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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.

Erick Boy

Erick Boy

Erick Boy is the Chief Nutritionist in the HarvestPlus section of the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. As head of nutrition for the HarvestPlus Program since 2008, he has led research that has generated scientific evidence on biofortified staple crops as efficacious and effective interventions to help address iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

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What we do

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

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.

Food Policy: Lessons and Priorities for a Changing World

2025 Global Food Policy Report

What’s New



Journal Article

Achieving transformational sustainable land Intensification: Integrated general equilibrium and portfolio analysis for Senegal

2025Pradesha, Angga; Siddig, Khalid; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James

Achieving transformational sustainable land Intensification: Integrated general equilibrium and portfolio analysis for Senegal

Feeding a growing global population while conserving natural resources remains a central challenge of Sustainable Intensification (SI). Despite decades of SI efforts, cropland expansion in many developing countries continues to accelerate, contributing to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Even with observed increases in crop yields, studies suggest that farmers continue to expand cropland, underscoring the need to consider market dynamics and the economywide effects of productivity gains. This study offers a new perspective on achieving transformational sustainable land intensification by treating farming activities as investment decisions shaped by risk and return under production and markets uncertainties. Unlike the traditional SI strategies that focus on efficiency gains through improved inputs or agronomic practices, we apply an optimal portfolio analysis to cropland allocation, aiming to enhance farming efficiency by considering market interconnections across sectors. Using Senegal as a case study, we demonstrate that adopting an optimal diversification strategy on new cropland investment could reduce land expansion needs by up to 68 % by 2030. This strategy not only helps mitigate emissions and reduce water footprint but also enhances crop biodiversity. Socioeconomic and environmental benefits are found to be greater when the country promotes high-value crops in its portfolio, such as fruits and vegetables, compared to grain crops. Our findings also contribute to ongoing debates around land-sparing versus land-sharing strategies and offer new insights into the drivers of cropland expansion in light of current global land use patterns.

Year published

2025

Authors

Pradesha, Angga; Siddig, Khalid; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James

Citation

Pradesha, Angga; Siddig, Khalid; Pauw, Karl; and Thurlow, James. 2025. Achieving transformational sustainable land Intensification: Integrated general equilibrium and portfolio analysis for Senegal. Journal of Cleaner Production 519(10 August 2025): 145929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.145929

Country/Region

Senegal

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Sustainable Intensification; Farmland; Land Allocation; Computable General Equilibrium Models; Modelling; Sustainability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Project

Foresight

Record type

Journal Article

Journal Article

Zinc distribution in structural components of high kernel‑zinc maize and its retention after milling

2025Taleon, Victor; Palacios-Rojas, Natalia; Dollah, Yusuf; Rosales, Aldo; Kalejaiye, Olatundun; Menkir, Abebe

Zinc distribution in structural components of high kernel‑zinc maize and its retention after milling

High kernel‑zinc maize (HKZM) has the potential to contribute to addressing zinc deficiency in regions with high maize consumption, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, milling HKZM may lead to loss of zinc when removing the pericarp and embryo. This study evaluated the zinc distribution in kernel components of HKZM maize grown in different environments, and examined how milling affected its zinc concentration. The zinc concentration in HKZM lines was 27.0–30.7 μg g−1 while in conventional maize it was 19.5–22.6 μg g−1. Zinc in maize endosperm represented 20.5 to 28.2 % of the total kernel zinc while that in the embryo represented 68.1 to 75.7 %. HKZM retained 43 % of its kernel zinc after milling, resulting in flour with 5 μg g−1 higher zinc concentration compared to regular maize flour. Environmental factors had a significant effect on kernel zinc concentrations. Maize grain from commercial mills had 21 μg g−1 zinc, with zinc losses of 22 % to 65 % during milling, resulting in flours with 6–10 μg g−1 of zinc. While HKZM shows promise in alleviating zinc deficiency, its anticipated impact may be limited in regions where refined maize is frequently used for making foods. The development of maize varieties with higher zinc concentration in the endosperm, along with promoting increased consumption of less refined maize products can boost zinc intake for deficient populations.

Year published

2025

Authors

Taleon, Victor; Palacios-Rojas, Natalia; Dollah, Yusuf; Rosales, Aldo; Kalejaiye, Olatundun; Menkir, Abebe

Citation

Taleon, Victor; Palacios-Rojas, Natalia; Dollah, Yusuf; Rosales, Aldo; Kalejaiye, Olatundun; and Menkir, Abebe. 2025. Zinc distribution in structural components of high kernel‑zinc maize and its retention after milling. Food Research International 217(October 2025): 116830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2025.116830

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Zinc; Maize; Milling; Nutrient Deficiencies

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Record type

Journal Article

Journal Article

Private sector promotion of agricultural technologies: Experimental evidence from Nigeria

2025Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Dillon, Andrew; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Adjognon, Guigonan Serge

Private sector promotion of agricultural technologies: Experimental evidence from Nigeria

Private sector agricultural businesses are critical for scaling new and potentially environmentally-friendly technologies, though much attention has focused on public agricultural investment. Working with a private firm, we conduct an experiment testing the effectiveness of alternative marketing strategies for promoting the adoption of urea super granule fertilizer (USG) among rice farmers in Nigeria. We disentangle the effects of price discount vouchers and the firm’s standard marketing package. We find that the firm’s standard marketing increases the adoption of USG fertilizer by 24 percentage points while reducing prilled urea utilization by 17 percentage points. Discount vouchers increase adoption of USG by an additional eight percentage points, but are not profitable for the firm. Although the adoption of USG leads to substantial environmental benefits by reducing nitrogen loss, farmer rice yields did not increase. Thus, despite the potential public benefits, private incentives facing firms and farmers are insufficient to drive scaling after a one-year intervention.

Year published

2025

Authors

Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Dillon, Andrew; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Adjognon, Guigonan Serge

Citation

Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Dillon, Andrew; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; and Adjognon, Guigonan Serge. 2025. Private sector promotion of agricultural technologies: Experimental evidence from Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 133(September 2025): 103201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103201

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Technology Adoption; Private Sector; Nitrogen; Rice; Urea

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Record type

Journal Article

2024 Year in Review

Explore highlights from IFPRI’s 2024 research and outreach, including our work on food security and healthy diets, responding to conflicts and building resilience, and major outputs from our regional and country programs. Click through the interactive review to view videos, blogs, events and more.

Experts in Our Field

IFPRI’s experts work around the world to provide the evidence that supports effective policies to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition.

600+

staff across the world

80+

countries where we work

#1

in the field of Agricultural Economics

20,000+

research outputs

Meet a Researcher

Alan de Brauw is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit at IFPRI, and a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization. At IFPRI, he previously worked in the leadership of two CGIAR research programs and has managed several multi-country projects. Much of his research involves primary source data collection, and he has helped design, plan, and conduct multi-topic household surveys in 15 different countries in the developing world. His research agenda has focused on understanding both…

Alan de Brauw

From our video channel

Ruth Hill, Director of IFPRI’s Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit

In this video, Ruth Hill explains how well-functioning food markets can lift farmers out of poverty and ensure fair prices for all. The MTI team tests innovations and policy reforms—from global trade models to local market solutions—in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The unit works closely with policymakers, traders, and financial institutions to generate evidence that drives more inclusive, efficient food systems.

Our Events

Making a Difference Blog Series

West Africa faces significant problems with various forms of malnutrition, especially among women and children. In 2017, the region had the highest rate of under-five wasting (low weight-for-age) in Africa—8.5% compared with the continent’s mean of 7.4%. The rate of stunting (low height-for-age) waw also extremely high at 31.4%. In 2017, 52% of women ages 15-46 suffered from anemia.

In response, IFPRI, with funding from the Gates Foundation, established Transform Nutrition West Africa (TNWA)—a regional knowledge platform to facilitate effective policy and action on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition in West Africa with a focus on four countries: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal. TNWA ran from 2017 to 2021.

Tamsin Zandstra, Roos Verstraeten, Ampa Dogui Diatta, Loty Diop, and Mariama Touré explore TNWA’s research, work, and long-term impact in West Africa.