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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.

Ahmed Akhter

researcher spotlight

Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow in the IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit and Country Representative for IFPRI Bangladesh. He has worked on strategies for agricultural and rural development, social protection, and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and undernutrition in developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malawi, the Philippines, and Turkey.

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Projects

SEEMS-Nutrition supports the scaling up of future solutions to enhance and sustain nutritious food systems in a rapidly evolving environment of decreasing child and maternal mortality and increasing income, urbanization, commercialization and globalization.  Awareness and commitment to improved nutrition through agriculture and healthy food systems is high on global and national agendas. However, transforming agriculture and food systems to make them more nutrition-sensitive is a long-term agenda that will require high quality information for priority setting, timely course corrections, investment decisions and resource allocation. This research is designed to strengthen evidence for decision-making on the costs and benefits of multisectoral strategies, nutrition sensitive value chains and integrated agriculture, health and nutrition interventions to improve economic, nutrition, and health well-being. Evidence on the costs and cost-effectiveness of multisectoral strategies will help program designers and policy makers make informed decisions about what interventions to prioritize to achieve nutrition-related development targets (e.g. World Health Assembly (WHA) or Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets).

Project duration: 2018 – 2024

Contact

Aulo Gelli

Funders

Gates Foundation

Project partners

Helen Keller International

WorldFish

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Research 4 Development

University of Washington, Department of Global health

Publications

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Training Material

Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies (SEEMS) – Nutrition: Common Approach Guidance Document

2023Levin, Carol; Tokos Harp, Lorna; Crocker, J.; Wun, J.; Kemp, C.; Choo, E.; Margolies, Amy; Gelli, Aulo
Details

Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies (SEEMS) – Nutrition: Common Approach Guidance Document

Combating malnutrition requires a coordinated effort across sectors. While there is a growing body of evidence on what works to improve maternal and child nutrition, comparable evidence on the costs and cost-effectiveness of multisectoral nutrition strategies has been limited (Keats et al 2021, Ruel et al. 2018, Swinnen et al. 2018 and Wun et al. 2022). Decision makers rely on available evidence to inform strategic planning, priority setting and resource allocation for multisectoral nutrition programming. The lack of reliable, robust, and comparable economic evaluation information impedes the ability of funders, policymakers and program managers to make informed decisions about which interventions to prioritize to improve nutrition outcomes and achieve nutrition-related development targets. It is crucial to close the data gap in evidence on the costs and cost-effectiveness of nutrition-sensitive interventions within multisectoral programs. The most useful information from economic evaluations of nutrition programs will be data that is robust, data that is collected using transparent, comparable, standardized methods, and data that can directly inform decision making. The Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) consortium has developed a common approach to conduct costing studies that is integrated with program impact evaluations for multisector nutrition programs. The common approach aims to strengthen the design and implementation of economic evaluations, with a focus on context-specific operational plans, or study protocols. It utilizes a comprehensive and fully customizable set of cost data collection tools for estimating financial and economic costs. This guidance document is a how-to guide on the common approach that can be applied by practitioners, field researchers, evaluators, and implementors. For more on the SEEMS-Nutrition project, including applications in Malawi, Bangladesh, and Nepal (forthcoming), please see the R4D Project Page and the SEEMS-Nutrition website.

Year published

2023

Authors

Levin, Carol; Tokos Harp, Lorna; Crocker, J.; Wun, J.; Kemp, C.; Choo, E.; Margolies, Amy; Gelli, Aulo

Citation

Levin, C.; Tokos Harp, L.; Crocker, J.; Wun, J.; Kemp, C.; Choo, E.; Margolies, Amy; and Gelli, Aulo. 2023. Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies (SEEMS) – Nutrition: Common Approach Guidance Document. University of Washington. https://doi.org/10.6069/JMVV-HH97

Keywords

Nutrition; Maternal and Child Health; Policies; Economic Analysis; Development; Evaluation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.6069/jmvv-hh97 Source record

Record type

Training Material

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Journal Article

The economic costs of a multisectoral nutrition programme implemented through a credit platform in Bangladesh

2023Thai, Giang; Margolies, Amy; Gelli, Aulo; Kumar, Neha; Sultana, Nasrin; Choo, Esther; Levin, Carol
Details

The economic costs of a multisectoral nutrition programme implemented through a credit platform in Bangladesh

Bangladesh struggles with undernutrition in women and young children. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture programmes can help address rural undernutrition. However, questions remain on the costs of multisectoral programmes. This study estimates the economic costs of the Targeting and Re-aligning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition (TRAIN) programme, which integrated nutrition behaviour change and agricultural extension with a credit platform to support women’s income generation. We used the Strengthening Economic Evaluation for Multisectoral Strategies for Nutrition (SEEMS-Nutrition) approach. The approach aligns costs with a multisectoral nutrition typology, identifying inputs and costs along programme impact pathways. We measure and allocate costs for activities and inputs, combining expenditures and micro-costing. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected retrospectively from implementers and beneficiaries. Expenditure data and economic costs were combined to calculate incremental economic costs. The intervention was designed around a randomised control trial. Incremental costs are presented by treatment arm. The total incremental cost was $795,040.34 for a 3.5-year period. The annual incremental costs per household were US$65.37 (Arm 2), USD$114.15 (Arm 3) and $157.11 (Arm 4). Total costs were led by nutrition counselling (37%), agriculture extension (12%), supervision (12%), training (12%), monitoring and evaluation (9%) and community events (5%). Total input costs were led by personnel (68%), travel (12%) and supplies (7%). This study presents the total incremental costs of an agriculture-nutrition intervention implemented through a microcredit platform. Costs per household compare favourably with similar interventions. Our results illustrate the value of a standardised costing approach for comparison with other multisectoral nutrition interventions.

Year published

2023

Authors

Thai, Giang; Margolies, Amy; Gelli, Aulo; Kumar, Neha; Sultana, Nasrin; Choo, Esther; Levin, Carol

Citation

Thai, Giang; Margolies, Amy; Gelli, Aulo; Kumar, Neha; Sultana, Nasrin; Choo, Esther; and Levin, Carol. The economic costs of a multisectoral nutrition programme implemented through a credit platform in Bangladesh. Maternal and Child Nutrition 19(1): e13441. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13441

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Nutrition; Women; Children; Agricultural Programs; Economic Costs; Behaviour Changes; Agricultural Extension; Credit; Gender; Income; Impact Pathways; Expenditures; Intervention; Households; Nutrition Counselling; Micro-credit Programs; Low Income Countries; Public Health; Maternal Health; Expenditure; Less Favoured Areas; Microcredit; Behavioral Economics; Capacity Development

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13441 Source record

Project

Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Economic evaluation of an early childhood development center–based agriculture and nutrition intervention in Malawi

2022Gelli, Aulo; Kemp, C. G.; Margolies, Amy; Twalibu, Aisha; Katundu, Mangani; Levin, Carol E.
Details

Economic evaluation of an early childhood development center–based agriculture and nutrition intervention in Malawi

Malnutrition is a leading cause of death and disability among children in low-income countries. Nutrition-sensitive interventions show promise in increasing food access and improving diets. There are possible synergies of integrating these programs with other sectors, improving effectiveness by leveraging resources. However, economic evaluations of these multi-sectoral programs are limited. We aimed to estimate the cost efficiency, cost-effectiveness, benefit-cost ratio, and net benefit of using community-based early childhood development (ECD) centers as platforms for an intervention promoting agricultural production and nutrition among households with young children in Malawi. The intervention was costed using bottom-up micro-costing and top-down expenditure analysis with a societal perspective and a 12-month horizon. Effectiveness estimates were derived from a cluster-randomized control trial. Premature deaths and stunting cases averted were estimated using the Lived Saved Tool. We calculated DALYs averted, and the value of three benefits streams resulting from reductions in premature mortality, increases in lifetime productivity and household agricultural productivity. We transferred the US value of a statistical life (VSL) to Malawi using an income elasticity of 1.5, and a 10% discount rate. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted using a Monte Carlo model. The intervention cost $197,377, reaching 4,806 beneficiaries at $41 per beneficiary, $595 per case of stunting, $18,310 per death, and $516 per DALY averted. Net benefit estimates ranged from $507,589 to $4,678,258, and benefit-cost ratios from 3.57 to 24.70. Sensitivity analyses confirmed a positive return on investment. Implementing agriculture-nutrition interventions through ECD platforms may be an efficient use of resources in Malawi and similar contexts.

Year published

2022

Authors

Gelli, Aulo; Kemp, C. G.; Margolies, Amy; Twalibu, Aisha; Katundu, Mangani; Levin, Carol E.

Citation

Gelli, Aulo; Kemp, C. G.; Margolies, Amy; Twalibu, Aisha; Katundu, Mangani; and Levin, Carol E. 2022. Economic evaluation of an early childhood development center–based agriculture and nutrition intervention in Malawi. Food Security 14: 67-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01203-6

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Southern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Eastern Africa; Child Nutrition; Child Development; Agriculture; Malnutrition; Nutrition; Children; Economic Evaluation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01203-6 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Investing in nutrition through early childhood development in Malawi: Assessing costs and benefits
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 10, 2020

Investing in nutrition through early childhood development in Malawi: Assessing costs and benefits

By Aulo Gelli, Amy Margolies, Christopher Kemp, Carol Levin, and Natasha Ledlie

The SEEMS-Nutrition initiative offers a set of tools for project evaluations.

Funders

Gates Foundation

Team members

Aulo Gelli

Aulo Gelli

Senior Research Fellow, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

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