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What we do

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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IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

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TOPIC

Poverty

Today, nearly 10 percent of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty, making them vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition. Though substantial progress has been made in reducing poverty as well as food insecurity in recent decades, recent events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and the increasing incidence of weather shocks linked to a changing climate, have slowed that progress.  Poverty is more prevalent in rural areas of developing countries (though it is becoming increasingly common in urban areas), and intersects with gender disparities in rights, assets holdings and economic opportunities, as well as similar inequities experienced by marginalized communities.

Identifying research-based policy solutions to poverty is central to IFPRI’s mission. IFPRI’s researchers explore the linkages between poverty, food security, and nutrition, and evaluate programs and policies that help families move out of poverty.

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IFPRI evaluations focus on multifaceted livelihoods interventions designed to address the multiple constraints faced by households in poverty, in addition to technical and policy innovations that can boost productivity and market access, and financial tools such as insurance that can reduce risks and raise incomes. This research agenda on poverty also links to our research agenda on social protection, given that social protection is a major antipoverty initiative in many countries and a launching point for multifaceted antipoverty initiatives. IFPRI’s research on development strategies uses economic modeling to explain how policies to support food system transformation and agriculture-led growth can create new opportunities both on and off farm and contribute to poverty alleviation. IFPRI also has strong expertise in probing the intersections between poverty and gender.  IFPRI’s research identifies effective and sustainable strategies that ensure that women are empowered to participate in new economic opportunities.

IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG1, and the CGIAR Impact Area on Nutrition, Health, and Food Security; Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods and Jobs; and Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion.

poverty

topics

Publications

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Report

Africa RISING impact assessment report

2024Haile, Beliyou; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Azzarri, Carlo
Details

Africa RISING impact assessment report

This report summarizes lessons from cross-country analyses of the impact of the Africa RISING (AR) program. Implemented in six countries—Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mali, and Ghana—AR aimed to provide pathways out of hunger and poverty for smallholders by sustainably intensifying their farming systems in order to enhance income and food security, particularly for women and children, while conserving or enhancing the natural resource base. Phase I (2012–2016) focused on the validation of demand-driven sustainable intensification (SI) innovations, while Phase II (2016–2022) focused on the scaling of a subset of validated SI innovations in partnership with development partners. Our impact assessment studies covered all program countries, except Zambia, and are based on two rounds of household panel survey data, excluding Ethiopia for which program effect is estimated using one round of survey data. Impact is estimated using the difference-in-differences method for countries with panel data or, for Ethiopia, based on simple comparison of outcomes between program beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. The choice of impact indicators is guided by the Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (SIAF) framework and survey data availability. Impact indicators encompass the five sustainable intensification (SI) domains discussed in the SIAF: environment, productivity, economic, human, and social.

Year published

2024

Authors

Haile, Beliyou; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Azzarri, Carlo

Citation

Haile, Beliyou; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; and Azzarri, Carlo. 2024. Africa RISING impact assessment report. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148737

Country/Region

Ethiopia; Malawi; Zambia; Mali; Ghana

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Southern Africa; Western Africa; Hunger; Poverty; Smallholders; Nutrition; Women; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Report

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Working Paper

Social protection and gender: policy, practice and research

2024Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Lambon-Quayefio, Monica; Roy, Shalini; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Paz, Flor
Details

Social protection and gender: policy, practice and research

Gender considerations in the design and delivery of social protection programs are critical to meet overall objectives of reducing poverty and vulnerability. We provide an overview of the policy discourse and research on social protection and gender in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on social assistance, social care, and social insurance. Taking a ‘review of reviews’ approach, we aggregate findings from rigorous evaluations on women’s health, economic, empowerment, and violence impacts. We show there is robust evidence that social assistance has beneficial effects across all four domains. In addition, there is emerging evidence that social care has positive impacts on women’s economic outcomes, but scarce evidence of its impacts on other domains. Aggregated evidence on the impacts of social insurance are lacking. Key design elements facilitating positive impacts for women relate to gender targeting; quality complementary programming; replacing conditionalities with soft nudges; ensuring the value, frequency, and duration of benefits are sufficient; and gender-sensitive operational components. We close with a discussion of evidence gaps and priorities for future research.

Year published

2024

Authors

Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Lambon-Quayefio, Monica; Roy, Shalini; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Paz, Flor

Citation

Hidrobo, Melissa; Peterman, Amber; Kumar, Neha; Lambon-Quayefio, Monica; Roy, Shalini; Gilligan, Daniel O.; and Paz, Flor. 2024. Social protection and gender: policy, practice and research. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2257. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144240

Keywords

Gender; Poverty; Social Protection; Vulnerability; Women’s Empowerment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

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Journal Article

Revisiting development strategy under climate uncertainty: case study of Malawi

2024Mukashov, Askar; Thomas, Timothy S.; Thurlow, James
Details

Revisiting development strategy under climate uncertainty: case study of Malawi

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of agriculture-led versus non-agriculture-led development strategies under climate-induced economic uncertainty. Utilizing Malawi as a case study, we introduce the application of Stochastic Dominance (SD) analysis, a tool from decision analysis theory, and compare the two strategies in the context of weather/climate-associated economic uncertainty. Our findings suggest that an agriculture-led development strategy consistently surpasses its non-agriculture-led antagonist in poverty and undernourishment outcomes across almost all possible weather/climate scenarios. This underscores that, despite increasing exposure of the entire economy to weather/climate uncertainty, agriculture-led development remains the optimal strategy for Malawi to reduce poverty and undernourishment. The study also endorses the broader use of SD analysis in policy planning studies, promoting its potential to integrate risk and uncertainty into policymaking.

Year published

2024

Authors

Mukashov, Askar; Thomas, Timothy S.; Thurlow, James

Citation

Mukashov, Askar; Thomas, Timothy; and Thurlow, James. 2024. Revisiting development strategy under climate uncertainty: case study of Malawi. Climatic Change 177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-024-03733-2

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Agriculture; Development; Climate Change; Stochastic Models; Poverty; Undernutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-024-03733-2 Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Tackling gender inequality in a climate-changed world: How agrifood and social protection systems can empower women and girls to build climate resilience
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 18, 2024

Tackling gender inequality in a climate-changed world: How agrifood and social protection systems can empower women and girls to build climate resilience

By Clara Ceravolo, Ilaria Sisto, Lauren Whitehead, Matthew Walsham, Morane Verhoeven, and Shalini Roy

Five key ways to promote adaptation.

Adapt, assess, progress: Integrating measures of women’s empowerment into rural development projects
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 13, 2024

Adapt, assess, progress: Integrating measures of women’s empowerment into rural development projects

By Carlo Azzarri, Sedi-Anne Boukaka, Jessica Heckert, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Greg Seymour, and Sara Savastano

A new tool developed by IFPRI and IFAD.

2023 Papua New Guinea Rural Household Survey: Insights on livelihoods and the agrifood system
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 22, 2024

2023 Papua New Guinea Rural Household Survey: Insights on livelihoods and the agrifood system

By Trudie Sikas-Iha and Emily Schmidt

New data on diets.

Events

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

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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.

2024 Global Food Policy Report: Improving Diets and Nutrition through Food Systems: What Will it Take?
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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May 29, 2024, 9:30 – 11:00 am

2024 Global Food Policy Report: Improving Diets and Nutrition through Food Systems: What Will it Take?

Hybrid Event: May 29, 2024 at 9:30am-11:00am EDT. IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report on Food Systems for Healthy Diets, presents evidence-based policy and governance solutions to strengthen diet quality and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries, and examines priorities for future research on food systems for better nutrition.

Globalization of the Bioeconomy: Recent Trends and Drivers of Bioeconomy Programs and Policies
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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May 7, 2024, 9:00 – 10:30 am

Globalization of the Bioeconomy: Recent Trends and Drivers of Bioeconomy Programs and Policies

Hybrid Event: May 7, 2024 at 9:00am-10:30am EDT. Please join us at IFPRI (in-person or online) for an exciting seminar on the globalization of the bioeconomy.

News

February 11, 2024 | In the News

Agricultural growth key to accelerated poverty reduction in Bangladesh (Financial Express)

Senior research fellow and country representative, Akhter Ahmed writes in an op-ed for the Financial Express (Bangladesh) that the country “has witnessed substantial economic growth over the past decade, with an average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.6 per cent between 2016 and 2022. Notably, the country experienced a 3.4 per cent increase in GDP in 2020, making Bangladesh one […]

March 06, 2023 | In the News

Real-time monitoring of imports, national supply for key commodities needed (The Daily Star)

Johan Swinnen, Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR and Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute gave an extensive interview to the Daily Star (Bangladesh).  Bangladesh should conduct real-time monitoring of imports and national supply chains for critical commodities to forecast and respond in a timely manner to policy challenges and tackle the impacts […]

March 05, 2023 | Press Release

IFPRI-BIMSTEC Secretariat formalize partnership to promote  sustainable and inclusive food systems transformation

Dhaka, Bangladesh: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in Dhaka. IFPRI, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the BIMSTEC Secretariat, is conducting research and facilitating capacity sharing in […]

Our experts

Daniel Gilligan

Daniel Gilligan

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

James Thurlow

James Thurlow

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

Joachim De Weerdt

Joachim De Weerdt

Senior Research Fellow / Program Leader, Development
Strategies and Governance

Neha Kumar

Neha Kumar

Senior Research Fellow, Nutrition,
Diets, and Health

Wim Marivoet

Wim Marivoet

Research Fellow, Development
Strategies and Governance

Antoine Bouet

Antoine Bouet

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions