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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

Liangzhi You

Liangzhi You is a Senior Research Fellow and theme leader in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit, based in Washington, DC. His research focuses on climate resilience, spatial data and analytics, agroecosystems, and agricultural science policy. Gridded crop production data of the world (SPAM) and the agricultural technology evaluation model (DREAM) are among his research contributions. 

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

Governance

Governance refers to how power and authority are used to manage the collective affairs of a community, society, or nation. Institutions are the systems of formal and informal rules that enable the development of policies, cooperation, and innovation. While there is no singular definition of ‘good governance,’ it usually refers to governance systems that are capable of delivering on objectives, are socially inclusive, responsive to information and needs, efficient, and accountable to citizens.

Sound institutions and good governance—from the local to the global level—are central to the effective functioning of food systems, and more broadly to reducing rural poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and social inequality, as well as conserving natural resources. They are equally important for promoting civic participation in political affairs and mutual accountability between leaders and citizens. Poor governance can contribute to economic and social inequities, conflict and a lack of social cohesion, unsustainable and inefficient resource use, poor delivery of public services and infrastructure, and lack of accountability for governments and leaders, all of which can worsen food insecurity and poverty. Governance systems worldwide, meanwhile, are also under increasing pressure from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, debt and fiscal crises, climate change, and inequality.

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IFPRI’s governance research focuses on property rights, collective action, and service delivery, as well as government accountability and elevating the voices and inclusion of marginalized groups in governance, including women. Our work analyzes the role of institutions and governance arrangements, as well as the related policy processes, in promoting food security and nutrition, poverty reduction, resilience to climate change, social cohesion, gender equality, and environmental health. These include policies for strengthening property rights (including land tenure), inclusive and effective collective action, multi-stakeholder deliberations and platforms, pro-poor public investments and policies, and how to improve service delivery. IFPRI’s work also analyzes the political economy of climate change governance and food systems transformation.

governance

topics

Publications

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Other

Elites’ response to women’s action committees and local services in Nigeria

2024Kyle, Jordan; Adida, Claire; Arriola, Leonardo; Fisher, Rachel; Kosec, Katrina; Mo, Cecilia Hyungjung
Details

Elites’ response to women’s action committees and local services in Nigeria

This study examines how local elites respond in the face of two interventions: a women’s training designed to strengthen women’s sense of collective efficacy and leadership skills, and a complementary training program for women’s husbands, designed to encourage and support them to become champions of women’s voice and agency. The study utilized a three-arm randomized control trial (RCT) carried out in Ogun, Osun, and Oyo states of southwest Nigeria in 2023 to analyze elite responsiveness to hypothetical petitions presented by both women and men on key community development issues. Our first intervention (treatment group 1 (T1)), the women’s training intervention, provided intensive instruction in leadership, organizing, and advocacy. It was designed to reduce psychological barriers to women’s political participation by raising women’s sense of collective efficacy and conferring skills to help women overcome these barriers. This intervention was part of a coordinated set of field experiments in five countries—collectively known as Metaketa V. Our second intervention (T2), the men’s training intervention, emphasized the benefits of women’s political participation for families and communities and focused on equipping men to be advocates for women’s empowerment and gender equality in public spaces—underscoring that women’s empowerment is not a zero-sum game.

Year published

2024

Authors

Kyle, Jordan; Adida, Claire; Arriola, Leonardo; Fisher, Rachel; Kosec, Katrina; Mo, Cecilia Hyungjung

Citation

Kyle, Jordan; Adida, Claire; Arriola, Leonardo; Fisher, Rachel; Kosec, Katrina; and Mo, Cecilia Hyungjung. 2024.Elites’ response to women’s action committees and local services in Nigeria. AEA RCT Registry. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/14946

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Human Behaviour; Gender; Governance; Training Programmes; Women’s Empowerment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Source

Source record

Project

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration

Record type

Other

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Brief

Scaling up experiential learning for water management

2024Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas; Sanil, Richu; ElDidi, Hagar; Zhang, Wei; Kosec, Katrina; Melesse, Mequanint B.; Duche, Vishwambhar
Details

Scaling up experiential learning for water management

Unsustainable water management is associated with reduced agricultural production and poverty, reduced ecosystem services and resilience, and insufficient and unreliable domestic water access. As a common pool resource with high subtractability and low excludability, water is easily depleted if no effective coordination exists among users to ensure provision and regulate withdrawals. This creates one of the greatest challenges for people living in semi-arid and arid environments. The majority of India’s population is estimated to face physical water scarcity for at least part of the year, with 600 million people living in areas of high to extreme water stress. As water management is highly complex, with many users sharing the same resource but often unknown to each other, stopping overuse is difficult, especially when it is more profitable to irrigate water-consumptive crops than water-conserving crops. Farmers, policymakers, donors, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in India have all articulated the need for more effective tools to improve water management and governance. Coordination and effective management of water resources are crucial to sustain agricultural productivity, but so far progress has been disappointing. Technical tools such as crop water budgeting can play an important role in enabling communities to manage their water resources, but unless communities have the knowledge and motivation to use these tools, their application and impacts are limited. To date, attention to the question of how knowledge about collectively available water is translated into effective management through collective action, norms and rules has been insufficient. Blueprint rules introduced in a top-down manner have not changed water users’ behavior. However, there is strong evidence that effective community rules and their enforcement can motivate such behavior. The better these rules fit the social-ecological context and internalized norms, the more effective they will be. Participatory development approaches have addressed these challenges. The key question is how to promote such coordination, rules, and behavior in a participatory way without external imposition and in a low-cost manner that allows largescale implementation.

Year published

2024

Authors

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas; Sanil, Richu; ElDidi, Hagar; Zhang, Wei; Kosec, Katrina; Melesse, Mequanint B.; Duche, Vishwambhar

Citation

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas; Sanil, Richu; ElDidi, Hagar; Zhang, Wei; Kosec, Katrina; et al. 2024. Scaling up experiential learning for water management. Scaling Up Experiential Learning Tools Project Note 2. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Agricultural Production; Sustainability; Water Governance; Water Management

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

NEXUS Gains

Record type

Brief

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Brief

Enhancing experiential learning through community debriefs: A reflection from facilitators of experiential games

2024Melesse, Mequanint B.; Duche, Vishwambhar; Sanil, Richu; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas
Details

Enhancing experiential learning through community debriefs: A reflection from facilitators of experiential games

Community debriefing is a structured process that facilitates the sharing of experience and insights about implemented interventions among community members. It enables participants to connect lessons learned in an activity, experience, or program to the outside world and to discuss the relevance of an activity to the challenges faced by the community. Thus, social learning is reinforced when debriefing sessions are conducted at the community level. Here, we are interested in debriefings conducted after playing experiential learning games as a learning space beyond the game itself.

Year published

2024

Authors

Melesse, Mequanint B.; Duche, Vishwambhar; Sanil, Richu; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas

Citation

Melesse, Mequanint B.; Duche, Vishwambhar; Sanil, Richu; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; and Falk, Thomas. 2024. Enhancing experiential learning through community debriefs: A reflection from facilitators of experiential games. Scaling Up Experiential Learning Tools Project Note 1. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Social Learning; Experiential Learning; Water Governance

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Blogs

From crisis to recovery: How CGIAR’s BRIGHT Survey can catalyze evidence-based policy reforms in Sri Lanka
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 20, 2024

From crisis to recovery: How CGIAR’s BRIGHT Survey can catalyze evidence-based policy reforms in Sri Lanka

By Derek Headey, Joanna van Asselt, Olivier Ecker, and Jean Balié

Research can shape a new government’s decision-making.

Six synergies to consider for groundwater governance
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 11, 2024

Six synergies to consider for groundwater governance

By Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Bryan Bruns

Advantages of “both/and” solutions.

Knowledge, motivation, and agency for groundwater governance
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 06, 2024

Knowledge, motivation, and agency for groundwater governance

By Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Bryan Bruns

Collaborative approaches for a fragile resource.

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Events

Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

March 22, 2022, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture

Virtual Event: March 22, 2022 – 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM EDT. This event features a panel discussion on global governance, food security and nutrition, poverty reduction, and gender.

Can agricultural policies deliver better value for money for people, the planet, and the economy?
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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February 2, 2022, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Can agricultural policies deliver better value for money for people, the planet, and the economy?

Virtual Event: Feb 02, 2022 – 09:30 AM to 11:00 AM EST. This policy seminar will present a summary of the latest IFPRI-World Bank research findings and feature speakers discussing the need for more rapid adoption of technological solutions that foster less emissions-intensive productivity growth across developed and developing countries alike.

Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) Project Impact Evaluation Results Dissemination Workshop
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 28, 2021, 2:00 – 3:30 pm

Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) Project Impact Evaluation Results Dissemination Workshop

Virtual Event: OCT 28, 2021 – 02:00 PM to 03:30 PM CAT. This workshop will disseminate the results of the impact evaluation of the InovAgro project's interventions. 

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News

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.

February 27, 2024 | In the News

What’s driving the farmer protests sweeping Europe? (CNN)

Senior research fellow Danielle Resnick was interviewed by CNN on the reasons behind farmers’ protests throughout Europe. Resnick says, “These protests reflect some complex political economy dynamics, especially as European governments are trying to navigate the fiscal and climate crisis. Farmers have a lot of grievances, but one that they noted was their own returns on investment has really shifted over […]

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Our experts

Purnima Menon

Purnima Menon

Senior Director, Food and Nutrition Policy, CGIAR and IFPRI, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions, Nutrition, Diets, and Health, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Steven Were Omamo

Steven Were Omamo

Director, Development Strategies and Governance (DSG), Development
Strategies and Governance

Jordan Kyle

Jordan Kyle

Research Fellow, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Khalid Siddig

Khalid Siddig

Senior Research Fellow, Development
Strategies and Governance

Xiaobo Zhang

Xiaobo Zhang

Senior Research Fellow, Development
Strategies and Governance

Durjoy Dey

Durjoy Dey

Research Analyst, Development
Strategies and Governance

Hagar ElDidi

Hagar ElDidi

Senior Research Analyst, Natural
Resources and Resilience

Soyra Gune

Soyra Gune

Research Analyst, Nutrition,
Diets, and Health

Edward Kato

Edward Kato

Senior Research Analyst, Natural
Resources and Resilience