To ensure the best use of resources and undertake research that is relevant and useful in a rapidly changing world, IFPRI commissions external assessment of its activities. A recent review focused on IFPRI activities in Ethiopia, one of the most populous and poor countries in Africa south of the Sahara, and thus a high priority for IFPRI’s research and capacity-building work.

The following is an excerpted version of a story originally published on IFPRI’s Food Security Portal.

IFPRI is pleased to announce the launch of its Outcome Stories website, highlighting the impact of IFPRI and partners’ work around the world. The website will showcase 30 initial stories of success, benchmarking progress achieved in areas such as building resiliency, facilitating markets, improving production, promoting nutrition, strengthening governance, and designing country strategies. Each week, IFPRI will share a new story from a growing collection of more than 80.

The following post was originally published on the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security's News Blog

Developing countries, and the vulnerable people who inhabit them, are confronting a barrage of increasingly frequent and intense economic, environmental, and political shocks. There is an urgent need to predict and prepare for these shocks, as well as devise coping strategies to ensure resilient food systems, institutions, and policies at global, national, and community levels. Such preparations and coping mechanisms are essential to achieving food and nutrition security for all.

Although climate change is poised to deeply impact both developed and developing countries, a shifting climate poses a particularly pernicious threat to developing countries that may lack the resources to contend with the challenges it will bring, with far-reaching implications for economic development.

Taxes were on the minds of many as politicians descended upon St. Petersburg for the G20 summit last week, with financial transaction taxes, tax havens, and illicit financial flows featuring prominently on global agendas.

This blog story by IFPRI senior researcher Agnes Quisumbing was originally posted as part of the Devex Land Matters for Women campaign.

Why do you care about women’s land rights? Isn’t it enough for the household to have land?

This question is a common refrain heard from many corners of the developing world, but most disturbingly from policymakers and government officials.

The southern region of Africa could be the hardest hit by rising temperatures from climate change, leaving many to wonder what this means for agriculture. Will some areas become unsuitable for farming? Will farmers face lower yields, or turn to new crops? Will climate change threaten food security? These are challenging questions for policymakers, who must plan for the future without available information and analysis.

This blog story by IFPRI senior researchers Alan de Brauw and Dan Gilligan was originally posted on The Guardian’s Global Development Professionals Network.