Subscribe

Back

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.

Ahmed Akhter

researcher spotlight

Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow in the IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit and Country Representative for IFPRI Bangladesh. He has worked on strategies for agricultural and rural development, social protection, and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and undernutrition in developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malawi, the Philippines, and Turkey.

Back

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.

Research topics

Projects and impact

Modeling tools

Project microsites

What’s new

Where we work

Back

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.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

Subscribe

experts

Development Strategies and Governance

Derek Headey

Senior Research Fellow

Follow

Derek

at:

ORCiD
profile

Bio

Derek Headey is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, where he has worked since 2008. A development economist, his research chiefly focuses on agricultural development and nutrition, though he has also worked on economic growth, food security, and poverty reduction issues. He was the Principal Investigator for the Advancing Research on Nutrition and Agriculture project (ARENA, 2013-2021), funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has published in a variety of journals on topics relating to economics, agriculture, and public health. He also co-authored a widely cited book on the global food crisis with Shenggen Fan, and a number of journal articles on the cause and consequences of higher food prices. He has lived and worked in India and Ethiopia, and joined the Myanmar Agricultural Policy Support Activity (MAPSA) in Yangon.  He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Languages spoken: English, Spanish

Publications

Google Scholar

RePEc Author Profile

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Food avoidance taboos during breastfeeding are widespread and associated with large declines in maternal dietary diversity in Myanmar

2025Headey, Derek; Tauseef, Salauddin; Linn, Khin Mar; Oo, Theingi; Nyi, Soe Nyi
Details

Food avoidance taboos during breastfeeding are widespread and associated with large declines in maternal dietary diversity in Myanmar

Background Maternal food avoidance practices during pregnancy and breastfeeding have been documented in several Asian countries, but their prevalence and impacts on dietary diversity are not well quantified. Objectives This study: (1) assessed the prevalence of beliefs around maternal food avoidance during breastfeeding in Myanmar; (2) explored the correlates of women’s food avoidance beliefs as well as mother’s stated rationales for avoiding specific foods; and (3) assessed how minimum dietary diversity (MDD-W) of mothers changed from pregnancy to postpartum/breastfeeding. Methods We added a novel nutrition module to a nationally representative survey (N=12,353) in Myanmar to estimate the prevalence of beliefs around maternal food avoidance during breastfeeding and re-surveyed a subsample of mothers (N=155) to understand avoidance of specific foods. We then used a high-frequency panel of mothers in Yangon (N=3,541) to assess how MDD-W changed from pregnancy to postpartum/breastfeeding using mother fixed effects regressions. Results 40 percent of adult women in Myanmar believe breastfeeding mothers should avoid at least one food group that nutritionists would typically define as a healthy (e.g. vegetables, fruits). Regression analysis indicated these beliefs were less prevalent among women with more education and nutritional knowledge, and with exposure to nutrition counselling from community health workers. Mothers rationalized food avoidance by referring to a variety of perceived maternal and child health risks. MDD-W of mothers in the Yangon panel fell by 43 percentage points from pregnancy to the first month after birth, including significant declines in eight of the ten MDD-W food groups. MDD-W remained significantly lower up to six months after birth than during pregnancy. Conclusions Food avoidance taboos during breastfeeding pose a potentially serious risk of micronutrient deficiencies for mothers and infants and warrant more extensive monitoring in nutrition surveys and more research on how to redress these nutritionally harmful beliefs and practices.

Year published

2025

Authors

Headey, Derek; Tauseef, Salauddin; Linn, Khin Mar; Oo, Theingi; Nyi, Soe Nyi

Citation

Headey, Derek; Tauseef, Salauddin; Linn, Khin Mar; Oo, Theingi; and Nyi, Soe Nyi. Food avoidance taboos during breastfeeding are widespread and associated with large declines in maternal dietary diversity in Myanmar. Journal of Nutrition. Article in press. First published online April 11, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.04.007

Country/Region

Myanmar

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Avoidance Behaviour; Breastfeeding; Dietary Diversity; Maternal Behaviour; Micronutrient Deficiencies

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.04.007 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Air pollutions affect restaurant and foodservice industry in China

2025Tian, Xu; Min, Shi; Shen, Jiexi; Hong, Qianqian; Headey, Derek; Zhao, Fangxiao; Wang, Xiaobing
Details

Air pollutions affect restaurant and foodservice industry in China

This study examines the impact of air pollution on food away from home (FAFH) consumption in 52 cities across 20 provinces of China, focusing on expenditures for online food delivery (online FAFH) and dine-in restaurants (offline FAFH). Using unique daily aggregated city-level consumption data linked with hourly air quality data, we employ both semiparametric and parametric models to uncover a positive relationship between PM2.5 levels and online FAFH, contrasted by a significantly negative relationship with offline FAFH. Our analysis reveals that shifts in consumer demand for food services on polluted days, coupled with changes in urban mobility patterns, contribute to these outcomes. We also detect temporal variations based on meal type, enhancing our understanding of how air pollution influences food consumption behavior. The findings indicate that increased PM2.5 levels lead to a net loss in restaurant revenue, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and an increase in plastic waste. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the multifaceted impacts of air pollution on FAFH and corresponding economy and environmental implications.

Year published

2025

Authors

Tian, Xu; Min, Shi; Shen, Jiexi; Hong, Qianqian; Headey, Derek; Zhao, Fangxiao; Wang, Xiaobing

Citation

Tian, Xu; Min, Shi; Shen, Jiexi; Hong, Qianqian; Headey, Derek; Zhao, Fangxiao; and Wang, Xiaobing. 2025. Air pollutions affect restaurant and foodservice industry in China. PNAS Nexus 4(5): pgaf124. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf124

Country/Region

China

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Air Pollution; Food Service Industry; Rebound Effects; Restaurants

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf124 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

The state of food insecurity measurement: A mix of methods, and a mix of messages

2024Headey, Derek D.
Details

The state of food insecurity measurement: A mix of methods, and a mix of messages

Robust food insecurity indicators are needed for monitoring development targets, humanitarian advocacy efforts, and rationally allocating foreign aid. Longstanding dissatisfaction with the FAO’s undernourishment indicator prompted the development of new metrics in recent decades, including the FAO’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and the unaffordability of healthy diets. However, no previous research has assessed whether food insecurity and poverty indicators are in broad agreement on which countries are insecure/poor, and whether global food insecurity is rising or falling. Unfortunately, this new mix of methods produces mixed messages. At the country level, FIES severe food insecurity is often higher in Latin America and the Caribbean than in Niger and other extremely poor African countries. On global trends, the FAO reports increasing undernourishment and FIES food insecurity over 2014-2022, whereas the World Bank reports monetary poverty declining and healthy diets becoming more affordable. Moreover, trends in FAO food security indicators are not statistically explained by hypothesized factors cited in FAO reports, such as conflict or climate change, and increases in the FAO’s calorie consumption inequality metric are inconsistent with declining income inequality reported by the World Bank. We provide four concrete suggestions to improve food security measurement and monitoring: (1) the FAO should cease modelling undernourishment; (2) new independent studies should re-evaluate the FIES and test new metrics; (3) international agencies should implement coordinated, high-frequency, multi-purpose, open-access surveys; and (4) researchers should further improve the “nowcasting” of poverty and food insecurity for data-scarce crisis contexts.

Year published

2024

Authors

Headey, Derek D.

Citation

Headey, Derek D. 2024. The state of food insecurity measurement: A mix of methods, and a mix of messages. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2323. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169686

Keywords

Food Insecurity; Malnutrition; Prevalence of Undernourishment; Poverty; Stunting

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Climate Resilience

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

From crisis to recovery: How CGIAR’s BRIGHT Survey can catalyze evidence-based policy reforms in Sri Lanka
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 20, 2024

From crisis to recovery: How CGIAR’s BRIGHT Survey can catalyze evidence-based policy reforms in Sri Lanka

By Derek Headey, Joanna van Asselt, Olivier Ecker, and Jean Balié

Research can shape a new government’s decision-making.

Rising food prices are putting children in harm’s way
IFPRI Blog
 | 
February 29, 2024

Rising food prices are putting children in harm’s way

By Derek Headey and Marie Ruel

New evidence quantifies significant negative health effects.

Cash, COVID, coup, crisis: A pre-pandemic maternal and child cash transfer program had sustained dietary benefits during Myanmar’s ongoing emergency
IFPRI Blog
 | 
March 15, 2023

Cash, COVID, coup, crisis: A pre-pandemic maternal and child cash transfer program had sustained dietary benefits during Myanmar’s ongoing emergency

By Derek Headey and Elisa Maffioli

Positive health and nutrition results persist even in adverse circumstances.

View all Blogs

Events

Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia: Connecting the Dots Across Systems
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

December 3 to 5, 2024

Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia: Connecting the Dots Across Systems

South Asia grapples with escalating levels of malnutrition in various forms, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies, alongside increasing incidence of diet-related non-communicable diseases. Malnutrition results from a complex interplay of factors incorporating household and individual decision-making, agriculture and food systems, healthcare services, education, and socio-ecological systems that determine access to services and […]

Building Resilience, Inclusive Growth, and Holistic Transformation in Sri Lanka
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

November 21, 2024, 9:00 – 10:30 am

Building Resilience, Inclusive Growth, and Holistic Transformation in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has experienced slow progress in job creation, poverty reduction, and food insecurity, especially in rural areas. Economic challenges are further compounded by climate change risks and vulnerability to global shocks. At the same time, Sri Lanka has immense potential in agriculture and agro-processing, critical needs for infrastructure development, and a large scope for […]

South Asia Launch | Nepal | 2024 Global Food Policy Report: Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition
Series/Special Event

 | 

August 8 to 9, 2024

South Asia Launch | Nepal | 2024 Global Food Policy Report: Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition

Despite significant progress in addressing hunger and undernutrition in the early 2000s, malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a major challenge in all regions of the world. Unhealthy diets remain the primary drivers of many forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and diet- related noncommunicable diseases. Today, the number of people […]

View all Events

News

December 12, 2024 | In the News

What has four stomachs and could change the world? (The Economist)

The Economist cited IFPRI research by Beliyou Haile and Derek Headey in this article on the potential for technology to transform cattle farming and improve nutrition. “Some 35% of Kenyans are undernourished. Extra protein and iron, essential for brain development, would come in handy for them—and indeed for the 22% of the world’s children under […]

September 20, 2023 | Press Release

New study reveals alarming impact of food inflation on child undernutrition in low and middle-income countries

September 20, 2023, Washington, DC: A new study published in Nature Communications sheds light on the critical relationship between food inflation and child undernutrition in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The study, conducted by Derek Headey and Marie Ruel of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), explores the impact of food price volatility on […]

July 03, 2023 | In the News

Low dairy consumption linked to increased rate of child stunting – research (Food Navigator)

“The study’s findings provide compelling arguments for policymakers, public health officials and nutrition experts to prioritize context-specific dairy development strategies that rely on the right mix of local dairy sector interventions and more consumer-oriented trade policies”. The article is featuring a recent study by IFPRI researchers Beliyou Haile and Derek Headey,  “Growth in milk consumption and […]

View all News