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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

Manuel Hernandez

Manuel Hernandez is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit of IFPRI. He has more than 20 years of experience in diverse projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia on development issues related to agricultural and labor markets, food security and nutrition, industrial organization and regulation, price analysis, and the informal economy. His current research focuses on impact evaluation linked to rural development and food security projects, migration, functioning of oligopoly markets and value chains, and price volatility.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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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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TOPIC

Gender

Globally, women and men work together as producers and caregivers to secure their households’ livelihoods, food security, and nutrition. However, gendered divisions of rights, resources, and responsibilities often leave women and girls particularly vulnerable to malnutrition, poor health, and excessive workloads.

Understanding gendered differences is integral to IFPRI’s mission to provide research-based policy solutions to reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. Gender is a major focus and cross-cutting theme in IFPRI research.

IFPRI collects data, develops metrics, and generates important findings on how gender relates to food and nutrition security, land tenure, and power and resource allocation within households. We also examine the role of gender in agricultural development projects, market development and trade, institution building, natural resource management, and overall economic development and poverty reduction, and the relationships between gender and climate change. Evaluations of development and social safety net programs investigate the impact of different interventions on women’s and children’s nutrition and household relations, including on domestic violence.

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IFPRI’s work on women’s empowerment includes the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, the first comprehensive tool for measuring women’s empowerment and inclusion, now widely used and adapted for development programs, as well as several affiliated tools.IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, and SDG 5, and all the CGIAR Impact Areas, especially Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion.

To stay up to date on IFPRI’s gender work, please subscribe to the Gender Highlights newsletter.

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topics

Publications

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Journal Article

Armed conflict and gendered participation in agrifood systems: Survey evidence from 29 African countries

2025Ronzani, Piero; Stojetz, Wolfgang; Azzarri, Carlo; Nico, Gianluigi; Mane, Erdgin; Brück, Tilman
Details

Armed conflict and gendered participation in agrifood systems: Survey evidence from 29 African countries

This paper provides empirical micro-level evidence on the gendered impacts of armed conflict on economic activity in agriculture and other sectors, combining large-N sex-disaggregated survey data with temporally and spatially disaggregated conflict event data from 29 African countries. We find that local conflict exposure is only weakly related to labour-force participation, but strongly reduces the total number of hours worked and increases engagement in the agricultural sector. These net impacts exist for both men and women. However, the reduction in hours worked is significantly greater among men, while the increase in agricultural activity is significantly greater among women. In the longer term, impacts of conflict on employment two years later are stronger when no more conflict ensues than if further conflict occurs, challenging the widespread idea of one-off conflict shocks fading away over time and suggesting that labour markets adapt to and absorb lasting conflict situations. Different types of conflict event have qualitatively similar impacts, which are strongest for explosions, such as from air strikes or landmines. Overall, our findings underline that armed conflict entails structural economic, social and institutional change, which creates complex, gendered impacts on economic activity.

Year published

2025

Authors

Ronzani, Piero; Stojetz, Wolfgang; Azzarri, Carlo; Nico, Gianluigi; Mane, Erdgin; Brück, Tilman

Citation

Ronzani, Piero; Stojetz, Wolfgang; Azzarri, Carlo; Nico, Gianluigi; Mane, Erdgin; and Brück, Tilman. 2025. Armed conflict and gendered participation in agrifood systems: Survey evidence from 29 African countries. Global Food Security 44: 100821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100821

Keywords

Africa; Data; Gender; Labour Market; Armed Conflicts; Agriculture; Employment; Women’s Participation; Agrifood Systems

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100821 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

Commercialization and dietary diversity of Rwandan smallholder farmers: A focus on women and youth headed households

2025Mukangabo, Emerence; Warner, James
Details

Commercialization and dietary diversity of Rwandan smallholder farmers: A focus on women and youth headed households

Using a household dietary diversity score as a proxy for household access to nutritious foods, this paper assesses the relationship between commercialization and nutritional outcomes of Rwandan smallholder farmers, with a particular emphasis on women and youth headed households. The results indicate that commercialization has a strong, positive effect on household dietary diversity but mixed results between sub-categories of households. For instance, male-headed households have higher overall dietary diversity compared to female-headed ones, but much of that variation can be explained by higher asset ownership and income. However, relative to male headed households, female headed households appear to respond to increasing levels of commercialization by consuming more diverse foods, an insight that could be useful for targeted interventions. Importantly, youth-headed households exhibit greater household dietary diversity than those households headed by older individuals, despite having both lower levels of assets and crop commercialization. General determinants that positively influence household dietary diversity include the level of commercialization, household non-farm assets, market access, education of the household head, the presence of children under five in the household, irrigation use, land size, and livestock holdings. The goal of this research is to enable policy makers to better identify the drivers of household dietary consumption, particularly among more vulnerable households, and how to encourage a more diverse diet for better nutritional outcomes.

Year published

2025

Authors

Mukangabo, Emerence; Warner, James

Citation

Mukangabo, Emerence; and Warner, James. 2025. Commercialization and dietary diversity of Rwandan smallholder farmers: A focus on women and youth headed households. Rwanda SSP Working Paper 16. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173175

Country/Region

Rwanda

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Nutrition; Dietary Diversity; Commercialization; Gender; Youth; Households; Smallholders

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

The long-run and intergenerational impact of early exposure to the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–61 on mental health

2025Tan, Chih Ming; Zhang, Xiaobo; Zhang, Xin
Details

The long-run and intergenerational impact of early exposure to the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–61 on mental health

We study the effects of early exposure to the Great Chinese Famine on the mental health and subjective well-being of survivors as well as their offspring using data from the 2010 and 2014 waves of the China Family Panel Studies. Our analysis focuses on K6 scores, severe mental illness, and life dissatisfaction. We find that early exposure to the famine has impaired the mental health outcomes of women, but not men (i.e., the first generation). For the second generation, negative effects only show up among the sons of male famine survivors. Some preliminary evidence suggests that the mechanism for such transmission may have to do with the cultural son preference.

Year published

2025

Authors

Tan, Chih Ming; Zhang, Xiaobo; Zhang, Xin

Citation

Tan, Chih Ming; Zhang, Xiaobo; and Zhang, Xin. 2025. The long-run and intergenerational impact of early exposure to the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–61 on mental health. Economics and Human Biology 56(February 2025): 101461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101461

Country/Region

China

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Capacity Development; Famine; Mental Health; Men; Data; Women; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101461 Source record

Project

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

When school overlaps with farming: Measuring reduced educational advancement and simulating solutions in Africa
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 16, 2024

When school overlaps with farming: Measuring reduced educational advancement and simulating solutions in Africa

By James Allen IV

The social costs of calendars.

How anticipatory action can empower women in disaster-prone areas
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 12, 2024

How anticipatory action can empower women in disaster-prone areas

By Emily Myers, Katrina Kosec, Jordan Kyle, Agnes Quisumbing, Teresa Gonzales, Ana Madero, Caitlin Mittrick, and Amica Rapadas

How assistance programs can catalyze improvements in gender equality.

How men and women cope with weather-related agricultural production risk: A case study of cereal and tomato farmers in Haryana, India
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 22, 2024

How men and women cope with weather-related agricultural production risk: A case study of cereal and tomato farmers in Haryana, India

By Samyuktha Kannan and Berber Kramer

Addressing gender differences to build resilience.

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Events

69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

March 10 to 21, 2025

69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69)

The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place on March 10 to 21, 2025. The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the […]

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

Throughout her career, Ruth Meinzen-Dick has made pathbreaking contributions to natural resource management and gender equity, drawing from her deep engagement with communities to improve understanding and measurement in these areas. Dr. Meinzen-Dick’s research encompasses land and water policy, property rights, collective action, and games for experiential learning, with a longstanding focus on improving equity. […]

SPIR II RFSA Learning Event: Impact results workshops
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

December 9 to 10, 2024

SPIR II RFSA Learning Event: Impact results workshops

December 9, 2024 | 9:30am to 12:00pm (Africa/Addis_Ababa) | Video Recording | Presentation December 9, 2024 | 1:00pm to 3:30pm (Africa/Addis_Ababa) | Video Recording | Presentation December 10, 2024 | 9:30am to 12:45pm (Africa/Addis_Ababa) | Video Recording | Presentation Click HERE to view the agenda. The Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR II) Resilience Food […]

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News

December 05, 2024 | Press Release

Tracking soil health managers in Uganda

IFPRI, CGIAR NEXUS Gains Initiative, and Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization undertake a long-term, gender-disaggregated soil health survey in Uganda.

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.

December 03, 2023 | Press Release

CGIAR and partners launch Innovation Sprint on Gender and Climate Action

December 3, 2023, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). CGIAR and partners have committed US$31 million over four years (2023-2027) to ensure that climate innovations in agrifood systems are designed to work for women and rolled out in ways that address underlying gender inequalities. Together with 20 partners, CGIAR launched the AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint on […]

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Our experts

Daniel Gilligan

Daniel Gilligan

Director, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI), Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

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

Luis Escalante

Luis Escalante

Associate Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling, Latin America and the Caribbean

Katrina Kosec

Katrina Kosec

Senior Research Fellow, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Jordan Kyle

Jordan Kyle

Research Fellow, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Hazel Malapit

Hazel Malapit

Senior Research Coordinator, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Mariam Dawoud

Mariam Dawoud

Program Manager, Development
Strategies and Governance

Ara Go

Ara Go

Senior Program Manager, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Rewa Misra

Rewa Misra

Program Head, Innovation
Policy and Scaling

Jenny Smart

Jenny Smart

Senior Program Manager, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Amanda Wyatt

Amanda Wyatt

Senior Program Manager, Nutrition,
Diets, and Health

Prapti Barooah

Prapti Barooah

Senior Research Analyst, Natural
Resources and Resilience