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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.

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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

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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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TOPIC

Food Security

Food security means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, volatile food prices, and environmental stressors will put significant pressure on food security. Adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change—including options for handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade, postharvest food handling and processing, and food affordability and safety—are urgently needed.

Achieving food security for all is a central goal of IFPRI’s policy research, which prioritizes meeting critical nutritional needs (including dietary diversity and micronutrients) for human well-being and development.

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At the global level, our work looks at how trade and investment can increase food security sustainably. At the national level, our researchers use foresight and policy modeling tools to inform decision-makers and stakeholders on policies and investments that can contribute to food security by reducing poverty and boosting productivity sustainably. Researchers also conduct analysis of innovations to make food value chains more efficient (including by reducing food loss and waste) and programs intended to support food security, including social protection programs, to determine what works in particular national contexts. IFPRI also looks for ways to improve monitoring and analysis of food crisis risks, link humanitarian and developmental responses when addressing food crises, promote adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies and building resilience to shocks, which can promote food security, and at managing trade-offs, such as balancing the nutritional benefits of meat against the ecological costs of its production. Analysis of crisis response and impacts of migration also focuses on how policy responses can reduce food insecurity and contribute to sustainable development in fragile situations.IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, and SDG 3, and the CGIAR Impact Areas Nutrition, Health, and Food Security; Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods, and Jobs; and Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion.

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topics

Publications

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Journal Article

A multi-sectoral community development intervention has a positive impact on diet quality and growth in school-age children in rural Nepal

2024Miller, Laurie C.; Neupane, Sumanta; Joshi, Neena; Lohani, Mahendra
Details

A multi-sectoral community development intervention has a positive impact on diet quality and growth in school-age children in rural Nepal

Poor diet quality (diet diversity and animal-source food [ASF] consumption) during childhood negatively affects growth, development, behaviour and physiologic function in later life. Relatively less is known about the impact of poor diet on the growth of school-age children compared to children <5 years of age, especially in low/middle-income countries. A better understanding of delivery strategies for effective interventions to improve diet and hence growth in school-age children is needed. A 36-month longitudinal controlled impact evaluation in rural Nepal assessed the nutrition and growth of children <5 years of age in families assigned via community clusters to full package intervention (community development, training in nutrition [during pregnancy and for children <5 years] and livestock husbandry), partial package (training only) or control (no inputs). Concurrent data were collected prospectively (baseline plus additional four rounds) on school-age children (5–8 years at baseline) in these households; the present study analysed findings in the cohort of school-age children seen at all five study visits (n = 341). Diet quality improved more in the full package school-age children compared to those in partial package or control households. full package children consumed more ASF (β +0.40 [CI 0.07,0.73], p < 0.05), more diverse diets (β +0.93 [CI 0.55,1.31], p < 0.001) and had better head circumference z-scores (β +0.21 [CI 0.07,0.35], p < 0.01) than control children. In conclusion, a multi-sectoral community development intervention was associated with improvements in diet and growth of school-age children in rural Nepal even though the intervention focused on the diet of children <5 years of age. The diet and growth of school-age children can be favourably influenced by community-level interventions, even indirectly.

Year published

2024

Authors

Miller, Laurie C.; Neupane, Sumanta; Joshi, Neena; Lohani, Mahendra

Citation

Miller, Laurie C.; Neupane, Sumanta; Joshi, Neena; and Lohani, Mahendra. 2024. A multi-sectoral community development intervention has a positive impact on diet quality and growth in school-age children in rural Nepal. Maternal and Child Nutrition 20(3). First published online March 15, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13637

Country/Region

Nepal

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Community Development; Diet Quality; Growth; Rural Communities; Schoolchildren; Animal Source Foods; Child Growth; Dietary Diversity; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13637 Source record

Project

Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Journal Article

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Report

The true costs of food in Kenya and Vietnam: A conceptual framework

2024Benfica, Rui
Details

The true costs of food in Kenya and Vietnam: A conceptual framework

Sustainable food systems provide enough quality, healthy, and affordable food to all without imposing a burden on planetary and social boundaries. By this standard, it is quite clear that food systems in many countries are not sustainable as they generate substantial environmental, social, and health costs while failing to provide affordable food to all (FAO et al., 2020). This implies the need to have a good understanding of the extent to which those externalities are present in country specific food systems. The key challenge is that such externalities are not reflected in market prices (Baker et al., 2020), being therefore hidden factors to drivers of choices by market players, as the link between market activity and those social and environmental harms is not directly visible or reflected in the incentives that drive economic systems (UNFSS, 2021). Internalizing the externalities of the food systems will require the full estimation of costs, including the measurement of externalities through “True Cost Accounting” (TCA) approaches. This document provides the analytical framework for the application of approaches in a research study to measure the true costs of food in Kenya and Vietnam. It focuses on: o Key research questions, their relevance, and policy implications o How the TCA analytical framework fits in The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) framework o Country selection and geographic focus – national, sub-national o Data requirements for estimating the true costs, including household surveys, workers’ surveys, externally compiled Global Impact Database (GID), and monetization factors. o A step-by-step process for estimating the true costs in the study area and country level GID analysis.

Year published

2024

Authors

Benfica, Rui

Citation

Benfica, Rui. 2024. The true costs of food in Kenya and Vietnam: A conceptual framework. CGIAR Nature-Positive Solutions Technical Report. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute

Country/Region

Kenya; Vietnam

Keywords

Asia; Africa; Food; Food Systems; Sustainability; Markets; Prices

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Nature-Positive Solutions

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Report

Impacts of Africa RISING in Ghana

2024Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Castaing, Pauline; Kizito, Fred; Vitellozzi, Sveva; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne
Details

Impacts of Africa RISING in Ghana

Sustainable intensification (SI) of the smallholder sector in Africa south of the Sahara is among the approaches pursued to build resilient food systems that can supply nutritionally adequate food in the face of rapid population growth and climatic changes. This study assesses the impact of Africa RISING, an SI program in Ghana implemented in the poorest and most food insecure areas of the country since 2012. The program first validated and then scaled up a wide range of SI interventions focused on improved agronomic management and crop cultivars; improved livestock feed, housing conditions, and species; crop-livestock integration; integrated natural resource management; vegetable production and nutritional education; and small-scale mechanization. Impact is estimated using two rounds of quasi-experimental panel data (conducted in 2014 and 2020), propensity score matching, and difference-indifferences techniques. The study design allows us to estimate the impact of Africa RISING by comparing outcomes among program beneficiaries with those of two different control groups—one residing in program villages (within village comparison) and another in non-program (control) villages (out-of-village comparison) on several indicators across five SI domains—environment, productivity, economic, human, and social. We also conduct a placebo test comparing non-beneficiaries in the two control groups. Results from panel data analyses show improvements in several indicators in the environmental and productivity domains. We also find a positive impact on use of conservation practices (fallowing, disc/moldboard ploughing, manure), groundnut yield, livestock, net crop income, and women’s likelihood of becoming members of farmers groups relative to non-beneficiaries. We do not find a statistically significant effect on consumption- and asset-based poverty rates, household dietary diversity, and several indicators of maternal and child nutrition. For both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, the share of monetary-based non-poor, dietary diversity, and food security have declined between baseline (2014) and follow-up (2020) likely due COVID-19. Our study highlights useful empirical lessons learned for informing future program design and impact assessments.

Year published

2024

Authors

Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Castaing, Pauline; Kizito, Fred; Vitellozzi, Sveva; Boukaka, Sedi-Anne

Citation

Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Castaing, Pauline; Kizito, Fred; Vitellozzi, Sveva; and Boukaka, Sedi-Anne. 2024. Impacts of Africa RISING in Ghana. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148741

Country/Region

Ghana

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Impact Assessment; Sustainable Intensification; Smallholders; Resilience; Food Systems; Climate Change

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Report

Blogs

Risk of famine remains high in Gaza
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 28, 2024

Risk of famine remains high in Gaza

By Rob Vos, Sara Gustafson, Sediqa Zaki, and Brendan Rice

After a reprieve, dangerous conditions are reemerging.

Responding to Malawi’s impending food crisis
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 31, 2024

Responding to Malawi’s impending food crisis

By Jan Duchoslav, Mazvita Chiduwa, Simon Denhere, Joachim De Weerdt, Rodwell Mzonde, and George Phiri

Food imports can make up for shortages if quick action is taken.

Transforming food systems for sustainable healthy diets: A global imperative
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 29, 2024

Transforming food systems for sustainable healthy diets: A global imperative

By Purnima Menon and Deanna Olney

The 2024 Global Food Policy Report focuses on the pivotal role of nutrition.

Events

2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

July 8 to 18, 2024

2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held from Monday, July 8, to Wednesday, July 17, 2024, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment of the forum from Monday, July 15, to Wednesday, July 17, 2024 as part of the High-level Segment of the […]

Understanding the New Dynamics of Agrifood Trade, Perspectives by Pascal Lamy
Series/Special Event

 | 

May 30, 2024, 2:30 – 4:00 pm

Understanding the New Dynamics of Agrifood Trade, Perspectives by Pascal Lamy

Hybrid Event: May 30, 2024 at 2:30pm-4:00pm EDT. Please join us for a lecture by IFPRI Board Chair Pascal Lamy, a foremost expert in international trade matters, who served as the European Union’s Trade Commissioner and as the World Trade Organization’s Director General. The lecture will be followed by comments from a panel of international trade experts and a Q&A session.

ICTforAg 2024: Localizing impact
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

May 28, 2024, 9:00 – 5:00 pm

ICTforAg 2024: Localizing impact

Event: May 28, 2024 – 9:00am to 5:00pm EDT. This event explores the localization of ICT, responsible AI in agriculture, the potential for AI to increase farm profitability, empowering citizen science, and harnessing digital solutions for sustainable and regenerative farming practices.

News

June 14, 2024 | Press Release

New study emphasizes tradeoffs between arresting groundwater depletion and food security

A new study published today in Nature Sustainability, reaffirms the world’s growing dependence on depleting groundwater systems.

May 29, 2024 | Press Release

The 2024 Global Food Policy Report Stresses Urgent Need for Transformative Action to Achieve Sustainable Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition

Washington DC, May 29, 2024: In the face of growing challenges posed by unhealthy diets, all forms of malnutrition, and environmental constraints, the 2024 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) — released today by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) — underscores the importance of transforming complex global food systems to ensure sustainable healthy diets for all. Progress […]

April 15, 2024 | In the News

Satellite images show devastation in Sudan 1 year since conflict began (ABC News)

“Satellite imagery shows the reduction in green vegetation cover, the increased aridity points to the neglect or destruction of previously irrigated fields” Oliver Kirui told ABC News.

Our experts

David Spielman

David Spielman

Director, Innovation Policy and Scaling (IPS), Innovation
Policy and Scaling

James Thurlow

James Thurlow

Director, Foresight and Policy Modeling (FPM), Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Nina Jovanovic

Nina Jovanovic

Associate Research Fellow, Development
Strategies and Governance

Berber Kramer

Berber Kramer

Senior Research Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Karl Pauw

Karl Pauw

Senior Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Antoine Bouet

Antoine Bouet

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Ester Jimmy

Ester Jimmy

Research Associate, Innovation
Policy and Scaling

Tushar Singh

Tushar Singh

Senior Research Analyst, Natural
Resources and Resilience