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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

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. 

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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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Development Strategies and Governance

Mulubrhan Amare

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

Mulubrhan Amare is a Senior Research Fellow with the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. His expertise lies in quantitative agricultural and development economics, with a specific focus on areas such as food and nutrition security, urbanization, agricultural transformation, and migration, and spans various focus areas, including impact evaluation, rural institutions, food system transformation, poverty and inequality, and conflict. Currently, his primary research efforts are directed towards food and nutrition security, conducting impact evaluations of agricultural technologies and development interventions, and exploring the ramifications of conflicts on regions within Africa south of the Saharan. Prior to joining IFPRI, he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Partnership for Economic Policy in Nairobi, Kenya. He also held a research position at Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany. He holds a master’s in Development Impact Evaluation and Management from the University of Antwerp, Belgium and earned his PhD in Economics from Leibniz University.

Google Scholar Citations

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Publications

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Journal Article

Conflicts, crop choice, and agricultural investments: Empirical evidence from Nigeria

2025Amare, Mulubrhan; Abay, Kibrom A.; Berhane, Guush; Andam, Kwaw S.; Adeyanju, Dolapo
Details

Conflicts, crop choice, and agricultural investments: Empirical evidence from Nigeria

Conflict remains a major driver of poverty in Africa. Conflicts and political instability in the region have been increasing recently and are drawing more attention in public discourse. While it is widely acknowledged that conflicts disrupt agricultural production and food systems, the full extent of the damage inflicted on the lives and livelihoods of farming households and the mechanisms to redress this harm remain poorly understood. In particular, the link between violent conflicts and households’ land allocation and related agricultural investment decisions remains understudied. In this study, we use geocoded longitudinal data along with detailed agricultural panel household surveys in Nigeria to assess the impact of violent conflicts on crop choice decisions and related agricultural investments. Specifically, we explore how farmers’ land allocation and agricultural investment decisions relate or respond to the outbreak and intensity of violent conflicts. We find that violent conflicts are associated with a reduction in the share of both land area cultivated and area harvested. We also find suggestive evidence that violent conflicts may shape farmers’ crop choices and related investments, as violent conflicts are associated with reduction in the share of land allocated to long-term crops (e.g., perennial crops, trees, roots and tubers). Overall, our findings suggest that violent conflicts can negatively influence farmers’ agricultural investments directly by affecting both land utilization patterns and portfolio allocation across activities with varying returns to investments.

Year published

2025

Authors

Amare, Mulubrhan; Abay, Kibrom A.; Berhane, Guush; Andam, Kwaw S.; Adeyanju, Dolapo

Citation

Amare, Mulubrhan; Abay, Kibrom A.; Berhane, Guush; Andam, Kwaw S.; and Adeyanju, Dolapo. 2025. Conflicts, crop choice, and agricultural investments: Empirical evidence from Nigeria. Land Use Policy 148(January 2025): 107391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107391

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Conflicts; Investment; Smallholders; Decision Making; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107391 Source record

Project

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

Conflict, aspirations, and women’s empowerment: Household survey evidence from farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria

2024Amare, Mulubrhan; Carrillo, Lucia; Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan
Details

Conflict, aspirations, and women’s empowerment: Household survey evidence from farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria

Using original survey data from three states in rural, southwestern Nigeria, this study examines the relationship between conflict intensity at various distances and the empowerment and aspiration levels of women whose households are primarily engaged in farming. We analyze geo-coded data on violent clashes between ethnic groups that primarily herd livestock for their livelihood and those that primarily farm crops; these clashes are growing more frequent across West Africa with climate-induced land degradation, as herding populations are moving further south in search of grazing land. Our outcomes of interest include women’s economic and social aspirations, and women’s economic, social, and political behaviors that could impact their long-run empowerment. We find that exposure to higher conflict intensity is closely linked to adverse outcomes, including income loss, assault, and forced migration. Higher conflict intensity is also associated with lower women’s economic and social aspirations, though social aspirations are more affected by proximate conflicts, while economic aspirations are more affected by more distant conflicts. Women’s economic, social, and political activities also vary with conflict-affectedness. With more conflict nearby, women are more likely to own their own off-farm businesses and less likely to own an off-farm business in which they share ownership with their husband. With more exposure to distant conflicts, women devote less time to off-farm labor and more time to agricultural labor. Near conflict, women are less likely to be members of mutual aid groups and to contact government officials and more likely to engage local security groups for protection and to be members of political parties. These differences could have long-run implications for women’s empowerment.

Year published

2024

Authors

Amare, Mulubrhan; Carrillo, Lucia; Kosec, Katrina; Kyle, Jordan

Citation

Amare, Mulubrhan; Carrillo, Lucia; Kosec, Katrina; and Kyle, Jordan. 2024. Conflict, aspirations, and women’s empowerment: Household survey evidence from farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria. HiCN Working Paper Series 421. Berlin, Germany: Households in Conflict Network.

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Conflicts; Household Surveys; Women’s Empowerment; Farmers; Ethnic Groups; Herds; Climate Change Impacts; Land Degradation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration

Record type

Working Paper

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Brief

How do policy environments influence technology adoption? Insights from Nigeria’s pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea experience

2024Mockshell, Jonathan; Nwagboso, Chibuzo; Asante-Addo, Collins; Ritter, Thea; Zambrano, Patricia; Amare, Mulubrhan; Andam, Kwaw S.
Details

How do policy environments influence technology adoption? Insights from Nigeria’s pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea experience

Policymakers are increasingly considering the promise of modern biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to help solve development problems in health, agriculture, and other fields (Zambrano et al., 2022). However, debates persist around health and environmental implications (National Academies of Sciences, 2016; Raman, 2017; Smyth et al., 2021). The regulation of GMOs varies globally, with some countries implementing outright bans or imposing stringent controls (Sarkar et al., 2021; Yali, 2022). A recent study examines the Nigerian policy environment for Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea, which has been genetically engineered to resist the legume pod borer (Maruca vitrata) [Mockshell et al., (unpublished)]. Legume pod borers significantly reduce cowpea yield and quality, with losses of up to 80% reported (Andam et al., 2024; Mockshell et al., 2024). This policy note summarizes the findings of the paper, providing insights to guide policy development around the adoption of biotech food crops in Nigeria and other countries in Africa South of the Sahara (SSA). The primary research question is: Is there an enabling policy environment for PBR cowpea and what factors contribute to it?

Year published

2024

Authors

Mockshell, Jonathan; Nwagboso, Chibuzo; Asante-Addo, Collins; Ritter, Thea; Zambrano, Patricia; Amare, Mulubrhan; Andam, Kwaw S.

Citation

Mockshell, Jonathan; Nwagboso, Chibuzo; Asante-Addo, Collins; Ritter, Thea; Zambrano, Patricia; Amare, Mulubrhan; and Andam, Kwaw S. 2024. How do policy environments influence technology adoption? Insights from Nigeria’s pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea experience. NSSP Policy Note 57. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/163386

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Policies; Biotechnology; Health; Agriculture; Genetically Modified Organisms; Cowpeas; Boring Organisms

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Brief

Events

32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists
IFPRI at External Event

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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 […]

Improving Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Nigeria: Policies and Actions
Series/Special Event

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July 25, 2024, 10:00 – 1:30 pm

Improving Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Nigeria: Policies and Actions

Despite significant progress in addressing hunger and undernutrition in the early 2000s, malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a major challenge in all regions of the world.  Unhealthy diets remain the primary drivers of many forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.  Today, the number of people who […]

Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) Project Impact Evaluation Results Dissemination Workshop
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 28, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30 pm

Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) Project Impact Evaluation Results Dissemination Workshop

Virtual Event: OCT 28, 2021 – 02:00 PM to 03:30 PM CAT. This workshop will disseminate the results of the impact evaluation of the InovAgro project's interventions. 

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News

September 20, 2020 | In the News

Kenya’s avocado farming, and where the profit lies (Smart Farmer Kenya)

Smart Farmer Kenya published an article on the potential of boosting Kenyan farmer’s income by exporting avocados to high-value European Markets. Kenya is the third-largest producer of avocados, with about 70 percent of the produce coming from small-scale farmers. Research Fellow Mulubrhan Amare states, “International agricultural markets offer a higher price, and also demand higher quality than the local market. […]

February 19, 2020 | In the News

Avocados in Kenya: what’s holding back smallholder farmers (The Conversation)

The Conversation featured an op-ed by Research Fellow Mulubrhan Amare on avocados in Kenya and how to increase export production. Amare with co-authors found in a recent study that exporting more of Kenya’s avocado production could raise the incomes of Kenyan smallholder farmers. But, to do so, programs and policymakers need to reduce the barriers […]

December 19, 2019 | Press Release

NEW STUDY: Can avocado exports bring prosperity to Kenya’s smallholder farmer?

Exporting avocados to the high-value European market can raise incomes of smallholder avocado farmers in Kenya by nearly 39 percent, according to a new study.

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