiveness concerns

2023Roy, Devesh; Kamar, Abul; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil; Ajmani, Manmeet
Details

Agricultural transformation and market integration in the ASEAN region: Responding to food security and inclusiveness concerns

In this paper, we address the question of the agricultural market integration of Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Philippines (CLMVP) countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and its other top trading partners. Using “Trade Potential” and “Competition Indices” indicators in this paper we assess the nature and extent of the agricultural market integration. We identify the exports of CLMVP countries with high export potential and comparatively low competition in export markets. Higher trade potential with lower competition (value or volume) indicates an opportunity of higher returns for agricultural producers. CLMVP countries are characterized by low diversity in agricultural exports. Nearly half of the total agricultural exports from all of them except Laos is contributed by only one commodity. It is found that market integration is an effective way of linking CLMVP smallholders to ASEAN agricultural markets. In addition to that this paper also discusses on tariff and non-tariff policy of CLMVP countries and found that the average tariffs on agri-food imports in CLMVP is 11.8% while it is 9.5% in non-CLMVP among the ASEAN countries. In non-tariff policy, among the CLMVP countries, Philippines shares the maximum number of SPS measures implemented on agricultural goods while Cambodia and Lao PDR did not report any SPS measures implemented by them between 2006 to 2020. Finally, to demonstrate the upward movement in the value chain, possibly due to quality upgradation, we present the dynamics of the unit values of CLMVP’s agricultural exports.

Year published

2023

Authors

Roy, Devesh; Kamar, Abul; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil; Ajmani, Manmeet

Citation

Roy, Devesh; Kamar, Abul; Pradhan, Mamata; Saroj, Sunil; and Ajmani, Manmeet. 2023. Agricultural transformation and market integration in the ASEAN region: Responding to food security and inclusiveness concerns. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2188. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136718

Country/Region

Cambodia; Myanmar; Philippines

Keywords

Laos; South-eastern Asia; Asia; Value Chains; Trade Associations; Imports; Exports; Policies; Commodities; Agriculture; Markets; Trade; Returns; Commodity Markets; Tariffs

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136718 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Informal trade: Insights from Phansidewa at the India-Bangladesh border
IFPRI Blog
 | 
September 22, 2023

Informal trade: Insights from Phansidewa at the India-Bangladesh border

By Nisha Taneja, Sanjana Joshi, Sanya Dua, Abul Kamar, Sunil Saroj, Devesh Roy, and Mamata Pradhan

Documenting a shifting landscape of commerce.

Sowing the seeds of resilience among smallholder farmers in Bangladesh
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 19, 2023

Sowing the seeds of resilience among smallholder farmers in Bangladesh

By Himanshu Pathak, Taslima Zahan, Apurbo Chaki, and Mamata Pradhan

Benefits of climate-smart strip-planting.

How India’s food-based safety net is responding to the COVID-19 lockdown
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 06, 2020

How India’s food-based safety net is responding to the COVID-19 lockdown

By Devesh Roy, Ruchira Boss, and Mamata Pradhan

Marshalling an array of social safety net programs to buttress food security among the poor.

News

March 15, 2023 | In the News

Recalibrate BIMSTEC (Hindu Business Line)

In an op-ed published by Hindu Business Line, IFPRI South Asia’s Devesh Roy, Shahidur Rashid, and Mamata Pradhan write, “Trade and investment are major instruments to attain food security across the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member-states, particularly in a climate-affected, post-pandemic world. However, trade and market integration is an area where the […]

March 06, 2023 | In the News

BIMSTEC at 25: Let Bangladesh lead the way for greater agri-food trade (The Daily Observer) 

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is the bridge between South and Southeast Asia and a unique regional cooperation initiative in the Bay of Bengal with contiguous nations, high economic growth, and a large market with access to Indian Ocean, write IFPRI’s Devesh Roy, Mamata Pradhan, and Shahidur Rashid in an […]

February 23, 2023 | In the News

RIS organizes workshop on capacity building in agri trade in association with Pondicherry University & IFPRI (Krishi Jagran)

The Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi-based think tank, recently organized a two-day capacity-building program in collaboration with Pondicherry University and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to familiarize young researchers and policy analysts with agricultural trade, reports Krishi Jagran (India). IFPRI’s Mamata Pradhan emphasized the importance of collaborative research, […]