IFPRI’s research on governance is conducted in the different divisions of the Institute. An institute-wide Governance Working Group coordinates the activities and addresses cross-cutting issues.
Source: Raymond Hopkins
- Governance and Pro-poor Development
- Governance and Natural Resource Management
- Governance and Food Consumption
- Governance and Markets
- Governance and Agricultural Research Systems
- Governance and Policy Dialogue
IFPRI's research in this field deals with political and administrative institutions and political processes at different levels and examines their role for pro-poor development. This research is led by the Development Strategy and Governance Division (DSGD). Current and planned research activities include:
Source: Raymond HopkinsThe role of governance for pro-poor development – insights from cross-country analysis,- Political economy of decision-making on national development strategies and public investment priorities, including
- the role of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, and
- the contribution of decision-support systems, such as SAKSS
- Decentralization and local governance, focusing on approaches to ensure voice, accountability and government effectiveness; and
- Effective and efficient delivery of services for rural development, such as agricultural extension.
Institutions and policy processes that govern the management of natural resources and the use of production technologies play an important role for sustainable development. IFPRI’s Environment and Production Technology Division (EPTD) is responsible for this theme. EPTD research projects that address governance questions include:
- CGIAR System-wide program on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi);
- Research on Water Resource Allocation: Productivity and Environmental Impacts addresses issues of water rights and participation of different stakeholders in water management. Two research projects on "Integrating Governance and Modeling" and "Africa Transboundary Water Governance" pay particular attention to governance issues in water; and
- The Program for Biosafety Systems helps developing countries to develop their own national institutional mechanisms to govern, regulate, and assess the use of biotechnology.
IFPRI’s research in this field focuses on the institutions and policies that facilitate or constrain individuals, households and communities in their endeavor to generate income, secure food, and ensure good nutrition and health. The Food Consumption and Nutrition Division (FCND) leads this theme. FCND’s research program on Policy Processes in Food Security and Nutrition starts from the observation that we know a great deal about the policies and programs needed to increase food security and reduce malnutrition. Yet actions and results lag behind knowledge, leaving hundreds of millions hungry and malnourished. The research program will explore the reasons for the lack of policy attention to food and nutrition issues and investigate the influence of politics and other aspects of policy processes on policy choice and real-world outcomes. The program's goal is to reduce the gap between knowledge, action, and results.
Proposed work will explore:
- How governance affects program transitions in India's Integrated Child Development Scheme;
- The politics of using food aid and other transfers as an international reinsurance scheme for weak national safety nets;
- The political and institutional reasons that some developing countries make significant progress in reducing malnutrition and others do not; and
- The ways political processes and interest place constraints on restoring food security in post-conflict situations, and how these factors influence the likelihood of renewed conflict and food insecurity.
Institutions and policies that govern market exchange and trade, both at the national and the international level are an important area of IFPRI’s governance research. The goal is to identify the constraints that obstruct efficient functioning of markets in a globalizing world and suggests policies to replace them so that farmers have incentives to increase supply while consumers can pay lower prices. The Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division (MTID) leads IFPRI’s research in this area. MTID research projects that address governance questions are:
- The project on "Analyzing Agricultural Policy Distortion in Developing Countries" assesses the protection/disprotection provided to agriculture in several countries, which is a policy/governance issue.
- "Food Regulation and Trade". This project has a clear empirical political economy dimension both about domestic regulatory decision making and about the WTO.
- "Power and Irrigation Subsidies in Andhra Pradesh (AP) & Punjab". This project has an important political dimension on domestic regulatory issues of electricity pricing for agriculture. It essentially looks to the current subsidy setting of power and irrigation subsidies which are bringing as a result severe environmental damages, deterioration of the quality of the supply and repressiveness in the allocation of the subsidy.
- "The Impact of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) on Agriculture and the Rural Sector in Central American Countries". This project, developed together with DSG, will enrich the public debate and inform decision makers regarding the best policy options for maximizing the economic benefits while minimizing the social costs of CAFTA to the Central American Region.
Governance structures of national agricultural research systems and science policy processes play an important role for promoting the innovations that are required to achieve food security and reduce poverty. IFPRI’s research in this field is led by the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). As a Division of IFPRI, ISNAR began its operations in April 2004. Its research activities are expected to focus on the following strategic themes:
- Institutional Change: Research in this area strives to produce new knowledge, with strong international public goods characteristics, that contributes to institutional change in agricultural innovation systems for enhancing the impact of agricultural research on all elements of the food system.
- Organization and Management: By strengthening organization and management of agricultural research programs, ISNAR will enable innovations that benefit the poor, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Science Policy: The agricultural science policy theme will examine factors in the underlying socioeconomic and political environments that inhibit or enhance the performance of food and agricultural science and technology, in order to suggest policies for improved effectiveness.
Communication and policy dialogue are essential elements of good governance. IFPRI’s Communications Division (CD) is engaged in disseminating the results of research to policy-makers and stakeholders and in promoting policy dialogues. The Projects of the Communications Division that concern governance questions include:
- Stakeholder and citizen participation in policy-making (African Policy Dialogues on Biotechnology) in cooperation with the Development Strategy and Governance Division.
- Research on how to enhance pro-poor public private partnerships in cooperation with the ISNAR Division.
- To improve communication between researchers and parliamentarians, the CGIAR has launched a parliamentarians initiative and entrusted IFPRI to lead it. The Communications Division is working with the CGIAR on this initiative. So far researchers and parliamentarians have met in India and Uganda to discuss how they can help each other achieve poverty reduction and economic development goals. A third meeting is planned for Latin America in 2005.
- IFPRI and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2003 for joint work in food policy research, capacity strengthening, and policy communications. Currently the Communications Division and NEPAD are considering a set of policy briefs for policy makers on best practices related to agricultural development in Africa. The division is also providing support on other strategic communication issues.