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With research staff from more than 70 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Lilia Bliznashka

Lily Bliznashka is a Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit. Her research focuses on assessing the effectiveness of multi-input nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions and the mechanisms through which they work to improve maternal and child health and nutrition globally. She has worked in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

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Blogs

Reducing ozone pollution can offset the food security cost of climate action
Research Post
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May 15, 2026

Reducing ozone pollution can offset the food security cost of climate action

By Abhijeet Mishra, Timothy Sulser, Keith Wiebe, and Eleanor Jones

Uncovering an additional benefit of mitigation.

As AI reshapes development research, investing in data must be a key priority
Issue Post
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May 13, 2026

As AI reshapes development research, investing in data must be a key priority

By Kalle Hirvonen and Jessica Leight

Making models more robust and useful.

Can simpler, cheaper poverty graduation programs still deliver? Evidence from Ethiopia
Research Post
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May 08, 2026

Can simpler, cheaper poverty graduation programs still deliver? Evidence from Ethiopia

By Jessica Leight, Daniel Gilligan, Melissa Hidrobo, Harold Alderman, and Michael Mulford

A “light touch” model delivers mixed results.

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Publications

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Journal Article

Changes in height-for-age of Egyptian children from 1995 to 2014: Implications for improving child health outcomes

2026Hashad, Reem; Hassan, Zeinab A.
Details

Changes in height-for-age of Egyptian children from 1995 to 2014: Implications for improving child health outcomes

Background Stunting is a serious health problem in Egypt. Stunting rates and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) distributions changed notably in Egypt over time, yet the factors that led to these changes remain unknown. This study examines the factors associated with these changes and provides important considerations for designing interventions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030. Methods Leveraging data from Egypt’s Demographic and Health Survey for the years 1995, 2003, and 2014, we employ a Recentered Influence Function (RIF) approach that goes beyond the conventional way of measuring stunting as a binary indicator to examine changes across the entire HAZ distribution. The RIF decomposes changes in the HAZ distribution over time into differences attributable to changes in the levels of the determinants of nutrition (covariate effects) and in the strength of the association between these determinants and HAZ (coefficient effects). Results The stylized facts show a puzzling increase in stunting rates despite improvements in the level of the determinants of nutrition. Our RIF results attribute the change in stunting rates and other parts of the HAZ distribution primarily to changes in the association between the determinants of nutrition and HAZ (coefficient effects) rather than in the level of the determinants (covariate effects). The results also show that the determinants of nutrition could have heterogeneous impacts at different quantiles of the HAZ distribution. Conclusion To reduce stunting rates and achieve the SDG of ending malnutrition, our findings highlight the need for targeted interventions. Interventions should be geographically targeted, promote gender and income equality, improve maternal nutrition, and expand access to better sanitation facilities. This is in addition to wealth redistribution and reforming Egypt’s subsidy program to focus on nutritious food.

Year published

2026

Authors

Hashad, Reem; Hassan, Zeinab A.

Citation

Hashad, Reem; and Hassan, Zeinab A. 2026. Changes in height-for-age of Egyptian children from 1995 to 2014: Implications for improving child health outcomes. BMC Public Health 26(1): 153. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-25696-4

Country/Region

Egypt

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Children; Child Health; Anthropometry; Child Stunting

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-25696-4 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Journal Article

Associations between exposure to nutrition, WASH interventions and children’s academic performance in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

2026Adugna, Yimer Mihretie; Ayelign, Abebe; Zerfu, Taddese Alemu
Details

Associations between exposure to nutrition, WASH interventions and children’s academic performance in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Poor nutrition and inadequate WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) practices significantly impact children’s health, nutrition, and cognitive development, especially in low-income settings. These factors further aggravate the incidence of undernutrition, weaken the immune system, increase susceptibility to illnesses and reduce cognitive performance. Evidence on the effectiveness of existing WASH interventions is needed. Objective This review evaluated the effectiveness of nutritional and WASH interventions on the academic performance of children in Ethiopia. Methods A systematic search of Cochrane, DOAJ, Google Scholar, and PubMed (2010–2024) was conducted using MeSH terms and keywords related to WASH. Two independent reviewers screened studies and extracted data. Eligible studies included cross-sectional and cohort studies on Ethiopian schoolchildren with quantifiable academic outcomes. The JBI SUMARI was used to assess bias, and the GRADE approach was used to evaluate evidence quality. The meta-analysis used a random-effects model in Stata and reported pooled RRs with 95% CIs. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses examined moderators such as study design, intervention type, and sample size. Results A total of 19 studies, 16 cross-sectional (n= 16) and three prospective (n= 3) cohort studies with a total of 9034 participants, were included. The random effects model revealed a significant improvement in academic performance among students receiving both nutrition and WASH, with a pooled large positive effect size of 2.05 (95% CI: 1.26, 2.28; I2=). In the subgroup meta-analysis, the effect of the intervention was more positive among those who skipped breakfast (3.47, 95% CI: 0.47, 6.47), chronic iodine deficiency (4.49, 95% CI: 4.08, 4.90), food insecurity (2.810, 95% CI: 1.281, 4.339), and underweight (0.61, 95% CI: 0.46, 0.75). Conclusion Despite moderate variability and some risk of bias, the evidence supports the integration of comprehensive nutrition and WASH programs into school health initiatives. Future research should focus on long-term effects and cost-effectiveness.

Year published

2026

Authors

Adugna, Yimer Mihretie; Ayelign, Abebe; Zerfu, Taddese Alemu

Citation

Adugna, Yimer Mihretie; Ayelign, Abebe; and Zerfu, Taddese Alemu. 2026. Associations between exposure to nutrition, WASH interventions and children’s academic performance in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health26(1): 798. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-26107-4

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Capacity Building; Hygiene; Nutrition; Children; Schoolchildren

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-26107-4 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Journal Article

Farmers’ preferences and willingness to accept incentives for adopting sustainable agricultural practices in India

2026TM, Kiran Kumara; Birthal, Pratap Singh; Veettil, Prakashan Chellattan; Meena, Dinesh Chand; Kumar, Anjani
Details

Farmers’ preferences and willingness to accept incentives for adopting sustainable agricultural practices in India

Sustainable agricultural practices are increasingly promoted to mitigate the impacts of climate change on agriculture. However, adoption at the farm level remains limited, often due to trade-offs between tradable and non-tradable ecosystem services. This study examines farmers’ preferences for resource conservation practices and their willingness to accept incentive payments for their adoption in the Indian state of Punjab, where rice has become the most important crop despite its cultivation being unsupportive of its climatic conditions. Following the discrete choice experiment approach, the study included 500 farmers with the following attributes: ecosystem service benefits, income compensation, and carbon credit price. The findings reveal that farmers showed a strong preference for adopting improved farm practices. Saving water and avoiding residue burning are the two most preferred ecosystem benefits by the farmers. However, farmers’ preferences are strongly influenced by factors including carbon credit prices, income compensation, socioeconomic characteristics, and their risk aversion capacity. The estimation of extended random parameter logit (RPL) indicated that switching to direct rice seeding requires compensation of Rs. 29,223/ha and Rs. 29,178/ha for reallocating area from rice to legumes, ceteris paribus. These findings are crucial for policymakers in restructuring the existing incentive structure to accelerate the adoption of resource conservation practices in India.

Year published

2026

Authors

TM, Kiran Kumara; Birthal, Pratap Singh; Veettil, Prakashan Chellattan; Meena, Dinesh Chand; Kumar, Anjani

Citation

TM, Kiran Kumara; Birthal, Pratap Singh; Veettil, Prakashan Chellattan; Meena, Dinesh Chand; and Kumar, Anjani. 2026. Farmers’ preferences and willingness to accept incentives for adopting sustainable agricultural practices in India. Discover Sustainability 7(1): 465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-02843-4

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Capacity Building; Farmers; Sustainable Agriculture; Good Agricultural Practices; Incentives; Logit Analysis

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-02843-4 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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IFPRI is pleased to participate in the 9th edition of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) Annual Regional Conference, taking place May 20–22, 2026 in Mombasa, Kenya. The 2026 conference theme is Strengthening Value Chains for Inclusive Growth in Kenya. The KIPPRA Annual Regional Conference is Kenya’s foremost platform for evidence-based […]

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