Subscribe

Back

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

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

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

Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Thomas Reardon

Nonresident Fellow

profile

Bio

Thomas Reardon is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. Tom has been at MSU since 1992; IFPRI Research Fellow 1986-1991; Rockefeller Foundation Post-Doc with IFPRI in Burkina Faso 1984-1986; Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 1984, and masters from the Université de Nice and Columbia University.

Tom researches the transformation of food value chains: (1) the e-commerce and food delivery intermediaries; (2) the “supermarket revolution” and the “food service revolution” (3) the “Quiet Revolution” (the diffusion of SMEs in the midstream of value chains); and (4) R&D and farm inputs supply chain transformation. He studies the impacts of these transformations on food industry business strategies, on farms, consumption/nutrition, and employment.

Contact Information

Publications on Google Scholar

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Wholesalers and the transformation of Myanmar’s maize value chains

2025Belton, Ben; Cho, Ame; Hall, Michael; Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas
Details

Wholesalers and the transformation of Myanmar’s maize value chains

Wholesalers of agricultural crops have historically received limited attention in the literature on agricultural development, which has a strongly productivist focus. When wholesalers are considered, they are often framed as exploitative, taking advantage of information asymmetries, market failures, and unequal power relations to extract heavy surpluses from farmers. However, there is a growing appreciation that wholesalers may play important roles in facilitating agricultural development and rural transformation. This paper evaluates wholesaler conduct and performance using a survey of 218 maize wholesalers in 12 of the major maize-growing and trading townships of South Shan State, Myanmar and the cities of Lashio and Muse in North Shan. Hybrid maize emerged very rapidly in Myanmar over the past two decades to become a major cash crop, supplying domestic animal feed mills and becoming one of Myanmar’s most important exports to China and Thailand. Wholesalers have been central to the development of this supply chain and the sector. Contrary to recent literature from Myanmar that has cast maize wholesalers as exploitative, the survey finds that the rapidly growing wholesaler segment of the maize value chain is highly competitive, rapidly changing with respect to technology, and functions efficiently. Farmers obtaining maize inputs from wholesalers in the form of tied output credit sell their maize at prevailing market rates. The emergence of clusters of maize wholesalers and allied actors such as third-party logistics services occurred spontaneously and symbiotically with the expansion of hybrid maize cultivation, and with each set of actors essential to the emergence of the others.

Year published

2025

Authors

Belton, Ben; Cho, Ame; Hall, Michael; Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas

Citation

Belton, Ben; Cho, Ame; Hall, Michael; Minten, Bart; and Reardon, Thomas. Wholesalers and the transformation of Myanmar’s maize value chains. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. Article in press. First published online November 27, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13489

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Agricultural Development; Maize; Wholesale Markets; Value Chains; Small and Medium Enterprises

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13489 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Vulnerability of Nigerian maize traders to a confluence of climate, violence, disease and cost shocks

2025Vargas, Carolina M.; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Reardon, Thomas
Details

Vulnerability of Nigerian maize traders to a confluence of climate, violence, disease and cost shocks

Purpose We study five exogenous shocks: climate, violence, price hikes, spoilage and the COVID-19 lockdown. We analyze the association between these shocks and trader characteristics, reflecting trader vulnerability. Design/methodology/approach Using primary survey data on 1,100 Nigerian maize traders for 2021 (controlling for shocks in 2017), we use probit models to estimate the probabilities of experiencing climate, violence, disease and cost shocks associated with trader characteristics (gender, size and region) and to estimate the probability of vulnerability (experiencing severe impacts). Findings Traders are prone to experiencing more than one shock, which increases the intensity of the shocks. Price shocks are often accompanied by violence, climate and COVID-19 shocks. The poorer northern region is disproportionately affected by shocks. Northern traders experience more price shocks while Southern traders are more affected by violence shocks given their dependence on long supply chains from the north for their maize. Female traders are more likely to experience violent events than men who tend to be more exposed to climate shocks. Research limitations/implications The data only permit analysis of the general degree of impact of a shock rather than quantifying lost income. Originality/value This paper is the first to analyze the incidence of multiple shocks on grain traders and the unequal distribution of negative impacts. It is the first such in Africa based on a large sample of grain traders from a primary survey.

Year published

2025

Authors

Vargas, Carolina M.; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Reardon, Thomas

Citation

Vargas, Carolina M.; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; and Reardon, Thomas. Vulnerability of Nigerian maize traders to a confluence of climate, violence, disease and cost shocks. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies. Article in press. First published online April 22, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-08-2023-0214

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Climate; Covid-19; Maize; Violence; Vulnerability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1108/jadee-08-2023-0214 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Combine harvester outsourcing services and seasonal rural non-farm employment in Myanmar

2025Belton, Ben; Fang, Peixun; Reardon, Thomas
Details

Combine harvester outsourcing services and seasonal rural non-farm employment in Myanmar

Prior research on mechanization outsource services has not explored seasonal variations in drivers and outcomes of adoption by smallholders. These omissions are important because seasonality of crop cultivation may influence intensity of demand for machines, while seasonality of demand for non-farm labor may influence the availability and cost of agricultural workers and the opportunity costs of on-farm self-employment. We analyze seasonal correlates of combine harvester outsource service use in Myanmar. Surprisingly, adoption is not associated with lower labor costs or higher net margins from paddy cultivation. Rather, using combines releases family labor into more remunerative dry season non-farm employment.

Year published

2025

Authors

Belton, Ben; Fang, Peixun; Reardon, Thomas

Citation

Belton, Ben; Fang, Peixun; and Reardon, Thomas. Combine harvester outsourcing services and seasonal rural non-farm employment in Myanmar. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. Article in Press. First published online September 29, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13480

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

Southern Asia; Agricultural Mechanization; Seasonal Variation; Smallholders; Crops; Workforce; Technology Adoption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13480 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Two years on, resilience innovations help food supply chains overcome COVID-19 disruptions
IFPRI Blog
 | 
February 23, 2022

Two years on, resilience innovations help food supply chains overcome COVID-19 disruptions

By Thomas Reardon, Johan Swinnen, and Rob Vos

Important lessons for policymakers.

Smallholder and agrifood SME resilience to shocks: Lessons from COVID-19 for the UN Food System Summit
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 10, 2021

Smallholder and agrifood SME resilience to shocks: Lessons from COVID-19 for the UN Food System Summit

By Thomas Reardon, Johan Swinnen, and Rob Vos

Farmers and small businesses show both vulnerabilities and a capacity to adapt.

Digital innovations accelerated by COVID-19 are revolutionizing food systems: Implications for the UN Food Systems Summit
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 08, 2021

Digital innovations accelerated by COVID-19 are revolutionizing food systems: Implications for the UN Food Systems Summit

By Thomas Reardon, Johan Swinnen, Rob Vos, and David Zilberman

Lessons from how food supply chains adapted to pandemic stresses.

View all Blogs

Events

Taking Stock of Africa’s Agrifood Processing Sector
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

February 9, 2023, 8:00 – 9:30 am

Taking Stock of Africa’s Agrifood Processing Sector

Virtual Event: February 9, 2023 – 8:00 AM- 9:30 AM EST. During this event key research findings and policy recommendations of the 2022 ATOR will be presented and discussed by a distinguished panel of representatives from academia, the private sector, and international and regional organizations engaged in strengthening Africa’s agri-food processing sector.