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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

Kalyani Raghunathan

Kalyani Raghunathan is Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, based in New Delhi, India. Her research lies at the intersection of agriculture, gender, social protection, and public health and nutrition, with a specific focus on South Asia and Africa. 

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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IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

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TOPIC

Food Systems

Food systems are the sum of actors and interactions along the food value chain—from input supply and production of crops, livestock, fish, and other agricultural commodities to transportation, processing, retailing, wholesaling, and preparation of foods to consumption and disposal. Food systems also include the enabling policy environments and cultural norms around food. Ideal food systems would be nutrition-, health-, and safety-driven, productive and efficient (and thus able to deliver affordable food), environmentally sustainable and climate-smart, and inclusive. To realize this vision, continued investments must be made in agricultural research and development and technological innovations, paving the way for programs and policies that are based on sound evidence.

IFPRI conducts research and offers policy support on a range of food system issues from farm-level productivity to development of inclusive food value chains to nutrition education—providing evidence for design of food systems that provide people with equitable access to nutritious, sustainable diets and contribute to more broadly to development and well-being.

IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 12, SDG 14, and SDG 15.

food_systems

topics

Publications

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Journal Article

The technopolitics of agronomic knowledge and tropical(izing) vegetables in Brazil

2024Nehring, Ryan
Details

The technopolitics of agronomic knowledge and tropical(izing) vegetables in Brazil

This article critically analyzes the social and political factors behind the advancement of technoscientific development in modern Brazilian agriculture. In the second half of the 20th century, Brazil underwent a rapid industrialization in the agricultural sector by more than doubling productivity in key global commodities and a widespread migration of people from rural to urban areas. Most observers point to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) as the technological engine that drove the industrialization of Brazilian agriculture. Existing approaches to analyze technoscientific development tend to overlook the role of the environment and individual scientists in enacting change. I argue that, especially in the case of agriculture, technoscientific development hinges on the extent to which the environment is disregarded or embraced by those who have the institutional support and capacity to innovate. To support my argument, I draw on two contrasting cases of crop development spearheaded by Embrapa scientists: the tropicalization of the carrot and participatory research on non-conventional vegetables. Through those two cases, the article demonstrates how the general and specific, the transnational and local, and the industrial and agroecological are all key contrasting factors for understanding technoscientific development in agriculture. This research is based on extensive interviews and participant observation at Embrapa’s vegetable research center near Brasilia, Brazil.

Year published

2024

Authors

Nehring, Ryan

Citation

Nehring, Ryan. 2024. The technopolitics of agronomic knowledge and tropical(izing) vegetables in Brazil. Environmental Science and Policy 162(December 2024): 103911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103911

Country/Region

Brazil

Keywords

Americas; South America; Agricultural Research; Carrots; Food Systems; Politics; Technology; Tropical Zones; Vegetables

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103911 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Report

Myanmar Monthly Food Price Report – October 2024

2024Myanmar Agrifood Program for Strategy and Analysis
Details

Myanmar Monthly Food Price Report – October 2024

The rapidly evolving food security situation in Myanmar requires a high frequency, systematic and comprehensive approach to monitoring. The Myanmar monthly food price report synthesizes food price trends using publicly available datasets, focusing on key agricultural crops and highlighting regional differences in rice prices. By analyzing these trends, the report aims to provide insights into the broader agricultural market and the factors driving food price fluctuations in Myanmar.

Year published

2024

Authors

Myanmar Agrifood Program for Strategy and Analysis

Citation

Myanmar Agrifood Program for Strategy and Analysis. 2024. Myanmar Monthly Food Price Report – October 2024. Monthly Food Price Report: October. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

South-eastern Asia; Asia; Food Security; Food Prices; Crops; Agricultural Marketing

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Report

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Report

Resilient Cities urban nutrition profile: Ethiopia

2024Margolies, Amy; Amunga, Dorcas; Zerfu, Taddese; Ruel, Marie T.; Olney, Deanna K.
Details

Resilient Cities urban nutrition profile: Ethiopia

Key Messages -Undernutrition has declined over time, but stunting still affects 40 percent of rural children and 25 percent of urban children. -Micronutrient deficiencies—especially deficiencies in folate, zinc and Vitamin D—are a critical concern, particularly for urban women and girls. -Dietary quality is low in both rural and urban areas: while urban diets are moderately more diverse than rural ones, rising consumption of unhealthy foods is more of a concern than in rural areas at this time. -The cost of consuming a healthy diet in Ethiopia increased from US $2.83 to $3.72 from 2017—2022, and over half of the population is currently unable to afford a healthy diet. -Concurrent conflict and climate shocks are causing acute nutritional needs in some regions. Humanitarian food aid is key to reducing food insecurity and should be provided to households without access to land who rely on income for food purchases, such as those in urban areas. -Overweight and obesity are still uncommon among young children but are increasing rapidly among urban women. In urban areas, 20 percent of women are overweight, compared to 4 percent in rural areas. The rise in urban overweight is driven by lifestyle changes associated with urbanization and unhealthy food environments, which are associated with poor quality diets and reduced physical activity. -Overnutrition and diet-related noncommunicable diseases are especially prevalent in Addis Ababa. -Food safety is a challenge, and evidence is lacking on how to improve vendor safety knowledge and practices to protect consumer health. -National social protection programs often fail to reach the urban poor and lack explicit nutrition interventions in urban areas. -There is a need to design and test urban nutrition interventions that address both over and undernutrition (such as double-duty actions) in urban populations.

Year published

2024

Authors

Margolies, Amy; Amunga, Dorcas; Zerfu, Taddese; Ruel, Marie T.; Olney, Deanna K.

Citation

Margolies, Amy; Amunga, Dorcas; Zerfu, Taddese; Ruel, Marie; and Olney, Deanna. 2024. Resilient Cities urban nutrition profile: Ethiopia. Resilient Cities Country Profile. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Nutrition; Stunting; Children; Micronutrient Deficiencies; Diet; Rural Urban Relations; Food Safety

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Resilient Cities

Record type

Report

Blogs

Africa Food Systems Forum Summit 2024: Advancing gender equality and nutrition for sustainable agriculture
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 19, 2024

Africa Food Systems Forum Summit 2024: Advancing gender equality and nutrition for sustainable agriculture

By Faith Gikunda

Building equity into food systems.

The impact of innovative evidence-to-policy approaches on accelerating nutrition-related SDGs: Can the NiPN model lead the way?
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 15, 2024

The impact of innovative evidence-to-policy approaches on accelerating nutrition-related SDGs: Can the NiPN model lead the way?

By Taddese Zerfu

Bridging the gap between research and policymaking.

Global Food Policy Report 2024: Leveraging plant-source foods for sustainable healthy diets
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 04, 2024

Global Food Policy Report 2024: Leveraging plant-source foods for sustainable healthy diets

By Erick Boy, Inge Brouwer, Jen Foley, Natalia Palacios, Samuel Scott, and Victor Taleon

Integrating more fruits, vegetables, and other high-quality crops into food systems.

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Events

Building More Inclusive and Natural Resource-Secure Food Futures
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

December 12, 2024, 10:30 – 12:00 pm

Building More Inclusive and Natural Resource-Secure Food Futures

Also streaming on Please type your questions into the chat box with name, affiliation, and country. The event video, presenter slides, and podcast will be available in the days following the event. Throughout her career, Ruth Meinzen-Dick has made pathbreaking contributions to natural resource management and gender equity, drawing from her deep engagement with communities […]

Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia: Connecting the Dots Across Systems
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

December 3 to 5, 2024

Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia: Connecting the Dots Across Systems

South Asia grapples with escalating levels of malnutrition in various forms, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies, alongside increasing incidence of diet-related non-communicable diseases. Malnutrition results from a complex interplay of factors incorporating household and individual decision-making, agriculture and food systems, healthcare services, education, and socio-ecological systems that determine access to services and […]

Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: Africa Regional Launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report
Series/Special Event

 | 

November 14, 2024, 2:30 – 4:30 pm

Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: Africa Regional Launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report

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 […]

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News

October 24, 2024 | In the News

At high level dialogue, Stakeholders Rally Support for Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture (National Update/Punch)

This article published by National Update (Nigeria) wrote about a recent high-level dialogue on the CGIAR HER+ initiative in Abuja held on October 9, 2024, that aimed to address barriers women face in Nigeria’s agrifood sector.

October 07, 2024 | Press Release

Steven Were Omamo joins IFPRI as the new Director of the Development Strategies and Governance Unit

IFPRI is pleased to announce that Steven Were Omamo joins IFPRI as the new Director of the DSG Unit.

July 02, 2024 | Press Release

Global crisis: 1.7 billion people in urban and peri-urban areas face food insecurity

New UN report highlights urgent need to strengthen urban and peri-urban food systems for global food security and nutrition.

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Our experts

Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin

Acting, Director for Africa, Development
Strategies and Governance, Africa

Deanna Olney

Deanna Olney

Director, Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH), Nutrition,
Diets, and Health

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

Thomas Assefa

Thomas Assefa

Associate Research Fellow, Innovation
Policy and Scaling

Jan Duchoslav

Jan Duchoslav

Research Fellow, Development
Strategies and Governance

Neha Kumar

Neha Kumar

Senior Research Fellow, Nutrition,
Diets, and Health

Razin Kabir

Razin Kabir

Senior Program Manager, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Jenny Smart

Jenny Smart

Senior Program Manager, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Aditi Chugh

Aditi Chugh

Research Analyst, Development
Strategies and Governance

Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy

Senior Research Analyst, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Vartika Singh

Vartika Singh

Senior Research Analyst, Natural
Resources and Resilience