As a staple food in India, onions are relied upon by the wealthy, the poor, and everyone in-between. Skyrocketing onion prices mean a drastic cut in the quality of life for some, and hunger for many.

The Applied Microeconomics & Development (AMD) Seminar Series will continue on February 21 at 12pm EST with a presentation by Petra Todd of the University of Pennsylvania. Todd will speak about the impact of three different performance incentives schemes using data from a social experiment conducted in Mexican high schools.

Machines can do wonders for productivity, driving down the cost production and, ultimately, the consumer’s price for a given product.

Bob Evenson died on February 2, 2013. Bob was one of three main mentors in my career, and probably the most influential, even though I never took a course from him. Writing a paper with him amounted to a full-scale seminar.

While food price volatility has decreased since 2010, price spikes and unpredictable markets remain a significant threat to global food security. The uncertainty that stems from price volatility can cut into farmers’ profits and discourage long-term planning and investment, decreasing agricultural productivity. In turn, smaller harvests and lower food stocks can lead to further price increases and decreased availability of food, particularly for already vulnerable populations. But what is behind price volatility, and what can be done to control it?

Climate change could cause the production of irrigated and rainfed staple crops to drop by 25 percent compared to a no-climate change scenario in 2050 in the Asia Pacific region. IFPRI Senior Research Fellow Mark Rosegrant shared this and other findings at a conference in Sydney this week.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton vacated her post at the State Department last week. She may be gone, but her legacy will not be forgotten. The development community will remember her unwavering commitment to raising the profile of hunger and poverty in the developing world as well as in the United States.

Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa has been appointed Office Head for IFPRI’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Over the last 15 years, he has worked with national and international research organizations and has been actively involved in food and agricultural policy both as a researcher and a practitioner.

Despite rapid economic growth in South Asia, its rates of child undernutrition remain the highest in the world, with nearly half of children stunted or underweight. Progress to reduce these rates is extremely slow. Ironically, most people in the region make their living from farming, which researchers say, offers great potential for improving nutrition.

Historically, African countries rich in natural resources have hinged their economic prosperity on the export of global commodities, and, as such, their economies fluctuate with the rise and fall of global commodity prices. Just look back to the tumultuous boom-and-bust cycle seen during the oil and food crisis of the 1970s: short-lived prosperity followed by financial woe.