Policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders are gathering today in Dhaka, Bangladesh to discuss the country’s food security in at the workshop “The Feed the Future Zone and the Rest of Bangladesh: A Comparison of Food Security Aspects.” The workshop is organized by IFPRI and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ethiopians have a saying: “Little by little, the egg begins to walk.” This is certainly true of step-by-step progress towards gender equality on the African continent. Sometimes, however, that little egg gets a boost when seemingly unrelated policy reforms act together to reinforce and strengthen their impact on women’s empowerment.

Should I buy packaged goods, or bulk? Generic or name brand? The questions long-faced by consumers at pharmacies and grocery stores are now being asked at farmers’ markets in the developing world as wholesalers and merchants try to profit with brand-name, glossy-packaged agricultural products. So the question IFPRI researchers are asking is: How does the branding trend affect farmers and consumers?

The US government is “doubling down” on hunger and food security in the new presidential term, with a major focus on scaling up proven agricultural technologies to reach as many people as possible – and it would like the help of the international agricultural research community.

That was a key message by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah when he spoke at IFPRI last Friday.