Cross-posted from the Food Security Portal Food for Thought blog

Effective policymaking relies on sound knowledge. Knowing what works and what doesn’t, who the target population is and what they need, and what the situation is really like “on the ground” is crucial to ensuring that policies and programs have the desired impacts. But all too often, critical information is out of date, difficult to locate and access, or even nonexistent.

World Water Day 2013 begins the International Year of Water Cooperation. Today, we highlight an innovative research project that helps strengthen cooperation to protect and conserve this precious natural resource.

Recently, villagers in India and Colombia have been regularly gathering for a “game night.” But instead of Monopoly or charades, they play a game that simulates real-life decisionmaking about water use.

By CGIAR Consortium. Originally posted in Consortium News

“Don’t just ‘walk the talk’ — run, or even fly, the talk!” IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan made this call to action at a policy seminar yesterday to mark the release IFPRI’s second annual Global Food Policy Report.

By Emily Hogue, Team Leader for Monitoring and Evaluation, Bureau for Food Security, USAID. Originally posted in Feed the Future Blog

Last March, Feed the Future launched a tool to measure women’s empowerment in agriculture—the first of its kind.

From former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to student activist Malala Yousufzai, Pakistani women from all backgrounds and age groups have been transforming the discourse of gender roles in Pakistani society.

And they are making a difference: in the midst of a changing political, social, and economic environment, political victories for women have been few but significant, including an Anti-Sexual Harassment Act, the creation of the National Commission on Status of Women, and a bill protecting women against domestic violence.

At IFPRI, every day is women’s day, as improving women’s lives is one of the most effective ways to reduce hunger.

Shahira Emara, GDNet Knowledge Services Manager in the Global Development Network’s Cairo office, shared her thoughts on the new Arab Spatial tool.

How is Arab Spatial beneficial for the Middle East and North Africa region?

The seventh International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and IFPRI Impact Evaluation Seminar will be held on March 8 at 12:30 EST. Cyrus Samii of New York University will present on how two different strategies for promoting free democratic expression impacted the 2011 Liberian general election.

The great hope that rose from the Arab awakening is being continually tested—not only by ongoing political unrest, but also by lesser known forces: volatile food prices and supplies, and grinding poverty. Translating hope to better lives rests on effective policy—and effective policy rests on access to adequate and accurate information, also in scarce supply in the region. For instance, only around half of the region’s countries make poverty figures publicly available, and the frequency and accuracy of those figures varies widely.