Modeling Tools
Overview
IFPRI has pioneered work on rigorous economic simulation modeling of food systems to inform decision making by national governments, funding partners, and other stakeholders. IFPRI-led models analyze impacts of policy and investment options on nutrition, poverty, social inclusion, climate change, and the environment under real-time shocks (such as COVID-19 and the conflict in Ukraine) and under alternative future scenarios (including different socioeconomic and climate change trajectories). Three complementary modeling systems focus on different geographic scales (subnational to global), time scales (near-term to several decades), and sectoral scales (agriculture sector to economywide).
IFPRI’s Modeling Systems
RIAPA
RIAPA (The Rural Investment and Policy Analysis data and modeling system) is IFPRI’s primary tool for forward-looking, country-level analysis. RIAPA has features that make it ideal for tracking the economywide impacts of policies, investments, or economic shocks at national and subnational levels over the near-to-medium term. RIAPA tracks changes in growth and employment across and beyond the food system, as well as poverty and food security at the household level.
MIRAGRODEP
MIRAGRODEP is a global Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model that captures international economic linkages through the international trade of goods, as well as through the movement of people and capital. MIRAGRODEP provides a rich set of indicators for each region, which allows measurement of the impact of policy changes on both macroeconomic aggregates and inequality indicators over the near-to-medium term.
IMPACT
IMPACT (the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade) is a system of linked economic, water, and crop models for analysis of climate change and other long-term drivers of the global food system. IMPACT focuses on the agriculture sector at subnational to global scales (including 60 commodities in 158 countries) over the medium-to-longer term (several decades).
Other modeling frameworks supported by IFPRI
DREAMpy (Dynamic Research EvaluAtion for Management, python version)
Open source, user-friendly software for evaluating the economic impacts of agricultural research and development projects.
MINK
A global-scale, systematically geographically gridded, process-based crop simulation modeling system.
SPAM (Spatial Production Allocation Model)
Open source, user-friendly software for evaluating the economic impacts of agricultural research and development projects.
Models Webinar Series
In this webinar series, our researchers present insights from IFPRI’s key modeling systems and their outputs, developed with other CGIAR Centers and partners. This work is helping to answer the critical questions facing decision-makers and stakeholders in today’s agrifood systems: What does climate change mean for the future of agriculture? How do we prioritize different agrifood system policies and investments? What are the sources, impacts, and trade-offs of agricultural productivity growth? What policy steps should governments take when a crisis strikes and a rapid response is required?
Related Blogs
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How women view marriage and childbearing decisions: Recent WEMNS evidence from Liberia and Sierra Leone
Insights from IFPRI’s Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems.
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Generative AI-powered voice technology in agricultural advisory services: Lessons from India
How developers built an app for smallholders.
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How AI can help reduce food loss and waste in Nigeria’s tomato value chain
Using photos to analyze when and where produce goes bad.
Related News
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New IFPRI book documents the impacts of Sudan’s conflict and identifies evidence‑based pathways to recovery
The book is being launched today in Cairo on the opening day of the conference “Three Years of Conflict: What the Evidence Tells Us and What Recovery Requires.”
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Could the Iran war pose lasting risks to global food security? (Al Jazeera)
Avinash Kishore, IFPRI senior research fellow in New Delhi, was interviewed for the Al Jazeera’s “Inside Story” program on the Iran war risks to global food security.
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The Iran war’s agriculture shock isn’t over yet (Foreign Policy)
Foreign Policy quotes IFPRI’s Joseph Glauber who notes that energy inputs are built into food costs at nearly every step, from production and processing through transportation and retail.
Related Events
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When Data Is Everywhere: Digital Research Methods Transforming Food Systems Science
In an era of data abundance, novel digital research methods are reshaping how we study and improve food systems. Building on earlier sessions focused on speech-based AI and farmer-generated data, this discussion broadens the lens, bringing together two researchers who are applying cutting-edge digital tools to address complex questions in the food domain. First, Soonho Kim (Senior Data Manager, IFPRI) will introduce how Agentic AI…
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Leveraging Automatic Speech Recognition and Farmer-Generated Data for Insight, Inclusion, and Impact
As speech recognition and mobile data collection tools mature, increasing attention is turning to a critical next question: how can farmer-generated data be meaningfully used to inform research, programs, and policy? This session builds directly on earlier discussions of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for agriculture by focusing on the applications, utility, and downstream impacts of…
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Agricultural Insurance: Innovations, Policies, and Pathways to Scale
Also streaming on Please type your questions into the chat box with name, affiliation, and country. The event video, presenter slides, and podcast will be available in the days following the event. Farm households face numerous risks that can discourage investments and trap them in poverty. Insurance should be a useful tool to reduce these…
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Conflict in the Middle East: Reverberations for Food Systems
Also streaming on Please type your questions into the chat box with name, affiliation, and country. The event video, presenter slides, and podcast will be available in the days following the event. While the global food system has largely adjusted to the disruptions in agricultural commodities and fertilizers following the invasion of Ukraine, the new conflict in…